drneutron's (Jim's) Reading to Avoid Work - Part 6

For my new thread's topper, I'm revisiting Solar Probe. We've got the basic structure together and now it actually look the way it's supposed to! Here's the baby picture:

Hmm, somehow had twin Solar Probes...

Read so far:

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Committed by Dinah Miller and Annette Hanson
The Inkblots by Damon Searles
Monstress, Vol 1 by Marjorie Liu
The Seventh Plague by James Rollins
You Disappear by Christian Jungersen
The Unwinding by George Packer
The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl
The One-Cent Magenta by James Barron
Three Gothic Novels by E. F. Bleiler
In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Invincible, Vol 1 by Robert Kirkman
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Lola by Melissa Scrivener Love
Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
Armada by Ernest Cline
Powers of Darkness by Bram Stoker
Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
Magic in Islam by Michael Muhammad Knight
Watchmen by Alan Moore
I Am Providence by Nick Mamatas
Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz
The Nowhere Man by Greg Hurwitz
Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
The Secret State by John Hughes-Wilson
Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney- Boylan
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd

And the stats:

Total Books: 32

Author Gender
Male: 25 (74%)
Female: 9 (26%)

Author Status
Living: 33 (97%)
Dead: 1 (3%)

Publication Medium
Hardback: 6 (19%)
Trade: 10 (31%)
Mass Market: 1 (3%)
eBook: 15 (47%)

Category
Fiction: 21 (66%)
Nonfiction: 11 (34%)

Source
Library: 24 (75%)
Mine: 8 (25%)

ARC: 4
Re-Read: 2
Series: 8
Group Read: 2

And the latest from my trip:

33. Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston

One of the enduring legends of the area now called Honduras is that a lost civilization left behind a White City filled with gold - and of course, where there's talk of ancient treasure, people will try to find it. Preston's book has lots of stories about the people who looked for this city - or in some cases pretended to look while taking other people's money.

And that's great, but then he describes his joining the latest expedition to explore the Mosquitia region. First flying along with airborne LIDAR overflights to map the region , then tagging along as National Geographic reporter as the team breaks into a valley deep in the jungle that likely hadn't seen people for 500 years. ANd this is where the fun starts. Yeah, it's one of those books about snakes and bugs and flesh-eating diseases and people crazy enough to risk all that. But they actually found major, major prehistoric sites - sites still only beginning to be explored. And so we also get a look into cutting edge archaeology and the controversy surrounding this work by mostly non-archaeologists.

This is the kind of stuff I love - so of course I recommend it. And thanks to Mark for sending it to me!

34. Rutland Place by Anne Perry

Fifth in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series - and as unremarkable as the previous. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily - it's just that there's really nothing that makes these stand out from other series like it. Decent enough, though I'm still struggling with Anne Perry's past and how it relates to her chosen subject matter.

35. Brimstone by Cherie Priest

Gulped this one down on my way to the West Coast, killed most of an airplane ride. Here Priest gives us a post-WWI veteran plagues by supernatural fires and a psychic just learning how to use her abilities in a Florida town run as a Spiritualist colony. Not her best, but even her average stuff is better than most.

36. The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

A collection of speeches and articles made by Gaiman over the years on topics ranging across book and comic, movies, how media works, etc. As might be expected with this sort of book, some pieces were superb, others were dated or lacking in depth. Still, it's interesting to get some insight into his thinking how it comes out in his work.

37. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

A creative idea setting up a steampunk-ish series of books in which a collector for a multiverse-spanning Library is sent to find a unique manuscript by the Grimm brothers in a close-Victorian London. Of course there's more going on than that, and there's a mysterious trainee that's more than he appears. It's well-written fun and I've got the next two on my stack to be read soon.

Happy new thread Jim and great thread topper photo.

Thanks! And welcome to my first guest!

I hadn't realised I was the first Jim, it's not often I am first when a new thread gets started.

Happy new thread! Thanks for the photo of the solar probe. Now when it flies I will have some idea of what it is that is up there :)

Love the baby picture, Jim. Happy new thread!

>9 johnsimpson: Not just first, but only 10 minutes after posting the new thread!

>10 RebaRelishesReading: Yup! My plan is have more photos as we go along.

>11 ronincats: Thanks! We're pretty proud parents. All 200 of us. :)

Happy New Thread, Jim. Hooray for the solar probe and hooray for Monkey God.

Hope you had a fine weekend. I am getting ready to start The Road to Jonestown tomorrow. Becca inspired me.

>13 msf59: Had a good weekend - 5 miles on the Appalachian Trail, then painting in the house. The Road to Jonestown is on my list too.

Happy new thread.

Great to see the progress in the topper picture. Has it got much more to be added?

We should be getting the solar arrays soon, which will replace the red "chicken wings" on each side. Then a few more instruments go on. And finally, down at the launch site, the heat shield on the top.

Happy new thread, Jim!

Love the baby picture, of course. I helped out with the PTO's Book Shop last Friday (where the kids could use their good behavior tickets to 'buy' donated books); there was some sort of space exploration book in the mix, and one of Charlie's classmates brought it to me to show me that it included something about space probes - he was so excited! Influential, you are.

Eek, sounds like things are progressing rapidly on the solar probe. It must be great to watch all the hard work come to fruition gradually.

Happy new thread, Jim.

>17 scaifea: Awesome! I love working with kids on this. They get so excited about space and exploration. We're working on a proposal now to fly a drone on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Don't know if I'll get to work on that, but it'll be another one that really captures people's imagination!

>18 lunacat: Gradually is right - in September I'll have my 10th Solar Probe anniversary! :)

>19 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

Happy new thread, Jim. Until I read your review, I didn't realize that Lost City of the Monkey God was about archeology, something I really enjoy reading about. I think I was put off by the title.

>21 Familyhistorian: It's mostly about the discovery expedition itself, but there's lots in it about the prehistory of the region and about the attempts to explore it in modern times. The site itself is just being to be investigated, so not a lot of results yet. Still, it's a great story and Preston is a good writer.

Jim, the May Martians and Magic thread is open here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/256332

Awesome! I'll add it to the group wiki.

Happy new thread, Jim, cute baby up there ;-)

>25 FAMeulstee: Thanks!

What were your thoughts on Let The Right One In? Really liked the Swedish film version, not sure I can bring myself to watch the American film version.

