A meme thing of sorts, from the lovely and talented Ayzair:
1. One book that changed your life?
I don’t know its title. I don’t know that it was ever finished, much less published. I only ever read one chapter of it. But it was a book, being written by my best friend, Richard Osborne, in the 8th grade. I went over to his house for a party. Might have been his birthday party, actually. I think I spent the night. It was an interesting night. In any event, Richard had the pages of the book he was writing tacked up on his wall. I scanned them. It would have fit in with the “potboiler” style of crime or mystery novels, or at least it seemed that way to me. The protagonist was assaulted, I don’t recall by whom, on his way home from a restaurant. Could have been a scene from a noir novel. The hero managed to flick a toothpick at one of the bad guys and have it spear the guy through the palm. That’s one hell of a toothpick-flick.
In any event, after reading over the pages tacked to Rick’s wall I decided that didn’t seem so hard and I could probably write a book.
And so I did.
I’ve written three, now, although only the most recent one is publishing material. Still, if I hadn’t read Rick’s book, hanging there on the wall of his room, I may never have bothered trying to write my own. And then where would I be?
2. One book you have read more than once?
I’ve read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash at least four times, and it’s my second-favorite book. I’ve read most of P.J. O’Rourke’s books multiple times, including Parliament of Whores about a dozen. The first book I read multiple times was Beasts in my Belfry, by Gerald Durrell, which I probably read for the first time when I was eight.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Well, Keller’s Outdoor Survival Guide comes readily to mind, although the book is geared towards surviving in a large temperate wilderness, not on a finite desert island. I think what I’d want most is a large book full of blank pages, and a pencil. And a knife, to sharpen the pencil.
4. One book that made you laugh?
Many books have made me laugh, but I’ll pimp my favorite book, Straight Man, by Richard Russo.
5. One book that made you cry?
I don’t know. I honestly don’t; it’s not that I don’t cry often, it’s that I can’t think of a book that made me do so. Probably We Were Soldiers Once, And Young, by Hal Moore.
6. One book you wish had been written?
The Infallible Tell-tale Signs Given Off By People When They’re Lying
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Probably could have saved a lot of trouble if Das Kapital, and the ideas therein, had remained forever locked in Karl Marx’s skull.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Some Kind of Paradise, by Mark Derr, which is a history of Florida that focuses to some degree on the impact of human habitation on the state’s ecology. I don’t find a lot of time to read it or I’d be done with it already, because it’s enjoyable and well written.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Many many dozens of books could be listed here. I’ll go with The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, in a tie with a book I need to reread, On Liberty by John Stuart Mill.
10. Now tag five people.
Actually I don’t know five people with blogs who haven’t already been tagged, so I’m only going to tag two: Lucky Bob, and Malda laire. If she even reads this…
12 August 2006
Books For Thought
A meme thing of sorts, from the lovely and talented Ayzair:
1. One book that changed your life?
I don’t know its title. I don’t know that it was ever finished, much less published. I only ever read one chapter of it. But it was a book, being written by my best friend, Richard Osborne, in the 8th grade. I went over to his house for a party. Might have been his birthday party, actually. I think I spent the night. It was an interesting night. In any event, Richard had the pages of the book he was writing tacked up on his wall. I scanned them. It would have fit in with the “potboiler” style of crime or mystery novels, or at least it seemed that way to me. The protagonist was assaulted, I don’t recall by whom, on his way home from a restaurant. Could have been a scene from a noir novel. The hero managed to flick a toothpick at one of the bad guys and have it spear the guy through the palm. That’s one hell of a toothpick-flick.
In any event, after reading over the pages tacked to Rick’s wall I decided that didn’t seem so hard and I could probably write a book.
And so I did.
I’ve written three, now, although only the most recent one is publishing material. Still, if I hadn’t read Rick’s book, hanging there on the wall of his room, I may never have bothered trying to write my own. And then where would I be?
2. One book you have read more than once?
I’ve read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash at least four times, and it’s my second-favorite book. I’ve read most of P.J. O’Rourke’s books multiple times, including Parliament of Whores about a dozen. The first book I read multiple times was Beasts in my Belfry, by Gerald Durrell, which I probably read for the first time when I was eight.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Well, Keller’s Outdoor Survival Guide comes readily to mind, although the book is geared towards surviving in a large temperate wilderness, not on a finite desert island. I think what I’d want most is a large book full of blank pages, and a pencil. And a knife, to sharpen the pencil.
