It must be pun day

Okay okay I’ll stop singing now! I bet you are still singing though! :) The weekend was a good one: reading, reflection and fun with friends. Friday night we saw National Treasure and I thought it was well done. History was waaaaaay off in more then one spot, but it portrayed Masons in a good light and it was a fun “solve the next puzzle” movie – I always like those!

I finished Angels & Daemons on Saturday afternoon. Four days of reading. 50pgs, 50pgs, 200pgs, 275pgs. There was some HUGE discrepancies in historical fact 9that I have read) vs. what Dan Brown has in the book, but nothing too terrible. I thought the story line was slightly better then The Da Vinci Code – why? He didn’t slow down or stop the pace like I felt the last quarter of DvC ran. For the non-fiction fan and the fan of DvC: a must read.

I also finished the Steven Hawking book; also very good and not too over the top for many readers. Some items have recently been disproved or modified, but that is the case with theoretical physics book that’s aged ten years since its reprint. Dr. Hawking has an amazing sense of humor for on of the most brilliant minds and he’s happy to throw it in the most unexpected places. Truly a wonderful person. I’m looking forward to reading his other books…hopefully they arrive at my doorstep sooner then later.

We seek not to imitate the masters; rather we seek what they sought.

– Far Eastern Philosophy

Caffeine can be your worst enemy

Yesterday was a long day for me at the office’ tons of paperwork to finish filling out and the usual distractions. I was a little groggy so I got a 32oz Mt. Dew at lunch – what everyone needs right? Well I had some other business meetings to get paperwork ready for and I was cutting it close on time, thank goodness for doin’ the dew because I finished up my paperwork and made it to my late night meeting. After going through the usual bit there and then running off to another meeting (yes that is my life, late night meetings)…I got a chance to have dinner around 8:30 pm. My beverage of choice? Ginger ale. Why? Caffeine free!!

I got home before 10 pm and changed, hopped in the shower…the usual routine. I sat down and cracked open Dan Brown’s book; I was in no mood for physics tonight. Before I knew it, it was 12:30am…I read on, not yet feeling tired or distracted. Now it was 1:30am and time for bed, so I got into bed and kept reading, thinking I would be out in no time. I ended up forcing myself to put the book down at 2:30! Hey I read from page 100 to page 307 or 309. So far so good…just like Da Vinci Code he strings you along chapter to chapter. I have my fingers crossed it doesn’t slow down drastically at the end like DVC did…blah, that could have been better.

What does this weekend hold in store for me? Well tonight I’ll be heading out to see National Treasure with some friends, and I am sure it will be decent even if a little history has been indulged! :) Since I finished my laundry this week, I’m sure I will have plenty of time to finish the two current books on my list…oh what a nerd I am! Muhahah.

“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.”

– Homer (800 BC-700BC)

Current Book(s):

• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking
• Angels & Daemons; By: Dan Brown

You might get what you want

So I wanted to get into reading more and more (as you can tell it is becoming an obsession since I mention that more that anything else here) and it looks like I am now an addict! :)

Why?

I watched Matchstick Men last night…not too bad, but I called the ending about halfway through. It was getting late, but I felt compelled to jump back into Angels & Daemons; so I did.

I wasn’t up insanely late by any means, but I made it another 50 pages or so and called it a night. Chapter 33 would be tomorrow’s read…

“Once we find the fruits of success, the taste is nothing like we had anticipated.”

– William Inge

Current Book(s):

• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking
• Angels & Daemons; By: Dan Brown

More thoughts

For starters I changed the URL for the blog [http://babblingdweeb.blogspot.com/] is the new home. While this is my template design, it’s really not quite finished and I am still working on the finial one (a few bugs-n-kinks). So if you pop on and everything is misaligned, yeah that was me making an awesome mistake!

Last night was a late night for me, busy running errands and such, so I only got to read the first 50-60 pgs in Angels & Daemons. The first few pages had me laughing my butt off at the nerd humor (some physics jokes). Hopefully it ends up being a good way to spend a few hours of my life. :)

“God not only plays dice. He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen.”

– Stephen Hawking

Current Book(s):

• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking
• Angels & Daemons; By: Dan Brown

Besides read

So last night I went home and I read from 6pm to almost 2am. I finished The Code book (about 80 pgs) and I did a little research on the Cipher Challenge ($15,000 to the person that can break the code in the back of the book). Then I read about 100 pgs in Stephen Hawking’s book. I only have 40 pgs to go, but I put it down to give my brain a rest; I didn’t want to lose the content in the last sections.

Then what? Well I was doing laundry…something I loath because I hate folding it and putting it away. Separating it and the actual washing/drying part is fine. I ended up doing 5 loads and folding each load as I took it out…apparently I was in a systematical phase last night!

So I glanced over at the book on John Harrison and his creation of the maritime clock for accurate longitude measurement. I figured it wasn’t too late, so why not start reading? At 1:30 am I closed the book and clicked off my light. So I was a total geek and read the book cover to cover (200 pgs) and the funny part is the book wasn’t that great! It could have been shorter or longer and been much better. How is that? Well there was not as much information about the actual clocks, how they worked, why the worked – things you would think would be part of the story. However, there was random facts about Harrison and some personal drama in his life (some strung together very loosely). I would say that if a lot of the drama was taken out the book would have been a little better, but it would have come off more as an essay or an introduction into his life rather then a book. On the flip side the book is focused on him and only a portion of his life that deals with the construction of these maritime clocks, I would have expected more elaborate explanations as to the engineering of the clocks…which would have made the book longer and more technical – not for every reader.

“Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter.”

– Paxton Hood

Current Book(s):

• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking

Recently finished book(s):

• The Code Book; By: Simon Singh
• Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time; By: Dava Sobel

What an interesting combo

My weekend was perfect…I got to have some fun with my friends and I got a little spending money for books. Apparently my family is interested in supporting my paper drug habit (that’s books!); they like to feed my reading obsession.

With the activities of the weekend I wasn’t able to finish either of my current books, but I did get to read some – 20 pages left in one book; I’ll finish it tonight I swear!

The run-on sentence / question of the day is:

20+ books have been recently added or loaned into my collection; this makes me dance around like a ninny on crack and I don’t even know what a ninny is (!) but I have to ask my hyperactive self: with only 7 weeks left in the year, can I finish reading all of them before the year is out?

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”

– Groucho Marx

Current Book(s):

• The Code Book; By: Simon Singh
• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking

Recently acquired book(s):

• Angels & Daemons; By: Dan Brown
• Enigma; By: Robert Harris
• Archangel; By: Robert Harris
• Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time; By: Dava Sobel

Recently Purchased book(s):

(Once again I need to say thank you to someone for my birthday present…money for books. Thanks Mom & Dad!

• Ideas & Opinions; By: Albert Einstein
• World As I See It; By: Albert Einstein
• The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe; By: Stephen W. Hawking
• The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet; By: David Kahn