>5 drneutron: Nice review of Lost City of the Monkey God. I am planning to read it this month.

>27 pbirch01: I haven't seen the American version either, but I loved the original. And the book is one of my favorites - certainly my favorite of Lindqvist.

>28 Oberon: Thanks! Looking forward to your thoughts on it. I was actually thinking about your Costa Rica trip when I read it. Don't get too freaked out by what happens at the end... :)

Happy New Thread, Jim!

>1 drneutron: So cool!

I want to get to Gaiman's A View from the Cheap Seats. I've been wondering about Invisible Library, so I'm glad to see your thumbs up. I had no idea there were two more already. Do you know whether there will be more after those?

There's a least a 4th that should be coming out later this year. The first was fun, and set up the series pretty well. These are not deep books, but are a lot like the Gail Carriger series or Jasper Fforde.

>29 drneutron: If we had brought back any horrendous tropical diseases I assume they would have manifested by now.

>32 Oberon: :)

Happy New Thread, Jim!

The new budget deal looks like wins for both NASA and the NIH. Too bad it only lasts a few months. But, I hope it shows that the Republicans see the worthiness of science, even if their fearless leader does not.

>34 streamsong: Agreed! At this point, so far so good. Fortunately, we're so far along that the money's already committed to the project. So our funding seems stable.

Hi, Jim. The Road to Jonestown is off to an excellent start. It is meticulously researched. Guinn looks to be an NNF author to keep an eye out for. Becca said his Manson bio was amazing.

I have his Manson book on my list. He wrote Go Down Together about Bonnie and Clyde, and also a book about the gunfight at the OK Corral, that were both good.

Our daughter (seasonoflove), a true crime book aficionado, gave high marks to his Manson book. And just did the same for The Road to Jonestown.

>37 drneutron: Ooh, the Bonnie and Clyde books sounds great. I always wanted to read more about them.

>3 drneutron: I see my university library as just acquired Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz- I will go and check if you have reviewed it on the book page, but in case haven't, what did you think? It was the only one from the new books that piqued my interest.

>5 drneutron: I'm still struggling with Anne Perry's past and how it relates to her chosen subject matter.
Me too, I haven't been able to read anything of hers because of it. But then again, I also haven't read anything of Ngaio Marsh's, and not only was she local, but my old university had a theatre named after her! Also, Agatha Christie has never even made it to the book holding zone- the bedside table. So maybe I am just not that fussed with female crime writers!

I'm glad to see that funding is fully in place, and that the budget has been so 'mild' compared to what the Orange Idiot wanted. 10 years is a long time to focus on things but it must be so good to have the 'final' product in your hands.

Good to read about the funding. Have now got the Bonnie and Clyde pop song stuck in my head though!

>38 jnwelch: Good to know - both Jones and Manson are interesting characters for me because it's hard for me to understand how they thought and why they did what they did.

>39 msf59: I'd go for it. It was a pretty good read. I have a bit of a personal connection with the Bonnie and Clyde story. The place in Louisiana where they were ambushed and killed is where my mother and her family are from. I've been there plenty of times over the years and even have heard older relatives talk a bit about it happening.

>40 LovingLit: Here's what I wrote about it and the second in my last thread:

Evan Smoak is a orphan raised to be a super assassin by a mysterious father figure to serve the US government. But when he's ordered to eliminate others in the Orphan program, he disappears. And now he's helping folks who can't get help anywhere else. At least while the remaining Orphans aren't trying to kill him.

Yeah, it's been done before. Smoak is part Jason Bourne, part Repairman Jack, part Jack Reacher. And that's ok, because Hurwitz is a decent writer who knows how to tell a story. It's brain candy, but it's good brain candy!

If you like Bourne or Reacher or Repairman Jack, you like these just fine!

>41 lunacat: Fortunately, the way the government works, it's pretty difficult to stop a program when it's as far along as ours. Nobody would do this sort of thing without stable funding when you're deep in the hardest part. It's possible to get canceled, of course, by way overspending or by a big technical problem, but we've not had those issues (knock on wood).

>42 charl08: :) My work here is done!

>40 LovingLit: I think that it was that exact review that got me to try Orphan X, Jim. I had the same reaction as you. I'm going to try another, and probably will read the series.

Happy New Thread, Jim! Glad you have some new funding, if only temporary.

May the Fourth be with you!

Just catching up after a long tax season. Love the pic of the probe - I need to show it to my older son. At one point, he wanted to be an astronaut, but is now leaning more realistically towards engineering.

>46 drneutron: LOL!

>48 rretzler: He could always engineer rockets...

>48 rretzler: Cool! We also have a pretty good website at http://solarprobe.jhuapl.edu

>49 jnwelch: :)

>50 PawsforThought: Yes!

>51 drneutron: Thanks for the link. Looks great. I bookmarked it.

>50 PawsforThought: >51 drneutron: We'll have to check it out. I'm not sure what he thinks he wants to engineer. He's taking AP Chem right now, so I think he's thinking about Chemical Engineering (but that also might be because my father was a Chemical Engineer.) Personally, since I was always fascinated by neuroscience (until I stupidly changed my major to accounting - don't know what I was thinking), I try to encourage him to look at Neuroengineering. But, of course, rocket science is definitely something worth considering!!

Hi Jim.

>53 rretzler: All types of engineering are exciting and interesting, and they're all fields where a lot will happen in the future. If I had a more science-minded mind I would definitely want to work as an engineer (I love science/STEM and love learning more about it, but I'm not terribly good at it and have a tendency to forget details, which are generally very important in the STEM fields).

Whatever he chooses, it'll good.

>53 rretzler:, >55 PawsforThought: A good friend of mine was a chemical engineer for WR Grace before he retired - it's a good field. But yeah, pretty much any engineering field is fun. My son is a computer science grad student working on computer vision problems with applications to medical imaging and self-driving cars. Cool stuff too!

>54 johnsimpson: Hi, John!

Happy new thread!

Chiming in to the engineering discussion to add that my brother-in-law is one of that tribe - he designs jet engines for GE. Fairly good job, apparently...

>57 banjo123: Thanks!

>58 scaifea: That's fun stuff too!

Hi Jim and happy new thread. I love the 'baby' picture!

>5 drneutron: I really want to get my hands on a copy of The Lost City of the Monkey God. It sounds fantastic. Good review.

I got my copy from Mark. If and when I get it back from the friend I lent it to, I'd be happy to send it to you if you like.

