Appliances, Animals and the Quest for the Perfect Book

Did a whole week go by? Sheesh!

What a week! We have been experiencing what can only be referred to as an Appliance Apocalypse. We have no less than 4 appliances that have decided to either act up or break down completely: dishwasher, oven, dryer and refrigerator. After a relatively expensive (but wonderful) summer, it looks like the fall is starting out with an attack on my wallet as well...

Plus, we had that blackout the other night, which was actually not bad... kinda fun, actually. Of course, it sort of served to point out that most prominent flaw in our current Emergency Plan... namely, that we don't have a plan, lol. Time to do some research and stock up on necessities. Man, people freak out over the power being out for a dozen hours, what would happen in a real crisis situation? Time to be better prepared.

Of course, the most amusing part of the whole blackout affair was the rumor-mongering on the radio, as people called in with their "I heard a friend of a friend say this" type of thing... then it gets spread as "unconfirmed reports of" this that and the other. At one point, it was said that two big power plants simultaneously blew up, lol, and because the caller referenced a friend with a ham radio that used to work for Homeland Security, it was repeated with the news updates, lol... crazy. Turns out it was a simple case of employee error. Nothing blew up. Ah, well...

It's funny how people's minds immediately jump to terrorism. Might be because of the proximity of 9/11 Anniversary, but I don't think so. I think perhaps people want a crisis situation to be as interesting as possible, I don't know... people talk about "the terrorists winning"... maybe they don't even need to attack us anymore. Whenever something crazy happens, we seem to automatically think it was terrorism, and so we think of their "message" by association. They get the same effect, perhaps?

Went to the Wild Animal Park with the family today. Of course, it's now called Safari Park or some such, for some reason. Why rename it? Anyway, I made a quick note on my Facebook status about the vast, unruly herd of shrieking kids terrorizing the place (buncha little terrorists!). It's a pretty place, though. I like it better than the zoo, actually. What I liked most about it is that I didn't have to spend a dime, woot! And my family loved it. Not that I wouldn't have spent $$$ on them... it was just nice not to have to.

The Wagner Women love takin pictures there (well, they love taking them everywhere, but especially at the zoo/animal park). I've been known to snap a pic or two in my day... but I normally just line up a shot, snap it, and that's it. My girls, however, do not seem to be satisfied until they've snapped at least a half-dozen shots every time they take a pic. Eldest Daughter has a nice new camera - one with a detachable lens and everything! Nice! We took the tram ride today, and her rapid-fire picture taking left me wondering... why? 8 identical shots! Why not just one!? Sounded like a machine gun going off!



I finished reading Empire in Black and Gold, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It ended up being a good read, I'm glad I persevered. However, I don't know if I'll continue the series or not. It has some good concepts, and solid characters, and a unique world-building schematic... I just don't feel like I connected with either the story or the characters enough to want to pursue it further.

What am I reading now, you ask? Why, how inquisitive of you! I read a few free samples (The Etched City, Farlander, Leviathan Wakes), re-read a couple things I've enjoyed before (The Blade Itself sample, a Ted Chiang story) and started a pair of books (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell, Night of Wolves), before settling into Night of Wolves by an author named David Dalglish. It's a fantasy story with Paladins and Werewolves in it! It reads well so far, so I'll stick with it. I'll let you all know how it proceeds, since I know how highly you hold my opinions of such things!

I also did something else I haven't done in a long time... I beat a game! I played Medal of Honor: Airborne (which I picked up on Steam for like $5 or something), and played it through. I was surprised when it ended, since it only took me about 10 hours total play time to beat it. I guess gone are the days when you need to sink a good 40 hours into a game to reach it's conclusion... Now I'm playing Call of Duty 2... but I also bought Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit when it was on sale the other day, so I'll scratch that one off my wish list...


Games I'm Looking Forward To, by David Wagner
-----------------------------------------------------

• Torchlight 2
• Diablo 3
• Skyrim
• Battlefield 3
• Serious Sam 3
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Portal 2
• Dead Island
• Rage
• Red Orchestra 2
• The Witcher 2

There are others, but these are on my radar... bring on the Steam Christmas sales! WOOHOOOO!!!!! Steam = My Fave!

This Summer was wonderful beyond words, and could not have come at a better time. However, as much as I'd love it to last, it is clear to me that Summer is most definitely over. Well, I'll always be able to say, "At least we had the Summer of '11!"

I'm gonna run. Got some more work-related nonsense to catch up on. I know you're heart-broken that I must leave you thus, but buck up! Be strong! I shall return, and then all will be well in your world again! Fear not!

Adios for now,

Dave the Circumspect

"When You Are Hungry, You Change Your Morality." -- Arnost Lustig

The weekend is here, woot, woot!

