Quick note

I know I've been lax in my posting. Sorry, but I just can't seem to get back into the habit of writing something every day. In addition, things have been a little busy. What's been going on? Well ...

First, there's work. I swear I don't know where the hours of the day go. I do teach 5 classes per semester, but I don't have any new preps so I don't see why they eat up so much time. Yet they do.

Second, reading. I did another review for local paper, but they've now decided to go behind a "pay wall," so the best I can do is provide you a link to the book itself. As strange as it may seem, I actually had heard a lot about this book and I was eager to read it. In the end, though, I was let down. There was some good information in the book and it did make me think about traffic in new ways, but it seemed very repetitive. And there were pages and pages of those awful end notes. Here's a tip to non-fiction writers. If the info is important enough to go in your book, put it in the text. If the information itself is not vital, but it is helpful in explaining a vital concept, then put it in a footnote. It it's useless blather that simply repeats (or adds useless details to) information you've already stated, leave it out!

On a brighter reading note, I'm excited by this book by one of my favorite current authors. I enjoy his books because they're big, meaty romps that thoroughly cover whatever topic he features. They almost always involve an engaging tale AND they're so full of information that I feel as if I've taken an introductory college course in the topic by the time I finish the novel. This one, though, seems a bit different. It's an alternate universe/future world sort of book -- complete with an invented language and a hefty glossary (for all those invented concepts) at the back of the book. Plus, it's just shy of 900 pages (net of glossary and appendices). Needless to say, the first couple of hundred pages was pretty slow going. Now, though, I've become comfortable with most aspects of life on Arbe and things are moving more quickly. I suspect there is going to be a BIG MESSAGE at the end of the book, so I won't begrudge him for dropping the "college course novel" format just yet. I will be disappointed, though, if the book just fizzles to a disappointing end.

Oh, the baseball playoffs are in full swing (pun intended) -- well sort of. They build this crazy schedule, with an insane number of off days, and then, after being excited by close games in many of the 1st-round series, you have to wait through a delay until the scheduled start of the next round. I sort of understand why they schedule everything out rather than just starting the next round as soon as the previous one is finished, but I don't like it. On top of that, let me go back to those "off days" built into the post-season schedule. WHY? All season long baseball teams play 3 (or more) games at one location, then fly out and play in another city the next day. Why is it that once the playoffs arrive we (potentially) have to wait through 2 games in city A, a day off, 2 games in city B, a day off, 1 more game back in city A? It irks me.

I'm sure there are many other things that have been eating up my time, but those are the ones I can think of right now. Plus, I have to go to a meeting, so I don't have time to ramble on about anything else. Oh, I did want to drop a plug for the Meriwether Lewis Arts & Crafts fair this weekend. Cousin Becca (of 2B Pottery, website in development) is going to be there and I may be assisting her on Saturday. If you're in the area, stop by and check it out. Though biased, I think her stuff is nice -- and very competitively priced.

Peace out.