the middle of burnt muffins....

The past few days have been a mess. Today, I made a mess. A burnt, smokey, stuck to the sides of the muffin-tin mess. I got distracted by the content I was helping a friend write for her website, and I had forgotten several things about the oven in our flat. The first, it's convection, which means I need to subtract time and temperature from the recipes I thought I knew by heart; second, well, things had been going pear-shaped in general so I should have been more attentive in general, and third.... let's just say that with constantly converting temperature, weight, ingredients, and general culture, well, I was bound to slip up somewhere.
The plus was, of course, I had to snap out of my malaise and figure out what to do with twelve well-toasted muffins.

Well, beside throwing them away. The chocolate I had added to them was lovely, and it seemed a shame to waste anything that was actually edible. So, on my way to my husband's work to rewrite my C.V. again (but this time somewhere with a printer), I carried in my hands----muffin middles. Unattractive they may be, but they taste lovely, and I'm sure it's that chocolate that finally allowed me to get through rewriting my CV in what is apparently known as a "skills" format. All I know is that I need a job. Although I LOVE writing content and reviews, I'm currently doing it for free (or bartering for free books or horseback riding), and well, I'd like to rejoin the workforce, thank you.
So here's hoping the muffin middles did the trick, and I'm on my way to gainful employment.
(I feel I should say that I couldn't take a picture of the middles. So, instead, I treated myself to a second look at the cupcakes we had at our wedding. Mmmm. They tasted and looked good.) continue on...

Second lesson, much better

Well, I have had my second UK riding lesson, and I have to say that this one went much better. Of course, once again, it decided to rain just while I was trying to walk to and from the bus stops, but it was only rain and not the sleet that greeted my last week, so things were looking up, all told.
My last lesson had been a bit complicated by my being completely out of shape,and the instructor announcing that he was quitting to find a better job later that week. He was nice enough, but I felt awkward and embarrassed to be *making* him do something that he quite clearly did not want to do. Also, ummm, I didn't know the guy at all and felt just a tiny bit weirded out to be told that he was quitting because he had gotten "too intense." (I had no idea what that even meant.)
But enough about the last lesson, this one was much more fun--and not just because the trainer told me I was tall and skinny.
For the record, *tall* is a very unusual way to describe me--I barely hit 5'4'' when I stand very very tall and the skinny bit, while complimentary and possible at times in my life, is unlikely to be true after 2 months off of any exercise and my first English Christmas.
I decided that it was my magic black full-seats, though, and moved on. This lesson, we worked a bit on me, and a bit on the horse. Her name was Jenny (so, yes, easy for me to remember), and she was a typical riding school horse. *She* knew the proper way to do something, but she also knew an easier way, and getting the proper way out of her required some diligence and tact (and one whomping kick with an outside leg).
She was a love though and really helped emphasize the very weird habit I have of looking to the inside when I'm riding in a small space. I was all by myself in the ring, but I was acting as if I had to constantly look across the arena for others, instead of looking where we were going. After Jenny neatly reminded me of this fact by almost jumping the mounting block, we got along very well and worked on some jumping.
I had a great time jumping! I really need to work on my show jumping skills (I love cross-country and dressage, but show jumping has ALWAYS been where I have issues. Ummm, because I don't like fences I can completely destroy?) So, we worked on me supporting her up to the base of the fence. Because she's not all that scopey, I had to really convince her she could make it over, and then help balance her on the other side. Mostly, it involved me really rocking her back around the corner--almost like balancing on a skateboard when you want to turn--we had to make sure that the energy was balanced a bit behind us so we came around the corner lightly and straight.
By the end, we had a nice little rhythm going, and we took several nice fences. I'm very excited for my lesson next week. Ideally, I would like to ride more than once a week, but I need to find some way of supporting the habit first. Or, maybe, a share situation where I could get fitter and help someone out with a horse as well, who knows. Either way, I'm glad I've started riding again. I missed it. And, I'm actually glad I'm riding the bus. It's really given me a way to learn my way around Manchester... And, I appreciated that the same group of little-old-ladies was on the bus this week and wanted to know ALL about my previous lesson. continue on...

what's the difference between scary and creepy?

