I'm indulging in the "Outlander" series, and book 3 is all I accomplish in my spare time. =)

I'm also a podcast addict...pretty sure I've admitted this on here before. I just discovered "Secular Buddhism" which is great. Also love Sam Harris and his "Waking Up" podcast.

What about you all?

My books by my mancrush Neil DeGrasse Tyson, love his astrophysics and him. I'm beginning to see why my friends find me weird...

The Subtle art of not giving a Fuck by Mark Manson

I was already aware of most of this, but was curious about someone else thoughts. It's interesting. I think i'll pass this book on to my son and his wife when i'm done with it. Sometimes they care to the point that it gets a bit destructive in their life. This is a good book for people like that. I guess the word might be codependent.

Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." It's a blast! (so to speak...)

Tomorrow on orders of my Spanish teacher I'm bringing Isabel Allende's "La Ciudad de las Bestias" to class. My teacher is determined to make me read it. My Spanish sucks. Our goal tomorrow is to get through one page.

Also my sister recently sent me Anthony Bourdain's "Appetites: A Cookbook" which is probably the most entertaining cookbook I've ever read. For example, speaking of Eggs Benedict, he says: "Toast your goddamn muffins. Everybody fucks up the muffin..."

He's right. If the muffin isn't toasted to perfection, it destroys the rest of it. The muffin needs to be crispy toasted on the outside, tender chewy on the inside. Without that, it's just not good.

Classic rock and sports radio. I read mostly news online and 3 or 4 automotive publications. Gotta get back to reading a couple Robert Kirby's books that's I've had since July.

RB

"Everything I need to know I learned from Led Zeppelin: Classic Rock Wisdom From The Greatest Band Of All time".....nice little "coffee table" book I keep out....usually read it every few weeks.

"Secret Combinations Evidence of Early Mormon Counterfeiting 1800-1847".....just started it, very good so far.

Just ordered a greatest hits CD of Thin Lizzy, so I'll be listening to that soon.

Just finished, "The Girl With Seven Names" by HYEONSEO LEE. It was on sale in the Kindle store and I couldn't put it down.

About a woman that escaped from North Korea when she was 17 in 1997. Had to change her name several times while in China to stay a step ahead of authorities and finally made her way to South Korea. Was able to get her mother and little brother out too eventually.

Illegal trading, human trafficking, crooked government officials, bribes, danger at every turn, sorrow, determination, and goodness of strangers with a triumphant ending.

Had some parallels with escaping from LDS and brainwashing, cult tactics. Albeit, hers were really life threatening. Difficulties adjusting to living their own lives and not having everything controlled and programmed for them.

She has some TED talks on YouTube too.

I suspect it was like this for some of the mormons during Briggys time that wanted to leave SLC. He wasn't letting anyone out of there without his permission. He'd send riders out to force them back. I can't imagine the hell it must have been living under his rule.

Van Morrison's latest CD. Keep Me Singing. He's as good as ever.

Reading wise, just finished re-reading for at least the 4th time,
S is for Silence, by Sue Grafton.
She writes great stories about a female private eye.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2016 09:24PM by memikeyounot.

Working on some short stories.

donbagley Wrote:
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> Working on some short stories.

=========================================
Reading or writing?

I hope writing; I love your stuff.

Coming soon.

Amazon Kindle had a Clifford D. Simak on sale for 99 cents! I'm 3/4's of the way through it, "A Heritage of Stars."

Also on sale for 99 cents was Gordon R. Dickson's "Dorsai!" I couldn't put it down the first time I read it, back in high school. I'm looking forward to it.

Just finished Season 11, Disc 3 of NCIS...

Before NCIS (when I was working...I am cleaning out old files which are now no longer needed), for background music on You Tube, I started out with Eddie Cantor ("How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em ...") for an RfM post I wrote earlier...but the YouTube autoplay went on to more Eddie Cantor (which was mostly pretty good), so I then did a bit of YouTube 1920s dance music ("Ballin' the Jack," and so on) for awhile...and then the autoplay flipped over to Enrico Caruso (who I've never been a fan of, but it started out with "Santa Lucia," so I just let it play for awhile, so I didn't have to stop what I was doing to change it)...

