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_complicated simplicity of a jewel
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[11 Dec 2009|12:29pm] |

Today is gonna be good. I can feel it. :)
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| Books 123-126 / 100 |
[11 Dec 2009|10:13pm] |
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123. The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged - edited by Edward Connery Lathem Robert Frost was truly a genius, and after reading this collection, he is definitely one of my favorite poets. I liked the way this was organized, by book, and in chronological order by publishing date. It allowed you to see clearly his evolution as a poet and the different metaphors he used in 1916 vs. 1950, for example. Sadly, I think his poems got worse as he got older. They seemed to lack the cohesion of his earlier work and the rhyme even seemed off sometimes. Like the poem wasn't finished. My only problem with this book was that reading Frost poems always makes me want to go tramping around in the woods, experiencing nature and thinking beautiful thoughts about birds and trees, etc. Unfortunately, there is no nature where I am, so reading this was just a nicer form of torture.
124. The Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare Play about a crazy jealous king who destroys his own life and then ten years later everything turns out ok. Frankly, I don't think he deserves it.
125. Helen - Euripides Turns out Helen never ditched Menelaus for Paris but was spirited away by Hermes to spend 17 years in Egypt before returning to her husband and home and saving her reputation. We can all stop hating her now.
126. The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici - Christopher Hibbert A fascinating history of the Medici family, one of the ruling families (later THE ruling family) of Florence, from the 1300's - 1700's. They were rich, devious, philanthropic, educated, patrons of the arts, homosexuals, popes, queens, dukes, and just about anything you could want to read about in a family history.
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| Pad Thai |
[11 Dec 2009|09:26am] |
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Where is Seattle's best Pad Thai? I'm not interested in trendy places, necessarily. It can be a total hole-in-the-wall place. Where is your favorite?
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| Карта относительной прибавки |
[11 Dec 2009|09:01am] |
Добавил на "Электоральную географию" результаты второго тура в Румынии в разрезе жудецев. У меня было ощущение, что Бэсеску и Джоанэ относительно прибавили там, где проиграли в первом туре. Я даже сделал вот такую карту относительной прибавки. То есть, скажем, если Бэсеску в первом туре лидировал в каком-то жудеце с перевесом в полтора раза, а во втором лишь в 1,3 раза, то тут относительное улучшение у Джоанэ. Это плохо с той точки зрения, что карта в разрезе коммун, которую я сейчас делаю, будет менее четкой в плане разделения между территориями, принадлежавшими Австро-Венгрии и Турции. Но все равно это будет видно. Плюс, еще поделюсь кое-чем интересным об "аномалиях" на выборах, ведь Джоанэ оспаривает эти результаты.
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| 53. A Wolverine is Eating My Leg by Tim Cahill |
[11 Dec 2009|09:39am] |
 Title: A Wolverine is Eating My Leg Author: Tim Cahill Year: 1989 # of pages: 302 Date read: 10/29/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good
Description:
"Tim Cahill brings 'em back alive. Not only has he survived fantastic journeys through the Himalayan rapids, the Grand Terror of Montana, and Dian Fossey's forbidden zone, he writes about them, too. All with the same excitement and crazed humor his readers have relished for years in the pages of Outside and Rolling Stone. Fearless and hell-bent on destroying all obstacles in his path, Cahill takes us to places rarely seen and barely endured. All admonitions and warnings be damned: Tim Cahill dares us to follow him wherever danger and craziness lurk. And to laugh as he prevails." -- from the back cover
My thoughts:
This book was a fascinating compilation of Cahill's articles featuring adventures in places including deep caves, high mountains, jungles, and Death Valley. Besides learning about deep cave exploration and how Death Valley is like a convection oven, I also learned about the events leading up to the Jonestown massacre and the efforts to save the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda.
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| 53. A Wolverine is Eating My Leg by Tim Cahill |
[11 Dec 2009|09:38am] |
 Title: A Wolverine is Eating My Leg Author: Tim Cahill Year: 1989 # of pages: 302 Date read: 10/29/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good
Description:
"Tim Cahill brings 'em back alive. Not only has he survived fantastic journeys through the Himalayan rapids, the Grand Terror of Montana, and Dian Fossey's forbidden zone, he writes about them, too. All with the same excitement and crazed humor his readers have relished for years in the pages of Outside and Rolling Stone. Fearless and hell-bent on destroying all obstacles in his path, Cahill takes us to places rarely seen and barely endured. All admonitions and warnings be damned: Tim Cahill dares us to follow him wherever danger and craziness lurk. And to laugh as he prevails." -- from the back cover
My thoughts:
This book was a fascinating compilation of Cahill's articles featuring adventures in places including deep caves, high mountains, jungles, and Death Valley. Besides learning about deep cave exploration and how Death Valley is like a convection oven, I also learned about the events leading up to the Jonestown massacre and the efforts to save the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda.
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| *** |
[11 Dec 2009|05:01pm] |
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[11 Dec 2009|04:56pm] |
( 3 )
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[11 Dec 2009|08:43am] |
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