4. One book that made you laugh?
Many books have made me laugh, but I’ll pimp my favorite book, Straight Man, by Richard Russo.
5. One book that made you cry?
I don’t know. I honestly don’t; it’s not that I don’t cry often, it’s that I can’t think of a book that made me do so. Probably We Were Soldiers Once, And Young, by Hal Moore.
6. One book you wish had been written?
The Infallible Tell-tale Signs Given Off By People When They’re Lying
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Probably could have saved a lot of trouble if Das Kapital, and the ideas therein, had remained forever locked in Karl Marx’s skull.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Some Kind of Paradise, by Mark Derr, which is a history of Florida that focuses to some degree on the impact of human habitation on the state’s ecology. I don’t find a lot of time to read it or I’d be done with it already, because it’s enjoyable and well written.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Many many dozens of books could be listed here. I’ll go with The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, in a tie with a book I need to reread, On Liberty by John Stuart Mill.
10. Now tag five people.
Actually I don’t know five people with blogs who haven’t already been tagged, so I’m only going to tag two: Lucky Bob, and Malda laire. If she even reads this…
1. One book that changed your life?
I don’t know its title. I don’t know that it was ever finished, much less published. I only ever read one chapter of it. But it was a book, being written by my best friend, Richard Osborne, in the 8th grade. I went over to his house for a party. Might have been his birthday party, actually. I think I spent the night. It was an interesting night. In any event, Richard had the pages of the book he was writing tacked up on his wall. I scanned them. It would have fit in with the “potboiler” style of crime or mystery novels, or at least it seemed that way to me. The protagonist was assaulted, I don’t recall by whom, on his way home from a restaurant. Could have been a scene from a noir novel. The hero managed to flick a toothpick at one of the bad guys and have it spear the guy through the palm. That’s one hell of a toothpick-flick.
In any event, after reading over the pages tacked to Rick’s wall I decided that didn’t seem so hard and I could probably write a book.
And so I did.
I’ve written three, now, although only the most recent one is publishing material. Still, if I hadn’t read Rick’s book, hanging there on the wall of his room, I may never have bothered trying to write my own. And then where would I be?
2. One book you have read more than once?
I’ve read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash at least four times, and it’s my second-favorite book. I’ve read most of P.J. O’Rourke’s books multiple times, including Parliament of Whores about a dozen. The first book I read multiple times was Beasts in my Belfry, by Gerald Durrell, which I probably read for the first time when I was eight.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Well, Keller’s Outdoor Survival Guide comes readily to mind, although the book is geared towards surviving in a large temperate wilderness, not on a finite desert island. I think what I’d want most is a large book full of blank pages, and a pencil. And a knife, to sharpen the pencil.
4. One book that made you laugh?
Many books have made me laugh, but I’ll pimp my favorite book, Straight Man, by Richard Russo.
5. One book that made you cry?
I don’t know. I honestly don’t; it’s not that I don’t cry often, it’s that I can’t think of a book that made me do so. Probably We Were Soldiers Once, And Young, by Hal Moore.
6. One book you wish had been written?
The Infallible Tell-tale Signs Given Off By People When They’re Lying
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Probably could have saved a lot of trouble if Das Kapital, and the ideas therein, had remained forever locked in Karl Marx’s skull.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Some Kind of Paradise, by Mark Derr, which is a history of Florida that focuses to some degree on the impact of human habitation on the state’s ecology. I don’t find a lot of time to read it or I’d be done with it already, because it’s enjoyable and well written.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Many many dozens of books could be listed here. I’ll go with The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, in a tie with a book I need to reread, On Liberty by John Stuart Mill.
10. Now tag five people.
Actually I don’t know five people with blogs who haven’t already been tagged, so I’m only going to tag two: Lucky Bob, and Malda laire. If she even reads this…
A Brief Note on the Current News
We've seen essentially no effects here from the recent events in London. We are subjected to several hours of Fox News each day, though, especially in the chow hall, so I know what's been going on, and I know that, back home, all it has produced is the impotent ramblings of the shouting class (remember when political pundits and talk show hosts used to be called "the chattering class?" What an inappropriate term for what they do now).
I don't like listening to these people shout about whether one political party or the other is better at defeating terrorism. I'll be honest with you, though. I don't think the people in power are doing a great job at much of anything. But I also think the people out of power tend to say stupid things most of the time. What are we to do?