...and what I'm reading right now is: JUDAISM WITHOUT GOD: Judaism as Culture and Bible as Literature, by Yaakov Malkin (the book I've been taking with me when I go out).

Eugene Onegin

The first half (excepting the letter aria) is slow, IMO, but the second half is AMAZING!...I'm dancing the polonaise as I write!

I'm ashamed to report that I read Needful Things by Stephen King. It should have been a novella rather than a brick.

Prokofiev's score to Romeo and Juliet, is in my head. I love ballet. The Boner in First Position.

That's exactly my reaction to Needful Things. I felt the first half of the novel was genius, and then the bullshit starts. Why the demon car that refills its own gas tank? I can't believe how clumsy that was. Stephen King can write characters like no one's business. His people crackle with hate, fear and jealousy. The idea of a smart and evil man manipulating their weaknesses is brilliant. You said it best. It should have been a novella. As such, it could be untouchable.

Don, I liked the basic premise--the devil setting up shop with our innermost desires--as a means to explore the nature of evil. But once the premise was set up, the same story (cheap object, favor, ownership, violence) repeated over and over again. I expected something more profound from the very capable and talented SK. I'm looking forward to your next stories. My very best!

Reading "King Lear" for college and Stephen King's "The Stand" for pleasure.

I enjoyed early Stephen King--The Shining, Salem's Lot, and the Stand. I don't like his later stuff. Probably his worst, IMO, was Dr. Sleep (a sequel to The Shining). SPOILER ALERT: steam vampires, WTF!

Technical system documentation for work. We are looking for a system replacement and I am reading all the stuff from the invited vendors. So far I have resisted the urge to rip my eyes out.

shortbobgirl Wrote:
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> ......So far I
> have resisted the urge to rip my eyes out.

:D :D :D

I've read all of the books several times, and we enjoy the DVD's they have made so far.

Right now, I'm on a kick reading Patricia Cornwell's "Kay Scarpetta" series. (Dr. Scarpetta is a medical examiner, so these stories automatically involve murder mysteries.) Cornwell does very precise research, and I find the details absolutely fascinating. From tiny clues, she puts together the pieces of the puzzle: who, how, why. . .Hell of a storyteller.

Book: 'Library of souls' (the 3rd book in the 'Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children' series)

Podcasts (weekly, or whenever they come out)
No such thing as a fish: (QI Researchers podcast)
Smartest man in the world: (Greg Proops)
Futility closet: (odd historical facts and stories)
RHLSTP: (Richard Herring interveiews comedians)
AIOTM: (Richard herring and Company, comedy sketches)

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Robert Jay Lifton

I presently listening to the Calvin Harris station on Amazon Music. Later I will go to the satellite and listen to some EDM. As for reading, I am rereading Jack Higgens' The Eagle has Landed.

I'm reading " The Earth Shall Weep", a history of Native America written by James Wilson and "Dogs of God", Columbus,
The Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors, by James Reston Jr.

I'm listening to Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and some Doo Wop from the 50's and 60's.

Jeff and I are planning to do a more detailed (and more expensive) DNA search. For now I know I'm part Iberian, which includes north Morocco.

donbagley Wrote:
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> Jeff and I are planning to do a more detailed (and
> more expensive) DNA search. For now I know I'm
> part Iberian, which includes north Morocco.

Iberian and north Moroccan could also (very possibly) mean that you are part-Jewish by blood descent [the scientific kind of blood descent---not the Mormon, Patriarchal Blessing, kind ;) ].

If so, you are part of a highly-honored, and most accomplished, historical group.

:) :) :)

donbagley Wrote:
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> Jeff and I are planning to do a more detailed (and
> more expensive) DNA search. For now I know I'm
> part Iberian, which includes north Morocco.


That is soooooooo cool Don... let us know what else you are when you finish the DNA search. I'd love to do that.

I discovered the Outlander series in the 90s and have been a fan since then. She's still working on another book!

My husband and I really love the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne. We listen to the audio books, and the narrator is fantastic!

I have ordered "Arcadia" by Iain Pears, and am reading
The Girl From Venice" by Martin Cruz Smith.