Blankbaby

You can keep your Harry Potter, I have Thursday Next

The world is all a twitter about Harry Potter and the next Billion, or whatever it is called, and I must tell you... I don't give a crap. Why? Mostly because I read the first Potter book and thought it was pretty crappy so I thought, why should I read thousands of pages of this treacle? So I stopped at the first book, chalked it up as a learning experience, and moved on. It would seem I am the only person in the world who had this reaction.

People know I enjoy books, so whenever Harry Potter comes up in conversation it is assumed that I have read the entire saga and have some opinions about it. I tell folks that I only read the first book and invariably they say, "Oh, that's the worst of the lot! They don't really start to get good until the 3rd book." That's too much effort for too little return in my book (get it? Ha!).

So you can keep your damn Harry Potter books, because I have something even better: Thursday Next. That's right, Amazon just emailed me the shipping confirmation for First Among Sequels: A Thursday Next Novel, and I'm incredibly excited. The Thursday Next books are set in an alternative world where reading is as popular as sports are in our world. Plus it is written by a witty Englishman, and how can you not like a dude with a last name that begins with two f's?

I'll have First Among Sequels tomorrow, thanks to Amazon Prime, and I am sure I will devour it very quickly (though sadly I have an appointment after work tomorrow so I won't be able to read it as quickly as I would like).

Kurt Vonnegut dead

Kurt Vonnegut is dead. Perhaps he has become unstuck in time.

My First Amazon.com order

Omar had this incredible idea to share the details of his first Amazon.com order, and I thought I would join in on the fun.

It would seem that on June 9th, 1997 I made my first purchase from Amazon.com (and probably my first purchase on the web ever).  I bought the following items:

• Gravity’s Rainbow
• Mason & Dixon
• Against a Dark Background

Those three books, including shipping (ah, that’s when I paid for shipping from Amazon), cost me $37.31.

The sad thing is that I still haven’t finished reading Gravity’s Rainbow.  It is a difficult read.

So, what was in your first order from Amazon and when did you place it?

And yes, that's what Amazon.com looked like in 1997.  Ten years, it boggles the mind.

   

How Amazon.com almost ruined Christmas

Joe, who recently burst upon the blogosphere, talks about how Amazon almost ruined Christmas, though oddly he doesn’t actually tell the story.

A few days ago Joe hinted that he bought me a Christmas present by saying, ‘I bought you a Christmas present.’ This made me think of a few things in rapid succession:

1. How nice!
2. Crap.
3. Now I have to get him a present.
4. Ah, I was going to anyway, but now I actually have to make sure I do it.

I wasn’t sure what to get him, but since he likes to read and I like to give books to people the choice was obvious. But what book?

Ah!

Stranger in a Strange Land

Has he read it though? It is a SciFi classic, and Joe is a pretty big geek. I IMed him and worked the word ‘grok’ into the conversation to see if he knew what I was talking about. He didn’t, and I was set.

I went to Amazon, ordered the book, got it gift wrapped, and waited 2 days. The box arrived and I called Joe over to my desk. He unwrapped the book, and looked at it with a slightly quizzical look on his face.

‘Oh,’ said he.

Hmm, thought I, Joe likes SciFi, right?

Turns out Amazon sent me the wrong book. Instead of some Heinlein goodness Joe was greeted with ‘Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives,’ which proudly proclaims on the cover to have the power to change people’s lives. No wonder he wasn’t as thrilled as I thought he should have been.

2 days later and Stranger in a Strangeland arrived. Christmas was saved.

Christmas is soon upon us

Glenn and I have been exchanging Christmas presents for years, which makes sense since we have been friends for years (I forget how long, but I think I was in the 6th grade when I met him). Anyway, every year one of us calls the other (usually Glenn calls me, since I hate the phone and all) and says, 'So, what do you want for Christmas?' Invariably the other replies, 'Well, what do you want?'

It is even tougher on me because Glenn's birthday is also in December so I have to get him something that can cover both (see, having friends is tough!).

Anyway, Glenn you can get me The Space Opera Renaissance. Now, what the hell do you want?

Bless me Father for I have sinned. I bought 3 books today

I was walking home from a post work gathering, which was a welcome respite from my normal monastic existence, when I passed Barnes and Noble. 'Self,' said I, 'perhaps a nice hot chocolate would be in order. Nah, it isn't really hot chocolate weather. I'll just go in and browse.'

Famous last words.

Fifty bucks later I walked out with:

• “Besieged: Siege Warfare in the Ancient World (General Military)” by Duncan Campbell
• “Thunderstruck” by Erik Larson
• “Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician” by Anthony Everitt

I suppose being addicted to books isn't that bad a thing.

The God Delusion

This is merely a reminder to myself that I should pick up “The God Delusion” to read on the train ride to Glenn's.

I'll share my thoughts with you when I am done (I know you'll be anxiously waiting!).

Isaac Asimov

I went to a sort of geeky high-school (shocking, I know). Everyone there was pretty smart (I often wonder how I slipped in) and there was the full range of geekdom on display (even the athletes were geeks when you get right down to it, though there were cliques as there always are. I was, even amongst the other geeks, considered pretty damn geeky). The school had a library, which contained a fairly good SciFi section. Since I had a 45 minute commute each way, I needed reading material and so I started to read the entire
collection of SciFi/fantasy books which were available.

Early on in my readings I came across Isaac Asimov (not too odd since
his last name begins with 'A' and I am nothing if not methodical). His books really sparked my imagination. I started with “Caves of Steel”, which isn't his best work; I was hooked.

If someone were to ask me where they should start with Asimov I would recommend the Foundation Series, with a few caveats. His characters tend to be... one dimensional, his writing style is no frills, and his female characters (when one shows up) are particularly one dimensional.

You might wonder why the heck I read so many (and I mean many. The man wrote over 500 books) of his books if I wasn't that impressed with his writing style. Well, you see, he may not have been Shakespeare but his ideas were always intriguing, and his books are good fun.

Anyway, the point of this entry is to share this quote with you:

Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.

Amazon associate

Oh, and just an fyi to my faithful readers out there (yes, that's you mom!). From henceforth any thing that I like to from Amazon will be an 'associate' link which means if you buy it from Amazon I get a kick back. Pretty sweet huh?

300, the graphic novel

A few days ago I was raving about the trailer for 300, so yesterday Barry said to me, Would you like to borrow the “300”?' And I was all like, 'Totally! OMG!11!!'

Today I got to work (a little later for normal people, but a little early for me) and what did I find waiting on my desk? That's right, 300! I looked at the first few pages and then put it in my bag. I was at the office to work, not lollygag about like a wastrel!

The work day soon drew to a close and I hastened to Blankbaby Manor in order to feast my eyes upon Mr. Miller's work. It was a quick read, but very good. It would seem that the movie follows the graphic novel closely (at least the parts that I saw in the trailer were pretty much exactly what was in the book). March 9th, 2007 can't come soon enough!