Well, Jim, that wasn't a hint, but I'll sure take you up on the offer if and when. Thank you! in advance conditionally - the "if and when" of loaning books can be tricky.

>63 drneutron: Oh, I didn't take it as a hint, just trying to pay Mark's generosity forward. :)

>60 karenmarie: Everyone seems to be talking about The Lost City of the Monkey God! I've put it on my wishlist - so hopefully, I'll eventually get around to it, too.

>51 drneutron: Really like the site! Just out of curiosity, what is your day to day software for systems engineering? I mean besides powerpoint of course...

>51 drneutron: One of those scientists rushing around at treble time to get the testing done has to be our intrepid administrator?!

Have a great weekend, Jim.

Just dropping by to catch up and wish you a great weekend, Jim!

>64 rretzler: Awesome! I hope you like it!

>65 pbirch01: Most of the system models are in Matlab and Simulink - that's used to autocode guidance and control algorithms and fault recovery responses. We use system engineering tools like DOORS for requirements management. Plus home built spreadsheets for resource tracking - mass, power modes, etc. Our autonomy system is a rules-based app that uses RPN style calculations in uploadable macros that's a home built system. That kind of thing.

>66 PaulCranswick: Yeah, I'm in there some, but not that much. We tend to limit clean room access to people who do work and now that I'm a manager, I'm not allowed to do work anymore. 😀

>67 tymfos: Thanks! I hope you have a good weekend too!

>68 drneutron: Managers are not allowed to work? That is something I need to adopt and quickly!

Reading all this about rocket science and engineering and building stuff makes me wish I had been a grownup at some point in my life. Ha.

>69 PaulCranswick: 😀 If I touched the spacecraft, I'd just mes something up.

>70 weird_O: What makes you think I'm a grownup? 😀

My recent acquisitions. Right stack came from the library (except the bottom one). Went in to pick up a book on reserve, came out with 5. Left stack is a collection of recent bookstore raids.

>72 drneutron: Good Job!!

Hi Jim! Just a quick wave hello from me. Cute baby picture at the top.

Lost City of the Monkey God looks intriguing, and you piqued my curiosity with that Anne Perry comment, so I had a quick peek at her bio. You seem to have liked The Invisible Library; I think I picked that up (can't resist a book about books) but then the reviews didn't seem too excited about it.

Happy anniversary in advance, because I know I won't remember at the right time. Ooh - and happy new thread.

Jim, dropping by to say hello; naturally got hit by a BB with Lost City.

Re: Anne Perry, I read the first two or three, looked her up (because that's what nerds do), and decided that the books weren't nearly good enough to overcome my discomfort with the whole thing.

Looks like you're flourishing in your career.

>73 RebaRelishesReading: :)

>74 humouress: I did like The Invisible Library, saw the reviews too. But maybe I liked it because I wasn't expecting too much and was pleasantly surprised. I've got the second and third on the stack by my reading chair and hope to get to them soon.

Re: Anne Perry, I read Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century back in 2013, recommended if you want to know more.

>75 Matke: Lost City was definitely fun! I suppose I'm flourishing, though after 10 years working on this thing, I'll be happy to get it in the air... :)

I have Lost City near the top of my TBR pile and I will try not to let it get buried after your review. : )

>77 Berly: Sounds good! I hope you like it. :)

Stopping by to wish you a happy new thread, Jim. What a cool thread topper!

>72 drneutron: Nice book haul, Jim. That should keep you busy for a few days.

>79 lkernagh: Thanks! It's fun to see everything finally coming together.

>80 msf59: Yeah, for a few. :) And I've got 5 that need to be added to my books and commented on here. Just no time...

Hearing all this science talk makes me wish I had that kind of mind. I'm reasonably intelligent (if I do say so myself) but my brain simply doesn't like working like that. Hard facts, maths, physics, engineering, it doesn't go in. I can have as good a teacher as you like, and work at it for ages, and I might eventually kind of figure it out, but most of the time it's like a switch goes off in my head and nothing makes sense any more. It just turns into white noise. Grrr!

>82 lunacat:

Hi - 73 year old, former dynamic 4th grade teacher,
who still wonders about how teaching Math could have gone better.

((Recalling that old saying that teachers teach at the level of math they have mastered.))

Example: Student was running 10 laps and got to 7.
He said something like 'great, I've only got 3 to go!'

How did he figure that?
Well 10 minus 7 equals 3, right?
In this case, No.

Some few 4th graders will understand that it is 4 right away.

More will understand when it is drawn on the board with a completion shown for EACH number.

Many will understand it briefly and be unable to explain it in the future...notably when they are parents.

Mystery Math.

>70 weird_O: Being a grown-up is highly overrated. I'd much rather be a 12-year-old boy - they seem to have all the fun!

>72 drneutron: The Girl on the Train was an excellent read - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I think she has a new one out.

>83 m.belljackson: But my question would be - was he at the end of lap 7 or the beginning??? Many times it is the wording that makes a problem difficult, I think. (It's similar to birthdays - right after birth is year one, but you do not turn one until the end. Sometimes difficult for a young one to understand.)

>84 rretzler:

He had finished Lap 6 and so said he was on Lap 7 and had 3 more to go.

Yeah, like calling all those 1900 numbers the 20th Century...

>82 lunacat: I envy people who can sit down and start creating art - I don't understand how the mind can picture what you want then go through the process of getting there. But I get intuitively how protons travel from the Sun, propagate into the Earth's magetosphere, then affect electronics. It's interesting how the mind works and how little we understand it!

>83 m.belljackson: :) Those kinds of things I get right away. Math is a language for expressing ideas, whether in English words or in numbers and symbols. When my son was in first grade, they started working on graphs and data analysis and interpretation - I was pretty impressed at how much he got from it!

>84 rretzler: I'll have to check for a new one by Hawkins. Mrsdrneutron listened to it on audiobook and really liked it so I snagged it right away when I came across a giveaway copy.

>85 m.belljackson: Or the fact that there's no year zero... :)

>85 m.belljackson: This is why I'm glad we just say "the nineteen hundreds" in Swedish. The whole "xxth centruy" business confused me for a *very* long time.

Time for an update!

38. Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence by Bill James

Bill James is a well known baseball writer - well known for being a "sarcastic bastard", as he likes to put it. It turns out, he's also read many, many true crime books over the last couple of decades, and has put together his thoughts on the subject. And boy, does he have some thoughts!

