Overboard

[stoutfellow]

I went over to Borders today to pick up a Christmas present. Naturally, I bought some stuff for myself.

I may have gone overboard: well over $200...

The haul:
Rick Perlstein's Nixonland. (I really want Before the Storm, about the Goldwater movement; this is sort of a sequel to that.)
Jack Weatherford's Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. (Looks interesting, and I'm willing to accept a certain amount of revisionism - but I can't forget the fate of the last Abbasid caliph.)
Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. (I bought this on a recommendation by Sybil Vane; she describes it better than I would.)
Andrew Bacevich, The Limits of Power. (I read his The New American Militarism earlier this year and was rather impressed, and I've heard good things about this one as well.)
Jim Butcher, Death Masks and Captain's Fury, the next volumes in the Dresden Files and Codex Alera series respectively.
Eric Flint, 1634: The Baltic War. (I can't find the one set in Bavaria, dang it.)
Janet Evanovich, Seven Up. (Mind candy, yum.)
David Weber, Honor Among Enemies. (I'll probably stop reading the Honor books eventually, but they haven't worn out their welcome yet.)
Steve Stirling, A Meeting at Corvallis. (This series isn't, I think, as good as the Nantucket trilogy, but completism makes its demands.)
Roberta Meluch, The Sagittarius Command. (I still can't buy the original conceit, but I like the Merrimack people, so I'm sticking with this series.)
Robert Heinlein, Starman Jones. (A childhood favorite, as I recall, probably because of the 3-D chess. I suspect my memory is unreliable....)
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. (It's about time I read it, I suppose.)
Iain M. Banks, The Algebraist. (How could I not buy a book with that title?)

I also picked up a couple of CDs: a "Greatest Hits" album from Heart which, remarkably, includes none of the songs I already have, and (save the brickbats, please) a Bread anthology. (If nothing else, I'd like to have the original version of "If", to wipe the memory of Dolly Parton's cover from my mind.)

Oh, yes - if you were wondering, I did buy the Christmas present.

Comments

[sunlizzard.livejournal.com]

Actually, what I'm wondering is how'd you haul them home?! Walk over, taxi back? ;)

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Heh.

I am, by this time, an absolute expert on getting mass quantities of books from Point A to Point B. Been doing it almost all my life.

(On foot, actually. Two medium-heavy bags, less than half a mile.)

[sunlizzard.livejournal.com]

Wow. More than I could handle nowadays, though I must admit I don't serve as much of a comparison!

I have decided to throw a little upper-body-building into my stationary bike routine. I'm now doing 2 miles a day minimum, up to 2.75 when I have time, which is most days. I need to get some light hand weights and ease into working with the arm muscles. I can hardly wait for good weather to come back around--I sure do miss the outside riding, not only because it's more interesting but also it's so much better a workout. But this should keep me in good enough conditioning over the winter.

Do you just not like biking? Or are the streets you'd need to travel on, for groceries or books (the true necessities!) not suited for it? I am lucky in that though the stores I need are too far for riding, the neighborhood is excellent for it from the workout standpoint.

Oh, and I had much much fun this afternoon, listening to the state high school AAAA football championship game--Emily's school won! Almost perfectly matched teams, final score 49-45, Goddard wins. I texted Em throughout so she got to keep up with it too. GHS had been to state numerous times, just hadn't won the darn thing since 1997. So.... whee! Great, great game. :D

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

When I first moved here, I biked a lot, but then I lived closer to the university. From where I live now, the bike paths are long and, in warm weather, very stuffy. There's a bike in the garage, but it's been sitting there for about fifteen years and would probably need major work to become rideable again.

I might start biking again soon, though. The city just recently cut a new street that runs arrow-straight from where I live to the university, and, in decent weather, it might be worth trying. On the other hand, I've really gotten used to that half-hour or so of uninterrupted reading or thinking I can get in on the bus once or twice a day....

Bravo for winning teams! (Both of mine have fallen through the floor in the last twelve months, and show no signs of rebounding.)

[sunlizzard.livejournal.com]

I would probably opt for a meandering path rather than an arrow-straight street, but that's just me. I like varying my route and I've measured out half a dozen distinctly different ones in my neighborhood, so that depending on time and energy I can do a short run or a longer workout. Luckily, all these streets are quite wide and people seldom park on the street itself, so they're pretty well hazard free. Low traffic too.

