utenzi

Actually it's more of a black letter day now that I think about it. Amazon just shipped my Kindle 6 minutes ago and the lettering on those critters is black. Yep. 2:32am on September 1st is when they sent the Email and I read it 5 minutes later. Gotta love this instant knowledge stuff. I bought one of the new generation $139 Kindles that don't have the 3G connectivity. Since I don't think I'll be buying many books on impulse, I'm willing to give up the roaming capability to save some money. Fifty bucks! And until I decide if I like it or not, I'm only downloading free books ---mostly old classics--- only some of which I'll be willing to read. But this is more about deciding if I like the feel, sensation, experience of reading an electronic tablet. I really do like holding a heavy paper based hardcover book so this electronic gadget is iffy. Well, we'll see... it's supposed to get here tomorrow!

I just finished reading a book by the lovely Kate Mosse (English author born just a few months after I was). Apparently Labyrinth was an international bestseller back in 2005. I missed it then but happened to pick it up in a used bookstore last month and just got around to reading it these past 3 days. I really enjoyed it quite a bit. It's background is religious since it explores the Cathars, a gnostic Christian sect, and how they were brutally suppressed by more mainstream elements of the Roman Catholic Church in the 13th century. The book explores the situation by having a murder mystery / love story to engage our interest. Mosse does this by superimposing a modern storyline over one from the 13th century time period and running them in parallel. It works very well---but I do have a strong liking for that sorta thing. One of my favorite series of books is by Katherine Kerr where she does a similar thing using ancient Celtic culture as her backdrop. The theme of love conquers ...

I'm in SC this weekend visiting with my parents. Father's Day is tomorrow, y'know? I did my normal 3am to 7am drive. There was an unusual amount of traffic but even so it was sparse compared to drives during the day. The books over there on the left were gleaned during a shopping expedition this morning at a couple of used book stores near here. I spent $38 and change on books that listed at $113. They should keep me busy for a few weeks. I didn't go kayaking today. By the time I'd talked a bit with my parents and made sure my parents dog had enough attention the temp outside was over 83 and way too humid for paddling. I think I'll hit the water tomorrow morning before the sun is up. Chicken and watermelon for dinner tonight!

My birthday was a few days ago but it was today that I got toys. Wheee. After work I went to Occoneechee Park to go around the mountain twice. That's around 5 miles. Even though it was only around 70f it didn't take long before I was soaked with sweat. This getting old business isn't good for ones health. Of course being dead is no picnic either. Anyway, the first trip around I saw 5 snakes and was upset that I didn't have my camera. I generally don't bring it with me these days because I go slower when I'm carrying it 'cause I keep taking pictures. So on the second loop I had retreived the camera from my car and carried it with me. Of course I didn't see one damn snake. The bastards! At least I saw this deer as a consolation prize. But I can't pick up a deer and take a picture of it so it's just not as good as a snake. Back to the topic of toys... When I arrived home I found that I'd gotten 3 packages from Amazon, all ordered at different ti...

I've been zipping through books lately. I just finished a book, The Judas Strain, by James Rollins a couple of hours ago and I immediately started Michael Connelly's new book, The Brass Verdict. I love the way it starts with the line "Everybody lies" just like they always say in House. The Judas Strain was enjoyable though the criticisms on Amazon about having thin characters is certainly true. But there's a lot of action and the science that goes on isn't all that terrible. The main plot is that there's a nasty virus starting to pop out somewhere in the Indonesia islands. A group of US superagents that are also trained in science are being deployed to take care of the situation. However they're being hampered by a possible mole in their organization as well as the behind-the-scenes meddling by other US agencies as well as a shadowy evil organization known simply as The Guild. LOL It's actually better than it sounds but at times I did get tired o...

This is what happens when you keep a camera next to your bed. Above you can see the book I was reading last night until I decided to take a break and go grab a soda. Unfortunately I then decided to start taking pictures instead of getting right back to reading. I started off with pictures of the book and then migrated to pictures of myself. The hairy nipple (isn't that the name of a drink???) picture was just one of many to result from this departure from good taste. Sorry everyone. Hairy Nipple 1/2 oz. Butterscotch Schnapps 1/2 oz. Baileys Irish Cream 1/2 oz. Vodka

This is turning out to be a cool and rainy weekend. I left my windows open during the night despite it getting chilly (50f) and so now I have my red fleece pullover on to stay warm. It's a Wal-mart clearance buy. Only $4.88 so I use it like a t-shirt not a coat. Fortunately I did get some mowing done yesterday before the rain started. Now that we have some water coming in that grass is really going to take off. And speaking of taking off, the leaves on my backyard trees are really coming out now. I think the dry weather had been holding them back. Other than the mowing, I mostly just read yesterday. I finished an old Clancy novel that I'd read several times (Cardinal of the Kremlin) and started a Twinkie book that I picked up from Amazon on clearance a few weeks back. The book is actually an explanation of the chemical background of the additives in snack foods and uses the ingredient list on Twinkies as a way to organize the topic. And speaking of snacking, look who's mun...

My new high def television has provided me with an excuse to rearrange my living room. It's been about 2 years since the last time I moved everything around. It's a bit of an undertaking, largely due to all my books. I used the moving around as a good time to treat the wood to some polish and wax. It's a lot easier to do that when the bookcase is totally unloaded. I temporarily am storing much of my living room stuff in my kitchen so I can vacuum the rug a couple of times. I won't finish it up until tomorrow but that'll give me a chance to air the place out as well. It's supposed to be in the high 50s tomorrow and that'll feel great since moving furniture and books around tends to get me overheated. Here's the books that were in the bookcase pictured above. It's amazing how many books fit in one small bookcase--and how bloody heavy they are! I like to keep them in alphabetical order but in the past few years that plan had broken down a bit. This is ...