This isn't a book about crimes or cases - though that's the focus of the discussion. Instead, it's about how we as a society (American, in this case) talk about crimes and get fascinated about crimes and invent wacky theories about crimes. And how the media reports crimes. Oh, and how the criminal justice system could be done so much better. He expects the reader to be familiar with the particulars of all the crimes he discusses, even the ones that we modern-day readers have never heard of. In spite of this, it's an absolutely laugh-out-loud funny book for all the snark and off-handed comments.

Probably not for everyone, but I had a ball with it.

39. Invincible, Vol 2: Eight is Enough by Robert Kirkman

Second in a delightfully spoofy superhero comic book series that's more about family and growing up than about fighting villains. Highly recommended.

40. Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

Second in a YA series built around classic horror stories. The first was a retelling of The Island of Dr Moreau, this one based on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I have to confess I got a little tired of the Team Edward/Team Montgomery (anybody remember Twilight?) nature of the romantic part of the story, but the ending came together nicely, and the third promises to be interesting since it's built around one of my faves - Frankenstein.

41. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Bryson's attempt to understand how we got here - at least up to the point where Homo sapiens came on the scene. It's his usual wandering style where we learn more about the people figuring these things out than about the actual science itself. That's ok, these are really fun stories. His best so far for me.

I think your A Short History of Nearly Everything BB hit me--I've been thinking of reading this one for a while now, and if you say it's your favorite so far, that's a strong vote for sooner rather than later! Thanks!

Karen O.

>88 drneutron: Interesting! Bill James has long seemed like the kind of guy you would have a beer with and then just sit there and listen to him talk the entire time and be totally happy with it. The sabermetrics work is already interesting, the fact that he could expand into a completely unrelated area is very impressive.

>90 klobrien2: My exposure to Bryson isn't broad, but yeah, I really like this one. Plus it's the 105th most popular book on LT!

>91 pbirch01: I could definitely sit and listen to him talk about this stuff over a beer! Reading the reviews on the book's page here on LT, it's clear lots of folks didn't understand what they were getting into. Like I said in my comments, he expects some level of knowledge about the cases - but that's pretty easy given Wikipedia and such. It's the snark and sarcasm and rabbit trails I found so much fun.

Sweet Thursday, Jim! I want to read A Short History of Nearly Everything. I am way, way over due on reading a Bryson.

Speaking of NF, I know you like the great outdoors, so you might like my current GN, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. Egan is a very good writer and this is a fascinating and somewhat sad subject.

>89 drneutron: Another fan of A Short History of Nearly Everything. Have I read it? No, but I want to! Thanks for the review. Happy Friday.

Morning, Jim!

I do love Bryson - I need to get round to that one, especially since it's already sitting on my shelves...

>93 msf59: Oh, that looks good - on the list it goes...

>94 Berly:, >95 scaifea: Happy Friday! Pull it off the shelves, people! :)

>89 drneutron: I have been known to refer to A Short History of Nearly Everything as "one of the scariest books I've ever read". I am NOT a scientist (not that I wouldn't want to be, just I'm totally not oriented that way) and I learned a lot of things about bulges in the earth and comets heading our way that I found rather unsettling.

>97 RebaRelishesReading: Yeah, that stuff was pretty cool! We could die in so many ways... :)

>90 klobrien2:

If it matters to you, be aware that (1) there are a number of scientific howlers in the book (I'm sure drneutron is aware of them; it may or may not bother you, but *please* don't trust any science you learn from the book without double-checking it) and (2) it contains totally gratuitious, random drive-by homophobia.

>99 lorax: Yup, this is not a science book. Like I said in my review, it's more about the people doing the science. Plus, at 10 years old or so, some of the science is a bit dated.

Definitely hit me with a BB for the James book. Many, many years ago when I was a rabid an enthusiastic baseball fan I eagerly awaited his annual compendium of heavy-duty stats and funny asides. I'm looking forward to the same approach to crime and our attitudes toward it.

Another writer who sometimes included baseball talk and stats in his books was Stephen Jay Gould. Love his work.

I was disappointed with the Bryson book, bit it was a long time ago and I don't remember why. I did enjoy the background information on scientists, though.

Weekend coming up! Have a wonderful one.

A Short History of Nearly Everything was the first Bryson I read, in 2008. So it was one of the first books I read because it was recommended around here ;-)

>99 lorax:, >101 Matke: Whoa! I will definitely keep these comments in mind when reading A Short History. I'm usually pretty analytic when I read, though (the proverbial "grain of salt).

Karen O.

>84 rretzler: I had the same thought. I run a lot, and count laps (or miles), and the number in my head is always the number I've completed, not the one I'm on. When I get to 7 there *are* 3 laps to 10 and reading the question it took me a minute to figure out why it would be different for anyone else. I'd easily have answered that question "incorrectly."

>88 drneutron: Number 38 sounds up my alley. Into the swamp!

>84 rretzler: I think I would have got it right. I used to wait for the bell before deciding there was but one lap left!

Have a great weekend, Jim.

>101 Matke: If you liked his compendia, you'll probably like this one. Imagine 20 years worth of snark building up and coming out all at one time. 😀

>101 Matke:, >102 FAMeulstee:, >103 klobrien2: It's Bryson, with all his faults, so keep that in mind and you'll enjoy it.

>104 swynn:, >105 PaulCranswick: my solution is not to run... 😬

>105 PaulCranswick: I hope you have a good weekend too!

>107 drneutron: "my solution is not to run..." LOL!! Happy Sunday.

>46 drneutron: *actually laughed out loud just then*

>86 drneutron: But I get intuitively how protons travel from the Sun, propagate into the Earth's magetosphere, then affect electronics
I am so glad that there are people out there who can intuitively get stuff like that!!!

Re: the laps....when I swim I try to do 40 laps of a 25m pool (to swim 1km in total). But- I always lose count. Always. My mind wanders and I am all "was I just about to get to the start of the 5th lap, or have I just been on the 5th this whole time?". Unless I chant to myself which lap Im up to the whole lap I get lost. I actually like to use the time for thinking, so its no wonder I get muddled. Now I swim for at least 25 minutes, and that is that.

>86 drneutron:

Geez - with all that intuition likely shared with Stephen Hawking and few others,
no wonder you can tell us why 10-7=3...or 4...!

