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Links for 2007-07-30 [del.icio.us] Posted: 31 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT The Legacy of Edward Johnston "The Edward Johnston Foundation is dedicated to the promotion of public awareness of calligraphy, not only as an art form in its own right but also as the seed and reference point for many other lettering disciplines including modern typeface design."

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Tonight I biked home from work. The actual cycling took about an hour and 10 minutes for 11.16 miles. Unfortunately, I took a spill and lost my phone halfway through, but didn't realize it until I got home. So tack on another 20 minutes or so of walking to my exercise tally for the night!

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Links for 2007-07-27 [del.icio.us] Posted: 28 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT Yarndex Knitting + Crochet Directory - The Yarn Directory Information on thousands of different yarns.

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We has baby sox!

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Here it is: the ugliest loaf me bread I've ever baked. It may be the ugliest ever made. Look upon it and fear!

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We're having a groundbreaking a week from today for the library's new children's theater, and guess who gets to wear the pirate costume!

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Zee socks, zey are finished!

Fwd:

Kim and the boys are in Topeka for the week. Grandma sent me this photo of LB in a rocking chair. I miss them already!

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Links for 2007-07-20 [del.icio.us] Posted: 21 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT Tommy Westphall - A Multiverse Explored In the final episode of St. Elsewhere, it was revealed that the whole show was a figment of the imagination of an autistic boy. Other shows crossed over with St. Elsewhere. Were they figments, too?

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Links for 2007-07-19 [del.icio.us] Posted: 20 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT LibraryThing - Mahalo I completed my first Search Results Page on Mahalo. I'm a Part-Time Guide through the Mahalo Greenhouse program: http://greenhouse.mahalo.com

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Links for 2007-07-18 [del.icio.us] Posted: 19 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about "Design and Making Things" » Archive » Transformable Architecture Interview with Chuck Hoberman, designer of toys, architecture, and many fascinating things that open and close organically. There are lots of fun images and video with the story.

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LB got his first "real shoes" tonight, at Trippets, the store where Kim's folks used to buy her shoes when she was little.

Books read in June 2007

Here's the books I finished in June.

100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa P. - This was billed as a semi-autobiographical book of sexual adventure, but I'll be honest, it really made me a little ill. The protagonist is much more a victim of various kinds of abuse and manipulation than a free-spirited libertine.
The Dragon Quintet ed. Marvin Kaye - Five short novels about dragons from Orson Scott Card, Elizabeth Moon, Tanith Lee, Mercedes Lackey, and Michael Swanwick. All but the last are authors I'm quite familiar with. The best of the five, in my opinion, is Lee's "Love in a Time of Dragons".
Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle - This has been on my to-read list for awhile. I have a fascination for stories about coming out, and though I usually prefer memoirs, this fictional YA account was good, with a lot of wry humor.
Elk's Run by J. H. Fialkov - Very dark graphic novel about a utopian community edging into totalitarianism.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman - I pulled this from the shelf because I realized I hadn't read it, and the movie was coming out. At the same time, I requested the illustrated version (see below) through Interlibrary Loan. The story of Dunstan Thorn and his search for a fallen star is wonderful fantasy, and I can see why Susannah Clarke chose Gaiman's village of Wall as the setting for one of her short stories. Though it's much lighter in tone, the world of Stardust bears a striking similarity to that of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
The Skills to Pay the Bills: the Story of the Beastie Boys by Alan Light - Another long-time to-read. I've been a big fan of The Beastie Boys since I was re-introduced to their music a few years ago. This slim biography gives a great overview of their career so far.
Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein - This is billed as Heinlein's fantasy novel, but really it is more a multi-worlds book in the same vein as Job.
The war within : one step at a time by G. B. Trudeau - I picked this up on impulse while eating lunch downstairs. It collects a series of Doonesbury comic strips dealing with the character B.D.'s recovery from his Iraq war injuries. Moving and funny at the same time.
Children of Húrin by J. R. R. Tolkien - Frankly, I was disappointed by this long-awaited Middle-Earth novel. Here are some of my thoughts as published on a BBS while I was reading:
"I haven't read the Silmarillion, and [Children of Húrin] was completely impenetrable to me at first. I kept having to look at the map (which handily folds out so you can see it while reading without having to flip back and forth) to figure out what places he's talking about. I kept trying to relate them to things I know in Middle-Earth, and couldn't. Finally I looked online and learned that THE ENTIRE LAND OF BELERIAND SANK BENEATH THE OCEAN. You'd think that might be worth mentioning somewhere. [In fact, it's in the Introduction, though I didn't know it at the time] Now that I've gotten into the story and know who the major players are, I'm having more fun with it.
"I still feel like it could have been packaged better for the "only read LOTR" crowd, but I suppose that's just me being petty. The story itself was pretty good, albeit quite a downer."
Bardín the Superrealist by Max - Based on the cover, I expected this graphic novel to explicate surreallism in some way, and parts of it did, but interspersed with comics about the inane and scatalogical. I'd like to see more.
Stardust (illustrated edition) by Neil Gaiman - As noted above, I interlibrary loaned this version of the novel illustrated by Charles Vess, a favorite of mine. I did completely reread the text, and the illustrations really brought it to life. I highly recommend this edition.
Alex by Mark Kalesniko - Extremely bleak graphic novel about an alcoholic artist's struggles with commercial failure and his return to the hometown he loathes.
Plastic Man: Rubber Bandits by Kyle Baker - Highly amusing comic story about perennial DC goofball Plastic Man, in which we discover that he has a previously unsuspected son. Or does he? Baker's art here is reminiscent of Jon Krikfalusi's Ren and Stimpy TV animation. Over-the-top and lots of fun.
Blaze by Richard Bachman - I admit that, with the exception of the Red Sox book he wrote last year, I've read every single thing that's ever come out of Stephen King's typewriter. I've often been disappointed, but I always read it anyway. In this case, I enjoyed myself. Blaze is a caper novel, and is definitely darker than most of King's work. That's part of what makes it a Richard Bachman novel. There are overtones of Of Mice and Men, and no feel-good ending, but it's an exciting read, and had my emotions bouncing from pity to laughter to anxiety in a very good way.
The Blue Fairy Book ed. Andrew Lang - I was excited to see the first few of Andrew Lang's Colour Fairy Books show up in the library booksale back in May. They are collections of fairy tales from various traditions that Lang edited in the late nineteenth century. I've really enjoyed the first one, and I'm working my way through the Red Fairy Book now.