Just wanted to hop on here and drop a quick, drive-by post while I'm working on the newsletters and some video-edits for my sister. I can multitask like a boss! Sometimes...

Not much to say, really. Guess I'll just start and see where it goes...

Last post, I mentioned I had given up on Empire in Black and Gold, by Adrian Tchaikovsky, since I wasn't really clicking with the books' premise. Well, I decided before deleting it, I'd give it one last try... and I'm glad I did, since that seemed to be the point where the story really took off. I'll definitely finish it now. Wondering if I should do that for some of the other books I've abandoned.

By the way, that group of books I was giving away has been thinned out, but several are still available. The current list is:

* The Lion of Senet, by Jennifer Fallon
* The Lies of Locke LaMora, by Scott Lynch
* Empire in Black and Gold, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
* The Sword of Angels and The Jackal of Nar, by John Marco
* Storm Front, by Jim Butcher
* A Clash of Kings, by GRRM
* Lavondyss, by Robert Holdstock
* Hawkwood's Voyage, by Paul Kearney

I'm also adding a couple more books, in case you'd like these...

* The Folding Knife, by KJ Parker
* The Red Wolfe Conspiracy, by Robert Redick
* Black Sun Rising, by CS Friedman
* Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson

Say the word, and they're yours.

Yes, really...

I watched a movie called Source Code last night, which stars Jake Gyllenhall, and I was very surprised at how good it was. Perhaps I was in just the right mood to watch an action flick, I don't know... either way, I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. I'd write a review, but I'm feeling lazy at the moment. Instead, I'll link to the Rotten Tomatoes summary page for it... 91%! Not bad at all! Looks like I wasn't alone in liking the film...

Laythe sent me the link to this video, and it is awesome.



Love the feel of it. The acting is good, the dialog works, the sentiments strong. I'd love to make short films like that.

Speaking of things that have moved me lately, the kids played this song by Adele for me recently (Someone Like You), and I think it's sublime... yeah, I know it's been out for a while, but hey, I'd never heard it before, okay!? Sheesh!

Bought myself some new shirts the other night at the mall, eh. If you had any idea how rare that is, you'd be congratulating me! Yeah, I'm feeling better about myself and the shape I'm getting in, so I'm starting to rework my wardrobe. Feels good.

And on that note, I'm out for now. Thanks to everyone who's taking books out of my hands. Let me know if you want anymore.

Dave

On Bugs, Books and Blessings

Aw, look at the pretty flowers!

So, there was this one time I was eating a bag of sunflower seeds at work (I used to work for a sculptor many years ago, as a sander/polisher). I ate some of the seeds, and the day ended, so I left the bag there with the rest of my supplies. I had torn off the corner of the bag to access them - just tilt the bag and dump some in my mouth, eating them as I worked. You get the idea...

So I come back the next day to work, set up my work area, start working, and resumed eating the seeds. After about a half-dozen mouthfuls of seeds, I tilt the bag up to my mouth, take a big pull, filling my mouth with seeds... and I feel something go into my mouth that is definitely not a seed. It is way too big, and not salty, and actually kind of cold. And it is wiggling.

Like a machine gun, I spit the seeds out of my mouth all across my work bench, wide-eyed. When I spit out the great big, black water bug, it hits the floor and starts to waddle away. I let out an incoherent gasp/cry and stomp on the bug. I spit on the floor, repeatedly, panting, thoroughly disturbed. The sculptor I worked for heard the commotion and came in my workroom to find me pale-faced and speechless, pointing a trembling finger at the squished bug on the floor. I tried to explain to my boss what had happened, mostly using hand signals and miming, since I was still too freaked out.

Of course, the bug must have crawled into the bag sometime in the middle of the night.  I picture it struggling in the shifting bag of seeds as I took repeated mouthfuls that morning, the bug wondering (the way bugs do, I'm sure) what on earth was happening. Finally, the time came when it slid out of the bag and into legend. I was so undone, my boss sent me home for the day.

And now, the famous Cadbury Eyebrow Commercial...



I have never seen a video that stunned me to this extent, so funny I couldn't even laugh. I stood there watching it yesterday (when Eldest Daughter played it for me), mouth open, doing a strange, slow-motion double-take, laughing on the inside, motionless on the outside, in some sort of disconnected limbo.  I am (as many of you know) a huge fan of absurdity, and that video has to be the new benchmark. When the girl busts out the balloon at 0:48, I thought my head was going to explode, as I did a world-record "Wait... what?"

I must have been in just the right mood and frame of mind to see that... my first coherent thought after watching it was "I HAVE to put that on my blog!"

