WELL,DANGITALL
Itneverfails.I starta post(oneachofmysites)that'smultipart andsomethingonmy computerbreaks. Bynow youshouldhavefiguredoutwhatitis thatbroke.Itbrokea few days after myfirstpost (rightaboutthe timeIwasready todo mynextpost). Itriedfixingit,butthat didntwork(obviously)andamonaweirdenoughschedulenow that Ihavenot yet been able to get anewone.Ifiguredenoughtimehaspassed though thatyoudeserveanexplanationofwhy you'regoingto have to wait stilllonger.Sorry. In the meantime ifyou'rebored,check outmy latest addiction(which I blameon Meredith). It'scalled In Passing. ReadMeredith's review foran explanation so youdon'thavetosufferanymoreofthis
Friday, April 15, 2005
Sunday, April 03, 2005
HOW TO SIT DOWN WITH A GOOD BOOK, PART ONE
One of the functions I serve among my friends is that of "book recommender." It's a position I'm honored to have, for many of my friends read enough that they can tell the difference between a good book and a bad one. The fact that they return to me after my first few recommendations and ask for more is gratifying. It's also not a very unique position- for pretty much the same reason - more of an exchange really than a position. I recommend something to you, you recommend something to me, we both come off better for it. I like this system, it seems to work. There are, however, a few holes.
The biggest hole is that we've all read different books. While reading different books is usually an ideal situation in such an exchange (that being the purpose, and all), it's not ideal when the "different books" in question are those that formed the very basis for our current reading tastes. Even then it's not so much a hole as an opportunity. So I am going to take this opportunity and run with it. It may take a few installments, but I'll see what I can do.
I like fantasy and I like science fiction. Many of the people who ask me for recommendations never really discovered either. They are, however, open to new experiences so I've been trying to introduce them to those aspects of each genre that I believe they will appreciate. It occurred to me recently, that there are actually two ways to enter into the respective worlds of fantasy and science fiction. One is the way I've been trying to bring my friends in - finding books on the edges and slowly drawing them in from the sides. The other way is the way I came at it - starting with "children's" books and graduating deeper and deeper. It's the difference between learning about a garden from pictures and plant cuttings and learning about it by walking into it.
Perhaps, then, I should be leading my friends into this garden along a path very similar to the one I took. Not tonight, tonight is just the warm up. In my next few entries I'll attempt to apply the benefit of hindsight to my early reading experiences. I'll cull what's worthwhile and relevant to adults and present it with whatever explanations, recommendations, and caveats I find necessary. Some of my favorite books as a child have lost something with time, sadly but the best ones are still good and getting better as I grow older. Those I will present to you so that you may each (as you see fit) discover what led me into this garden in the first place.
One of the functions I serve among my friends is that of "book recommender." It's a position I'm honored to have, for many of my friends read enough that they can tell the difference between a good book and a bad one. The fact that they return to me after my first few recommendations and ask for more is gratifying. It's also not a very unique position- for pretty much the same reason - more of an exchange really than a position. I recommend something to you, you recommend something to me, we both come off better for it. I like this system, it seems to work. There are, however, a few holes.
The biggest hole is that we've all read different books. While reading different books is usually an ideal situation in such an exchange (that being the purpose, and all), it's not ideal when the "different books" in question are those that formed the very basis for our current reading tastes. Even then it's not so much a hole as an opportunity. So I am going to take this opportunity and run with it. It may take a few installments, but I'll see what I can do.
I like fantasy and I like science fiction. Many of the people who ask me for recommendations never really discovered either. They are, however, open to new experiences so I've been trying to introduce them to those aspects of each genre that I believe they will appreciate. It occurred to me recently, that there are actually two ways to enter into the respective worlds of fantasy and science fiction. One is the way I've been trying to bring my friends in - finding books on the edges and slowly drawing them in from the sides. The other way is the way I came at it - starting with "children's" books and graduating deeper and deeper. It's the difference between learning about a garden from pictures and plant cuttings and learning about it by walking into it.
Perhaps, then, I should be leading my friends into this garden along a path very similar to the one I took. Not tonight, tonight is just the warm up. In my next few entries I'll attempt to apply the benefit of hindsight to my early reading experiences. I'll cull what's worthwhile and relevant to adults and present it with whatever explanations, recommendations, and caveats I find necessary. Some of my favorite books as a child have lost something with time, sadly but the best ones are still good and getting better as I grow older. Those I will present to you so that you may each (as you see fit) discover what led me into this garden in the first place.