Total June reads: 15. Total YTD: 76

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Sock #2 of 3 is off the needles. I decreased too rapidly on the first one (every row instead of every other), so it pinches Kim's foot. I'll keep it as a souvenir of my first "pair". I had so much frustration with the toe that I found myself dreaming in Kitchener stitch last night!

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Tonight I mowed and edged the front lawn: about an hour of walking.

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Kim and I took BB on a cub scout trip to Woolaroc, a museum and nature preserve about an hour north of Tulsa. Despite the terribly revisionist"history"of the place, we had a good time and even got in a 45 minute hike.

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I had some shopping time this morning between dropping off the boys and getting to work. I hit a couple of thrift shops and scored a decent jacket and a pair of khakis for about $17. Now I'll be ready for my next interview (whenever that happens).

Earworm: "Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sisters, and Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man!"- The Puppini Sisters

This is a song from the marvelous movie musical White Christmas. In this case, though, I have it in my head because of a new CD Kim picked up at the library. The Puppini Sisters are three women who sing in the style of old 1940s harmony groups like The Andrews Sisters. "Sisters" is one of the best songs on the album (titled Betcha Bottom Dollar) and they have a number of similar tunes, such as "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B". They don't limit themselves, though. The disc also includes covers of Kate Bush, Gloria Gaynor, and Blondie. I definitely recommend them!

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Sock number 1 complete!

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Links for 2007-07-07 [del.icio.us] Posted: 08 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT A Hipper Crowd of Shushers - New York Times NYT article about young, tech-savvy librarians. Do we know any of those?

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A friend and I went to the Circle Cinema tonight. They had an environmental night starting with a documentary called Kilowatt Ours. That was followed by a MoveOn Q&A with presidential candidates and then the Live Earth concerts. After that we watched Sicko at a special discount. It was very much the filthy hippie evening. We had a great time!

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I turned my first heel last night. Just need to work the foot and toe!

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Tonight the boys and I made our usual stroll around the neighborhood. We saw a lot of rabbits. 30 minutes.

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Links for 2007-07-01 [del.icio.us] Posted: 02 Jul 2007 12:00 AM GMT-06:00 Rhubarb Patch: The Art of Bread - Scaling Useful page includes conversions from volume to weight for many common baking ingredients. Measuring by weight is more accurate, but most U.S. recipes use volume.