I’ve been
href="http://www.advogato.org/person/grey/diary.html?start=17">hit
with a stick by grey. I had only seen it recently and happened to
notice grey got hit before he did. Grey is a good man and always
surprises me with his breadth of his knowledge.
I’ve been reading a lot lately and this seems to fit right in with a
post I was brewing up in my noggin. It seems that this year alone
I’ve read about one dozen books. I guess I should be keeping track,
but along the way it just got to be more fun to read than to catalog.
style="font-weight:900;font-size:xx-large;font-style:italic;">enter the
stick
You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which
book do you want to be?
Hands down the only choice for me would be
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0679767800//ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. I
was introduced to this book by my good friend
href="http://andremazzone.com/">Andre. Bester was at the time
unknown to me, and that’s a shame. I think he’s one of the best
writers I’ve ever read. He wasn’t extremely prolific and I think that
hurt his spread the most.
The Stars My Destination is definitely very
dirty and gritty, which helps to make it seem all the more real. Even
though it was published in 1956 it still feels contemporary. The
struggle and development of the main character left me wanting to know
more about his future. Being that book would be great in that scheme
of things.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Hmm, I’d have to say probably, but nothing is jumping to mind. It’s
not that I don’t think I ever did, I just preferred crushes on real
people since fictional characters were just that, fictional. If
anything I’m sure there was a twinge somewhere for some comic book
characters, what with visuals and all. Rouge, Mystique, Kitty Pryde,
stuff like that. Obviously nothing ever set in though so I can’t say
for sure.
The last book you bought is:
There was a giant book purchase not too long ago of about twenty or so
books, but the last one was for sure
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0312864213/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">Reflex by Steven Gould. It’s the sequel to
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0765342286/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">Jumper. Both tell the story of a boy, Davy, that
through a stressful situation discovers he can teleport himself.
class="book">Reflex is set about ten years after
class="book">Jumper and was a good and enjoyable read.
Strangely enough there are similarities to The
Stars My Destination and that book even gets a mention in
class="book">Jumper.
The last book you read:
Just this morning I finished reading
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0553348981/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. I’ve liked
the Tom Robbins books I’ve read so far and
class="book">Jitterbug Perfume was no exception. Robbins is
good at melding varying story lines into one coherent ending. This
book held my intrigue throughout. I’ll now need to pick up more works
by Mr. Robbins.
What are you currently reading?
Well, with my daily commute on BART I
tend to race through a lot of books pretty fast. Having just
finished a book on the ride in this morning (which I hate by the way,
because now I don’t have anything to read on the way home) I’ll be
moving on in my stack. I guess my next daily book will be
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0316143464/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David
Sedaris. At the same time I have a non-daily book that I leave at
home to read before bed and the like,
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/1571458662/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">Necessary Numbers by Mary Blocksma. It’s an
interesting look at everyday numbers. My favorite bit so far is
learning how barcodes work and how to calculate the check digit.
Five books you would take to a deserted island:
A tough question, but here we go:
-
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0679767800/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester.
You can see the first question for more on why this is my favorite
book.
- A star atlas of some kind. I love looking at the stars and
picking out celestial objects. Don’t ask me which specific book
because I don’t know, but I would want a complete one for sure.
-
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/068483846X/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">CRUDDY: An Illustrated Novel by Lynda Barry. As
far as fiction goes this book is another that I could read over and
over. It’s interesting and has such gritty characters you can almost
see yourself in the story. Good stuff.
-
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0671640992/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">The Forest People by Colin Turnbull. An
awesome romp into a fascinating culture.
-
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/-/0393324826/ref=nosim/danimalorg-20">
class="book">Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by
Mary Roach. I can’t say enough good about this book. It’s a
fascinating read, even after you’ve already read it. Ms. Roach
de-mystifies the post-death happenings with the human body but does so
in a kind, warm, and very real manner. You laugh, you tear up, and
you understand.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3
persons)? And Why?
- rotomonkey - While Chris is a
very visual person he’s also one of the smartest guys I know. I’ve
been surprised in the past when Chris pulls out some bit of knowledge,
but now nothing like that surprises me coming from him.
- KP - A master extraordinaire
and a super nice guy. I only wish I had stuck around New York to work
with him more.
- Chris Palmer - Chris is
another one of those brainy folk that puts me to shame. He smart and
quirky and I want to see a bit more of what’s in his brain without the
need for a bone saw.
Current stick path as it got to me: Barrie unleashed the stick on
3/7/05 - Amanda - scooterdeb - Brian - Karma Police - Evelio - Ivy -
Suzanne - Jeff - Patricia Lockwood - Frank - Amy - Steve - Ginger
-
href="http://scoplaw.blogs.com/scoplaw/2005/03/stinks_and_smir.html">Scopylaw
-
href="http://mowabb.com/ai/archives/2005_05_01.html#004788">AI
-
href="http://monkey.org/~jose/blog//viewpage.php?page=the_stick">jose
-
href="http://www.advogato.org/person/grey/diary.html?start=17">grey
- me
