Ok I have just finished another book on the list so I can give 3 more updates. Just remember I am not a professional book analyst, this is just my personal opinion:
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Again another quick read like The Call of the Wild but a completely different feel. This is science fiction back when evolution was just beginning to get a foot hold. There is a lot of evolution in this book so if you are anti-evolution, don't bother with the book, it will just make you mad. Otherwise this is a great book, its kind of slow at first but it draws you in to what is going on quite quickly. He does an amazing job of taking his modern day society and projecting what might happen with the human race several hundred thousand years in the future, then to the planet itself towards the end of the earth. It will be interesting now to go back and watch the movie again to see if it really has as much geology and evolution as the book did.
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
This is the first book I read since I started my book list about 2 and a half years ago. This is a cool book because it takes place during the time of Robin Hood and has several of the same characters in it as well. There are lots of knightly things going on also like jousts and saving a damsel in distress. Its been a while so I'm not sure of the intricacies of the book. But I do know it was a bit hard to get into at first but eventually I got really interested when I got used to the writing style.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
With all the hype that this book gets you would assume it to be longer but no it only took me 2 days to read as well. This book is great though, it really deserves the hype it gets. Pretty much it is a book about a guy with a god complex and then he has to deal with what he has done when he tries to run away from it. So again its a guy who makes a monster then has to deal with it when its loose. And no the movies usually portray the monster as a grunting beast where actually he learns to read and write rather articulately. Anyway this book is well written and easy to read and since I don't want to spoil anything that is pretty much all I am going to say.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Our new dog, Twix
This is our new dog Twix. We got her from the SPCA and she already had that name so we didn't want to change it. Although she doesn't really respond to it she is getting better. We have had her a week and two days now and when we first got her she seemed really sad and terribly thin. She really didn't like to be left alone at all and she was overjoyous whenever we came home. But now she is starting to get used to us and whenever we go out she is getting better. We had to use short breaks to teach her that we would always come back. Now she loves to play, more and more each day she got into it. Now she plays fetch and tug of war with a rope and a squeaky football attached to a rope. She it so very energetic, she absolutely loves to be chased around the yard and she will always vie for our attention. If I stop petting her she will run over to Veronica and then back to me when she is done. Its rather humorous. Anyway, that is our new dog.
Book Update 1
Ok I said that I would eventually go over some of the books I have read and what my perception of them was as well as what books I feel other people might enjoy. Oh I also forgot to mention another web site that lays out each of the 4 book lists I listed and he gives his perception on the books as well as the ones he has read. You can find that list here . Ok onto some book descriptions. I figured 3 short descriptions per blog entry will be enough until either I have forgotten what the book was about or I have catalogued all I have read so far. Onto the one I just finished:
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
This book was fantastic. I highly recommend it to anyone especially dog lovers. It is gripping and it is intense, so much so it makes you want to read more and to top it all off, its short. Only about 80 pages. I read it in about 2 days and I did not try to hard. It is about a dog, Buck, who was kidnapped from California I believe and taken to Alaska to be a sled dog. The book is entirely through the dogs perspective but it doesn't do any of the cheesy "dog voices". Not once do you hear what they are saying but you more than get the feel of it, especially among his interactions with other dogs and humans. Again I highly recommend, you won't be disappointed.
The Divine Comedy by Dante
This is a compilation of the trilogy including the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. The first I read in Humanities in college and I greatly enjoyed. It helps having someone point out the little things going on in the story too. The second two I recently read by myself. Now the Inferno that I read was a school book which was translated in a way to help people understand what was going on. The other two that I read were translated in a way to mimic old English, which I have a hard enough time by myself, so several of the subtleties escaped me. My recommendation is that you have the opportunity to read, go for it by choose a translation that is easier to understand because the book by itself is hard enough to read. But I did enjoy it especially when he meets famous people that I have heard about.