While trying to explain how very cool it is that Neil Gaiman won the Newbery (which mostly consisted of me naming other books and sighing: The Hero and The Crown! The Tale of Desperaux! The Witch of Blackbird Pond! A Wrinkle in Time!) I also starting blathering on about Coraline, another book of Gaiman's that was very, very popular in my classroom. To begin with, it had the three magic elements that attract middle school ambivalent readers: it looked short; it looked scary; it looked simple. Of course, all of those things were merely ways into the book. Although it was short, the story it told was complete and felt world-shaping. Although it looked scary, it was really *creepy* (more on that later). And, although it looked simple, the story, and the conversations it prompted in my classroom, proved it was anything but.

My favourite conversation of all was between two of my most-anti-reading girls. After nearly two years with me (and improving their reading levels a LOT), they were now willing to read, but still very picky and demanding about the amount of effort they had to put into the process. These were girls who would rather read a "meh" book that demanded less of them than an excellent book they would have to work at. (Of course, they were also Twilight obsessed, but that's a different story). Coraline, though, Coraline got passed around the group like some sort of trifecta pick: the teacher liked it, the students liked it, the parents liked it.

Why was that? Well, everyone comes to a book from a different place, but I think these girls liked Coraline because it felt like an adventure. Also, though, because (as I overheard one day... what? teachers are consummate eavesdroppers!)

Dude, Coraline isn't SCARY. Scary is, like, Nightmare on Elm Street. Scary's not REAL. Coraline is CREEPY. I kept thinking that if I opened the wrong door at my own house, I'd end up somewhere really not good.

(13 year old girl)

So that was the magic then. These girls never really connected with Harry Potter, Frodo, or Merlin. Their lives were, quite frankly, too fraught with REAL danger to tolerate fantasy danger. But, they did connect with Coraline--the danger she faced, evil adults and world that made no sense, was something they felt was more real. It was creepy not scary. And they loved it.

Now, why they loved the completely unreal and unbelievably perfect Edward and Jacob is fodder for another post. continue on...

many things are wonderful about this year's newbery award

The first is the book that won it: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. As always, the man's books are gifts to his readers, but this one was something else.
The second?
His delightfully overwhelmed twitter message, and this fantastic blog post.

Congratulations, you've joined quite the group, and you look to fit right in. continue on...

with january coming to a close...

I thought I should try and record the books I have read. I'm interested to see how much I actually do re-read. I think it might be as often as every-other book, and I might try and make it every third, instead. It's not that I have anything against re-reading. In fact, as a teacher, I encouraged and embraced it, but I have found so many new "favourite" authors as an adult that I want to keep exploring.
The year started out with a re-read. On our way from Manchester to Hertfordshire, I spent some time with Nabokov's Strong Opinions, Robin McKinley's Chalice, and Trollope's Barchester Towers. At which point, I ran out of books and had to borrow George Orwell's essays (already read) and, finally a new book, How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World (which is a fun book for the skeptic you may know...). That was the first week of January. After that, I returned to the complete Harry Potter (although I added the new Beedle the Bard), and Tokyo Zero, the Vicky Bliss mysteries (by Elizabeth Peters), and Mercedes Lackey's Bardic Voices. New books though, include one by Kate Elliot and Iain M Banks' Matter (and Banks is one of my discovered-as-an-adult-favourites). I'm also in the middle of Mr. Steadfast, which is part of a series started by its more famous companion, The 39 Steps. I'm finding it charmingly anachronistic. There are more than a few references to a job being "more than should be asked of any white man", but the basic flavour of the book is enjoyable suspense.
Not a bad haul for a month; although I have a sneaking suspicion that I have definitely left some off the list by mistake. There are definitely a LOT of re-reads on that list. For now, I will claim that it is because I am slowly reacquainting myself with my library. It probably also has something to do with wanting to be surrounded by familiar things at the beginning of a new life in a new country. I wonder what the next month will bring. continue on...

