A story about "Frankenstein (Enriched Classics)"

Frankenstein (Enriched Classics)

by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein is a 19th century book—it’s going to be a bit different. It does not fail to deliver on different. It’s set in a frame story, which I have somewhat mixed feelings about. And at some points the layering of the stories within the story gets a bit overly-layered.

The character of Frankenstein was obnoxious—so self-absorbed and vacillating. The monster on the other hand, carries the book. The part that interested me was the monster’s transformation from only having the appearance of a monster to being a monster inside and out. Utterly spectacular.

I found some of the book (about the front third, give or take) to be tedious. But the rest of the book was very good, and in some spots sublime. I’d mark it as a read: it will completely reshame your conception of the story you thought you knew.

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Little Girl in the city

I took my daughter to the west side of Chicago—Garfield Park to be specific. I had been told many times that it was a bad neighborhood, but that wasn’t the case.

We went to the Conservatory, which is over 100 years old. They had lots of fun things for kids to do, so we did them and had fun.

If there is an adventure better than spending time with a child, I’m not sure I’ve found it yet.

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Giving up

I’m not so much giving up on what I want to do, but rather I’m junking the route.

I’ve decided that a job is not for me. What I really need to do is go into business for myself. Thus I’m “giving up” on this goal and opening a different one.

See more progress on: find a different job

Careful with the books.

Oops. I wasn’t. I bought a copy of Crónica de una muerte annunciado thinking I’d be able to handle it. Wrong.

Instead, I went to the library and picked up a copy of Grammatica descomplicada and have had much better luck.

See more progress on: improve my spanish

If you're going to watch a movie about wine (rated 4 stars)

Bottle Shock

Watch this. Forget _Sideways_—though I suspect that one isn’t actually about wine. Of course, I suppose this one isn’t either.

Anyway, the characters in this are more likeable. Or, if dislikeable, funnier in their dislikeability. It is also based on a true story, though I don’t know that I consider that to be much of a reason to prefer it.

The main reason, in my mind anyway, is that the movie is beautifully filmed in beautiful country. The director allows the camera to luxuriate on California’s wine country. So much so that the land itself almost is a character in the movie.

Bottom line: Fun story, beautiful photography. Skip Sideways and watch Bottle Shock.

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Not so special effects (rated 4 stars)

Criterion Collection: Thief of Bagdad (1940) (2pc)

Until you remember how spoiled we are by digital effects. Given when the film was made—in World War II Britain—they are great. I might even say that they were trying to push technical limits, but I really don’t know enough about that sort of thing to say for sure.

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How to connect both of the computers to the internet

"The payoff of procrastination is wireless."

How I did it: I don't know why I took so long, but I did. I got caught up in other things, but now I've turned my Mac into my work computer and play computer. About time.

Lessons & tips: Sometimes it does pay to procrastinate, because I'm sure had I done this when I initially set out to there wouldn't be a wireless option. Now I can call Netflix for their wireless device. My wife will be happy.

It took me 2 years.

It made me IT Master

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Hoping for better (rated 1 star)

Smokin Aces (Ws Sub Ac3 Dol)

You know, the cast looked pretty good.

But it seems like they were just making it up as they went along. I cannot believe that this movie had been written in advance with a screenplay and all. It felt more like, a let’s-go-to-Tahoe-and-make-a-gangster-movie-and-wouldn’t-it-be-cool-to-have-a-bunch-of-stuff-happen-that-dares-people-to-think-its-stupid movie.

xXx with Vin Diesel was better, and it wasn’t very good.

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Go north

So I spent a long weekend north of 60 in Canada. I found a stop sign that seemed not to have a purpose. I got caught in a heavy rain—in a supposedly arid climate—miles from any paved road. I saw a flicker of the northern lights. I ate musk ox and caribou. In the same stew. I’m calling that an adventure.

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North and South Carolina — *43* & 44

Lots of sun and beach in both of these places, but you won’t see much of anything on the interstate.

Being the South and all, they’re both really cool places. SC, though, might have the edge.

See more progress on: visit all 50 states

The work!

I can barely believe how much work this is.

On the other hand, it’s kinda fun.

See more progress on: write a textbook

A story about "When Worlds Collide"

When Worlds Collide

by Rudolph Maté

This movie rocks the chaos theory.

The special effects wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good had the special effects team not had an intuitive grasp of chaos theory. Their magic insight? Crashing water looks the same in miniature as on a large scale. Rock on miniature builders!

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LIbrary

No need to buy books, the library has them for you. I’ve been saving big bucks on books this way for about, well, always.

What’s to great about this is that even if they don’t have the particular book you want, they can still get it for you. Inter-library loan is genius.

It’s unusual for me to buy a book anymore.

See more progress on: find ways to economize that don't detract from quality of life

Chicken stock

We’ve been buying whole chickens around here lately, since they’re a better deal than just buying the breast—and the name of the game in 2009 is to save money without having a life that sucks. So answer one is whole chickens in a slow cooker.

But we’re not done with chickens once they’re cooked and eaten. No. Not hardly. There are still bones and skin and fat left. Back into the slow cooker with all of that. “But,” you object, “that’s nasty stuff. It’s not food!” It is. Put in your slow cooker whatever you can’t eat from the chicken, bits of carrot you didn’t use, paper from your garlic and bits of onion you don’t use (what, you’ve not been saving that in a bag in your freezer?). Cover all of that with a lot of water and put it on low.

Come back in a few hours and strain out the solid stuff. Like magic, you’ve got chicken stock and don’t need to buy any from the store. It’s more expensive and doesn’t taste as good anyway.

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Reluctantly

But it has to be done.

So many of the homeschool Latin textbooks have some major flaw or another. I might as well try and produce my own flawed entry.

Luckily the consortium of homeschoolers I work with feel their current Latin text is the best of a bad lot, so they’re game to pilot what I can come up with.

See more progress on: write a textbook

How to have a 43T meetup in Chicago on Feb 22, 2009

"It's always cool to meet 43ers."

How I did it: Make sure to join the team, otherwise it will be hard to make sure you know when and where to go. Once there, be yourself. 43ers are friendly and fun.

Lessons & tips: Pay attention to street signs so you don't walk past the Star of Siam.

Resources: Green tea ice cream. Much better than I thought it would be, but then I didn't know what it would be like.

It took me 6 weeks.

It made me Happy.

A story about "The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection"

The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection

by Gillo Pontecorvo

Wow. This is amazing. I kept hearing about the Battle of Algiers now and again over the course of my movie watching career (and it is a career), but I had never seen it.

It’s amazing. The movie plays itself out almost like a documentary. Though filmed a few years after the events depicted, it seems far more vivid. I suspect part of it is the black and white, which I love more and more. The filming and action make the movie feel like it was made more recently than it actually was.

If you even sort of like spy-genre movies, this is an amazing trip that takes off for two hours and doesn’t let go. Best part: based on actual events.

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A story about "The Stars My Destination"

The Stars My Destination

by Alfred Bester

Despite being quite old in a genre that ages about as well as a computer, this novel reads like it was written yesterday. It’s fast and sucks you in.

It made me want to be able to jaunte.

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