Bad "Gramm(y)ar"....

It turns out that GQ feels the same about the Grammys that I do. Man, I need a subscription again.

And don't forget to vote in the poll. I'll leave it up for a while yet to see if I get more votes.

Family Tradition....

So it turns out the movie Ray was funded by Philip Anschutz.

Musical taste does run in the family.

Classical art....

Here's a guy that's found a better use for a Mac Classic besides using it for a door stop or a fish tank.

Truth....

This morning I finished Walden. I liked it. It was one of those books that I'm glad I've read, and glad to own, but I'm not sure when, or if, I'd ever read it again. It's not really a book read for entertainment value, or even read for its own sake; it's a book that should be read for the betterment of one's self.

Thoreau, in a way, sometimes struck me as perhaps being the first hippy. But being a man who hunted, and fished, and also worked for some of his sustenance, he transcends that. As he himself stated, he was a man who wished to live simply, thereby living honestly and truthfully, and I think he accomplished that. The ideal we should reach for is not just to live honestly and truthfully, but to do so for the right reasons. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, "And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor. 13: 2-3, RSV). A Christian's love for God and his fellow man should be the motive for doing Christian works. And while I can't say that Thoreau was a Christian per se, his love and reverence for Nature was his motive for living simply, honestly, and truthfully.

Next I'm going to give in to popular opinion and try The Da Vinci Code. I ordered it through a book club, and tought I was getting the "illustrated" version as found here, but sadly it only features illustrated end papers. Nevertheless, I'll give it a go. I may end up doing a lot of Googling for artworks referenced in the text.

One thing I'll have to keep in mind: The Da Vinci Code is a novel. While it may have some basis in fact, it is, after all, a work of fiction. Once I'm done I'll have to ponder whether or not it is foolish to take it seriously.

Heat wave....

Today's warm air system and sunshine brought us to a downright balmy 40º. It may end up being our January thaw, as the next time we're supposed to get above freezing isn't until the end of the month, heading in to February.

When I talk to people from milder climates, they like to flaunt the fact that while we're exeriencing sub-freezing temperatures, they have very pleasant weather. I usually end up gently reminding them that come May and June, when they're experiencing temperatures around 90º, we're in a much more comfortable 65º-70º range.

Expensive....

Friday night, as expected, we got dumped on: at least eight inches of snow fell. Thankfully it was light and fluffy, and easy to shovel. It made for an interesting commute home, especially since I had a couple of stops to make before I went home.

Saturday, then, was rather uneventful, as the snow didn't let up until mid-day, and there were high winds at times. I didn't go outside until the afternoon, so I could shovel the sidewalk and try to shovel the driveway. I kind of wish we had a snowblower, but we have no place to put it.

Sunday was the expensive day. We went to Madison and first stopped at Best Buy to look at MP3 players; they didn't have the one Maryanne wanted, so we went to Target. We had gotten a bunch of Target gift cards for Christmas, and as planned we used them toward a digital camera. We ended up getting the Sony W1. Maryanne also found the MP3 player she wanted, a Rio Cali 256MB, so she got that, too.

And, lest I forget... don't forget to vote in the poll!

Catty....

Have any of you read Garfield recently? A show of hands please? Hrm....

I've been reading, and, well... it's really gone downhill. Now I read something the other day about it being "written by committee" so as not to possibly offend anyone anywhere, and whether or not this is true, the strip has lost a lot of its life. I'm beginning to wonder if I should drop the strip from my comics page. I'm not saying every strip featuring a cat has to be edgy, like Get Fuzzy or Penny Arcade or Cat and Girl, but even the cats in PvP, Dilbert, and Two Lumps are far more amusing.

So, loyal readers (and I know there are so many of you), what do you think? Cast your vote here!

More?

More snow today.... It seems to be of the light, fluffy variety: medium-sized flakes, easily driven by a moderate wind. Sadly, it's just a prelude, as tomorrow evening a winter storm is supposed to blow through.

Back to nature....

I finished Peter Pan today. I enjoyed it. Having now read it, I would feel more comfortable watching one of the movies, but I think I would start with the more recent, live-action film that came out in the last couple of years. The writing style took a little getting used to; I think it has something to do with the English authoring.

Next I'm going to delve in to Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I have the One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, illustrated with wood engravings by Michael McCurdy. If I remember correctly, Thoreau was contemporary with Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, and also knew them and was friends with them. For some reason I find that extremely interesting.

