Too Much Driving For A Broken CD Player

OK, my CD player is busted, so I didn't finish "Clan of the Cave Bear," although it was getting pretty interesting. I did finish all three of the books I got on cassette, though. Steven King's "The Green Mile," "The Kite Runner," and I think I already mentioned "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood. Commuting gives me plenty of time to listen to books, but bad news for me: the new Weld County Library doesn't carry cassette tapes. They only have CD's. I was thoroughly disappointed to find that out. Now I have to go on the website and request them from other libraries. That sucks, because part of the fun was picking out books that I know nothing about.

At any rate, let's get back to the books. I know that at least some of you are familiar with at least one of these stories so I would really like to hear your thoughts on them. "The Green Mile" was, well, "The Green Mile." I saw the movie first, and I thought it was a marvelous adaptation. Sure, it left out the back story about Paul in the nursing home and Mr. Jingles living to the age of 60 or whatever it was, but I didn't think that was all that compelling anyway. Here is one instance where I think I prefer the movie because they really did a good job of casting. John Coffee (only not spelled the same way) was such a compelling character, I don't see how anyone could not find the story interesting on some level.

"The Kite Runner" (sorry, forgot the author's name and I am too tired to go look it up) was another great story. It was full of complex characters. Although the story line got a bit formulaic at one point, I thought it was a spectacular tale of human shame and redemption. It is, of course an interesting commentary on Afghanistan and it's recent history, and I think it is more well known for that (you are all welcome to leave your comments on that aspect if you wish), but I liked it for other reasons. One thing that struck me was when Amir writes his first short story about the man whose tears turned to pearls. In the book it is praised for its irony, but I thought the greatest irony was that it was actually the story of his own life. I guess they say, "you write what you know." It made me so sad. Then again at the end when he drives his nephew to attempted suicide...it nearly made me cry.

Well, I am out of energy for this tonight. Please leave me your thoughts and we can discuss in greater detail some of the more interesting and complex parts.

'Til next time...keep on reading those books!

--out--

Perks of the Daily Drive

Well, traffic isn't all bad. It means a few more minutes with a good book. Don't worry, I gave up on reading while I drive years ago. But, I do love audiobooks. I just went back to work, which means a solid hour and a half of book time each day. I have started two books. The first is "The Clan of the Cave Bear," by Jean M. Auel, and "The Blind Assassin," by Margaret Atwood. I have not read either of these, though I imagine many of you have read "The Clan of the Cave Bear." I'd be glad to hear your thoughts. By Margaret Atwood, I have listened to the BBC dramatization of "The Handmaids Tale," which was quite an interesting story. We'll see how things go.

Yes, I'm Alive!

Alright, I've been getting some flak for being lazy on my posts. (It is nice to know that someone is actually reading this.) It is well deserved. I have been a bit delinquent, but I am still alive. I finished reading "Next," which I enjoyed very much, as I anticipated. I think it is important to have books like that published to raise controversial issues and spur public debate. My favorite movie about genetic engineering is "Gattaca." "Next" was a much broader book and I think more up to date. I have also been reading a novel, bit by bit but I'll get into that later.

I have been very busy with holidays, caring for Addy, looking for work, and a few other time consumers. I hope to be back to a normal schedule of reading (and blogging!) soon.

Cheers!

I started reading "Next" by Michael Crichton. It is a novel all about the current and future realms genetics. It is really fun. It is hard to tell which parts of the book are actual events and which are made up. Some of it I know because of the genomics class I took at the UW, but there is alot that could have happened in the last couple of years. I am liking the parts about the stem cell debate. It should be a fun read.

What came first, the Chicken or the Ape?

I recently read the book "Why is a Fly Not a Horse?" by Giuseppe Sermonti. I really enjoyed it. It gets you thinking about genetics and evolution. He has a wealth of knowledge from a lifetime of work in molecular biology. He said as a student he was a great believer in evolutionary theory and the idea that with the proper environmental pressures new species could be created from old ones. However later in life he has come to look skeptically at the "Theory of Evolution." That species can and do change themselves in response to environmental pressures is a well documented fact, but the idea that all species diverged from a single organism, or even that any single species has diverged into two distinct species is still simply an idea with no hard proof.

I enjoyed the approach he gave in that he looked into what actually distinguishes one species from another. Of course we have had it drilled into our heads that it is all about DNA. However, there is more to life and the development of an organism than its DNA. There are other factors that determine how an organism will develop that the DNA cannot control. Without going into too much detail I will mention prion diseases (DNA determines the order of amino acids, but not the shape of the protein), bee and ant colonies (many distinct classes, but all have the same DNA), butterflies (it used to be a caterpillar?), other animals which have distinctive changes upon maturation but which can still survive and reproduce in conditions that prohibit maturity, and twins (definitely the same DNA, but not the same fingerprints).

Many other interesting facts and thoughts are explored in the work, and I would recommend it to anyone who has any interest in the realm of genetics and biology. I will also add that it is a translation from Italian and it is a little difficult to read.

This One's For You, Babe!

For Micaela's benefit I had to take the nerd test. Of course, she was right, I am the bigger nerd. However, I am not a Nerd King. This is my award. (I took the advanced test.)





I hope this satisfies you all.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

I've been in Seattle for several days now and it has been raining since I arrived. It seriously has not dried out enough to walk outside in socks. It just makes me homesick. At my house, it never rains for more than an hour at a time, and it is dry enough to walk on the porch after about 2 minutes. Sometimes, the water evaporates quick enough that you can even go outside in the rain and not get your feet wet. It is amazing! I'd encourage all of you to move to Colorado with us, but then we would miss the other wonderful thing about the area: the open space. Our city is quite literally surrounded by farmland. It is great.

OK, down to business. I finished reading "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters". It was an excellent work of non-fiction. It was enlightening and inspiring. As a father of a little girl, some of the facts came as a bit of a wake up call, but the advice and encouragement was wonderful and makes me excited to raise my baby. I would recommend this book to anyone. Not just fathers and not just fathers of daughters, but anyone (of course you must be mature enough to take the very frank nature of the subject matter) who wishes to understand better the relationship between men and women. It just really gets you thinking, in a good way. I'd love to hear comments on this, especially those of you who have read the book, but also all you daughters out there; what are your experiences? Discuss amongst yourselves...