The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
I read these last year but I can still make comments and even though they are two separate books people always lump them together so I will do the same. The Iliad reminded me of the Bible. It was pretty much a long list of names with most of the people dying between the list of names. Let me give you an example. It goes pretty much but stating. "Now Jeremiah dies by the hands of Joseph, son of Matthew, son of Jacob, son of Ismeal... And so on" Now that line doesn't actually appear but you get my point. And in that regards it is difficult to read at first but after a while it takes some getting used to. Now the kicker is that everyone wants to read about the death of Achilles. This doesn't take place in these books. The Iliad only chronicles the beginning of the Trojan War, not Achilles' death. So that was kind of disappointing. The Odyssey takes place at the end of the war after Achilles death, so again there is a large gap in the middle chonicled by other stories I did not read, nor know the name of. The Odyssey though was much more interesting because things actually happened and he went to places and met people that most people know of. So its kind of like reading a story everyone knows but for the first time. I enjoyed it immensely. I believe the Iliad is included in the book lists just because it accompanies the Odyssey which alone is such a great books, but I'm not sure. Anyway that is my review, take it as you will this is how I feel.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
This book was fantastic. I highly recommend it to anyone especially dog lovers. It is gripping and it is intense, so much so it makes you want to read more and to top it all off, its short. Only about 80 pages. I read it in about 2 days and I did not try to hard. It is about a dog, Buck, who was kidnapped from California I believe and taken to Alaska to be a sled dog. The book is entirely through the dogs perspective but it doesn't do any of the cheesy "dog voices". Not once do you hear what they are saying but you more than get the feel of it, especially among his interactions with other dogs and humans. Again I highly recommend, you won't be disappointed.
The Divine Comedy by Dante
This is a compilation of the trilogy including the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. The first I read in Humanities in college and I greatly enjoyed. It helps having someone point out the little things going on in the story too. The second two I recently read by myself. Now the Inferno that I read was a school book which was translated in a way to help people understand what was going on. The other two that I read were translated in a way to mimic old English, which I have a hard enough time by myself, so several of the subtleties escaped me. My recommendation is that you have the opportunity to read, go for it by choose a translation that is easier to understand because the book by itself is hard enough to read. But I did enjoy it especially when he meets famous people that I have heard about.
The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
I read these last year but I can still make comments and even though they are two separate books people always lump them together so I will do the same. The Iliad reminded me of the Bible. It was pretty much a long list of names with most of the people dying between the list of names. Let me give you an example. It goes pretty much but stating. "Now Jeremiah dies by the hands of Joseph, son of Matthew, son of Jacob, son of Ismeal... And so on" Now that line doesn't actually appear but you get my point. And in that regards it is difficult to read at first but after a while it takes some getting used to. Now the kicker is that everyone wants to read about the death of Achilles. This doesn't take place in these books. The Iliad only chronicles the beginning of the Trojan War, not Achilles' death. So that was kind of disappointing. The Odyssey takes place at the end of the war after Achilles death, so again there is a large gap in the middle chonicled by other stories I did not read, nor know the name of. The Odyssey though was much more interesting because things actually happened and he went to places and met people that most people know of. So its kind of like reading a story everyone knows but for the first time. I enjoyed it immensely. I believe the Iliad is included in the book lists just because it accompanies the Odyssey which alone is such a great books, but I'm not sure. Anyway that is my review, take it as you will this is how I feel.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Collections fun
As I sit here at 7:14 on a Saturday morning I think to myself, "Gee isn't collections fun. They let me set my own hours and everything." Oh wait then the practical side of me returns and says. "Yea set your own hours, as long as 12 of them are between 6-10 at night or on a weekend. And you must have at least 2 weekends a month." So you see I am not really setting my own hours at all because if I were I would work a normal full time schedule and then perhaps I would be able to see my fiancee once in a blue moon and maybe, just maybe, be able to enjoy my weekend. Thanks you for letting me rant, we now return you to your regularly scheduled program...
Thursday, September 08, 2005
New Orleans
Since everyone else needs to make their thoughts known I figured I would join into the game. First off I want everyone to know I am a Democrat. I voted for Kerry and I have no love for Bush. I don't think he has done a good job in his presidency and I think he has made a lot of bad decisions. Ok that being said my comments:
1. I don't know why people are blaming Bush on everything that happened in New Orleans. First I feel that it is not his job to wait for every little thing to happen then respond to it.
2. Second (and the big thing): the day after the hurricane New Orleans was not that badly hit. Several other towns in Mississippi and Louisiana were MUCH worse off so federal help went to them first. Now that is the day after that help was down there. The problem first appeared to be bigger than originally thought when the levees broke. That's when New Orleans became the vast disaster area it was. But that was 2 days after the hurricane and all the help was already elsewhere. They could not just drop everything they were doing to rush back.