Walden is one of those books that ends up on a lot of reading lists. It is often admired, but it is sometimes pooh-poohed: it seems some people don't like learning that Thoreau frequently left his little cottage on Walden Pond to visit his mother or his friends. Some people feel this betrays the spirit of the message, but it is obviously not everyone feels this way, as evidenced by the cairn of stones that marks the site of that famous cottage.

As with everything I read, I hope to be able to read this book and then form my own thoughts and conclusions about it. I thumb my nose at Cliffs Notes, SparkNotes, and high school English teachers everywhere!

Dusting....

We got a little more snow last night. It wasn't much, and was of the dry, light variety with small flakes, driven by a strong wind. Road conditions were pretty good, all things considered, but visibility was a bit of an issue. The snow was swirling over the surface of the road, around the height of six inches or so, and sometimes making it hard to see the lines on the road.

I got home in one piece, though, despite some idiots who thought they needed to drive at 25 m.p.h. on U.S. Hwy 51.

Ego

I finished Anthem today. It was a quick read, but good. Quite good. In fact, it follows quite nicely from Animal Farm. Despite a bit of lampooning of Ayn Rand in the Sluggy Freelance web comic, she seems to have been an interesting individual, and I'd consider reading more of her work.

Next, I'm going to read something much, much lighter: Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. I consider myself lucky to have never seen any of the Peter Pan movies, with the exception of Hook, and shouldn't have any pre-conceived notions about the book. This edition is published by Knopf for the Everyman's Library imprint, and features illustrations by F. D. Bedford, which appear to be engravings much in the style of Albrecht Dürer.

Next!

I was able to finish Animal Farm today; it's only around 100 pages. Being a much more mature reader than when I first read it, it's plainly allegorical, and reverberates the early history of Soviet Russia. I'm glad to have read it again.

Next on the list is Anthem by Ayn Rand. It comes on Caly's recommendation, who's read several of Rand's works. It too, is only around 100 pages of text, and being in mass market paperback form, should be a quick read. I'll have to ponder what to read next.

Transitions....

Yesterday my sister Caly and her husband Jim departed for Virginia, where Jim is being hired as the head superintendent of a new golf course being built in Farmville. It's not only a big change for them, but for the rest of the family, as well.

I finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I enjoyed it. Having reread it, and in an unabridged, unedited form, I can see I was missing a lot when we read it in junior high.

Next on the list is another book that I read in school, though again perhaps too early: Animal Farm. I last read it as a freshman in high school, and something tells me that I wasn't properly equipped to understand it back then. This particular edition is published by the Folio Society, and features illustrations by Quentin Blake, also known for his work with Roald Dahl.

No respect....

Yes, it's true: middle America gets Gallagher, and the elitist coasts do not.

Lessons....

If we learned anything yesterday, we learned two things: 1) Green Bay's defensive woes were obviously not the fault of Ed Donatell; and 2) Randy Moss is still an ass.

Saturday night Maryanne and I saw Spanglish. It was a good movie, a bit of a chick-flick, but the end left me unsatisfied. There were a lot of things left unfinished, though I wouldn't exactly call them loose ends, since they weren't really part of the central plot.

Light and fluffy....

We got some more snow overnight, I'm guessing around seven inches or so, putting our total over the past couple of days to well over ten inches. The roads have been touch and go, not even having any consistency on the same road. The snow has been of the light, fluffy variety, which has made for relatively easy shoveling, and blanketing everything in a pristine white, sparkling mantle that's quite pretty, despite what Maryanne says.

Yesterday I was finally able to finish Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens. I am continuing to enjoy Dickens, despite the fact that this book was quite different than all his other works I've read. It has been suggested that the title is a bit misleading, being that the title character is not the main character. I'm not sure that assertion can be made, because old Martin Chuzzlewit is indeed the main, or central, character, as the entire story revolves around him and his fortune. I found it very entertaining, with the type of complex, character-driven story that Dickens is known for, and featuring more of his memorable characters.

Next on the list is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I'm familiar with Twain's work, of course, and have grown quite fond of it. I also wanted something a little lighter and less complex than Dickens.

I had read Tom Sawyer once before, in junior high, but it turns out that was an adaptation, likely abridged as well, and it was also about fifteen years ago that I read it. This edition is published by Reader's Digest and is illustrated by Paul Geiger.

Snow blind....

We got a decent amount of snow overnight, and it's been flurrying off and on today already, with more snow expected tonight. By the time it's all said and done, we're supposed to end up with somewhere in the neighborhood of 9+ inches of snow.

It doesn't make for fun driving, but it is rather pretty.

Two thousand five....

It's now the year 2005. Happy New Year and all that crap.