I don't know about you, but as for me, I only pay attention to the television in the gym, where they have the sports channel on instead of the news channel. People shouting on cable news aren't solving anything, and are actually making matters worse. There's no way to get real information out of that format and I'm sick of it. Regardless of what happens, in Lebanon, in Israel, in Iraq, in London, or in the sky, these people are going to sit in an air-conditioned studio with their pancake makeup and fancy clothes and scream at each other like toddlers on a playground. They accomplish nothing. They solve nothing. They help nothing. They serve only to galvanize the support of people without time to think around positions that are ill-formed and offer no real hope of results. So my advice to you is to turn the damn television off and ignore it. Or, watch sports. It's not burying your head in the sand. It's censoring the one portion of American media that actually needs to be censored.
We will survive this. And we'll do it better if we can convince these assholes to just shut up and get back to work.
I don't like listening to these people shout about whether one political party or the other is better at defeating terrorism. I'll be honest with you, though. I don't think the people in power are doing a great job at much of anything. But I also think the people out of power tend to say stupid things most of the time. What are we to do?
I don't know about you, but as for me, I only pay attention to the television in the gym, where they have the sports channel on instead of the news channel. People shouting on cable news aren't solving anything, and are actually making matters worse. There's no way to get real information out of that format and I'm sick of it. Regardless of what happens, in Lebanon, in Israel, in Iraq, in London, or in the sky, these people are going to sit in an air-conditioned studio with their pancake makeup and fancy clothes and scream at each other like toddlers on a playground. They accomplish nothing. They solve nothing. They help nothing. They serve only to galvanize the support of people without time to think around positions that are ill-formed and offer no real hope of results. So my advice to you is to turn the damn television off and ignore it. Or, watch sports. It's not burying your head in the sand. It's censoring the one portion of American media that actually needs to be censored.
We will survive this. And we'll do it better if we can convince these assholes to just shut up and get back to work.
Oasis II
I like this Oasis water. Today's bottle reads:
This wasn't funny in and of itself, except that I kept thinking about how I have to stop drinking water, out here, at least two hours before bedtime, or else I'll have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. You drink water all day; it takes the body a while to get rid of it all. And I was thinking to myself, pregnancy tends to smoosh your bladder around a bit. Drink too much before sleeping and you probably won't sleep at all.
Then I turned the bottle around. It lists the mineral content and a little guarantee, and then notes that it was
My water comes from a factory.
Of course, the same could be said for Dasani or Aquafina or any of the large American bottled water producers, but they'd never call it a "factory." They'd say there a "processing facility" or something, but not a "factory." Factories are dirty, smoky, and filled with pollutants, right?
Lately the base has been taken over by boxes of Aquafina bottled water. This is an unfortunate thing. I imagine some politician came over here and saw that we're all drinking foreign water, and decided that an American company needed to supply water to the troops overseas. Because, you know, that foreign water's tainted.
So we've been invaded by Aquafina.
It pains me to say that this is by far the worst water available on base, on all counts. To begin with, it has the least competent packaging of any of the waters we drink (Masafi, Oasis, Makkah, and Emirates being the most common local ones); the cardboard boxes are inadequately sealed and fall apart, and the bottles themselves have these horrible sealed caps on them. All the other water bottles have standard sealing rings; you break the seal, take the cap off, and a ring of plastic stays on the bottle. This is what you normally see on plastic bottles.
Not Aquafina. Aquafina's bizarre little seal pops off the bottle and falls on the ground, almost without fail, forcing you to bend over and pick it up and then find a trash place to dispose of it. It will come as no surprise that there are now little Aquafina rings on the ground all over the base--at least the locals who've been hired to keep the place clean do a good job of picking them up. But they shouldn't have to.
And when you do take the seal off the bottle, there's this weird little tab of plastic left on the lid, which gets in the way when you try to put it back on the bottle. Pointless, stupid, bad packaging. No reason for it.
It gets worse, though. The local bottled waters--not really local, they're all from the UAE or Oman--all taste... like nothing. They're clean. They all have mineral content, but they don't taste like anything--no chemicals have been used to treat them, and they just taste like clean water that's been pulled out of a spring. This is what Zephyrhills water (which I will never drink for constitutional reasons) tastes like, back home.