3. Third: studying geology for the last 6 years I have heard about New Orleans for a very long time. The way they built up the city is similar to Venice. If anyone knows about Venice it is currently sinking so they have to continually build up the streets and buildings. New Orleans blocked off the Mississippi River so that no new sediment was being deposited on the delta where the city was built. A delta is essentially a big bag of sand and silt in water on the edge of the gulf. Now place a city on top of it. This forces the land to settle in the water. Back to current conditions - the city has been sinking causing it to be lower than sea level. The only thing hold out the ocean was the levees. Picture this, a bathtub surrounded by water and then the wall breaks on the tub and it fills with water. It has been known that New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen and no one has tried to fix it.
4. Fourth: Several of the families could not leave the city before it happened but most chose to stay for some stupid reason of "I didn't think it would be so bad". Well it was, and they told you to leave but you didn't and several of them still choose to stay. Even the nursing home was offered busses to leave but the families said they would be fine.
5. Fifth and final: The media is a major problem with this whole thing. They are making problems out to be worse than they are and things that are really bad to not pay much attention to. They keep blaming Bush without trying to find any help for anyone and don't get me into the whole racist thing. I agree there are gangs and problems and such like that but just because someone is black does not mean they are in a gang and just because they are white mean they are innocent. I think the majority of people there are in desperate need for help but it is the few that need to yell at the cameras that get the majority of the attention. And the mayor of New Orleans isn't helping anyone by cursing at the camera saying that Bush should do something. They even had a priest doing the same thing but at FEMA this time.
I personally believe that the setting for this was in place and that it was gonna happen. Was everything done afterwards to help the people, probably not. But we can't focus on that, we need to help the people now and get this city up and running, however long it takes. And this time we need to learn how to do it right. (Now for the bleak geologic future): The reason they need to figure this out is because there are several cities on the coast that are the largest cities on the planet. Because of global warming (not taking place as fast as people are warning but still really fast geologically) the coastal cities will be drowned out. So if they learn how to do it right they might actually be able to save the world in the future.
1. I don't know why people are blaming Bush on everything that happened in New Orleans. First I feel that it is not his job to wait for every little thing to happen then respond to it.
2. Second (and the big thing): the day after the hurricane New Orleans was not that badly hit. Several other towns in Mississippi and Louisiana were MUCH worse off so federal help went to them first. Now that is the day after that help was down there. The problem first appeared to be bigger than originally thought when the levees broke. That's when New Orleans became the vast disaster area it was. But that was 2 days after the hurricane and all the help was already elsewhere. They could not just drop everything they were doing to rush back.
3. Third: studying geology for the last 6 years I have heard about New Orleans for a very long time. The way they built up the city is similar to Venice. If anyone knows about Venice it is currently sinking so they have to continually build up the streets and buildings. New Orleans blocked off the Mississippi River so that no new sediment was being deposited on the delta where the city was built. A delta is essentially a big bag of sand and silt in water on the edge of the gulf. Now place a city on top of it. This forces the land to settle in the water. Back to current conditions - the city has been sinking causing it to be lower than sea level. The only thing hold out the ocean was the levees. Picture this, a bathtub surrounded by water and then the wall breaks on the tub and it fills with water. It has been known that New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen and no one has tried to fix it.
4. Fourth: Several of the families could not leave the city before it happened but most chose to stay for some stupid reason of "I didn't think it would be so bad". Well it was, and they told you to leave but you didn't and several of them still choose to stay. Even the nursing home was offered busses to leave but the families said they would be fine.
5. Fifth and final: The media is a major problem with this whole thing. They are making problems out to be worse than they are and things that are really bad to not pay much attention to. They keep blaming Bush without trying to find any help for anyone and don't get me into the whole racist thing. I agree there are gangs and problems and such like that but just because someone is black does not mean they are in a gang and just because they are white mean they are innocent. I think the majority of people there are in desperate need for help but it is the few that need to yell at the cameras that get the majority of the attention. And the mayor of New Orleans isn't helping anyone by cursing at the camera saying that Bush should do something. They even had a priest doing the same thing but at FEMA this time.