Tokyo, Year Zero

I've got a new review up at bookgeeks on David Peace's Tokyo Year Zero. It was a difficult review to write. The first time I read the book, I found myself distracted (and occasionally confused) by Peace's oblique writing style. The second time around, I had an easier time of it, but the book still seemed to fall apart in my hands.
I don't want to repeat the review...(bookgeeks is a cool site to visit!), but I think it's interesting how books are labelled. When I originally picked Tokyo up, it was at least partially because it had been labelled as crime fiction, and, although there is a crime at the heart of it, that really has little to do with the experience of reading the book. It's almost like calling Huckleberry Finn crime fiction--sure there's a few crimes, but that's not the point...Still enjoyable, though. (Both of them) continue on...

And, of course, a reminder of what tomorrow will be...

The beginning of something new. And, as we look back and we remember what it was like to watch *that guy* become the President-Elect of the United States, there is a sense that tomorrow, tomorrow, when he takes the oath of office, it will be a moment unlike any other. With his eloquence, his passion for justice, his determination to create change, and the very fact that he made Americans feel as if they had a chance to fix their country, Obama inspired tears of joy and great bellows of relief when he won the election. What he will do with the presidency, no one can really say. I'm sure he will make mistakes, disappoint us, not be the *magic* that we all think we need. But, he has already given the nation a great gift, a renewed sense of our own power for good and decency. Whatever he does next? The people of America need to take ownership of as well because it was the groundswell of support that put him in office, but it will be the hard work and strenuous labour of the entire country that will make America feel better about itself and its future. We cannot rely on one man, however powerful, to lead in isolation. If this election has taught America anything, it is that taking responsibility for your future can create great change and a powerful sense of self--something that we had lost during the past years. Tomorrow, there will be a new beginning.

And, for the first time in a long while, I cannot wait to see what will happen next. continue on...

finally, a first lesson

So I have now, officially, gone horseback riding in the U.K. Well, where in the world shall I start? I think I will start with the weather.
After TWO DAYS of sun (a record! in a row!), I woke up this morning to a downpour that was going sideways so fast it was making the windows vibrate. After deciding that the prospect of changing in a bathroom at the stables in the freezing cold was...lame...I made the bold decision to wear my black full-seats riding breeches to the barn. On the bus. Ha. Nobody even looked at me. There are people in Manchester who wear FAR weirder clothing than I do, apparently.
The next moment of panic came when the bus driver had no idea where the stop that I wanted was. Luckily, England is filled with helpful little old ladies and one of them got off a stop early to make sure that I knew where I was going. As we tottered down the lane at, like, -5 miles an hour (little old ladies are nice, but not speedy), it started to SNOW. Thank god it appears that my bag is magic and water-resistant because, really, this was getting silly.
I made it wayyyyy early (see earlier problem with bus driver who also convinced me it would take forever), so I had a chance to watch two girls exercising horses. They looked like they were having fun, and it was good to have a chance to sit there and relax into the place. And take two ibuprofen to ward off the sore muscles I am sure are in my future.
This is one of those places where they bring the horse to you all tacked up. It felt as if I had joined some exclusive club where people brought your horses to you and then...watched you ride. Or, in my case, try to ride while attempting, with great difficulty, to remember what the hell I was doing.

The horse was a sweetheart: a six year old TB who was a little green. Complete with head straight up and neck flexed against my hand. So...I rode around. After we got the canter going (and I gave him an impromptu, "no you don't run in the trot on your way to the canter" lesson), he was much better. We jumped a tiny bit, the trainer said I looked fine except for my heels (which I'm sure were sticking straight up in an effort to squeeze the crap out of this horse), and he was being nice and said he loved my jumping position.

And that was the first lesson. We'll see how this shapes up; I had already sent out an email to two random eventers I'd heard of saying "I know I have no right to ride with you, who would you recommend near me...". (One of them was the woman who went UNDER the Trakahener at Burghley like a million years ago and made them change the rule to require everyone to jump over the log.) Hopefully, they will have something to say as well. The barn looked nice, and I think they do a good job, but I really like the three-discipline aspect of eventing.
But, yay, I got to ride! And I'm not sore! well, yet. Although I have made a vow to run more now. Even if it rains and snows again....
Also, I have no idea what exactly happened to the picture at the top of the post. My fingers were numb when I took it with my iPhone, so that apparently gives you a *wavy* shot. Cool, though. continue on...

a small dance of joy...