>108 Berly: 😀

>109 LovingLit: Time sounds like the perfect solution!

>110 m.belljackson: 😀

>107 drneutron: >104 swynn: >105 PaulCranswick: Agreed! My solution is also not to run!

42. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

A bunch of folks amongst the 75ers have read this one - the group read some of us are doing included. Mostly the reception has been good, and I somewhat agree with folks who resonated with Hochschild's work. It's well written and honest in intention; I think she really does intend to try to understand the mindset of very conservative folks who ostensibly would benefit by voting more liberally.

Maybe it's that I've never studied sociology, so haven't come across the deep story technique she uses in the second half of the book. And I can see the usefulness as a way to organize thinking. But for me, it came across as a very simplistic reduction of complex people and a complex situation - especially as she classified people into story characters. Also, I get that there's a balance between the number of people she can get to know vs the depth that she gets to know them, but I felt that she was pretty limited in her exposure to people there and that she - probably unconciously - cherry picked who she included in the book to fit her deep story.

So ultimately, I thought it was a worthwhile read with some qualification.

>112 rretzler: :)

Nice review of Strangers in Their Own Land, Jim. Your comments seem to jibe with those of other LTers who have read this book.

>115 kidzdoc: Thanks! I'm looking forward to Hillbilly Elegy, but I'm 51st on the list to get it from the library... :)

51 people in the queue! Wow. I'll stop complaining about being 20th then...

>116 drneutron: Whoa. Hopefully you'll be able to borrow Hillbilly Elegy before the year is out!

Happy 32nd wedding anniversary Jim, hope you and Danita have had a really lovely day.

>117 charl08:, >118 kidzdoc: I may not get it by the end of June, but it shouldn't take too long...

>119 johnsimpson: Thanks, John!

For those not yet a friend on Facebook, yesterday was our 32nd wedding anniversary. I had a two-day meeting in Denver, so mrsdrneutron flew out with me. We spent half a day on Monday tooling around Boulder, Colorado, then she spent the next two days finding quilt shops in the greater Denver area. Last night, we found a great little out-of-the-way place that served mesquite grilled steaks and seafood. Today we had to clean snow off the rental car before heading back to Baltimore (clocking in at more than 90 degree).

And tomorrow, it's back to the grind...

I enjoyed Let the Right One In. It was much better than the original movie (and I enjoyed that, as well).

>120 drneutron: I know the weather was pretty good for most of your visit anyway, Jim! At least the mornings were bright and sunny. Now I'm curious about the great little out of the way place....hmmm...

Happy anniversary, Jim!!

>120 drneutron: Gotta love Colorado weather! I saw that they closed the university in Fort Collins due to snow, and my son in Boulder said they were getting a good amount of it too. Looks like it should be in the 70s when we get to the area on Wednesday.

>121 ocgreg34: Hey, welcome to my thread! Yup, his best as far as I'm concerned.

>122 Copperskye: Yeah, in fairness, it was gorgeous most of the time. Monday's trip to Boulder was beautiful - 90 degrees, sunny. Had a chance to introduce mrsdrneutron to Pearl Street Mall.

The restaurant is Mesquite Grill, in the same strip mall as Sahara on Arapahoe. We got there about 5:30, only people in the place (though others came in as we were there) and the owner/chef gave us his personal attention. Apparently he moved from NYC a bit ago - his cheesecake certainly showed his roots! Everything was fantastic.

>123 scaifea: Thanks!

>124 ursula: Where we were, Centennial, the snow was gone by the time we got to the airport, but it was a surprise when I got up yesterday morning to see it!

Jim, your anniversary celebration in Denver and Boulder sounded like fun...and you got to experience the spring snow followed by an eastern heat wave! I am fascinated by the current weather patterns but getting tired of the rain in the Midwest. May you have many more years of wedded bliss and new discoveries together.

>126 Donna828: Thanks!

Happy slightly belated anniversary, Jim. The grill sounds like my sort of place. Reminds me that I am pretty hungry.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Sunday, Jim.

Congratulations on thirty-two years of marriage, Jim. That's a great accomplishment these days. My very best to you and your wife.

I tried to read Strangers in Their Own Land but became so depressed by it that I couldn't finish. The current political situation both baffles and discourages me. Hey--maybe that's why I'm reading more books this year!

Have a satisfying yet peaceful week.

>128 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

>129 DianaNL: Thanks, Diana! I hope you have a good one too!

>130 Matke: I almost put it down for the same reason. It was depressing. I spent 8 years living in central and northern Louisiana and felt like she just really simplified the problem - too much for my liking. The environmental issues are just a part of why they do what they do. The stronger motivator that I saw was what was viewed as forced cultural change on top of economic loss. Basically, the message from all sides is you're wrong, you're stupid, you're hate-filled, your opinions are worse than inconsequential. One of my relatives told me he's tired of being made to feel like all the world's problems are his fault and that everything he makes should go to somebody else.

Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend too!

Happy Sunday, Jim! We are having a damp, cool weekend. I want that warmth back.

I am really enjoying Wolf Boys, but, boy, is it brutal. It is much more ugly and violent than any portrayal I have seen in films or books. Yikes!

Wow, I saw it and have been thinking of reading it. I'll keep an eye on you thoughts about it.

Happy Sunday, Jim.

Thanks! And to you!

>98 drneutron: Oh. Yay.

>107 drneutron: Not running; yep, I think that's my choice too.

>119 johnsimpson: Happy belated anniversary, Jim. You're a couple of days behind us, but a few years ahead. Sounds like you had a great trip, snow and all.

Adding my congratulations on the anniversary for your long marriage, Jim. From my experience in a long one, I know how hard it must have been for your wife to pull that off. :-)

>136 humouress: Thanks! Hope you had a happy anniversary too!

>137 jnwelch: :)

Happy belated anniversary, Jim.

>139 BLBera: Thanks!

Stopping by and adding to the chorus of responses congratulating you and Mrs. drneutron on 32 years of marriage!

Thanks!

43. Scars of Independence by Holger Hoock

Hoock's contention is that history has glossed over the reality of the American Revolution (or as he calls it the first civil war) in favor of a naive patriotic view. His book, Scars of Independence, is an attempt to bring the violence of the conflict to the forefront. While in general, I'm sympathetic to his central theme, in execution, this is only a mediocre attempt at the task.