Not Aquafina. It tastes like the chemicals that were used to treat it. After a few weeks of Oasis and Masafi, it tastes decidedly off. I assume this is what Americans are used to, but as I said relative to our other water it tastes quite bad.
The bottles have huge labels on them, covering easily 60% of the surface area. Consequently I have to tear the labels off before I can make sun tea in them. And when I did make tea in them the other day, all three bottles came out very weak and nasty. I took the labels off. The bottles are only 500ml, the same size as Emirates and smaller than the other brands, so that's not the reason (I prefer Emirates for tea). And it was 108 degrees that day and plenty sunny. There was no reason why the tea should have been weak. It must be the chemical crap in the water. Makes me wonder if I should use bottled spring water when I make iced tea at home.
Yep. It's Oasis water for me. Wonder if they have it back in the states?
Good Morning! If you are pregnant, drink water before sleeping to reduce the chances of morning sickness.
This wasn't funny in and of itself, except that I kept thinking about how I have to stop drinking water, out here, at least two hours before bedtime, or else I'll have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. You drink water all day; it takes the body a while to get rid of it all. And I was thinking to myself, pregnancy tends to smoosh your bladder around a bit. Drink too much before sleeping and you probably won't sleep at all.
Then I turned the bottle around. It lists the mineral content and a little guarantee, and then notes that it was
Produced by OASIS PURE DRINKING WATER FACTORY L.L.C.
My water comes from a factory.
Of course, the same could be said for Dasani or Aquafina or any of the large American bottled water producers, but they'd never call it a "factory." They'd say there a "processing facility" or something, but not a "factory." Factories are dirty, smoky, and filled with pollutants, right?
Lately the base has been taken over by boxes of Aquafina bottled water. This is an unfortunate thing. I imagine some politician came over here and saw that we're all drinking foreign water, and decided that an American company needed to supply water to the troops overseas. Because, you know, that foreign water's tainted.
So we've been invaded by Aquafina.
It pains me to say that this is by far the worst water available on base, on all counts. To begin with, it has the least competent packaging of any of the waters we drink (Masafi, Oasis, Makkah, and Emirates being the most common local ones); the cardboard boxes are inadequately sealed and fall apart, and the bottles themselves have these horrible sealed caps on them. All the other water bottles have standard sealing rings; you break the seal, take the cap off, and a ring of plastic stays on the bottle. This is what you normally see on plastic bottles.
Not Aquafina. Aquafina's bizarre little seal pops off the bottle and falls on the ground, almost without fail, forcing you to bend over and pick it up and then find a trash place to dispose of it. It will come as no surprise that there are now little Aquafina rings on the ground all over the base--at least the locals who've been hired to keep the place clean do a good job of picking them up. But they shouldn't have to.
And when you do take the seal off the bottle, there's this weird little tab of plastic left on the lid, which gets in the way when you try to put it back on the bottle. Pointless, stupid, bad packaging. No reason for it.
It gets worse, though. The local bottled waters--not really local, they're all from the UAE or Oman--all taste... like nothing. They're clean. They all have mineral content, but they don't taste like anything--no chemicals have been used to treat them, and they just taste like clean water that's been pulled out of a spring. This is what Zephyrhills water (which I will never drink for constitutional reasons) tastes like, back home.
Not Aquafina. It tastes like the chemicals that were used to treat it. After a few weeks of Oasis and Masafi, it tastes decidedly off. I assume this is what Americans are used to, but as I said relative to our other water it tastes quite bad.
The bottles have huge labels on them, covering easily 60% of the surface area. Consequently I have to tear the labels off before I can make sun tea in them. And when I did make tea in them the other day, all three bottles came out very weak and nasty. I took the labels off. The bottles are only 500ml, the same size as Emirates and smaller than the other brands, so that's not the reason (I prefer Emirates for tea). And it was 108 degrees that day and plenty sunny. There was no reason why the tea should have been weak. It must be the chemical crap in the water. Makes me wonder if I should use bottled spring water when I make iced tea at home.
Yep. It's Oasis water for me. Wonder if they have it back in the states?
07 August 2006
Headsongs
One of the things I like about the old church hymns I sang growing up are that every now and then one filters out of the airwaves and lodges in my brain, and unlike most of the catchy pop garbage on the radio, the hymns are actually nice to have rattling around up there for a while. They're pretty music. I generally know all the lyrics, or at least one whole verse, which means the song doesn't stay stuck for long. Compare this against something like, say, Tom's Diner, where you know only the first eight or ten words but they repeat ad infinitum and you can't get rid of them.
