Another Lovely April Day

Notice anything missing in this picture (see above, reposted 08-APR-03)? Like maybe grass? Birds, small furry animals, kids playing? Yeah. I don't see them either. Damn it all.

And at the time of this picture it'd only been snowing for a couple hours. We're going to get it all night. There's a Weather Advisory until 5:00 am tomorrow morning.

Happy Freakin' Spring.

10:40:32 PM    comment []

WARNING: Slow Blogging Ahead

2:39:28 PM    comment []

What’s on YOUR nightstand?

No, not THAT.  What are you reading these days?

This year’s “Who Reads What” list was published last week.  I’m not surprised by most of the entries; I do wonder whether some of the contributors (or their agents/dressers/publishers/administrative assistants) understood the exercise.  Some of the folks are clearly driven readers; some are only looking for some light entertainment.  A few are, uh, well, iffy.  It does make me wonder what kind of readers these folks are.  Do some not have a book in their houses?  Do they know the way to the library?  I also wonder about the voracious readers: do some have piles of books that threaten to collapse at the slightest touch?

Here’s what’s on my nightstand and spread around the house, in various stages of read/unread.  I’m the kind of reader who has multiple books in progress all the time.  Life was simpler when I was a working stiff; I had a book in my office, a book in my briefcase, another on the nightstand and one in the bathroom.  Now I have mounds of books all around the house, and it seems to be much harder to stick to a small handful.  I’ve even been working on piles by subject matter – that’s getting just a bit too geeky, I think.  Maybe it’s just me, but at one point in my life I would have thought “GEEK” if I’d walked into a house that looked like this one!

Yes, I confess, I read in the bathroom – prodigiously.  It’s one of the few places that no one will bother me, and I can lock the door if they threaten to do so.  Even my husband will defend my right to privacy in there; if the kids chase me in there with over-persistent Mom-mom-mom-ing, he’ll stop them and tell them to Wait until Mom’s out. (They sigh, shrug, and drop whatever the issue was that needed me at that point.  Couldn’t have been an emergency.)  When in the middle of a chapter that I MUST finish NOW, I can head for my sanctuary, lock the door, and read in peace  The next house we buy or build must have a lounge area so I can read in greater comfort; my current sanctuary is a puny half-bath requiring me to curl up on the floor to read (or sit on the can, but that’s even less comfortable!).  Ah, to have a recamier and a mound of pillows upon which to recline in the privacy of my salon!  I may never come out…it would be lovely to finish this current passel of books, though, recamier or no.

Consciousness Studies:

The Mystery of Consciousness – John Searle (yeah, Raven, I’m still picking at this teeny-tiny book!)

Synaptic Self – Joseph Ledoux

Science:

The Structure of Evolutionary Theory – Stephen Jay Gould (Yes, God help me I am still working on this MONSTER!)

The Third Chimpanzee – Jared Diamond  

Politics:

In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam -- Robert McNamara

Wine & War: The French, The Nazis & The Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure – Don & Petie Kladstrup (thanks for the loan, M.!)

Just for fun:

The Minimalist Cooks at Home – Mark Bittman (Leah raved about this so much that I sprung for it)

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home – Julia Child, Jacques Pepin (inspired by Julie, although I must admit this one is far less effort than MtAoFC)

I note from the “Who Reads What’ list that the venerable Helen Thomas is reading ‘War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam’ (edited by Ted Bartimas) -- I may have to add this one to the nightstand, if I ever finish a book!

So?  What are YOU reading?  Is there something you think I must add to my piles of books?  Descend from your recamier and tell me about it.

10:54:22 AM    comment []