My main concern is that Hoock, who is German, educated in Britain, and living in the US for some time, seems to have mostly written a book that should have been called "How the Patriots Abused the Loyalists". Yes, the Patriots did some really bad things - what we'd call domestic terrorism today - but all sides, including the Loyalists and the British military and government, committed acts that were pretty horrible. The whole thing comes off as beating up on the Patriots.

My other concern about the book is that it requires a pretty detailed knowledge of Revolutionary history to really follow. Which is fine, but nowhere is this admitted, and I think anyone who's been out of American history class for a while will need a refresher to effectively make use of his arguments.

In spite of these things, and if you go into it with your eyes open and a foundation of the basic history, this is a thesis that'll make you think a bit more about the events of that time.

44. The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

H. P. Lovecraft wrote an epic poem called The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath - one of my favorites of his works - that tells the story of a man form our world who explores a dream world filled with fantastic and horrific creatures and places. As with so many of his works, it's mythological and male-centered and somewhat self-absorbed, but still interesting and with some great passages.

Now Johnson has flipped the whole idea around to create the lyrical story of a middle-aged woman from this dream world who goes on a journey that eventually leads her to the waking world. It's clear that Johnson knows Lovecraft and his work, but has come at these ideas from her own point of view with her own unique style. Can't wait to read more of her stuff!

45. The President's Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents by David Priess

After the last election, a big deal was made of Trump's distaste for the President's daily intelligence briefing, also known as the PDB. This is the few minutes every day when the President gets caught up with what's happened over the last day across the world, a briefing by the CIA that often forms the response to international events. The PDB has been around since the creation of the CIA in one form or another, often tailored to suit the needs of specific Presidents, and is highly classified and tightly held.

And this is one of the problems with Priess' work - these briefings are so tightly held, he can't talk about what's really interesting: the contents and how that has affected foreign policy across the various administrations who've had access to the PDB. Instead his book talks about how each President treated the PDB, some with disdain, some with eager anticipation, depending on the bent of each one. It's clear he's a fan of the PDB - Presidents that don't appreciate the briefing get more than a little criticism, and Presidents who love the briefing come for more than a little praise. Oh, and Trump's response? It's actually not all that unusual for a President to pass off the briefing to a close advisor.

Don't think I can recommend this one.

Stopping by to say hello and happy Sunday!

Morning, Jim. Happy Sunday. Hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend. We are looking forward to our trip and take off tomorrow morning.

>144 witchyrichy: Happy Sunday!

>145 msf59: We're heading to Indiana onTuesday to visit the son in South Bend. Hope we both have good trips!

Darn, I'll miss you in Washington, D.C. We'll be there for a few days starting Tuesday to spend time with my CO son and family. My DIL has a week-long conference there. I'm mainly going to give them some free time as 3-year-old Hope will be along learning about our nation's history.

Oh, rats! I'd have loved to get together.

Happy Belated Anniversary!!

I see the Solar Probe is all over the news today.

Thanks!

Yes, it is. NASA is naming it in honor of Eugene Parker, one of the pioneers of solar physics. Usually this gets done after launch, and usually in honor of someone no longer with us, but they made an exception in this case.

>150 drneutron: Oh that's excellent!

>149 SuziQoregon: I was just coming here to say that I've been seeing the Solar Probe all over Twitter today! Congratulations to you and your colleagues, Jim!

Just dropping by to say congratulations as I watch the information on your probe on the local news tonight!! Way to go!

Thanks, everyone! It's Ben fun to watch all the news reporting on the mission - we're a bit over a year away from launch and the excitement is building!

Very cool about the Parker probe. You probably already know all this stuff, but I looked it up and this cool fact stood out: Next summer’s maiden, unmanned mission to the sun’s atmosphere will travel at 430,000 miles per hour, whipping the distance between New York City and Tokyo in about a minute’s time. Wow!

The NYT article was pretty interesting and a nice summary. If anything it makes me think of the Danny Boyle movie Sunshine.

Solar probe! Solar probe!

It's been all over what I've been reading, too, Jim. A bit more than a year away - it's hard to wait. The only comparison I can think of is impatiently waiting for the new book by your favorite author to come out. :-)

Hi Jim, nice picture at the top!

I've been reading up on the solar probe, as it wasn't on the news here. Extraordinary!

That's so cool about the Solar Probe being all over the news! So, so cool.

Solar Probe has even been on my NPR news app last night and this morning. I think it was folks at your lab that they were quoting. Way cool!

Belated anniversary greetings to you and mrsdrneutron.

Morning, Jim. Sweet Thursday. Hope you had a good trip to the Hoosier State. And hooray for solar probes.

Hi Jim, hope you are having a good week mate.

>155 Berly: Yup, or about 160 miles per second at closest approach. We'll break the record for fastest human-made object, previously held by the New Horizons spacecraft. Yup, I worked on that one too!

>156 pbirch01: 😀 Or our theme song, "Walkin' on Sunshine"!

>157 jnwelch: 😀 But we've got a boatload of work to do between now and then, so the time will zip by!

>158 EllaTim: Thanks! I've been calling it my latest baby picture. 😀

>159 scaifea: I still have trinkets I want to send Carlie but was waiting until the name change and the new logo - will get them in the mail soon.

>160 tymfos: Yup, Nicky Fox has been quoted a lot. She's Project Scientist, my opposite number on the Cuenca side.

>161 msf59: Drive was uneventful, been spending time with the son. We mainly came now to help him move from his apartment to a new townhouse, so have been loading a truck and such.

Plus, we met the new girlfriend - looks like it's serious. Fortunately, she's a sweetheart, and seems to have him well in hand. 😀 She's a Chinese citizen here on a student visa, so we'll see how the future plans go...

>162 johnsimpson: So far, so good, John! We're spending a few days with our son who lives a day's drive away from us. So we don't get to see him much anymore.

>145 msf59: Too bad The President's Book or Secrets wasn't better. It is a promising concept, but yes, if the briefings are too classified to give the reader a good feel of them, ugh. What's the point. I saw Girl on the Train on your stack. I just started that one yesterday for this month's Obama read. I thought I knew the whole plot after reading the first chapter, but soon found out I was wrong. I'd predicted wrong corpse. Hope to compare notes with you later.

I hope to get to it soon. Mrsdrneutron listened to it late last year and really liked it. I'll let you know when I'm done!

