Category: list

Books Read in 2013

I did quite a bit of reading in the last year. I’m hoping to do just as much if not more this year!

January (6)
John Dies at the End by David Wong
Our Gleaming Bones Unrobed by Grant Loveys
Justinian’s Flea by William Rosen
Bad Machinery: The Case of Team Spirit by John Allison
Boom! by Thomas Richard Harry
This Book has Spiders in it by David Wong

February (6)
The Enlightenment Vision by Stuart Jordan
Tarzan the Centennial Celebration by Scott Tracy Griffin
The Adventurer’s Handbook by Mick Conefrey
Budget Travel through Space and Time by Albert Goldbarth
Not Buying It by Judith Levine
In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation by Melinda L. Pash

March (3)
It’s Even Worse than it Looks by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein
Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
The Girl in the Flammable Skit by Aimee Bender

April (2)
Overheated by Andrew Guzman
Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

May (4)
The Myth of Persecution by Candida Moss
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

June (2)
City of Quartz by Mike Davis
Faust Eric by Terry Pratchett

July (1)
Escape Velocity by Mark Dery

August (1)
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

September (1)
Alas, Poor Yorick by Ryan North

October (12)
All Your Yesterdays by John Conway, C.M. Kosemen, Darren Naishi
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett
The Son I Never Had by Kevin Wolf
Make me a Sandwich by Jemma Salume
Moses and Bean: School Bus Sex Ed by Matt and Jeanie Bryan
All Yesterdays by John Conway, C.M. Kosemen, Darren Naishi
The Men Who Lost America by Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy
Skin Deep: Orientations by Kory Bing
Please Don’t Give Up (1 of 4) by Thien Pham
The Adventures of the 19XX: Rise of the Black Faun by Paul Martinez
Murder and Magic by Randall Garrett

November (3)
Too Many Magicians by Randall Garrett
Lord Darcy Investigates by Randall Garrett
The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer

December (1)
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

Total: 42

If I have any reading goals for 2014 it is to complete book review books in the month I get them, to read more “classic” texts, and to finally read through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, Francesco Colonna’s  Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, and maybe, maybe Spengler’s Decline of the West.

False Four: Springtime

Springtime music

Springtime movies

  • Bambi – I can’t think of a more appropriate film for the season.
  • Field of Dreams – This could be a summer film as well. But Spring seems to be the season I associate most with the sport of Baseball. A wonderful story about a man who misses his father and the sport that connected them.
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Guess it shows I was raised by someone who loved musicals. This story centers around a family of brothers who steal themselves wives… Yeah, it’s pretty great.
  • The Producers – A delightful and light musical that features “Springtime for Hitler.”

Springtime books

  • Pawn of Prophecy – The first book in David Edding’s Belgariad pentalogy. I don’t know if I can say this is a good book. I just know that I read it every spring for about 15 years of my life. My thoughts and concepts of Spring as a season are inexorably tied up with this book.
  • The Secret Garden – A young orphan and her ailing cousin healed by the power of Nature’s ability to re-grow an overcome adversity. A perfect book for the season.
  • The Odyssey – There isn’t anything particularly “springish” about Homer’s epic poem about the trials of the Greek hero Odysseus as he tries to make his way home from Asia Minor to the island of Ithaca. Spring seems like the ideal time to read the poem and the growth of Odysseus from trope ‘hero’ to conflicted man, loving father and dutiful husband is reminiscent of the new growth we see in this season.
  • The Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss’ most famous book! The rains that keep our two protagonists in always seemed to be spring rains to me an t

Springtime dates

  • Day hike – With the weather warming up it’s time to get out of the house and get some exercise. Whether it be an urban adventure or among the great outdoors. Hiking is an excellent way to learn about and spend time with that special someone in your life.
  • Picnic in the Park – Skip the resturants and cafes during Spring and instead pack a basket full of fresh bread, fruits, and a cured meat and head out to your local park to soak up the wonders of the season.
  • Farmer’s Market Trip –  Turn a grocery store trip into an exciting outing to the local Farmer’s Market. Get to know your local food producers and sample their wares!
  • Evening stroll through your local arboretum or botanical gardens – Can’t get out into the Wilds? See if your town or city has an arboretum or botanical garden. Avoid the crowds an go just around sunset and surround yourself in the beauty of a Spring evening.