I personally believe that the setting for this was in place and that it was gonna happen. Was everything done afterwards to help the people, probably not. But we can't focus on that, we need to help the people now and get this city up and running, however long it takes. And this time we need to learn how to do it right. (Now for the bleak geologic future): The reason they need to figure this out is because there are several cities on the coast that are the largest cities on the planet. Because of global warming (not taking place as fast as people are warning but still really fast geologically) the coastal cities will be drowned out. So if they learn how to do it right they might actually be able to save the world in the future.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Book Lists
Now I have actually received comments of the book list and I anticipated that this would be the most interesting of topic since people often want to know how many of these books they read. Nothing to do with improving themselves but hey, whatever. Anyway as I said before I am currently trying to read the 100 greatest books ever written. Now this came as a problem to me when I decided this because who is to say that one book is better than another and who is to say which 100 are the greatest EVER. That's a big order to fill. So I went surfing around the internet and I found 4 lists of 100 greatest books. After combining all the lists and removing duplicate entries there are about 300 books that I am trying to read. But not all of them are books, they vary greatly from novels to plays to scientific and intellectual writings.
So here I will give an overview of the book lists and I have an excel file with all of the book lists listed and the duplicates removed so if anyone wants it make a comment and I'll send it to you. I will also try to post it but being that I am new at this I do not know if that will happen.
The first list is the main list that I have been working on primarily. It is found at Sybervision and is what I feel a good assortment of books through time. It starts with Homer and ends with more recent books but also includes plays and intellectual papers like Walden. I have read 33 books from this list.
The next list is more of a fun list. It is found at BBC Book List and consists mostly of fan favorites. This is a good book list to do when reading Dante is not your style because it has 4 Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings. I read this as a mental break. I have read 15 books from this list.
The third list I have not started nor do I look at much since anything not on the other lists that I am reading from seems kind of abstract, or I have not heard of them and I haven't looked for the titles yet. The list is the Norwegian Bookclub list and is generated by 100 noted authors from 54 countries. Again the writings could be fantastic but I have not really read much from it. I have read 13 books from this list (mostly copies from the Sybervision list).
The last list is another list that I have not looked much into mostly because it appears to be a personal list from a guy who thinks too much of himself. The list is from the Observer and again it seems that some of the books seem kind of obscure. And I have read 10 books from this list (again mostly copies).
So again I will try to post the excel file, if not just write me and I will send it to you. I will also make a more detailed description of each of the books as I read them telling people which are good books to read and why and which are probably not.
So here I will give an overview of the book lists and I have an excel file with all of the book lists listed and the duplicates removed so if anyone wants it make a comment and I'll send it to you. I will also try to post it but being that I am new at this I do not know if that will happen.
The first list is the main list that I have been working on primarily. It is found at Sybervision and is what I feel a good assortment of books through time. It starts with Homer and ends with more recent books but also includes plays and intellectual papers like Walden. I have read 33 books from this list.
The next list is more of a fun list. It is found at BBC Book List and consists mostly of fan favorites. This is a good book list to do when reading Dante is not your style because it has 4 Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings. I read this as a mental break. I have read 15 books from this list.
The third list I have not started nor do I look at much since anything not on the other lists that I am reading from seems kind of abstract, or I have not heard of them and I haven't looked for the titles yet. The list is the Norwegian Bookclub list and is generated by 100 noted authors from 54 countries. Again the writings could be fantastic but I have not really read much from it. I have read 13 books from this list (mostly copies from the Sybervision list).
The last list is another list that I have not looked much into mostly because it appears to be a personal list from a guy who thinks too much of himself. The list is from the Observer and again it seems that some of the books seem kind of obscure. And I have read 10 books from this list (again mostly copies).
So again I will try to post the excel file, if not just write me and I will send it to you. I will also make a more detailed description of each of the books as I read them telling people which are good books to read and why and which are probably not.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Improving myself
Now I have this compulsion to try and improve myself. To do this I have begun a series of lists that I am trying to complete. I will go into each of these in more detail because I feel that some people out there will actually be interested in some of this stuff. I can also help anyone along that actually wants to perform some of the things that I am doing. But for now just a brief list of the activities that this entails. Some of this stuff Veronica is doing with me so I will mention which of those she likes.
Visiting all of the National Parks in the country - (w/ Veronica)
Visiting all of the caves in a brochure that I have of the larger caves in the country (W/ Veronica)
Read the 100 greatest books ever written
And collect the hardcover editions of them
Watch the 100 greatest movies ever made (W/ Veronica)
Also the 100 greatest romance movies
and the 100 greatest comedies
Collect and read all Star Wars stories
Visit all 50 states (w/ Veronica)
And that is everything I can think of right now. If I remember anything else I will be sure to put it up. But like I said before I will be going into this stuff a little more elaborately for anyone interested.