Of course what might influence your biking to the university on the new street is how well designed it is for riders. Does it (or will it) have a specific bike lane, sufficiently wide for safety? Does it have grade differences enough for a good workout, but with no outright extremes? Also, do the buses you normally take have carriers for the bike if, for instance, the ride in was fine but the ride home would be awful (rain, wind, sudden cold, or too dark)?

I could have good enough riding weather as early as the first of April, for riding after work. I prefer riding before work, though--oh, those cool, sweet, summer mornings, so gorgeous!--and warm enough for early riding probably won't happen until May or so. I find the ideal temp to be in the mid to upper 70's, and not too humid. That last is easy around here, more difficult for you, I imagine!

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

The street is pretty much level; I haven't actually looked for the presence of a bike lane, but my impression is that there's enough room. (The really tricky spot is on campus; there's a four-way intersection where I have to turn left, and I had one or two frightening experiences there back when I was biking regularly.) The buses do have bike carriers, yes.

If I were biking for exercise, I'd just mooch around the neighborhood. I see more than a few people doing that around here.

[sunlizzard.livejournal.com]

Neighborhood riding is your place to start anyway; it'll take some conditioning, plus retraining the balance-memory, before you'd be ready for non-neighborhood streets.

Maybe you could check out that route on foot first. That'd give you the better idea of grades and street widths and possibly alternates to avoid the one hazardous intersection. All awaits better weather anyway, though, yes?

[filkferengi]

A 16 oz water bottle is a one-pound handweight. A couple of those might be a good [& affordable!] place to start the arm conditioning.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

That would have worked better if you had bought a Meat Loaf CD instead of Heart.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Hey, I like Bread!

What were you trying to do? Reverse the recession all by yourself? [g]

Enjoy. I just got back from the library, myself. Not as good as buying them, but the next best thing, and you can get the stuff that's out of print.

Every sports team in western Washington is imploding this year -- first the Sonics got sold to Oklahoma City, then the Mariners had their worst season ever, then the UW Huskies are 0-11 (I think it's eleven -- anyway, they haven't won a game this season, and most of them have been scores like 45-7), the WSU Cougars (yes, they're eastern Washington, but there's a lot of alumni/fans on this side of the mountains) are 2-something (they did win the cross-state rivalry and one other), and my poor injury-riddled Seahawks are 2-10? I think it's two and ten. Two and something, anyway.

Not a good year to be a sports fan in the Pacific Northwest.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I really should acquaint myself with the city library. I've actually never gone in there (and I'm not precisely sure where it is...). Given how much time I spent in the San Diego downtown library as a kid, that's a bit odd, but downtown is out of the way for me. (My house and the university are both quite a ways south of downtown.)

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

How many years have you lived there? Honestly [g].

If you do, we want a report...

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Twenty-two years. Urk.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who has always gotten a local library card within a week after moving to a new place, I find this reprehensible [eg].

Go forth and find your library. This week!

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't be much point, this week, given that a) I'm leaving for the holidays on the 19th and b) I've already got plenty of stuff to read....

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Excuses, excuses [g]. You could at least go and reconnoiter...

[oilhistorian.livejournal.com]

Eh, once I graduated high school I never spent much time in local libraries. Every university I've been affiliated with has had a popular reading collection of some sort. And, like you, I tend to buy what fiction I do read (especially since I reread it and Joyce will often read it as well).

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Unless, of course, you're in Oregon. :-)

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, yeah [g].

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to your response to the Genghis Khan book.

Love, C.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

I think Seven Up was the last Evanovich I really, really enjoyed.

Honor Among Enemies is quite good, one of the better standalones. The 2 books that follow it are EVEN BETTER but should definitely be read back to back.

The Oregon Trilogy is pretty good, but it comes from a different place than the original one. (I have no idea if that's what he calls it, but that's what I call it.) The original trilogy was more about going out and dealing with reality - the theme of the second one seems to be more about making your own reality. Just my 2 cents. The third trilogy is pretty good, too, especially with the gratuitous Highlander joke.

DV

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

When I found out what the McGuffin was in Seven Up, I almost fell out of my chair. Evanovich usually writes humor-laced actioners, but this is the first time she's gone to outright farce. (Good farce, but farce.)

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

Let me know what you think of Captain's Fury!

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Will do. It may be a while, though.

[filkferengi]

Would a wheeled crate be feasible for your neighborhood? They're $20 or so. The 18-inch one is invaluable at booksales & holds quite a bit. Not as cumbersome as the little red wagon, it might be a good compromise. Tip: When hunting online, don't look under wheeled crate, or you'll get doggie accommodations. Look under "wheeled file cart" or some such--unless you're actively hunting doggie accommodations, that is.

;)