The last couple days I've had a very nice old hymn rattling around in my head, which has been pleasant. I don't recall the name but I had the entire opening stanza; the words and tune to this hymn have just in the last hour or so completely vacated my mind, crawled off into whatever dark corner old song lyrics occupy in my brain and flitting out into the airwaves to catch some other unsuspecting person off guard. I don't know what tune will take its place, but I hope it's a good one.
It was quite a nice thing to have in my head there for a few days, given what it replaced. What it replaced was a hilarious little ditty from an episode of Futurama that, while funny, grew extremely irritating after three or four days. Those who know the tune can sing along with Fry, Leela, Bender, Robot Santa, and the happy Neptunian elves:
We are free and fairly sober,
with so many toys to build;
the machines are kind of tricky
prob'ly someone will be killed.
But we gladly work for nothing…
Which is good because
we don't intend to pay…
The elves are back to work today!
Hooray!
We have just a couple hours
to make several billion gifts;
and the labor isn't easy.
And you'll all work triple shifts.
You can make the job go quicker
if you turn up the controls to super speed…
It's back to work on X-mas Eve.
Hooray?!
And though you're cold and sore and ugly,
your pride will mask the pain!
Let my happy smile warm your hearts.
There's a toy lodged in my brain!
We are getting awf'ly tired,
and we can't work any faster,
and we're very very sorry.
Why you selfish little bastards!
Do you want the kids to think
that Santa's just a crummy
empty-handed jerk?
(No! Sorry!)
Then shut your yaps and back to work!
Now it's very nearly X-mas,
And we've done the best we could.
These toy soldiers are poorly painted,
And they're made from inferior wood.
I should give you all a beating
but I really have to fly.
If I weren't stuck here frozen
I'd harpoon you in the eye!
Now it's back into our tenements
to drown ourselves in rye.
You did the best you could, I guess,
and some of these gorillas are okay.
Hooray! We're adequate!
The elves have rescued X-mas day!
Hooray!
The last couple days I've had a very nice old hymn rattling around in my head, which has been pleasant. I don't recall the name but I had the entire opening stanza; the words and tune to this hymn have just in the last hour or so completely vacated my mind, crawled off into whatever dark corner old song lyrics occupy in my brain and flitting out into the airwaves to catch some other unsuspecting person off guard. I don't know what tune will take its place, but I hope it's a good one.
It was quite a nice thing to have in my head there for a few days, given what it replaced. What it replaced was a hilarious little ditty from an episode of Futurama that, while funny, grew extremely irritating after three or four days. Those who know the tune can sing along with Fry, Leela, Bender, Robot Santa, and the happy Neptunian elves:
We are free and fairly sober,
with so many toys to build;
the machines are kind of tricky
prob'ly someone will be killed.
But we gladly work for nothing…
Which is good because
we don't intend to pay…
The elves are back to work today!
Hooray!
We have just a couple hours
to make several billion gifts;
and the labor isn't easy.
And you'll all work triple shifts.
You can make the job go quicker
if you turn up the controls to super speed…
It's back to work on X-mas Eve.
Hooray?!
And though you're cold and sore and ugly,
your pride will mask the pain!
Let my happy smile warm your hearts.
There's a toy lodged in my brain!
We are getting awf'ly tired,
and we can't work any faster,
and we're very very sorry.
Why you selfish little bastards!
Do you want the kids to think
that Santa's just a crummy
empty-handed jerk?
(No! Sorry!)
Then shut your yaps and back to work!
Now it's very nearly X-mas,
And we've done the best we could.
These toy soldiers are poorly painted,
And they're made from inferior wood.
I should give you all a beating
but I really have to fly.
If I weren't stuck here frozen
I'd harpoon you in the eye!
Now it's back into our tenements
to drown ourselves in rye.
You did the best you could, I guess,
and some of these gorillas are okay.
Hooray! We're adequate!
The elves have rescued X-mas day!
Hooray!
Gullywasher
Last night we had a real, honest-to-goodness, thunderstorm. It rained for at least half an hour, probably longer.
I was in bed at the time, but since I tend to just lie there awake for at least two hours every night (I still haven't got myself adjusted to a schedule) I happened to be awake when the storm came up.