My husband, a physicist at Manchester University, passed his viva today. So, now the job he had is official, and the stress level of the household is much lowered.
yay.
continue on...

job hopping, qualifications, and anxiety...

I knew that getting a job in the U.K. would be different and difficult. I knew that trying to leave teaching and try something new when the economy seems to be in free-fall was....problematic. Plus, trying to get a new job, any job, for which you have few contacts (and all of your references are a continent away) is always more difficult. I knew all these things. But, I don't think I had realized what that would mean emotionally. It's almost like playing a game without knowing the rules. Or even being sure of where the field is.

Right now, I'm definitely also trying to find a life here, somewhere to ride, figure out where to grocery shop. I'm lucky enough to have found somewhere that will let me write as many book reviews as I would like--which helps, because reading is my go-to anxiety assuaging activity. But, eventually, I'd also like to contribute to the house in a non-dishwashing capacity! continue on...

waitin' for a breakthrough...

So, I've just spent two fun days pretending that I owned an e-reader. I converted some books I owned to a file that my little XO (the OLPC laptop) could handle and cheerfully sat on the couch reading away. I can tell you that the four hours I spent reading two books far exceeded my tries at the Kindle and at the Sony E-Reader in both length and pleasure. It's not that I have anything, at all, against the idea of e-books, although I would always be leery of dragging anything electronic to the beach, but there are a few...advances...that I need to see before I embrace to e-book as something that will serve as a real replacement for my physical library.
First, I need the e-book catalogues to have more depth to them. Some of the books I own, I own because I cannot depend on finding another copy. They are not necessarily rare (as in expensive), but they are difficult to find. If I'm going to adopt an e-book reader, I want to be able to find all of those wonderful books as well.
Second? Well, I've played with the Kindle and the Sony E-Reader. I was impressed with the e-ink technology. But, as someone who reads quickly, I really struggled with how often I had to refresh/change the page and how long it took for a new page to load. The e-reader also had a strange response to being set in portrait mode--it skipped back a section so that the last sentence you *had* been reading was suddenly in the middle of the new page. Needless to say, that drove me nuts. And, it didn't solve my problem of having to load new pages every thirty seconds.
And last? for now? I'm not sure how I feel about DRM. I am all for artists, writers, creators, and those who bring their works to the public, getting paid. I would, however, be very, very, very annoyed if a book I had bought suddenly stopped *working* because of an argument between a publisher and a distributor. Or, simply because my e-reader died for some reason.

I did love reading my books on my XO. It was great to trot from room to room in the house with both the books and somewhere to type notes on them. The XO is light and has a great battery life, and, because it loaded the entire book at once, I didn't need to wait for it load--I just scrolled down.

I'm all for e-books. I would love for entire libraries to be so portable that they are available for everyone, everywhere. It just hasn't happened yet.
continue on...

You know you've left the country when...

IM conversation between me and a friend:
Me: Hey!! I haven't heard from you in awhile!
Friend: Yeah, I keep calling you, but you never call back!
Me: Eh? That must be expensive, but I've never had any missed calls.
Friend: Why would it be expensive? It's a local number!
Me: Uhhh, England, no England is not local to L.A. Hollywood is far, far away from Manchester.
Friend: Oh, you LIVE there now?
Me: Yes? You knew this? right?
Friend: Well, I thought you would have hated it and moved back by now.
Me: ? ? ?

Ha. She's a good friend, but she apparently had little faith in my ability not to melt when it rains. She was one of the people who gave me an umbrella for a wedding present. (I got a total of SIX, mostly from nervous Californians--I only brought one over--not enough room in the suitcase for the rest).
I do, in fact, like it here a lot. In all honesty, I prefer rain to Santa Anna winds and the ensuing static build-up. Plus, you know, my husband lives here! continue on...

a book a day...