>164 cammykitty: >165 drneutron: Wrong corpse! LOL. It is a good one. Hope you both enjoy it.

I read the little piece on the solar probe in Time yesterday. It helped me understand a bit.

>143 drneutron: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe sounds awesome. Thanks for the recommendation, Jim!

>166 Berly: 😀

>167 RebaRelishesReading: Cool! Our website has lots of info and some pretty cool video.

>168 alcottacre: I hope you like it!

Hi Jim! I'm glad you mostly liked Strangers In Their Own Land. I was in the midst of a reading slump when the group read went on and unfortunately bailed. I'm not reading much nonfiction right now, but hopefully I'll get back to it soon.

Happy Birthday, Jim!!

^Birthday wishes to our fearless leader! Cheers, Jim!

Happy Birthday, Jim.

Happy birthday, Science Jim!!

>170 The_Hibernator: I'm sure you'll get back to it soon. I'm glad you got folks interested in reading these books this year!

>171 ronincats: Thanks!

>172 msf59: Thanks! I was in Chicago for most of Saturday with the son, girlfriend, and mrsdrneutron. Had dinner at Lou Malnari's downtown, then a walk on the riverwalk. Very nice!

>173 Ameise1: Thanks! I like that one. :)

Sorry we missed you in Chicago, Jim. Lou Malnati's - nice choice. Happy Belated Birthday!

Happy birthday, Jim! I guess I'm either a day late or possibly 364 days early, depending on how you want to look at it. :-)

>176 jnwelch: Yeah, I thought about trying to get a meetup together, but we were in South Bend for jsut a few days and mostly helping the son move to his new place. The Chicago run was a spur of the moment add-on.

>177 rosalita: Let's call it early! THanks!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Jim. Many happy returns.

Thanks bunches!

Happy Birthday!!

THanks!

Happy belated birthday!

Thanks!

And many happy returns, Jim. Can't be late wishing you that, can I?

Never too late! :)

Thanks!

Whoops! How did I miss your birthday? Hope it was happy and filled with friends, fun and lots of great presents.

I just saw the article on the Parker Probe you posted on FB. So exciting! You look very handsome on the video. :) Congratulations to you and your entire team! Can't wait until next summer's launch!

Thanks! I thought the video came out pretty well - they also published the story on the front page of today's Baltimore Sun. I wound up driving around buying up copies for the family. :)

>190 drneutron: Front page! Nice. Glad you got copies for everyone.

A belated 'Happy Birthday' from me too!

I read the Baltimore Sun article online. Very very VERY cool! :)

Top man, Jim.

Have a great weekend.

Happy belated birthday! Hope you had a good one!

>191 Berly: Below the fold, but still front page! It was fun to do the interviews this week.

>192 alcottacre: Thanks!

>193 Storeetllr: Thanks! We're a bit over a year from launch so the press coverage is starting - next summer will be pretty crazy with interviews and such.

>194 PaulCranswick: Thanks! You too!

>195 rretzler: I did have a good one. Got to visit Chicago with my son and his girlfriend, now my parents are visiting. And Tuesday is my 10th LT Thingaversary!

Morning, Jim. Happy Sunday! I just snagged Go Down Together on audio. Hope to get to it this summer.

Awesome! The area where they were killed is where my mom and her family are fun, so growing up we heard stories about the event. The little town has grown a bit bigger since then, though. It's not quite the back woods dirt roads it used to be. 😀

>196 drneutron: In case I don't get back before Tuesday, Happy Thingaversary, too!

Hi Jim, hope you are having a really good weekend.

>199 rretzler: Thanks!

>200 johnsimpson: I am - the parents are visiting and we've been enjoying the beautiful weather! I hope yours is good too.

Time for an update!

46. Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves

Seventh in the Shetland Islands series by Ann Cleeves. Once again, Jimmy Perez is caught up in a murder mystery - this time when the body of a mysterious woman is discovered after a mudslide. Once again, Cleeves captures the atmosphere of this fascinating place and these fantastic characters.

Highly recommended series!

47. The Horse, the Wheel and Language by David W. Anthony

I've started listening to a podcast called The History of English - quite good, by the way - that starts from the beginning. English is a Germanic language included in the Indo-European family of languages. All the Indo-European languages, from Celtic and the Latin-derived Romance languages to Hittite and languages spoken way over on the western edge of China can be traced back to this single group of people speaking a single Proto-Indo-European language. But who were these people, and where and how did they live? The podcast creator recommended The Horse, The Wheel and Language to answer these questions.

Anthony is an archaeologist with knowledge of Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and Southern Russia. He's also gotten interested in using historical linguistics being used to recreate the Proto-Indo-European language, and how that recreation can be used to infer knowledge of the people who spoke it. The linking of these two disciplines provides a plausible identification of them and the migrations that caused the language to branch into the many forms we have today.

Fair warning - this is a fairly technical work. But it's still got a lot of really interesting information about a fascinating part of our pre-history.

48. City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett

Final volume in the Divine Cities series - and a very good series it is! Once again, Bennett combines fantastic world-building with a great plot and characters to offer one of the best in fantasy today. I don't want to spoil anything - so no plot summary. Just read read it, already!

Hi Jim! Hope all is well here!

>202 drneutron: "History of English" was one of my favorite undergraduate courses, so much that I still pull out the textbook from time to time (Otto Jesperson's Growth and Structure of the English Language). So The Horse, the Wheel and Language is a bullet.

And of course, City of Miracles is a Must Be Read Soon.

>202 drneutron: I really have got to get to the Ann Cleeves series one of these days!

>203 ChelleBearss: All is well! My parents are visiting, so I took the day off and we went to a large botanical garden that used to be owned by the DuPont family - right up their alley!

Saw on FB that you're on parental leave now. Congrats!

>204 swynn: Cool! I think the casual reader would find it a tough read, but you'll get a lot out of it. I'm really enjoying the podcast too. I even know what the Great Vowel Shift is! :)

>205 alcottacre: Yep, you do! I think you'll really like them.

Hi Jim - I've been watching the Shetland series on Netflix, and plan to start reading the books soon. The series is great, so I have high hopes for the books.

Awesome! There are differences between the series and the books, but I think you'll like them.

Today's my THingaversary! Got my Tenner....



Damn, I'm old.

Welcome to the Tenner Club, Jim! All of us in the 75ers group are the happy beneficiaries of whatever brought you to LibraryThing all those years ago? Do you remember how you got here?

