My Summer Reading List

Occasionally, I get lost on the internet. Since Semester at Sea's MV Explorer is one of my favorite boats, I occasionally stalk it on its website and recently (May-ish) came across Dr. Toby Zinman's Book Club list. I set myself to reading it this summer.

Since the majority of the books are available for Kindle, I'm almost done with the list, excepting the classic Chronicle of a Death Foretold, which I have just now added to my wish list. The only book I have yet to read from the list is The Uncommon Reader, and it is waiting for me when I finish this post.

I did not enjoy Drown very much, perhaps because it is written a lot like I would write a book if I were ever to write one. However. Once I finished it, the Kindle revealed to me the titles of other books by Junot Diaz, and this is how I discovered Apocalypse: What Disasters Reveal.

Another bit of blog fodder delivered (this time by wireless whispernet) from the Universe.

Apocalypse is a 13-page document about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Diaz compares the earthquake to an apocalypse, deconstructing the Greek term and assigning it three criteria. The apocalypse has to be the end of something, look like the end of something, or reveal and/or clarify something about what has ended.

Disasters, Diaz claims, "...don't just happen. They are always made possible by a series of often-invisible societal choices that implicate more than just those being drowned or burned in the rubble."

Amen, brother.

He goes on: "We must refuse the familiar scripts of victims and rescuers that focus our energies solely on charity instead of systemic change."

Near the conclusion, he states: "...apocalypses like the Hatian earthquake are not only catastrophes; they are also opportunities: chances for us to see ourselves, to take responsibility for what we see, to change."

Like the trailer for a popular movie, I give you these quotes as teasers which will hopefully inspire you to read the full 13-page document. To sift, as Diaz would say, through the ruins, and to study them. It is only $2.99 for the Kindle.

Stumbling upon this gem of a paper was well worth the 1.5 days I invested in his novel.

More about my reading list, and the progress I am making, in the posts to come.

If it Had Been an Actual Emergency...

Greetings!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July.

After taking a week's vacation, I still have very little to share with you. I have only this photo which I took myself, featuring a Life is Good brand t-shirt that I spotted at a local card store.

 

 

Haha. So. Until next time...

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

The twitter feed for the Thoroughly Entertained post reviewing, among other films, World War Z, called it "tense and scary." I want to watch Krista and Scott's review, but first I'll give my own without being influenced by their opinions.

I am happy that I had the opportunity to see this movie on the big screen, and that I did not have to wait for Netflix, which could have taken years. 

What can we learn from World War Z? My top five: 

1. "Every human being we save is one less [zombie] we have to fight." This line really struck me. What kind of zombies are we talking about? I think this wisdom applies to more than just the creatures in the movie. 

Two seconds later, because we didn't seem to learn it from the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall, the Berlin Wall, and the large fence between U.S. and Mexico (was that ever actually built?), 

2. a wall erected to keep invaders out is rarely effective. 

3. Possibly, when you end up the seemingly only survivor of a deadly plane crash, you might feel like a bit of a jerk. Until you realize you are also impaled. 

I kind of don't ever want to fly in an airplane again. But, not flying in airplanes conflicts with some of my important life goals, so...

4. When it comes to a baseball bat, a crowbar, and an axe: "Each has its merits."

Finally, I personally learned that

5. I should perhaps have married into the military. Then again...no, thanks. 

So. Go see it if you haven't yet. Whatever you expect it to be, it's a little different than that, and a little more than that. 

In just short of six months, it will be the holiday season. If the people on your gift list are zombie fans, I highly recommend buying them this movie, Warm Bodies [self-link], and the excellent novel by and about my homeland of Northwest Indiana, Dust [real link]. They will love you forever and possibly gift you with beastie stuff like juicers and hacksaws in the future. 

Now to see what Krista and Scott had to say. 