So I started and abandoned yet another book. This time, the first book in another highly-acclaimed series, one by author Adrian Tchaikovsky called Shadows of the Apt. The book is called Empire in Black and Gold, and has been heralded as one of the great fantasy series currently available. It is well-written -- the author certainly knows his way around a page. I just can't seem to click with the whole vibe of the book. The races of people are all sort of a magical hybrid of people and insects... there are Beetle-people who are short, strong and stocky; there are Mantis-kind, who are ferocious fighters, with barbs growing along their forearms (like mantids); there are ant-kind, who can all communicate through thoughts and act as one, like ants in a ant colony; there are fly-kind, who are small and can fly; etc. There are about a dozen different races/nations, and they act like people (basically) but with bug-like traits that are magic based. The militaristic Wasp-kind are cast in the role of "barbaric hoard out for world-domination" and a rag-tag group of other insect-based "people" are tasked with trying the thwart the eminent invasion.

As you might imagine from my opening story, the bug-thing just doesn't work for me. Ironically, I'm abandoning the book at 18% through, as I did with The City & The City (my previous book attempt). Coincidence, I'm sure.

Speaking of books, I want to do a little house-cleaning in my office, and I'm getting rid of books. I wanted to give you all first crack at some of them before I donate them to a garage sale. If you live in the US and would like one (or more) of these titles, email me (or Facebook message me) and I'll send the book(s) to you as a gift.

The Lies of Locke LaMora, by Scott Lynch

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

A Storm of Swords, by GRRMartin

Warriors, by Various Authors

Empire in Black and Gold, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A Feast for Crows, by GRRMartin

Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson

Lavodyss, by Robert Holdstock

Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb

The Talisman, by Stephen King & Peter Straub

Hawkwood's Voyage. by Paul Kearney

A Shadow in Summer, by Daniel Abraham

Across the Face of the World, by Russell Kirkpatrick

The Night Angel Trilogy. by Brent Weeks

The Sword of Angels, by John Marco

The Jackal of Nar, by John Marco

Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

A Clash of Kings, by GRRMartin

The Lion of Senet, by Jennifer Fallon

Point of Impact, by Stephen Hunter

All up for grabs! In a week or so, whatever is not requested will be donated to some garage sale of some kind. I'm working on my digital library now... takes up far less shelf space! I already have digital copies of several of these books, and those that I may want to read again at some point in the future, I'll just buy digital copies of when the time comes.

And now, a couple funny animal pics...

Splat!

OK, fine, it's "cute", not "funny"...

I wonder if they shift with the sunbeam as it moves across the floor?

So, school is starting again. That means I get to be stay-at-home dad one day a week, to school Youngest Daughter in the fine art of being a first-grader. She lost her first tooth tonight; one of the bottom-front ones. She was so excited. She's going to take it to school to share with her class, when the time comes. I'm glad she lost it -- she has one more bottom-front to lose. Her adult teeth were already coming in behind her loose baby teeth (like a shark!). I'm going to take her to the dentist on Tuesday to get her teeth evaluated. We'll see what he says. I'm sure whatever the good Dentist decides, it will be expensive...

It was a terrific summer. Perhaps my best ever. Wifey and I are in uncharted territory. We are doing very well; I feel closer to her now BY FAR than I have the entire time I've known her (20+ years). I have my theories on why this quantum shift has occurred, but the theories are still half-baked, so I don't want to toss them out here just yet. One things is certain: it is wholly unexpected, and could not have come at a more opportune time. I was broken, spent, done. Then, the world changed.

And on that note, I am done for tonight. Let me know if you want any books.

Dave the Intrepid

There and Back Yet Again, By Davebo Baggins

Greetings! Back from Vegas, and what a trip!

First, apologies for not posting before or during the trip. As I thought about it, I considered the wisdom in announcing to who-knows-whom that wifey and I would be out of town, when I'd already established that our kids were staying home. Yeah, not smart. "Hey, I'll be away from home for the next week or so, and my sweet little girls will be home, all alone!" I don't know who reads this blog... but I found out recently how easy it is to get my contact info (phone, address, etc) right there in my Facebook profile (I've since hidden it). Yeah, not cool. Anyway, I decided to stay mum about it all, and wait until I returned to announce that we'd officially gone.

So, yeah.

We started out vacation by taking the family to the San Diego Zoo last Saturday. I hadn't been for a long time -- and now I remember why. Yeah, me and crowds don't mix. The sun cooked me, and every adult there was accompanied by a child or children, of varying degrees of loud and/or obnoxious. But the girls love it, so we put the admission price ($$!!) toward year-long passes, so they can run off to the zoo and/or Wild Animal Park for the next year, to their hearts' content.

