Bibliophilia

I don't often grow a 'stache, but when I do, it's name is Charles.

No, I haven't read Thoreau's Walden yet, but I keep meaning to.  Which probably means I'll read it the week before my son's book report on it is due in 10 years.  His minimalism has inspired many fans over the years, but I still don't get why he didn't just let the lip hair grow.  Maybe a fan of the Amish?  The closest I came to Walden was reading Anne LaBastille's Woodswoman five years ago.  She took inspiration from Thoreau and built a cabin in the Adirondacks, near a lake that I hiked and canoed when I was in high school.  She is certainly inspirational in that she can and did do a lot of building the cabin, hunting her own game and other resourceful skills we don't often see nowawadays (yes, I sound like a 90 year old curmudgeon).  

Graphic Novels
The Massive: Black Pacific - Pretty much combines elements of many post-apocalyptic movies (The Core for one) with a pacificist eco-nonterrorist crew on two ships that loses one of the ships.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - Superman and Batman fight, then team up against crazy President Lex Luthor.  Alfred defends the Batcave with a double barrelled, side-by-side shotgun and Superdog defends the Fortress of Solitude.  So pretty much what you see everyday on CNN.

Books
Fragile Things - Great stories, just wow.  Read it in three days.  Neil Gaiman introduces the novel with who asked him or why he decided to write the short story.  One is a mashup between Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft; others are evocative of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - If nothing else, I appreciate the fact that David Sedaris titled his book based on a cool phrase (slightly reminiscent of Charles Bukowski's Play the Piano...) and none of the short stories/essays in the book were of the same title.

I've started both Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander in the last few days.  I realize I only have 4 weeks left, so the Tan book serves the purpose of small paperback that I can carry around easily and DG's book is a "wow this series looks good; I hope I can finish the first one in four weeks."  So far Amy Tan's novel seems like The Joy Luck Club: "I'm Chinese and live in California, but my parents lived in China.  Life is probably different than yours if you are a typically WASPy American reading this."  Diana Gabaldon's is a Celtic fantasy novel, with time travel and a nerdy academic.  She's been writing about this for 20+ years, so I'm hoping for good things.

Back to squats, bench and rows tonight:
Squats: 5-305, 5-305, 5-305, 5-305, 4-305,
Rows: 5x5x155
Bench: 4-225, 5-225, 4-225, 3-225, 2-225

I dropped off the Superman/Batman book at the library and added the David Sedaris book to the stack of free ones at the library.  I decided to borrow the David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, if for no other reason than the essays are funny and easy to read one or two a day.  The librarian laughed and asked me if I had read all of the comics they had.  I told her that I was trying and that they should reorganize the shelves so it is easier to find them.  She told me I was the only mustachioed adult man she has seen reading comic books.

Gotta love it when you have lamb, burgers, ribs, lobster, eggs and sausages all within nine hours.

I'm going to believe these red beasties came from New England.

...then I ate six more sausages.

Literary

A mustache only a mother, I mean wife, could love.

If I had two more months, I think I could have a Twainstache.  That being said, I don't have two months, but I did get another 'stacheliment tonight.  Basically, my mustache is better than a 22 year old Lt.  Easy win.

So far I've finished 10 books while here, about one a week.  I've also read the following graphic novels, which is a nice way of saying, "I'm an adult, still want to read comic books and you can't stop me."

• Hush - Batman faces pretty much all of his well known enemies and finds out that kids carry grudges.
• Arkham Asylum - Batman goes into Arkham Asylum and is saved by a quarter.
• No Man's Land - Gotham has been abandoned and can only be saved by (hard to guess) Batman!  Also, the Scarecrow vs. God.  God wins.
• The Eternals - The Earth has aliens living here who think they are humans, but are really our protectors against yucky monsters.  So, this one is basically true.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II -  A band of heroes stop Martians from destroying Victorian England.  This is not the movie.  If it was, I doubt audiences would have liked to see a thin, opium-addicted Sean Connery.
• Heart of Hush - Hush is attacking Batman again and we learn more about why Tommy Elliott hates his parents.  In the end, we think Hush is dead, but he's somewhere on crutches.  Darn.  

I am so confused.  I finished reading Yann Martel's Life of Pi three days ago and the ending threw me for a loop.  I hope watching the movie will help, but I feel like I "got" the book and then the last 30 pages it was like "Hi, I'm that boy you got to know over the last 360ish pages.  I am really a liar."

Stephenson's Zodiac is not at all like Cryptonomicon and I hope that Snow Crash, The Diamond Age and Anathem are much geekier than Zodiac as well.  Actually, the Zode feels like Fletch meets "Good Will Hunting" with some LSD and nitrous oxide.

Batman and Philosophy contains 20 essays about, you guessed it, Batman.  They consist of 80% philosophical nonsense and one or 1.5 pages of each essay of getting to the point.

Last night I picked up The Code Breakers from the library which is a 1000 page tome about cryptography.  It might be a stretch to finish it before I leave, but I will at least use it to help me get to sleep.

Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things is a collection of his short stories and poems that have been printed elsewhere already.  It was a slow start, but now it is very hard to put down.  I've read 100 pages each of the last two days.  Many of the stories feel like they could be episodes from the TV show "The Twilight Zone" or movies directed by David Lynch.

Workout
Squat: 5x5-265,
Bench: 5x5-215,
Bent Over Rows: 5x5-115
...and 20 pushups

Meal is bare-bones so I can get to sleep earlier and not waste time going to and from the DFAC.

+1 if this is your dinner, too.

Minimalizing

I know what you are thinking: "Minimalizing?  This guy's overseas, meals provided for, takes the bus to work, library full of books within walking distance, free movies if he so chooses and no bills."  However, consider the following:

- Clutter distracts from better things (a smiling baby, an engeretic four year old, wine)
- Humans parse the items in a room; more items -> more energy to parse - > more stress
- I keep a running list of Things to Get Rid of in my Google Drive

Questions I ask myself:
- Do I need six bookcases of books?  How many more times will I read that book?  If I haven't read it, do I really want to?
- How many extra USB, ethernet and speaker cables/wires do I need?
- How many life-sized Boba Fett sets of armor can a man have?  (Seven at last count)

A plan of attack - Yeah, I know you are thinking, "How much stuff does this guy take with him in one large suitcase and a backpack?"  Baby steps...

Not keeping
- Old emails: I don't need 3,000 "click here to download your monthly statement" or "you have a message from your bank" emails
- Old books: If they are mediocre fiction paperbacks, I'll leave them at the library for someone else to read.
- Hulu: I've watched a few shows while here, but haven't had success with it loading the last few nights.  Plus, there are free movies on the base theater and to borrow from the library...actually, Downtown Abbey episode 1 is working now.  We'll see.
- Extra chemicals: I don't need Clorox, Formula 409, two kinds of Lysol, Febreeze, Swiffer pads and baby wipes.  I'll stick to the last two.
- Crossword puzzles: Not doing the puzzle leaves more time to reading Batman comics and "How to get your wife to laugh at your jokes" self help books

Keeping
- The stache: First, if I shaved, I'd have to change the name of the blog.  Plus, I save roughly four Joules of energy each day by not shaving my upper lip.  Lastly, save the planet:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Green-Tip-Grow-a-Moustache-Help-Save-the-Planet-303625.shtml
- Old books: If my family will read them in the future, I'll keep.  If they are reference books, I'll keep.  Lastly, I have two books that I borrowed from family; these I'll keep.
- Furniture: I think if I post "bunkbed for sale" on the base classifieds, someone might have a problem with that.
- Luggage: Another officer has a suitcase in my room, in the event he might come here TDY.  Let's just assume he wants to keep all of his personal effects.

For more stuff ideas

I'm going to try the food & workout post by day.  Let me know if you have a preference for a weekly summary or a day by day review.

Warmup: Weighted chinups 27lb dumbbell-5, 5, 33lb dumbbell-3, 2; bodyweight-4

Workout: Squats: 5-245, 5-255, 5-265, 5-275, 5-280

Cooldown: Tricep extensions: 10-70lbs, 10-80lbs, 3-90lbs 

The second time since I've been here and they have steak and lobster for dinner!

The trifecta: sea, land and can't-quite-fly.

You're probably thinking, "Where are the eggs?"

I keep seeing tiny, pale lizards running around on the sidewalk.

Books I haven't read

After reviewing the opening lines of 100 great books, I realized I had only read maybe two or three of the books on the list.  In reviewing the Modern Library's list of 100 Best Novels, I've read 12 of the editor's list and 18 of the reader's picks.

I've been considering James Joyce's Ulysses since high school when I found out it was considered obscene.  Apparently it is free from the Gutenberg site; I'll check if the library has a copy, as I prefer turning actual pages.

Last night I stopped at the library to look for (what else?) books on physics.  I saw a few copies of Einstein, apparently not about the dog from Back to the Future.  Anyway, I also found David Kahn's The Codebreakers (on my Amazon wishlist), another David Sedaris book I haven't yet read and Batman and Philosophy.  I got the philosophy book and one other one...even though I'm already reading two others.  I'm a sucker for good books.  Plus, the Batman book goes with this History Channel show I watched a few weeks ago.  Nine years ago I read The Matrix and Philosophy and Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in the Matrix, which were decent enough to pass the time.  They discussed Plato's cave, Buddhism and how Neo, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Vishnu and Odin will team up to destroy the artificial intelligence humans will create in about 500 years.

There is a theme here, I just know it.

Friday Physics

My new standing desk, with built in wrist cushion.

Nom Nom Paleo here.

No thank you, Rebecca Black.