Rain, and Other Hazards

Since I haven't touched base since Springfield, IL, I'm sure that my other two loyal readers (besides the ones that I live with and/or constantly text) may suspect that I am dead. To assure you that I am not, I give you the following photo of one very awesome car:

I have made it extra large so that you can read the sign that says, "Continental Divide."
If you know your geography, which of course you do, you're aware that Alex actually took this photo well before I last posted. You can also tell that from the scrub on the side of the road, if you know your biomes. Nonetheless. That is the sexy back of my Subaru.

For your further amusement, here's a fun video link sent to us by Miss Gokey. It's a trailer for World War Z (which I haven't seen, and I will probably have to wait for Netflix), revisioned as a Ken Burns documentary.

"I'd like to see Miss Gokey fix a blower motor," said Dad, in his quest for a shout-out. To his credit, it is thanks to him that the above-mentioned Subaru will have AC and heat for wherever the road happens to take it next.

This post is really too short, I realize, but I'm coming to you from the McDonald's on the corner of Columbia and 165th. It is amusing to watch the other people in the restaurant, especially the little old ones. One man was in here when I got here, and I'm sure he'll be here until well after I leave. I suspect he comes here every day for coffee. A woman came in, they greeted each other and chatted a bit, then instead of joining him, she sat in the next booth. Not too long after that, another older man who is very animated came in and joined the first man, who informed the 2nd man that, "My father always used to say, 'Don't do what I do. Do what I say to do!'" Haha. Indeed.

I'll likely be back Friday, and then return you to your regularly scheduled blog, next week.

The Things You Should Have Known and Thought You Knew

So...for someone who spent a year preparing for the apocalypse, it is perhaps surprising (unless you know me) that until Alex found them yesterday, I had no idea where my PAJAMAS could be found.

I also forgot that rain existed until Sunday night, when the same Alex caught a tent which would have otherwise blown away and anyway ended up wadded in the back of a vehicle while he and Jodi and I slept in the relative comfort of the Motel 6 in Amarillo.

I would not have believed that insects could have nearly-human legs, or that I would ever see an armadillo as roadkill.

And who could have ever anticipated that Baptists would fill every hotel room in St. Louis on a Tuesday night? I can't speak for my friends, but I can say that I have had an amazing, and educational, experience crossing the country. Tonight, despite our lack of ability to stay there, we did have good views of the arch as we sped past at 8 p.m. on our way to Springfield, IL.

I have little else to say, as I am very, very tired, and I have NO idea what I'll say just two short days from now, but for the bit of public service my two loyal readers have come to expect, I give you this image of a few of Oklahoma's recently arrested citizens.

Remember, in the immortal words of Jeannette Winterson, "The map is not the territory."

Squares 2 and 9

Aha! This clever title is yet another reference to our long-ago Camping Basics Class, but it has nothing to do with camping and everything to do with touristing.

Everything else you need to know about the bridge you can find out at http://www.hooverdambypass.org/faq.htm.

I thought I would show you the safety tips you'll see when you get there, and the view you can expect. The one and only photo of myself (besides the super cute one with Amanda) makes for an ugly profile photo, but hey! Is that the greatest engineering marvel of the 20th century behind you there? Why yes! Yes it is.

Safety tips.

View. 

Two words: bathtub ring. 'Nuff said. 

I shall pass this way again on Saturday. Until then, loyal readers. 

Back to Square One

You may remember from our Camping Basics class at REI (shameless self-hyperlink) back in January 2012 that Step 1 is NAVIGATION: know how to stay oriented.

For you Vegasphiles, I challenge you to identify the famous Las Vegas landmarks in the following photos from Top of the World:

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

I am proud that Amanda and I were able to identify directions and landmarks, and it only took us a combined total of 14 years of living here to be able to do so.

The views were fantastic, and the marketing was clever. The restaurant rotates, but the tower doesn't. So a cart of faux desserts sits on the tower and twice in an hour-long lunch, you rotate past the dessert cart. Here was the view of my dessert:

And for the entertainment of everyone involved...

No skyjumpers flew by during lunch. But we did get to wave to some riders on the Insanity.

For your further photographic love of Vegas, see Krista's interpretation of the Boneyard (another self-hyperlink) over on the Wannabe.