False Four: Habits

False 4ourHabits you should have

  • The glass is half full – Look for the positive in yourself, others, and your situation
  • Be mindful – Ever feel like the days, months, and years pass by and you don’t know where the went? Perhaps you need to focus on experiencing the moments as they happen? Being mindful of yourself (feelings, place, context) and the world around you will tether and anchor you to the time you’ve been missing.
  • Smile – It costs you nothing and will make you and everyone else you encounter feel better. Seriously, it is that easy!
  • Exercise – Time to look yourself in the eye and admit you could use 30 minutes to an hour more a day doing some sort of strenuous activity. Preferably outside, and even better with others.

Habits you should kick

  • Skipping breakfast – Skipping the first meal of the day robs you of energy during the hours you’re most productive and messes with your metabolism. 
  • Negative thoughts – the antithesis of the first habit above. Negative thoughts are the cages we build to incarcerate ourselves. There’s only ever going to be one person who will always be there for you and that is you. In your life there are going to be innumerable people who are going to bet against you and pull you down, why add to that crowd?
  • “Body Farming” – You touch your face two to four times every minutes, 91% of people pick their noses, 39% bite their nails, and people are constantly picking, scratching and irritating their skin. These activities are unsightly and unhealthy. Stop it!
  • Eating “fast” food – Companies know that Americans are a hurried and overworked population and they’ve gone out of their way to provide easy, cheap, and calorie rich food for them. While this might seem a blessing for Americans this food is largely heavily processed and consists mostly of corn, soy and oil. Calorie rich and nutrient poor. Stop it!

Habits you should cultivate

  • Learning something new – Are you expanding your horizons? What are you doing to expand your personal, professional, and creative toolbox? 
  • Get up early – Think of a great person? Got one? I don’t know who the person you picked was but I knew they got up early. Before everyone else was up their were up practicing, studying, honing and working on becoming great
  • Practice empathy – Empathy is the ability to put oneself in some one else’s shoes, and the willingness to respond to that person’s needs. Empathy will help you see the glass half full, it will help you smile, and it help bring you closer to everyone around you.
  • Read more – My own biases are showing with this last one. But, reading will help you grow as a person in every aspect of your life. It will help you go to places you can never go, understand things you never could,  and know people you could never know!

2012 Goals: How Did I Do?

Not as good as this guy…

Happy New Year to you all! This post is late but you know how it is with the Holidays. I kind of wish we could find a way to spread them out a little better. The gauntlet from Thanksgiving to New Year is killer for whatever normalcy you have in your life. No wonder I feel the need to make resolutions come January 1st. My life gets completely frazzled and torn out of shape by December 31.

Here’s my goal post from the beginning of last year.

Let’s see how I did!

1. Pay off credit card debt – This has been a millstone around my neck for too long. I want it gone by the end of the year.

Done!

2. Climb Half -dome – Now is the time to start planning this.

Nope!

3. Cut down on distractions – I spend too much time reading stuff. It’s all very interesting stuff but it doesn’t serve any higher purpose. It’s just another way to distract myself from my life.

I got distracted and failed to keep this goal. Though I do think I was better at being focused

4. Write a poem a week – 52 weeks, 52 poems

Um, kinda? I got through February, so eight poems and I did start the SSPP (Surreal Space Poetry Project)

5. Draw something once a week – 52 weeks, 52 doodles

Nope!

6. Continue meditation – Extend meditation time from ten minutes to twenty, add evening meditation.

Meditation came to an abrupt stop with the time change in 2012 and then the move…

7. Step away from the television and computer – I have a great dog, a beautiful wife, and wonderful friends. I should spend more time with them instead of tapping keys.

I did do this!

8. Fix my knee, start running, cycle more, swim more, do some free weights – I figure with all the free time I have why not make myself better with it?

Did it! Except until the move to San Diego but one of my goal’s for this month (Jan ’13) is to find a weight gym

9. Intentionally left blank

10. Intentionally left blank

Yeah, I don’t know what that was about!

Grade: Satisfactory. Room for improvement in areas.

I’ve done goals for the last two years (2011 and 2012) and I don’t think they’ve done much for me. Either I have anxiety over them and feel like I’m not accomplishing anything or it feels like I’m being coerced into doing something by past me, future me doesn’t like that. I might do goals/resolutions for 2013. But, before I do I need to think long and hard about them as well as how to make goals that I won’t forget about or just not do.

 

 

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