I consider the phrase "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." pointless and moronic.  If something is so horrible that you would consider this phrase, it's probably the kind of thing you would want to happen to your worst enemy (assuming you are the kind of person who has enemies).  I could see saying, "I wouldn't wish that on my annoying cousin-in-law who has the awkward facial tic." or "I wouldn't wish that on my own clone who might have to replace me without my wife's knowledge."  My worst enemy will get what she deserves (equal opportunities exist for female nemesises).

Along the same vein..."I could care less."  If you could care less, then the thing probably is worth caring about.  If you couldn't care less, then it is probably so beneath your notice that you are defying the things purpose for existence.  

Does anyone else think that Julian Assange looks like he should be a Bond villain?

"Hi CNN...please don't tell Interpol where we are right now."

"Don't tell Sergey Brin, but I'm taking over."

Tonight's lesson on physics started with force vector math, covered the basics of derivatives, integration, SOHCAHTOA and an oversimplified telling of Big G (no, not that B.I.G.).  Electron shells and were discussed...the explanation for why the progression starting with 2 and moving to 8 was not enough to convince the class, but meager enough to explain why water exists and why water in a glass will appear to curve upwards at the meniscus.

Finally, here's a scrap of paper I keep in one of my notebooks from a really smart former professor I met in college.  Several of us were on a field trip to visit Roosevelt's museum in Hyde Park, NY.  After the tour, we went to a diner for dinner.  While waiting, an elderly looking bearded man sitting at the counter started talking to us.  We naive sophomores assumed he was simply an old friendly befuddled gentlemen.  We told him we are college students and I must have mentioned I was studying engineering.  At that point I would have been taking my third physics course.  He wrote the below equation on the back of the place mat and told me it was a very important equation.  He told me he used to be a professor at a college in the area (not sure where).  Still not thinking much of the interaction, I thanked him (I hope) and kept the paper.

Probably near the Eveready Diner, Hyde Park, NY, circa fall 2000.  Professor John is second from right.

At my next physics class, I showed the equation to my professor (mustache!), assuming he would not be impressed.  On the contrary, he told me the gentleman who wrote that must be very smart indeed.  I've kept that paper for 12 years.

If you know what this means, please help me.

Don't drink coffee...sometimes

Coffee is hard on the adrenal glands, depletes your bones of magnesium and has been known to run away with the spoon, but I decided to just have two cups of Earl Grey tea tonight, with some medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil added in for fun.  We'll see if skipping the coffee and eating an earlier dinner help me get to sleep closer to around the time the sun is getting up.

...I haven't given coffee up forever, just avoided it tonight.

Apparently Styrofoam cups can't handle the heat generated by the kettle at work and the MCT oil.  A crack showed up in the cup where my plastic MRE spoon stirred and scraped away from foam and a globule of tea sprang.  I'll stick to my "eco-friendly" coffee cup and just pretend my tea doesn't taste like yesterday's coffee.

After finishing Sherlock Holmes last night, there is a definite theme of "19th century London stepdad's wanted their stepdaughters' inheritance and would lie to no end to keep it."  If Sherlock Holmes existed today in America, he'd be encountered with the denizens of Fox's "Cops."  As it turns out the final four short stories wound up as follows:

• "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"; engineer loses thumb while programming a computer; Holmes snorts cocaine due to a counterfeiter's axe; they get away with some of their fake coins
• "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"; a woman is to be married to a young man; man is her father; Holmes does nothing an English Lord; woman was already married whose husband was presumed dead and is at the ceremony; woman flees with husband; Holmes finds the couple and makes them tell the Lord
• "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"; Colonel Mustard steals a crown; Holmes in opium den Banker holds a crown in his home (already a dumb idea) while crown is collateral for a loan; boyfriend of his neice steals it; Holmes recognizes that banker's son did not do it
• "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"; Holmes stops the Nazis This was one disturbing...Man seeks a nanny for his son and requires that the nanny look like his sick daughter; nanny is forced to cut her hair, hired and then acts out scenes to ward off the daughter's fiance; eventually the fiance and daughter escape and the man and is wife are (slightly) reformed.  Holmes solves mystery, which was again, a father/stepfather wanting his daughters inheritance.  

I've finished David Sedaris' book Naked, which was very funny.  His career seems to be based on his own admitted laziness, description of casual drug and alcohol use and the absurd descriptions of some common things he's gone through in his life.

It's a rest day, but I did do 50 air squats at my desk.  I tend to slouch, lean to the left and crookedify myself in my office chair.

Very unoriginally (I know it's not really a word) I decided to have two pieces of steak, two eggs over hard and a salad.  The combination of olive oil, red vinegar, white vinegar and lemon juice, with a healthy raining of salt, is quite delicious.  No pictures tonight; decided to travel sans backpack and accouterments to the cafeteria.

This is the end of this blog post.  I had something else to add written in my notebook, but left that little red notebook at work.  Tomorrow!

Last night I updated my books read log in Google Drive using the notes I've kept since 2003.  Starting with the Silmarillion and ending today with Me Talk Pretty One Day, I've read 308 books in 11 years, counting ebooks and audio CDs.  If you are interested in genres or what I've read, comment or email me.