Friday, March 25, 2005
ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN
Who remembers "3-2-1 Contact"? I used to watch it when I came home from school (Forest Ave. Elementary to be specific) while waiting for Mom to cook dinner. If I remember correctly, it came on after "Reading Rainbow". It was part of my allotted hour of TV watching before the local PBS replaced it with "Square 1 TV," also an excellent show that amused and educated me for many episodes. Those shows are perhaps a good topic for later discussion, but today I'm just interested in a specific piece of a specific episode: when Paco went to Space Camp. I was fascinated and decided that someday I, too, would go to Space Camp.
And I did, Christmas break my sophomore year of high school I attended Space Academy Level II in Huntsville, Alabama (I was by then too old for the actual Space Camp but this was the same thing, albeit a little more thorough). My brother also went (Level I) and we both had a good time. It was, I think, the first time we had flown anywhere by ourselves. It was significant for other reasons, though - "Go to Space Camp" had been on my mental list of things-to-do-someday for a long time. It was, I think, one of the first concrete realizations I had that things could actually come OFF that list. It was a goal that had always (when I thought of it) felt whimsical and unreal. "Wouldn't it be nice if..." became "Look what I did..." and it was every bit as fun as I had hoped (it's been a long time since I've even tried to deny my geek nature).
It's an odd feeling, approaching the Reality version of something that's long been in Daydream status. It's fun but I tend to let things sit in Daydream status too long. I need periodic reminders to check my Someday List for those eureka moments of "Hey, I can actually accomplish this!"
Dave Hauver provided the most recent reminder. At the end of this month, he will be setting out on the Appalachian Trail with the intention of walking its entire length from Georgia to Mt. Katadin in Maine. It's something he's wanted to do for some time and now, he's actually doing it. Go Dave. It's quite a leap. He has also, while we're at it, had dreams of documentaries bouncing around in his head for some time. He's addressing that, too, by carrying a camera with him as he hikes. I'm sure we'll get some very interesting footage from Mr. Hauver. I look forward to it. For those of you who want to follow along in his adventure, he has a trail journal set up already. You can find it here (and I'll put a link in my sidebar). Check it out. And applaud Dave for taking this leap, for checking this item off his Someday list.
Now you'll have to excuse me, I have a novel to write.
Who remembers "3-2-1 Contact"? I used to watch it when I came home from school (Forest Ave. Elementary to be specific) while waiting for Mom to cook dinner. If I remember correctly, it came on after "Reading Rainbow". It was part of my allotted hour of TV watching before the local PBS replaced it with "Square 1 TV," also an excellent show that amused and educated me for many episodes. Those shows are perhaps a good topic for later discussion, but today I'm just interested in a specific piece of a specific episode: when Paco went to Space Camp. I was fascinated and decided that someday I, too, would go to Space Camp.
And I did, Christmas break my sophomore year of high school I attended Space Academy Level II in Huntsville, Alabama (I was by then too old for the actual Space Camp but this was the same thing, albeit a little more thorough). My brother also went (Level I) and we both had a good time. It was, I think, the first time we had flown anywhere by ourselves. It was significant for other reasons, though - "Go to Space Camp" had been on my mental list of things-to-do-someday for a long time. It was, I think, one of the first concrete realizations I had that things could actually come OFF that list. It was a goal that had always (when I thought of it) felt whimsical and unreal. "Wouldn't it be nice if..." became "Look what I did..." and it was every bit as fun as I had hoped (it's been a long time since I've even tried to deny my geek nature).
It's an odd feeling, approaching the Reality version of something that's long been in Daydream status. It's fun but I tend to let things sit in Daydream status too long. I need periodic reminders to check my Someday List for those eureka moments of "Hey, I can actually accomplish this!"
Dave Hauver provided the most recent reminder. At the end of this month, he will be setting out on the Appalachian Trail with the intention of walking its entire length from Georgia to Mt. Katadin in Maine. It's something he's wanted to do for some time and now, he's actually doing it. Go Dave. It's quite a leap. He has also, while we're at it, had dreams of documentaries bouncing around in his head for some time. He's addressing that, too, by carrying a camera with him as he hikes. I'm sure we'll get some very interesting footage from Mr. Hauver. I look forward to it. For those of you who want to follow along in his adventure, he has a trail journal set up already. You can find it here (and I'll put a link in my sidebar). Check it out. And applaud Dave for taking this leap, for checking this item off his Someday list.
Now you'll have to excuse me, I have a novel to write.
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