When I was walking back to the tent from my shower I noticed that the moon, although almost full, wasn't visible anywhere. There were a few bright clouds in the sky, but it looked like the sky was clear with just these few clouds, which were obscuring the moon. Quite an interesting illusion; the few bright clouds I could see were actually just the thin patches in the cloud cover, where the moonlight was visible. Just as I was getting into the tent I saw lightning flash across the sky.
Still, there's been dry lightning here before; it is, after all, a very dry country. I lay in bed and read for half an hour or so, and when I turned out the light and closed my eyes I listened to the wind pick up, and then the first few tentative raindrops on the vinyl of the tent. I assumed that was all there would be. The rain stopped. The wind kept blowing. Minutes passed. I idled away the time thinking about things I plan to do when I get home.
Then there was a tremendous clap of thunder. It was so loud, and so close, it sounded like an airplane had crashed at the airport a few hundred yards north. I was just assuring myself it was thunder when the rain started—-just a little, light rain, and then a drizzle, and then rain, and then a downpour. And then it was raining so hard I wondered whether the tent might cave in.
This sort of rain went on for twenty minutes or more, and then slowly died away. I fell asleep while it was still raining softly.
If it rained every night like that… well, this would be a very different place, for starters, but I might get some halfway decent sleep, too.
I was in bed at the time, but since I tend to just lie there awake for at least two hours every night (I still haven't got myself adjusted to a schedule) I happened to be awake when the storm came up.
When I was walking back to the tent from my shower I noticed that the moon, although almost full, wasn't visible anywhere. There were a few bright clouds in the sky, but it looked like the sky was clear with just these few clouds, which were obscuring the moon. Quite an interesting illusion; the few bright clouds I could see were actually just the thin patches in the cloud cover, where the moonlight was visible. Just as I was getting into the tent I saw lightning flash across the sky.
Still, there's been dry lightning here before; it is, after all, a very dry country. I lay in bed and read for half an hour or so, and when I turned out the light and closed my eyes I listened to the wind pick up, and then the first few tentative raindrops on the vinyl of the tent. I assumed that was all there would be. The rain stopped. The wind kept blowing. Minutes passed. I idled away the time thinking about things I plan to do when I get home.
Then there was a tremendous clap of thunder. It was so loud, and so close, it sounded like an airplane had crashed at the airport a few hundred yards north. I was just assuring myself it was thunder when the rain started—-just a little, light rain, and then a drizzle, and then rain, and then a downpour. And then it was raining so hard I wondered whether the tent might cave in.
This sort of rain went on for twenty minutes or more, and then slowly died away. I fell asleep while it was still raining softly.
If it rained every night like that… well, this would be a very different place, for starters, but I might get some halfway decent sleep, too.
06 August 2006
Madness, I Say
Somebody stole my shower poof!
No, no, no, the sponge I wrapped in netting and used in the shower in place of a washcloth. It's gone!
I'm fairly sure I left it in the bathroom and it was stolen from there, since I can't imagine why anyone would invade my little tentspace and, seeing plenty of far more interesting things, make off with a shower poof. So of course it's mostly my fault.
Still, somebody had to steal it out of the shower tent, didn't they?
What manner of man, really now, what manner of man steals a shower poof? I use that to clean my naughty bits, as well as the rest of me. Would you steal a washcloth or sponge somebody else has been cleaning his naughty parts with? I wouldn't. It's very disturbing.
Fortunately I bought another shower poof at the base exchange this morning, for all of 85 cents, so it's not a big deal. But it is a bit disturbing...
No, no, no, the sponge I wrapped in netting and used in the shower in place of a washcloth. It's gone!
I'm fairly sure I left it in the bathroom and it was stolen from there, since I can't imagine why anyone would invade my little tentspace and, seeing plenty of far more interesting things, make off with a shower poof. So of course it's mostly my fault.
Still, somebody had to steal it out of the shower tent, didn't they?
What manner of man, really now, what manner of man steals a shower poof? I use that to clean my naughty bits, as well as the rest of me. Would you steal a washcloth or sponge somebody else has been cleaning his naughty parts with? I wouldn't. It's very disturbing.
Fortunately I bought another shower poof at the base exchange this morning, for all of 85 cents, so it's not a big deal. But it is a bit disturbing...
03 August 2006
Lots and Lots of Very Little
I've finished a short story. It's not terribly short; actually, I think it runs to about 25 pages. This is a terrible length for a story. I had hoped it might run to 50, so I could call it a novella and throw it in with a few other things of that length... but then, I'd have to write the few other things, too. 25 pages is much too long to be a short story, though. I'm not sure what to do with it.
