Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Dec. 27: TV: CRAP!!! 1 hr.
Read: The Math Book 30 min. (4 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 28: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Math Book 30 min. (5 hr.)

Dec. 29: TV: 0 min.
Read: 0 min. (5 hr.)

Dec. 30: TV: MIB 1 hr. 30 min.
Read: The Math Book 30 min. (4 hr.)

Dec. 31: TV: 0 min.
Read: 0 min. (4 hr.)

I just read my first 20 pages of Ulysses and it went ok.  I ignored all the references I did not know (all of them) and focused on what I could understand.  I think Dedalus, Haines, and Buck ate breakfast.

by Clifford A. Pickover

Not a typical read. It is actually a chronological listing of important mathematic discoveries from the beginning of life to present time.

I liked learning when important ideas were formed. I did get lost with the mathematics in the 1850's.

When I look back on my 2009 new years resolutions, I realize how much they gave me. I found Mma. Ramotswi, John Steinbeck, and how much I dislike Thomas Friedman.

One of my resolutions from last year was not accomplished. I stopped listing what I was grateful for. It became a chore which was not the intention.

For 2010 my goals are as follows:

1- Watch TV with a purpose. Only turn the television on with a program in mind and only watch that program. For me this will basically get rid of the CRAP from last year.

2- Run three days a week. I am going to sign up for a half marathon and in order to prepare I intend on running three days a week. Not long or hard but consistently.

3- With my mother, read all the books on the Modern Library Top 100 Novels list (according to my calculations this could take 15 years). Elizabeth and I have picked five books we are going to read this year: Ulysses by James Joyce, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Death Of The Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, and Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. We also planning on rating twelve books we have already read from the list. I am planning on compiling our reviews and posting the list at the end of the year.

Bring on 2010!!!

Dec. 20: TV: Four Christmases 1 hr. 30 min.
Read: A Christmas Carol 30 min.
The Kalahari Typing School for Men 1 hr. (0 min.)

Dec. 21: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Kalahari Typing School for Men 30 min.
A Christmas Carol 30 min. (1 hr.)

Dec. 22: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Kalahari Typing School for Men 30 min.
A Christmas Carol 30 min. (2 hr.)

Dec. 23: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Kalahari Typing School for Men 1 hr. (3 hr.)

Dec. 24: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Kalahari Typing School for Men 1 hr. (4 hr.)

Dec. 25: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Math Book 30 min. (4 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 26: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Math Book 30 min. . (5 hr.)

by Alexander McCall Smith

The Kalahari Typing School for Men continues with the lives of Mma Ramotswe, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and Mma. Makutsi; lives that are worth following.

Alexander McCall Smith has created a beautiful, wise, compassionate main character whose love for Botswana, Africa, and the old ways make every case she solves a burden of kindness. Smith actually makes an appearance in this fourth book in the #1 Ladies Detective Series.

These stories are to be read for their beauty not for their plot line. A beauty that washes over the reader and brings smiles and tears.

by Safran Foer

To begin with, this is an excellently crafted more than well written book. Foer makes his points clearly, loud, and based on indisputable facts. He leaves the reader no room for denial.

It is that reason I rated the book as I did (2 out of 5 stars), I was left with the fact that, as a meat eater, I am a contributor to gross animal violence and ecologically damaging farming. I have been living with blinders on, blind to the facts of how the factory farms where putting food on my table.

Eating Animals hit me in the face with the question: do I eat meat and be a participant in an ecological, animal rights disaster or I remove myself from the exploitation of animals and become a vegan.

I read this book knowing I would not change my eating habits but now I know the affects of that decision.

Concept and Story by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou
Drawings by Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna

This was the best graphic novel I have every read. Well, truth be told, it is the only graphic novel I have ever read.

Logicomix tells the story of logic, math, madness, and war as it follows the life of Bertrand Russell and his quest to prove the foundations of Mathematics with logic. Throughout his journey, he crosses paths with some of the greatest philosophers and mathematicians of his time.

I very much enjoyed the medium of the graphic novel and felt it did not deter from the importance of the quest. I would recommend this book.

Dec. 13: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-4 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 14: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 (-4 hr.)

Dec. 15: TV: 0 min.
Read: Logicomics 30 min. (-3 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 16: TV: 0 min.
Read: Logicomics 30 min. (-3 hr.)

Dec. 17: TV: 0 min.
Read: Logicomics 30 min. (-2 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 18: TV: 0 min.
Read: Logicomics 30 min. (-2 hr.)

Dec. 19: TV: 0 min.
Read: The Kalahari Typing School for Men 2 hrs. (0 hrs. 0 min.)

Dec. 6: TV: Football 1 hr. 30 min.
Read: Morality for Beautiful Girls 2 hrs. (-4 hr.)

Dec. 7: TV: CRAP!!! 4 hrs.
Read: Morality for Beautiful Girls 1 hr. (-7 hr.)

Dec. 8: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-6 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 9: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-6 hr.)

Dec. 10: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-5 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 11: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-5 hr.)

Dec. 12: TV: 0 min.
Read: 0 min. . (-5 hr.)

Nov. 29: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 1 hr. 30 min (-6 hr. 30 min.)

Nov. 30: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-6 hr.)

Dec. 1: TV: 0 min.
Read: Eating Animals 1 hr. (-5 hr.)

Dec. 2: TV:
Read: Eating Animals 30 min. (-4 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 3: TV: CRAP!!! 2 hrs.
Read: Morality for Beautiful Girls 1 hr. (-5 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 4: TV: 0 min.
Read: Morality for Beautiful Girls 1 hr. (-4 hr. 30 min.)

Dec. 5: TV: Texas Football 2 hrs.
Read: Morality for Beautiful Girls 2 hrs. (-4 hr. 30 min.)

Charlie said: I am not familiar with extended albums. I think the idea is that during the process of making an album there are leftovers, song that were not selected to be on the album. Blitzen Trapper's last album "Furr" was amazing and I was excited to listen to some of their leftovers.

"Black River Killer", the name sake for the extended album, is an amazing tune. Dark, scarey, yet easy to listen to. It is a complete finished song that is one of my favorite on the album "Furr". Althought the other songs six songs on the extended cd have the same sound, they lack the depth and richness of "Furr". Most songs feel unfinished and lack the craft.

I love Blitzen Trapper, I love "Furr", I do not love "Black River Killers". On the Tina/Charlie Promote it, Lend it, Deny it I give "Black River Killers" a Lend it.

Tina said: I used to despise leftovers. However I have been trying to be less wasteful, and I have learned that leftovers can be a fun, and an enjoyment as you try to craft something from your original meal (i.e. turkey into turkey pot pie). I also know that leftovers can also cause a stench in your fridge, leaving you with an unwanted smell and cleaning task.

I thoroughly enjoyed Blitzen Trappers first course offering with their most recent album titled Furr, so it should go without saying that I to was looking forward to the extended album or the “leftovers”. This album is very easy to listen to, enjoyable and light and dark at time. I like it. While the tracks are not nearly as detailed as Furr, they songs are still catchy. However the songs seem to drift off into the air, and never really finish. Leaving the listener wonder if their still listening to the same song, of if they have moved on to the next track.

While I enjoy these leftovers with songs like Preachers Sisters Boy, and Silver Moon, it’s still an unfinished album, and this I do not enjoy. I enjoyed the first course, and these leftovers did not end up being the magical meal that I anticipated them to be, instead they were just leftovers reheated in the microwave. On the Tina/Charlie promote it, lend it, deny it, I give it a lend it.