Happy Thingaversary, Jim!

>209 drneutron: Congrats!

>209 drneutron: HAPPY THINGAVERSARY!!

My 10th is coming up next month, too.

Hi Jim!

Happy Tenth Thingaversary! My tenth will be in October, and I'm looking forward to it too. LT has changed my life, as has the 75 group. Thank you, as always, for being such a good administrator.

I have returned from a month of cleaning out my Mother's house and getting it on the market to be sold, getting her mail forwarded, and her safe deposit at the bank officially closed. I'm proud of those things. It was stressful with some interludes of good times with my sister, but my BiL and I are in détente right now and it may never evolve past that. I don't know if my sister realizes how much he's hurt me over the last 7 months, since it has always been about THEIR feelings, but I have mine, too, and we'll see if I can get past the nastiness and upset.

I'm drawing a line in the sand since I didn't follow any threads for the entire month I was gone, and will try to keep caught up. I don't anticipate having to go to CA any time soon, don't want to go to CA any time soon, and plan on settling into my retirement more fully now that husband has a job and Mom's estate is not winding down exactly (until the house is disposed of), but presenting less stress.

In the meantime, I indulged myself in California and bought The Lost City of the Monkey God, devoured it, and had mixed feelings about it. I won't need the copy, but thank you for your pay-forward offer.

And did I mention that I really like the title of your thread? : )

Happy Tenth Thingaversary!!! So, what are your 11 books going to be? Also, I second Julia's question: Do you remember how you got here?

Contrats on 10 years. I just got mine as well.

And to share my origin story (Thanks Julia). I came to LibraryThing by way of an obscure little site called Reader2. It was working great for a bit, but becoming a smaller and smaller community. I searched for other like sites and found LT. I really liked the more technical/database-like aspect of catalogs around here. It took me a couple years to come out of my shell and discover the joy of this group and people belong. :)

Congrats on the ten years. Some great people found the site ten years ago (!!)
(ETA tongue in cheek re my own ten years :-))

Happy Tenth Thingaversary Jim.

>217 mahsdad: We're glad you did come out of your shell, Jeff! It wouldn't be the same around here without you. I think I was on LT for five or six years before I ventured into any area of Talk that wasn't a staff-sponsored group, like Talk About LibraryThing (which used to be called Site Talk) or Recommended Site Improvements. What a world!

Happy Ten Year Thingaversary, Jim. Mine is coming up in October. 2007 was indeed a good year for LT!

^Happy Tenth Thingaversary, Jim! Our fearless and impeccable leader! Have a flight on me, my friend!

So glad I got by on your Thingaversary! Congratulations!

We've been hoping to see the NASA launch from Wallop's Island. Went out two nights ago and stood around in the field getting bitten by mosquitoes only to have it scrubbed. Last night, we learned our lesson: watched the live feed inside, figuring we would have plenty of time to get out once it was launched. Scrubbed as well. We felt very sorry for the launch team as we could hear the disappointment in their voices.

>210 rosalita: I heard a story on NPR about it and thought it would be a great tool for cataloging. Talk was a bonus!

>211 katiekrug:, >212 SandDune: Thanks!

>213 norabelle414: I thought we'd joined about the same time. Congrats to you too!

>214 karenmarie: I think drawing a line and going forward is a good thing to do in the situation. I hope life gets more quiet for you. And I'm sure I'll find someone else who would like my copy!

>215 Berly: My main relief for the job stress these days is reading! 😀

>216 Storeetllr: I'm saving my choices for the Baltimore Book Fest this September. 😀

>217 mahsdad: I'm glad you did! I've enjoyed swapping book thoughts and stories with you!

>218 charl08: Yeah, a bunch of us seem to have joined about the same time. Great minds and all that!

>219 johnsimpson: Thanks!

>220 rosalita: I'm glad you came over here too!

>221 ronincats: Thanks!

>222 msf59: oooo, nice!

>223 witchyrichy: Yeah, it can be hard on the team when you have multiple scrubs. It took us three days to get New Horizons off the ground. I'm sure they'll get it launched soon!

>224 drneutron: That same NPR story is how I got here as well, so that makes sense!

If I recall correctly, I saw something somewhere where Neil Gaiman recommended this odd book site. Found the site, created an account (in December 2006 - my 10th Thingaversary was a few months ago), and forgot all about it. Then I heard something about it again - an NPR story sounds like a likely source - and remembered my account - came back and started entering books in March 2007. My Stats & Memes tells some very interesting stories about my activity...

Happy Thingading! And welcome to the Tenner club!

>228 norabelle414: Thanks to WAMU for getting us together, then! :)

>229 jjmcgaffey: :) That would be an interesting thread topper for next time - what does my Stats and Memes tell about me? :)

>230 scaifea: Thanks!

Happy 10th!!!

Happy 10th, Jim. How are you going to celebrate?

>232 ChelleBearss: Thanks!

>233 EllaTim: I celebrated by sitting through nearly a full work day of meetings. Oh, the excitement! :)

Though I did finish Emperor of the Eight Islands last night. Fantasy based on medieval Japanese warrior tales. Really good, more thoughts to come later!

>216 Storeetllr:, >226 drneutron: Good plan!

>235 Storeetllr: :)

Happy tenth, Jim.

>209 drneutron: ten years huh? They go so fast....
;)
Happy tenth!!!

^Have a great Sunday, Jim and have a couple of these.

Stopping by to wish you a happy Sunday and Father's Day!

>237 BLBera:, >238 LovingLit: Thanks! It's amazing how fast time goes.

>239 msf59: Thanks! And to you! My dad and I are heading up to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles host the Cardinals. There might be some beer involved. :)

Hi Jim and Happy Father's Day! Baseball, your dad, beer. All good things and I hope you both have a great time.

Wow! That sounds like a perfect Father's Day, Jim. Enjoy!

Beer and Baseball. Yup. A perfect Father's Day! : )

Happy thingaversary, Jim. Good thing you found this site all those years ago. The 75ers would be nowhere without you. Happy Father's Day - enjoy the game and the time with your Dad.

>242 karenmarie:, >243 msf59:, >244 Berly: Had a great day at the (very hot) Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The O's won and we got free hats!

>245 Familyhistorian: Well, in fairness, Cariola started the whole thing off - I just picked it up the second year. :)

Time for a new thread!