The Wagner Girls + Rhino

We bid farewell to the girls Saturday night, left them in Grandma's care, and spent a night home alone. Sunday around midday, Sister dropped wifey and I off in downtown San Diego with luggage and high expectations. We checked into the Hilton Bayside, grabbed a quick bite to eat at a gaslamp eatery, then hit Petco Park for an afternoon Padre game. They were starting off with a "number retirement ceremony" for the great Trevor Hoffman. We had really good seats...

Sorry for the shoddy photo-stitching job. I didn't feel like making it perfect. Anyway, Petco is a terrific park. It was hot, so we left after 6 innings. Padres ended up winning the game, but I didn't really care either way. It was fun to soak up the atmosphere. And apparently, Trevor Hoffman retired a few years back, with a staggering 601 career saves, which is the highest number of career saves in Major League Baseball. Kudos to him. He's a shoo-in for Cooperstown, apparently.

Here's the Hilton, eh. Nice! Coronado bridge in the background. Just out of view to the right is the waters' edge.

Here I am, on the cool walking bridge between the Hilton and Petco Park.

The little woman and I, enjoying the game. She has a kids' head growing from her shoulder! Runnn!

We enjoyed another meal downtown after the game, and then retired to the hotel, to work out in the fitness center, and go to sleep. The next day (Monday), we packed up our luggage, checked out, and took a nice, leisurely 3.5 mile stroll to the airport! Yes, we walked to the airport (luggage in tow). I didn't think I could do it, but we made it! Yeah, I'm, like, in good shape and stuff.

We flew out to Vegas (boy, were our arms tired!), and took a shuttle to the Vdara. Here is a pic of it I found online...

It is in the heart of the Vegas strip, in a massively expensive new zone called City Center, which includes three high-end hotels, a large, high-end shopping/dining center, and some high-end residences/towers. Only the Aria (the largest hotel) has a casino... the rest (including Vdara) are just really nice, low-stress places to stay, away from the uproar, while right in the center of it (if that makes sense). Here's our view from the 51st floor...

Click to enlarge. It was really nice. Sorry again about the poor photo-stitch job.

I found a video clip on YouTube by a guy that did a quick tour of his room at Vdara, which is identical to the one we stayed in, if you're interested. Again, it's not me, it's some other guy!

The view of the pool 50 floors below, from our room.

And here's a very strange, large sculpture made out of canoes, right in the heart of the Vdara-Aria plaza. Some yahoo probably got paid millions of dollars to design and build that sculpture. It's probably called "Canoe Believe I Got Paid For This?"

And so evidently there is a new side of Vegas that shuns the traditional drunk college crowd and chain-smoking middle-aged slot-playing crowd, and instead caters to people (like wifey and I) that just want to stay in a really nice room, and eat really great food. We ate twice at Mesa Grill at Caesar's Palace (owned by Bobby Flay), and I have to say, it ranks among the very best food I've ever eaten. We ate at a place called Olives, overlooking the huge fountain at the Bellagio hotel. Also very good. And we ate at one of Wolfgang Puck's Pizzeria's, which was also exceptionally good. Here's the appetizer we ate...

I'm not normally one of those people that takes pictures of their food (to post on Facebook, usually), but in this case, it was too beautiful to pass up. The fact that it tasted even better than it looked was an added bonus.

We also each ate a Pink's hotdog, but we were not impressed...

Beyond that, we walked all over the place, roamed through countless shopping centers, ate great food, and relaxed. We even hit up the fitness center, and laid out at the pool (in 110 degree heat!). It was a terrific trip, in nearly every regard. It was romantic as well, but there's no need to go there... :)

All in all, I am super-glad we went, and I look forward to going back. We may try and stay at the Wynn Encore next trip.

An interesting side-note: I was asked today (now that we are back) if it was supposed to be a secret that wifey and I went to Las Vegas, as though people at church were not supposed to know that we were going there. That question, asked in all seriousness, sort of baffled me. The idea being that good Christians aren't supposed to go to Vegas or something. For the record, I have absolutely no problem with going to Vegas, or with letting anyone and everyone know I went there. "Sin City"? Sure, if you look for it. But our time there was enjoyable, and untainted. I had a wonderful time with my wife, had great food, unwound, loved it. The junk was easy to avoid/ignore. Maybe it isn't that way for others, but for wifey and I, it was. I'm not ashamed in the least, nor do I feel I should be.

I guess that's grist for another day. Bottom line, I'm glad we went, and I'm glad we are back. I don't know if I could have afforded another day. It was terrific, but man, was it not cheap. Now, back to my diet and workout regimen. I'll join my wife in great shape soon... I'm making great progress, vacation notwithstanding.

Other stuff to talk about, but it will have to be another time.

Onward and Upward.

Dave the Traveler.