w00t, thre r bookz
- Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk - By the author of Fight Club. Read it; but not while you're eating bacon.
- Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman - A good follow-on to American Gods. I don't think it had the same presense as it's predicessor, but the fantastic idea of "gods" living among us, singing Karoke, and pickin' up our womenz is quite exciting. Explains all my breakups -- must have been taken away by gods -- I mean, how can I compete.
- Wicked - Gregoy Maguire - This book rules. Honestly, I can't see it being a musical -- more like a Lord of the Rings-style epic. Good stuff.
"Nature Girl"
Just finished reading Carl Hiassen's "Nature Girl". You'd figure with all the books of his I've read, I'd tire of his amazing wit and creativity... 
Good read. Highly recommend.
Thanksgiving Afterreport
- Roast Turkey - Turned out great. The first 30 minutes of cooking (at 500deg) can get a bit smokey, though.
- Tart Cranberry Dipping Sauce - Great, but possibly unnecessary if you have cranberry sauce on your plate as well.
- Sage Gravy - Twas a basic gravy; nothing to write home about.
- Cranberry Sauce - Gets better every time. Should have kept it all for the waffles.
- Country Bread Stuffing - Totally great. Going to do this one again and again.
- Sweet Potatoes - While these tasted great, I really didn't like the texture. They didn't soften up much.
- String Beans & Shallots - It was pretty basic, and wasn't so bad -- but I don't think I'll make it again. Again with the texture thing.
Thanksgiving Menu
More Books
- 'A Shortcut Through Time' - George Johnson
It's a book on the history, backround, and applications for quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Pretty easy to understand, if you're into that stuff. - 'Assasination Vacation' - Sarah Vowell
Very funny. VERY educational. A great read.
Right now I'm chuggin' through Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene...
Books – Catch Up Edition
Been doing a crazy amount of reading over the past couple months, so here's a quick catch-up of the stuff I've read -- at least so I don't forget. I might edit this a bit as other books come to mind. I've been in the habit of lending things out to people after I've finished them, so I'm not sure if I've gotten everything here.
Neil Gaiman - American Gods
Neil Gaiman - Coraline
Charles Seife - Zero
Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
Margaret Atwood - Oryx & Crake
Thomas P. M. Barnett - The Pentagon's New Map
Henry Hobhouse - Seeds of Change
Jim Knipfel - Ruining it for Everyone
Chris Elliott - The Shroud of the Thwacker
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - Freakanomics
The Cosmic Serpent
Charles Seife - Decoding The Universe
Charles Seife - Alpha & Omega
Amir Aczel - Entanglement
Richard Feynman - QED
Richard Feynman - Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman
The Truth - Al Franken
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
Brian Greene - The Elegant Universe
Margaret Attwood - The Handmaid's Tale
Everyone's mind is fit to be changed.
I’m currently in the process of reading The Pentagon’s New Map, a book written a couple years ago by a professor and strategist for the Naval War College. Not the typical book I’ve been reading lately – it has nothing to do with theoretical physics or cooking – but a book at about “war in the context of everything else.†Dr. Barnett has developed a theory that separates the world into it’s “Global Functioning Core,†that which has been touched and participates in globalization, adhering to rule-sets which make typical conflict unlikely due to the strong interconnectedness; and “The Gap,â€, the countries and regions of the world that for whatever reasons – cultrurally, politically, economically, are non-participants in this growing global rule-set.
I’m about half-way through this book, and up to this point I have now, and in the past have been, in complete agreement with his theories. That economic globalization – the participation in basic economic and adherence to legal principles – is the one force that can end up leading to global peace. (probably much to the dismay of some friends that believe protesting such pro-globalization organizations such as the WTO, World Bank, and others)
However, recently I have hit a point in the discussion that has slightly gone against what I had previously held to believe – that the invasion – or attempted conversion of Iraq from a “Gap†nation to a “Core†nation is a good idea. Scratch that, I have no doubt at some point it would have been a good idea, and necessary, but I disagree with the “when†and “how.â€
In my time doing project management and learning to set priorities for myself, and at my workplace, I have learned to plot my potential projects on a three dimensional graph, based on their cost, risk, and potential benefit. Then, picking first the low hanging fruit (those projects with least risk & cost, but high or reasonably good benefit) and working from there.
I don’t believe the invasion of Iraq fits that model. Surely, converting an Arab country, governed by a dictator, with great wealth disparity to a member of the functioning “Core†would be a great trophy, but what of the cost and the risk?
As I am only half way through this book, my mind is left open to be changed, of course. However, it is good to know that there might be some laudable overarching strategy to the actions the US has taken in the past couple years, even if how they have been “explained†(if I can even use that word) to the American people and the rest of the world have been laughable at best.
Tyler. ( 2001 – 2006 )
Tyler, my first cat, had to be put to sleep today as a result of throwing a blood clot which cut off or restricting circulation to his back end, causing various problems. Cats in this situation, while they can be treated with blood thinners and such, typically only have a very short -- perhaps a month -- time to live.
He had a heart mumor for the past year or so, so I knew that the day would come when something would happen, I just didn't expect it so soon.
Tyler passed in the presense of those that he loved.
Special thanks to Jacki for being there for Tyler and myself, and my brother for telling me what I needed to know.
UPDATE: Here's some detail on what exactly happened to Mr. Tyler. Poor guy.
nofocus.org has moved
nofocus.org has moved to Coloco, a colocation facility in Laurel, MD.
It is a Dell PowerEdge 850, with
- A Dual Core 3Ghz Xeon Processor
- 2G of Ram
- 2 mirrored 500G SATA drives
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