Some of our new readers may not have heard, but earlier this year I was challenged to a bet for charity by a friend to read 10,000 pages in one calendar year.
Just moments ago, I broke the 10,000 page mark. Presuming my math is correct, I'm at 10,364.
The current list:
The Confession (Sheldon Siegel) ...423
My War (Andy Rooney) ...313
By Order of the President (W. E. B. Griffin) ...624
The Hostage (W. E. B. Griffin) ...750
The Hunters (W. E. B. Griffin) ...815
The Shooters (W. E. B. Griffin) ...737
Silent Snow (Steve Thayer) ...407
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) ...356
Throne of Jade (Naomi Novik) ...400
Black Powder War (Naomi Novik) ...365
Empire of Ivory (Naomi Novik) ...400
God's Spy (Juan Gómez-Jurado) ...360
The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) ...480
Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey) ...341
Body Count (P.D. Martin) ...376
Victory of Eagles (Naomi Novik) ...376
Kushiel's Mercy (Jacqueline Carey) ...808
Empire (Orson Scott Card) ...351
Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) ...509
Honor Bound (W. E. B. Griffin) ...550
Blood and Honor (W. E. B. Griffin) ...723
As I've done during the countdown to 10,000, I'll continue to list what I've read on the list to the right.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 7-30
Well, it's Theme Thursday again, and seeing as we fired the staff after last week's debacle we're on our own to come up with an idea.
Oh, hold on a second...it's "button" and not "butt on"?
Looks like we need a new staff.
Oh, hold on a second...it's "button" and not "butt on"?
Looks like we need a new staff.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
[Shrek] Congratulations Jim Rice
Congratulations to Jim Rice, one of my boyhood heroes, on his induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you ask me, it was fifteen years too late in coming.
[Shrek] BOLO: Tom Clancy
When asked, I used to say Tom Clancy was my favorite author. I'm going to have to say that's not true anymore, and that he's been passed by W.E.B. Griffin on my list. I'm sure the reason for that is Clancy hasn't released a book in years (and his "latest", 2003's The Teeth of the Tiger, was terrible), while Griffin continues to pop out one great military thriller after another. Clancy has also been passed on my list by Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, two authors that are now as "hot" as Clancy was in his heyday.
I, of course, reserve the right to change my list if Clancy decides to release another book.
In a totally unrelated note--was Gilbert Gottfried ever funny? Fiona and I watched a One Night Stand On HBOcomedy last night, and in an episode obviously filmed in the mid '80's, Gottfried was spectacularly unfunny. I can't think of a single time I though he was even remotely amusing.
Since I mentioned my favorite author, I'll mention my favorite comedian is Lewis Black. For those that don't know who he is, he currently "stars" in a series of commercials for tourism in Aruba.
Contains some rated "R" language; not for the kiddies:
As someone that likes to tell jokes, I find the "science" of comedy very interesting. Perhaps someday I'll get into that more, but one thing I love to do is tell a joke and only have a handful of people in the room get it. That way the joke is twice as funny for some of us as we watch the folks that don't get it look perplexed.
Kind of like our Theme Thursday post.
I, of course, reserve the right to change my list if Clancy decides to release another book.
In a totally unrelated note--was Gilbert Gottfried ever funny? Fiona and I watched a One Night Stand On HBOcomedy last night, and in an episode obviously filmed in the mid '80's, Gottfried was spectacularly unfunny. I can't think of a single time I though he was even remotely amusing.
Since I mentioned my favorite author, I'll mention my favorite comedian is Lewis Black. For those that don't know who he is, he currently "stars" in a series of commercials for tourism in Aruba.
Contains some rated "R" language; not for the kiddies:
As someone that likes to tell jokes, I find the "science" of comedy very interesting. Perhaps someday I'll get into that more, but one thing I love to do is tell a joke and only have a handful of people in the room get it. That way the joke is twice as funny for some of us as we watch the folks that don't get it look perplexed.
Kind of like our Theme Thursday post.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 7-23
It's Theme Thursday again, and this week the theme is "shoe". Unlike last week where we both had the same exact idea almost immediately, this week we tossed around lots of ideas, but none really seemed to stick.
There were the obvious ones...
We decided that we didn't want to go that route, that maybe we'd go off the beaten path a little and go this way.
But thinking about it, even this seems like a well traveled road, so we decided to get the staff together...
...and the idea they came up with was to look at some music.
We'd like to now announce that we have just fired the staff.
So it looks like we won't be participaring in Theme Thursday this week as we can't decide on how to go about it. I guess we'll just settle down for a nap and try again next week.
There were the obvious ones...
We decided that we didn't want to go that route, that maybe we'd go off the beaten path a little and go this way.
But thinking about it, even this seems like a well traveled road, so we decided to get the staff together...
...and the idea they came up with was to look at some music.
We'd like to now announce that we have just fired the staff.
So it looks like we won't be participaring in Theme Thursday this week as we can't decide on how to go about it. I guess we'll just settle down for a nap and try again next week.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
[Shrek] Thanks For One Last Ride
Some do it on talent. Some do it on luck.
You did it with class.
Thanks for one last ride
Thursday, July 16, 2009
[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 7-16
We've decided to do something a little different, and we're jumping on the "Theme Thursday" bandwagon. Every week a different theme is selected, and several blogs (which are generally linked on the Theme Thursday page) each post on the given theme.
This week's theme is "stage"...so let's see what we can do with that.
Yeah, of course there's more to what you see. Can you figure it out?
This week's theme is "stage"...so let's see what we can do with that.
Yeah, of course there's more to what you see. Can you figure it out?