The title above links to a fun, short, blog post on how to read, basically, a book a day. Well, it's not "how-to"--more of a "how she". And, really, a "how-I".
When students, and friends, ask me how I read so much (it usually comes up when they see me packing for vacation--I have been known to bring only one pair of shoes in order to have more room for books), I usually just answer "I've been doing it awhile; I've had a lot of practice." But, when a particularly suspicious friend (he didn't believe that I was "really" reading) observed me for a time, he drew the same conclusion that Sarah Weinman did about her own reading, I seemed to scan the page in chunks instead of line by line. I hear the dialogue, and see the settings, very vividly--I just see them very quickly. They are not rushed in my head, and I rarely feel that I am missing something. In fact, I usually only feel as if I am skimming when I am forcing myself to finish a book and don't want to be paying complete attention anyway.
This talent, or freakish ability, came in handy at university. Since most of my coursework involved reading, and I could read quickly, I never felt as stressed out by it as some of my friends. And, because I can generally remember a book quite well, it also helped to speed through paper-writing when I would be able to find a quote/example quickly.
Other than that though? And using it as a party trick to get my students to read? I've never felt that it was that impressive a skill. Trust me, if you had asked my seventh grade self whether I wanted to be able to read that fast or make sense of social relationships I would have chose...the reading one, but there would have been a pause while I considered what it would be like to be able to make sense of interactions outside of books.
Occasionally though, when I'm re-reading a book, I love the fact that reading this fast gives me enough time to read new books I'm interested in and old books I love. Right now, I'm on my seventh book of the new year (although six of them are re-reads of Agatha Christie and P.C. Hodgell), so I'm right on track to keep on reading. continue on...

breathe in, breathe out, move on

I've worked, well, forever, it feels like. Certainly since the moment I was old enough to have a work-permit from school. I was a waitress, a cafeteria manager, a horseback riding trainer, a teacher, and an editor. So, now, to be without a job--it feels odd. I've noticed, though, that getting a job in my new country may not be the easiest task. Especially in the current economic climate, the general feeling is one of "this is going to take awhile", and, even if my possibly-future employers didn't have to call the U.S. to contact my references, I think it would be a difficult bet. I'm starting to worry that I won't find a job anywhere because, as varied as my resume is, it doesn't actually apply that well to the current UK job market.
Obviously, this is partially an excuse to swan around reading books and playing Oblivion, but I've also never not had a job while searching for my next job. Somehow, it's easier to update your resume if you are doing it covertly on the computers of the business you are trying to flee. Misery, obviously, makes me work harder. And I'm not miserable. I love being married. I love swanning around reading and playing video games. I know, though, that I also need to work and have something to do, so I am slowly getting my resume together and trying to figure out what to do next. So far? I have a list that consists of: not teach (teaching, at least at a public school in the US, made me angry--not at the students but at the situation that teachers and students alike were forced to view as status quo), work with animals, work with adult learners, work at cool company, edit books, read, horseback ride. Obviously, the idea of reading for a living and horseback riding are hold-outs from my pre-teen years, but when you have to freedom to look around and move slowly? Who knows what will happen. continue on...

excess, c.s. lewis, and coincidence

At college, I once had a (rather drunk) acquaintance of mine explain, very carefully and in great detail, why there were no coincidences in life. It was a lengthy monologue, but the basic gist was that the human mind creates connections in order to comfort itself in the vast, random, emptiness that is life. (He was more cheerful when not at a party). If he had asked, I would have told him that I did not see coincidences as some magical sign from above, but I did know that I was impressed by the human mind's ability to find connections between actions, events, and objects that seemed both disparate and completely distinct. My own mind, especially, seems to enjoy seeking out the smallest connection and coincidences and musing on them (as my beleaguered high school writing teacher realized when I turned in an essay comparing Macbeth to Michael Milkin and the S&L scandal). Recently, while reading C.S. Lewis' "Space Trilogy" (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength), my mind became busy making connections with a speaker I had recently heard, the psychotherapist and author Adam Phillips.

