Saturday, February 24, 2007

Yep I'm sporadic. It's part of the eccentricity that makes me so lovable as to keep you loyal readers checking on my blog. Thanks so much!

So since January 17, what's happened. Work's been insane, Laura turned 25 (and was feted at a surprise birthday wine tasting party), the Colts actually won the Super Bowl - it should be noted Houston had frozen over in the few weeks before that.

Since reading Those Who Watch, I revisited a fantasy series I read as a kid - the Circle of Light books. It is painfully obviously a Narnia/LotR ripoff, and nowhere near as well written. Was ready to pack them up for Half-Price Books (how much of their inventory is people inflicting books they think are horrible on others?), and I remembered I like the philosophy that the ending ties together. Nothing amazingly inventive, just a worldview that I think is kinda ingrained to me now. So for now I keep them.

I also read The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, about how major effects are often the result of small changes at the right place/time. Interesting stuff, although I don't know how you'd test a general theory of it beyond the solid anecdotes he provides.

And now I'm on Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, a book about, well, the French. Apparently some journalists moved to Paris for a couple of years to investigate the French people's response to globalism, and ended up writing about the overall ethnology of the French, especially as perceived by Anglo-Saxons. It's interesting 10 pages in, especially with some good tidbits. For example, the Provost was initially an officer in medieval guilds who visited members who hadn't paid their dues or had otherwise offended the guild and, well, broke their legs. Given that this title is popular for some level of university hierarchy, suddenly faculty meetings sound a lot more interesting.

Watching the vultures gather for the '08 presidential race is fun too. 2 people have already dropped out - not didn't declare, but dropped out after formally announcing - more than 20 months before the election. I'm interested in seeing what Giuliani comes up with - I could be talked into him if Iraq won't be as much of a holy objective for him as it is for W - but I think if I got to pick a Pres/VP at this point, I'd go Edwards/Obama. Edwards' actual work on poverty issues the last couple of years impresses me more than anyone else's commitment to the words they're speaking. But I have no illusions - I'm sure I'll find out more than I want to about any candidate that appeals to me.
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