Visiting all of the National Parks in the country - (w/ Veronica)
Visiting all of the caves in a brochure that I have of the larger caves in the country (W/ Veronica)
Read the 100 greatest books ever written
And collect the hardcover editions of them
Watch the 100 greatest movies ever made (W/ Veronica)
Also the 100 greatest romance movies
and the 100 greatest comedies
Collect and read all Star Wars stories
Visit all 50 states (w/ Veronica)
And that is everything I can think of right now. If I remember anything else I will be sure to put it up. But like I said before I will be going into this stuff a little more elaborately for anyone interested.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Overview of myself
Since people might actually read this blog sometime and not know who I am I figured I should give a description of myself and my life in general. I am currently 24 and I live with my Fiancee, Veronica who is 23. We just bought a house about 3 1/2 months ago and now live in Cheektowaga NY, which is a suburb of Buffalo. That is the short version of where I am at now. To find out more continue reading.
So now into my life history. I grew up on Long Island in Holbrook NY. I went to Sachem High School which at one time was the second largest high school in the country. To show you how big it really is my sister graduated with 1,500 people. I have two older sisters, one that is 4 years older, Kerry and one that is 8 years older, Erin. Erin is married to a nice guy named Dave and she lives in Port Jeff Station on Long Island. Kerry has a daughter Claudia who is 8 who is the sweetest and shyest little girl. I acted as a sort of father figure to Claudia as she was growing up since her father left never to be seen again. I graduated from high school with 1,115 people of which I graduated #99. It should have been better but thats what happens when you almost fail french.
Then after that I went to SUNY Geneseo where I majored in Geology. I love dinosaurs so I figured that geology would be the best course of action. Through college I really got interested and now any aspect of geology is interesting to me. I also picked up two minors, mathematics and biology because biology will help with my paleontology and math will set me apart. Also my father was a math teacher and math came naturally to me. I was also a duel art major for a brief stint but I would have to take 24 credits my second semester senior year and after one semester of it I couldn't do it again.
Well freshman year at Geneseo was fun. I found a couple of real good friends who would go out drinking with me every weekend. One in particular is John Cooley who is gonna be my best man. Sophmore year John lived next door to a cute little thing named Veronica. And thats how we met and we have been pretty much inseperable since. After college I went to Texas Tech for 2 years to get my Masters in Geology where I worked with Sankar Chatterjee. And now here I am. Currently unable to find a job in geology in Buffalo I am doing collections for the time being. We plan on living here for 3 years while Veronica is showing off her mental intellect in medical school at UB.
So now into my life history. I grew up on Long Island in Holbrook NY. I went to Sachem High School which at one time was the second largest high school in the country. To show you how big it really is my sister graduated with 1,500 people. I have two older sisters, one that is 4 years older, Kerry and one that is 8 years older, Erin. Erin is married to a nice guy named Dave and she lives in Port Jeff Station on Long Island. Kerry has a daughter Claudia who is 8 who is the sweetest and shyest little girl. I acted as a sort of father figure to Claudia as she was growing up since her father left never to be seen again. I graduated from high school with 1,115 people of which I graduated #99. It should have been better but thats what happens when you almost fail french.
Then after that I went to SUNY Geneseo where I majored in Geology. I love dinosaurs so I figured that geology would be the best course of action. Through college I really got interested and now any aspect of geology is interesting to me. I also picked up two minors, mathematics and biology because biology will help with my paleontology and math will set me apart. Also my father was a math teacher and math came naturally to me. I was also a duel art major for a brief stint but I would have to take 24 credits my second semester senior year and after one semester of it I couldn't do it again.
Well freshman year at Geneseo was fun. I found a couple of real good friends who would go out drinking with me every weekend. One in particular is John Cooley who is gonna be my best man. Sophmore year John lived next door to a cute little thing named Veronica. And thats how we met and we have been pretty much inseperable since. After college I went to Texas Tech for 2 years to get my Masters in Geology where I worked with Sankar Chatterjee. And now here I am. Currently unable to find a job in geology in Buffalo I am doing collections for the time being. We plan on living here for 3 years while Veronica is showing off her mental intellect in medical school at UB.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Why not, everyone else is
Ok I know that everyone else is doing this but hey, why not join in on the band wagon. I have thoughts just like everyone else and since I am not in college at the current moment unlike most of my friends I have exceptional amounts of time to devote to the mindless creation of thoughtful babble.
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