Monday, July 13, 2009
[Fiona] Spider Web
The frailty of life confounds me sometimes. Time marches on and for the most part people are strangely detached from the people in their lives that mean the most to them. I just don't understand. I used to be that type of person and then my kid sister died. Now I have the opposite issue I am hyper-aware of people. It saddens me on a level I have difficulty finding words to explain to the casual reader. I guess it is merely a case of living ones own life. People come in contact with you but are meant to move along their own strand like a delicate spider web.
We all weave our own patterns so delicate, beautiful and awe inspiring. Some people never know the impact they make on another. Like a gentle breeze or a downpour what a person contributes can change everything. I want to be that gentle breeze instead of the downpour.
We all weave our own patterns so delicate, beautiful and awe inspiring. Some people never know the impact they make on another. Like a gentle breeze or a downpour what a person contributes can change everything. I want to be that gentle breeze instead of the downpour.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
[Shrek] King Of The Hill
As many of you know, one of my hobbies is candlepin bowling. I bowl in a couple of fall leagues and one in the summer. I do it for a night out with friends, and while one fall league is a very competitive league the other two I regularly bowl in are supposed to be for fun. I sometimes forget that it's supposed to be fun, but I am getting better at that. This summer I've had some issues remembering that because, well, for lack of a more family friendly term, I've sucked pretty badly.
My usual 110ish average has fallen to 98, and it is beginning to frustrate me. Just about everything that I can do wrong I'm doing, and as soon as I fix one thing something else starts falling apart. And even when I get it all together, I'm not catching any breaks, which causes even more frustration.
So it makes what happened last night more than a tad confusing.
On Saturday nights, there are mini-tournaments called "King of the Hill" at different bowling alleys across central Massachusetts. The only Saturday night in the month that didn't have one was the second Saturday, and to fill that gap a couple of guys I bowl with started one here in Worcester at Colonial Bowl, the place I normally bowl at. It being at my "home house" was the only reason I showed up.
So with my 44oz Diet Coke in hand and a stiff back, I showed up to see what was going on. Looking around at the number of people that were there, which included a few guys I knew, I figured I'd give it a shot....and I'm glad I did.
I have no idea how it happened, but everything began to click. I threw three great strings for a 353 triple, and because my average was so low I got a handicap of 72 pins for a 425 total. That was good enough to be the second seed in the ladder matches, where the 5th seed plays the 4th, and the winner of that match bowls the 3rd, and so on. The championship round is a two string final.
The 5v4 match was very high scoring, as was the next match. When it was my turn to bowl I had been standing around for twenty minutes and had cooled off a lot. My practice box was terrible, with me going back to not doing anything right. Luckily, that was the only time it happened. I was on fire in the match, throwing a 130-odd string to win it scratch.
That carried over early in the championship match, and it was a good thing. I haven't bowled more than three strings in a night in a very, very long time. Now toss in a bad back and I knew I needed to get out front quick. I won the first string by 11, and then ran out of gas. Lucky for me, my opponent wasn't getting many breaks and I was able to keep it over a 10 pin lead for the rest of the second string. In the last box I needed just a six to force him to throw a double strike, and with my seven drop on my first ball and him not throwing a strike I was the winner.
Next month I'm automatically the #1 seed, and only have to bowl in the championship match.
I do expect to get some razzing on Tuesday when I show up for my summer league night as the score sheets were collected by one of those bowlers to poke fun at my 98 average...a razzing I'll be more than happy to take.
My usual 110ish average has fallen to 98, and it is beginning to frustrate me. Just about everything that I can do wrong I'm doing, and as soon as I fix one thing something else starts falling apart. And even when I get it all together, I'm not catching any breaks, which causes even more frustration.
So it makes what happened last night more than a tad confusing.
On Saturday nights, there are mini-tournaments called "King of the Hill" at different bowling alleys across central Massachusetts. The only Saturday night in the month that didn't have one was the second Saturday, and to fill that gap a couple of guys I bowl with started one here in Worcester at Colonial Bowl, the place I normally bowl at. It being at my "home house" was the only reason I showed up.
So with my 44oz Diet Coke in hand and a stiff back, I showed up to see what was going on. Looking around at the number of people that were there, which included a few guys I knew, I figured I'd give it a shot....and I'm glad I did.
I have no idea how it happened, but everything began to click. I threw three great strings for a 353 triple, and because my average was so low I got a handicap of 72 pins for a 425 total. That was good enough to be the second seed in the ladder matches, where the 5th seed plays the 4th, and the winner of that match bowls the 3rd, and so on. The championship round is a two string final.
The 5v4 match was very high scoring, as was the next match. When it was my turn to bowl I had been standing around for twenty minutes and had cooled off a lot. My practice box was terrible, with me going back to not doing anything right. Luckily, that was the only time it happened. I was on fire in the match, throwing a 130-odd string to win it scratch.
That carried over early in the championship match, and it was a good thing. I haven't bowled more than three strings in a night in a very, very long time. Now toss in a bad back and I knew I needed to get out front quick. I won the first string by 11, and then ran out of gas. Lucky for me, my opponent wasn't getting many breaks and I was able to keep it over a 10 pin lead for the rest of the second string. In the last box I needed just a six to force him to throw a double strike, and with my seven drop on my first ball and him not throwing a strike I was the winner.
Next month I'm automatically the #1 seed, and only have to bowl in the championship match.
I do expect to get some razzing on Tuesday when I show up for my summer league night as the score sheets were collected by one of those bowlers to poke fun at my 98 average...a razzing I'll be more than happy to take.
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