Embrace yourself for...

( Awesomeness. )

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At one stage I thought I would not get to 50 books, but there is nothing like learning that my contract wouldn't be renewed to make me spend fewer weekends working. So my last couple of books are:

50: Ed McBain's Cop Hater (188 pages). Not really my type of book, but we had a copy and I thought I would see if it was as simplistic as when I first read McBain's stuff 30 years ago. It was.
49: Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (375 pages). I found this at my wife's friend's aunt's house. Another excellent book from Bill Bryson, this time recounting his upbringing in Des Moines, Iowa.
48: Terry Pratchett's Making Money (349 pages). I borrowed this from the Port Chalmers library and enjoyed it. I particularly was struck by the similarity between the financial machine in the bank and the economic models of the circular flow of income. Perhaps a university could construct such a model, with water flowing in and out?
47: Yann Martell's The Life of Pi (428 pages). I loved this the first time I read it, and loved it again, though I was watching out for the story more expectantly, and picked up on something in relation to the floating island. I missed it the first time.
46: Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith (399 pages). Another excellent Pratchett.
45: Terry Pratchett's Thud (439 pages). Ever enjoyable.

So that makes 50 books, I have the month of December to go, and have nearly finished three books. And that makes 17,256 pages.

Little Wall-e checking out the new offices at work

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Lumix TZ5
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Photo-a-Day #520: Is Betty feeling the credit crunch that badly?

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iPhone 3GS

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I have a small chest freezer which is difficult to keep straight. Suggestions?

67. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks - 256 pages (8/10)

I like how the cover matches my usericon, hah. Yay, Magritte.

I've been meaning to read this book for years. How could you not with a title like that? Dr. Oliver Sacks is a guest star on a podcast I regularly listen to, Radio Lab, and after hearing certain cases, I knew it was long past time I read his book. Sacks has been a neurologist for many years, and this book was his first. Published in 1985, it details the strange and amazing cases he's come across during his career. This book is amusing, fascinating, and touching.

One interesting case was a man who had alcohol amnesia. He was in his late fifties, but he thought he was 19 in 1945. Whenever he mentioned his brother, he mentioned that he was in accountancy school and was engaged to a nice girl, even though at the time of the book his brother had been an accountant for thirty years. Up until the age of 19 he could remember his life perfectly, but everything after that was a blur. Sacks would see the man one day and the next day the patient would introduce himself again. Each case detailed in this book is unique and varied.

The book is well-organized: "The book comprises 24 essays split into 4 sections which each deal with a particular aspect of brain function such as deficits and excesses in the first two sections (with particular emphasis on the right hemisphere of the brain) while the third and fourth describe phenomenological manifestations with reference to spontaneous reminiscences, altered perceptions, and extraordinary qualities of mind found in "retardates" (Sacks, 163)

I always took advantage what it was like to go through day-to-day life with no neurological disorders. I can't fathom what it must be like to not be able to trust your sight, or to not be sure where your body parts are, or to not remember ten minutes ago. Sack's main thesis of the book is that human identity is still preserved, no matter how debilitating a disorder an individual has. A person with severe amnesia can still recognize someone he or she loves. A person with severe mental disabilities can still love deeply and find passion in past times. Identity persists.


Booksforfood is my book reviewing journal. I like new friends :)

I haven't wanted to post much about the new place until we knew for sure. hollyqueen and I signed the lease paperwork and have the key. Our new address is effective December 1st but we won't be moving most of our stuff until the 19th. Guess we won't have time to put up a tree this year.

We aren't moving far. Our new digs are in Madrona. We're renting a newly renovated basement and the other person living above us is the landlord and homeowner. So she is going to take care of the place and not be destructive. Also, I love the fact that she's a lawyer who works with youth. Did I mention she has blue/green hair?

Oh, it's 1/3rd of a mile from some cafes and Verite Coffee. Less than that to King Creole BBQ. Can't walk to the grocery store, but I'm ok with that.

• 21:39 @skillfulpaws Thanks 4 the arnica tip for @sweetolyellodog. Lots of extra activity out in Blanco this wkd means she needs the help! #
• 08:32 RT @centraltxspca @austindirtydog: Did media not learn lesson w/Balloon Boy?ENOUGH w/White House crashers. Quit giving them airtime! #
• 10:56 L8 gr8 Gourmet mag provides new TDay tradition 4 my whole family: roasted cauli from Sept09 issue wowed my parents. ow.ly/Gu3R #

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Now I understand that the true advantage to the crazy in living alone is that when you talk to yourself and someone walking by your apartment door hears you, they'll just think you're talking to someone else.

I am putting together a basket of goodies for my boyfriend's parents for Christmas.
It'll include some cookies, candied nuts, coffee and...

The thing is, his mother is diabetic. She eats sweets and stuff just fine but I thought it might be nice to include something that isn't sugar-filled. Trouble is, I have no ideas!!

I would prefer to make it and not have it cost too much.
And I am not interested in making cookies and stuff with sugar subs - I want a savory food product to give.



Ideas?

Thanks!
(I will also probably be including a candle or some smelly soaps as well)

10 - Pattie Boyd
9 - That 70's Show
6 - Jimi Hendrix
6 - The Monkees
4 - Bob Dylan
7 - Paul McCartney




The rest are over here at my journal!

http://www.metafilter.com/87034/The-tomatolettuce-issue-has-not-been-resolved

Four letters of complaint written to the Mayor of NYC. Excerpted from a book.

http://www.metafilter.com/87033/A-Crash-in-Shanghai-raises-questions-about-an-airline

A Zimbabwean cargo aircraft crashed earlier today at Shanghai-Pudong airport, killing three and seriously injuring four. It is not yet known why the aircraft, an ex Varig MD-11F (pic) operated by an airline called Avient, failed to become airborne, but the airline itself has received quite some attention recently. Headquartered in Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, they almost went bankrupt, leaving behind massive debts in France, only to almost out of nowhere get this MD-11F, which crashed within a week of being acquired. (pprune, reg req) But that's not the only shady thing about this airline...
Avient is run by Andrew Smith, a former captain of the Royal Engineers, who has made a fortune from a bloody African civil war. "A United Nations report has accused Smith of organising bombing raids in the DRC on behalf of President Joseph Kabila to suppress rebel forces. It is alleged that three years ago Avient received $30,000 a month for recruiting crew from Ukraine to fly in Russian-made Antonovs behind enemy lines in 1999 and 2000." (Observer, link above)

Amnesty International mentioned Avient in A catalogue of failures: G8 Arms Exports and Human Rights Violations: "Besides the "official" trade in weapons, there are a large number of arms traffickers and brokers willing to supply arms to warring factions across Africa. One example is the network operated by Victor Bout who, through his UAE based Air Cess Company, is reported to have delivered arms clandestinely to Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Congo and to have been paid in "conflict diamonds" mined illegally. Much of the weaponry traded originated in Russia, Central Asia and other Eastern European countries. Another example is the Zimbabwean company, Avient, with management links to the UK, which was reported to have hired Russian aircraft and air crew to support the government of Laurent Kabila in the Congo with "air drops", and also admitted to repairing and maintaining Russian MIG fighters for the Kabila regime."

It is not yet known if Avient was engaged in mercenary activities at the time of this crash but one should hope this event will cause authorities to investigate this operation. Bout is in jail, Smith is still free.

A footnote: 8 MD-11 have been written off, representing 4% of the production.

Got a new computer a few days ago. The price was too good to pass up