Not only did the talk I attended speak to the idea, and place, of science and its relationship with the world and literature (a major theme/concern in the series), but a series of short essays that Phillips presented on BBC 3 last week discussed the human inclination to excess (a topic lengthily discussed in Perelandra). It fascinates me to be able to, in effect, listen to a conversation between two very intelligent men who are separated by decades. Their goals are quite different. Lewis, unabashedly, seeks to convert his readers to his beliefs (in God, in the importance of good in the world, in humankind's ability to work for the betterment of all) while Phillips desires, I think, to understand what is going on, to get to the why of humanities' actions.

They ask similar questions, though. Why does man feel this need to eat/sleep/work/exercise to excess? Lewis seems to suggest that man is trying to hold on to pleasure--that the eating over and over again of food is an attempt to re-create the pleasure of the first encounter with the food. That mankind always wants too much of a good thing because of a desire to have the same experience of pleasure over and over again. An attempt to re-create the very first source of pleasure, Eden, in fact. This goal is of course doomed, as Adam was doomed. Lewis' answer to excess is the realization that the only true place perfection (and re-creation) can be found is with God and the church. That mankind can never find solace and salvation through striving for more and must look to God instead.

Phillips seems to look for a concrete and "modern" why and suggests that mankind does to excess to fill some sort of lack. That eating to excess demonstrates an anxiety that food will not always be available. The idea that excess is a fun-house mirror reflection of a lack is satisfying because it implies that once that lack is filled, the excess will disappear. Oddly, this theory leaves me , at least, less satisfied than Lewis' lost Eden. As far as I am from Lewis' point of view, his certainty that Eden once existed (and that it can be found again only through God and not the efforts of man) is like a clear shining light in his writing. The very certainty that God will create a second Eden makes poetry of his arguments. Phillips, although intellectually satisfying, feels modern, Freudian, and ambiguous. The idea of the source of the excess, the void, somehow being resolved seems obvious, but it does not seem possible. What is the lack to be filled with in this day and age? And is it this struggle that has driven mankind to success in medicine and technology as well as its failures in wars and the poisoning of the environment? To recognize the void is not enough and indeed, without Lewis' certainty that mankind will somehow be saved, seems frightening. continue on...

you know it's getting ridiculous when...

So, in California I rode a lot. Three or four times a week, sometimes more than one horse a day. I thought I would be good with a break--I often took weeks off at a time to visit Pete, and I was looking forward to slowly starting my life in the UK--and I tend to get very busy, very quickly, with the riding and didn't want that to happen too fast.
However, in the last two weeks I have dreamt every single night that I had been riding. Every. Single. Night. At one point I dreamt I had an entire lesson and dismounted. Then, my "horse" stepped on my foot. It hurt! I woke to find my foot pinched between the mattress and the wall and fully expected a hoof shaped bruise to show up. It didn't, but that didn't mean that I missed out on a series of cross-country jumps (the next night) or a repeat of the toughest dressage lesson of my life (last night). It's one thing to miss something--but I'm now at the point that I NEED to find somewhere to ride. And somehow to pay for it. I've scouted a few places and am planning on taking the bus to them in January. My goal for finding somewhere "permanent" is mid-February. Here's hoping. It's too bad those dreams do nothing to keep my body in riding shape! continue on...

what's that you're humming?

The legend that is Dr. Horrible's Sing Along-Blog is now for sale on DVD (region free). If you missed it when it first appeared on the web, get it now. And make sure to check out the official website as well.
Just in case you may need further convincing; here are a few reviews that speak to how amazing this entire project was.
Review in which the DVD is lauded
Review in which the DVD is lauded although the reviewer is possibly suspect

Have fun. And, trust me, if you have anyone you are at a loss as to a gift this holiday season, this will fit the bill. continue on...