It's a rather weird story. I'm not sure where it came from, which makes it that much harder to decide what to do with it. I'll probably do nothing with it, apart from backing it up and putting it in my "Finished Works" folder (I like that folder). I have a lot of trouble with the short story form, which is why I tried to write one. And so you can see why I have a lot of trouble with it... I think I'll try again, though I'm not precisely sure what to write about.
I have today off from work. There are four SWOs right now, and one of them hasn't worked a shift since Sunday, since he is supposed to head downrange ("downrange" is a word that means "anyplace else in our area of operations that has less hospitable accomodations") next week. He's been bored, and I was supposed to go some "Welcome To This Location" briefing today, so he agreed to work my shift. Then the briefing got moved to Saturday. And he said he'd gladly work both days, since he's bored out of his mind. I can imagine; you can only work out so much in one day, and there's not a whole lot else to do apart from wait for 7 pm move and drink your three beers at the cantina. Well, not unless you have a book you're working on. Thank God I have a good hobby.
Next Wednesday there's a trip to the cheetah refuge that I'm hoping to go on. There's a trip this Sunday to some little island not far from here where you can go snorkeling, but I'm going to have to pass on that; three days off in four is a little much. I'll definitely look forward to that in Septmeber, though.
That's about all there is to say right now. I was going to close with a picture I took today from the door of my tent; it's incredibly scenic and beautiful and you deserve to have it brighten your day. Unfortunately I can't get the thing to upload. I'll try again another day.
It's a rather weird story. I'm not sure where it came from, which makes it that much harder to decide what to do with it. I'll probably do nothing with it, apart from backing it up and putting it in my "Finished Works" folder (I like that folder). I have a lot of trouble with the short story form, which is why I tried to write one. And so you can see why I have a lot of trouble with it... I think I'll try again, though I'm not precisely sure what to write about.
I have today off from work. There are four SWOs right now, and one of them hasn't worked a shift since Sunday, since he is supposed to head downrange ("downrange" is a word that means "anyplace else in our area of operations that has less hospitable accomodations") next week. He's been bored, and I was supposed to go some "Welcome To This Location" briefing today, so he agreed to work my shift. Then the briefing got moved to Saturday. And he said he'd gladly work both days, since he's bored out of his mind. I can imagine; you can only work out so much in one day, and there's not a whole lot else to do apart from wait for 7 pm move and drink your three beers at the cantina. Well, not unless you have a book you're working on. Thank God I have a good hobby.
Next Wednesday there's a trip to the cheetah refuge that I'm hoping to go on. There's a trip this Sunday to some little island not far from here where you can go snorkeling, but I'm going to have to pass on that; three days off in four is a little much. I'll definitely look forward to that in Septmeber, though.
That's about all there is to say right now. I was going to close with a picture I took today from the door of my tent; it's incredibly scenic and beautiful and you deserve to have it brighten your day. Unfortunately I can't get the thing to upload. I'll try again another day.
31 July 2006
Little Updates
Not much to report lately. It was dreadfully hot yesterday, and not so hot today. It hasn't rained again. I have not started writing another novel.
But I did get mail for the first time yesterday, and made some iced tea. It's very hot and usually sunny, so I figured I'd grab one of our little bottles of water, stuff a teabag inside, and set it in the sun for a couple hours. Worked very well, and I imagine I'm going to need more tea, actually.
As for the package, it was just the box of books I mailed myself and now will get to read. I should like to point out that Sir Apropos of Nothing and The Woad to Wuin was in fact in that box. I guess I had decided to mail it at the last minute. Hooray!
And that's all the news that's new. I'm still pretty stoked about finishing Lauderdale; reckon I will be for some time yet.
But I did get mail for the first time yesterday, and made some iced tea. It's very hot and usually sunny, so I figured I'd grab one of our little bottles of water, stuff a teabag inside, and set it in the sun for a couple hours. Worked very well, and I imagine I'm going to need more tea, actually.
As for the package, it was just the box of books I mailed myself and now will get to read. I should like to point out that Sir Apropos of Nothing and The Woad to Wuin was in fact in that box. I guess I had decided to mail it at the last minute. Hooray!
And that's all the news that's new. I'm still pretty stoked about finishing Lauderdale; reckon I will be for some time yet.
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