holiday traditions

My family (much to my mother's annoyance) somehow avoided creating any real/lasting family traditions associated with the holidays. The one thing we stood firm on, as a family, was the Thanksgiving Dinner menu, and the one thing I've done each year since I was eight was read (or, now, re-read) the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Luckily, with all of the traveling I've done over various holidays, it's a fairly light-weight tradition and comes in handy on long plane flights or waits for trains.
I realize that this may not be a traditional holiday-type tradition, mainly because it is both solitary and anti-social (at least until you start talking about the books with others), but something about re-reading books (and these books in particular) has always helped me de-stress and renew my outlook on life.
I am not going to argue that they are great literature--although they are wonderful and important stories. But the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are prime examples of novels that take you somewhere else. I enjoy reading all sorts of books, but when I want and need a rest, fiction that takes me somewhere recognizably not my home helps me the most. Chick-lit agitates me (I usually get all grumbly and aggravated with the characters/or spend all of my time guessing which Jane Austen they are imitating now) and non-fiction (however interesting I find it when I am in the mood to read it) often, by its very subject, depresses me: Tolkien, and others like him, create worlds real enough to fall into but dissimilar from the world that currently contains all of the stresses of life.
When I leave the world of middle-earth, I feel better able to deal with the real world surrounding me. I haven't (necessarily) learned any great lessons or thought deep philosophical thoughts, but I have relaxed and thought of something else: sometimes exactly the break my mind and body needs. continue on...

on long walks and podcasts....

Now that I am walking, well, everywhere, I have become even more enamoured of my iPhone. I really do appreciate only having to carry/deal with/find one device to carry my music, some notes, and also act as a phone. I hadn't really ventured much beyond some music and audio books for listening to at the gym until I moved to Manchester.
With that move, and the resulting walking to the office, and the store, and the doctor's office, I am quickly finding that I sometimes like some "company" on the various treks I make each day. I've spent time with the brothers from Car Talk, the Friday Night Comedy Hour, Adam and Joe, and a bunch of one off lectures I've downloaded from random universities. I've recently found a series of lectures, though, that are a cut above the rest. They're on serendipity and presented as a part of the Darwin Lectures.
As is often true of things found on the internet, my own encounter with them was serendipitous: both random and fortuitous. They had the additional benefit of being entertaining and thought provoking as well. I've not listened to them in order, the first I heard was from Richard Leaky, and his discussion on serendipity and scientific study was wide ranging and inspiring. It also twinned interestingly with Malcolm Gladwell's newest book in that Leakey emphasized that while some of his fossil and skeletal discoveries may be called serendipitous (or part of the infamous "Leakey Luck") none of his scientific advances or discoveries deserved that term. He was quite firm in his belief (and this is where he runs parallel with Gladwell) that science is pushed forward more with difficult and diligent work than any other way.
He said, instead, that serendipity played a part in the evolutionary process. He spent some time pointing out that many of the greatest "leaps" in evolution (to complex eyes or the ability to create complex language) may have happened for reasons that will forever stay mysterious. Whatever the evolutionary result was, the original problem solved by it may be forever lost in the past--and that serendipity lies in the myriad of options that were opened up with each evolutionary step. continue on...

free chickens?

While perusing one of the random book oriented websites I sometimes read, I came across this article on the availability of some free books on an iPhone e-reader. Immediately, (after my heart-rate had gone down at the thought of free books), I checked out the Stanza application on the iPhone and downloaded this book. I have two things to say.
One: the Stanza application (from Lexcycle) is one of the better ebook readers I've sampled. I actually like it better than the Kindle, partially because the "tapping" element now feels innate to me after iPhone use; partially because the pages load quite quickly once you are into the book, and I didn't feel that there was as much dead time as with other ebook readers. The screen was clear and the typeface easy to read (although the ability to flip to a place within a book wasn't as easy as with a physical book to deal with). The available books (I only checked out the free ones) are decent--although obviously a lot are missing (even of those books out of copyright). Every time I come across one of these readers, I start hoping that all of my favourite out of print books will be available. I found one or two here. So thumbs up from this picky (format-wise although not subject-wise) reader.
Two: I was right. Anything with the title "Free Range Chickens" had to at least be a little funny, and this was a lot funny. My favourite part so far? Some of the missing commandments. Including:

If it takes a man a long time to lead his people out of the desert and into the Promised Land, everyone should just be patient with him and learn to chill out a little.

Snort. For those who keep an eye on such things, a quote from the book appeared on reddit earlier this year (the one about the dissections from a frog point of view). Funny stuff.
Also, of course:

Everyone has to give Moses five dollars.

continue on...