OMG I have never spent so much time on Twitter as I have today. So I’m all hyped up. Time to back away from the computer and go do some functional strength training.
Unbelievable what’s happening at the US Capitol today. Total mayhem. Once, in the past, Republicans professed to be Keepers of the Constitution, carrying a copy in their back pockets. Now we clearly see them as hoodlums and gangsters and terrorists.
Last night I had such a vivid dream about dancing. Finally, after 10 months away, I’m missing it. This dream was about waltzes and Swedish-style turning dances. Yum!
(I overdid dancing, and especially the management of public contra dances, for 25 years. Took a while to heal.)
Currently reading: Surfaces and Essences by Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander 📚
Darn it, missed my goal of micro.blogging every day in 2021 on day 3! I will continue with my goal of posting more often and forgive myself for being absent minded.
My first inclement weather run.🏃♀️ Almost five miles post snow/sleet mix so the road was slushy and the trees were coated with ice that was now melting and dropping onto the road and me. But it was all pretty fun! Occasional sun made the ice glisten.
Finished reading: Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston 📚Totally fun and also a bit helpful to better understand The Mandalorian.
Currently reading: A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton 📚
Finished reading: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor 📚Highly recommended. One of the things it shows is that our concept of diversity is so puny. Imagine a college campus with humans, humanoids, jelly fish beings, sentient trees, and more.
Pandemic World
In 2019, I drove about 19,000 miles and 25% of those miles were for business.
In 2020, I drove about 9,000 miles and less than 10% of those miles were for business.
Finished reading: Foundation by Isaac Asimov 📚 So many men. One woman, I think, and all she cares about is jewelry.
Finished reading: Ulysses by James Joyce 📚 Skipped 100 pages in the middle, the “play.” Yeah, imagining the internal monologue of a bunch of often drunk men has its allure but does get tiresome.
Currently reading: Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston 📚
Currently reading: Foundation by Isaac Asimov 📚
One of the many things I love about winter is yummy oranges.
Finished reading: Ready Player One 📚Read it mostly so that I could say, “yeah, I read it.” A fun read but not very deep or meaningful.
Currently reading: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor 📚
🏃♀️ Run at 9 degrees F today (-13 C). First run in such cold weather. Luckily, I’ve been collecting gear for cycling and walking and skiing for decades, so was able to cobble together enough clothing to keep me warm but not hot.
Ministry for the Future Book Club
📚 One of my favorite futurists is Bryan Alexander, thinker in the academic space. I’m reading this book because he’s sponsoring a book club for it. The comments so far from fellow readers have been fascinating and thought-provoking. The book club is back with Ministry for the Future | Bryan Alexander
The plot focuses on a new United Nations agency tasked with addressing the problem, and how they proceed. A counterpoint character is an aid workers who survives a horrible disaster and tries to figure out how to live afterwards. It’s a rich, ambitious, and frankly optimistic book, and might be just what we need now.
Finished reading: Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson 📚 Definitely 5 ⭐. The best book I’ve read in a while and one that gives me some hope for the future of our planet amidst climate change. It’s speculative fiction and I’m sure there’s a bunch of unrealistic enthusiasm for things like blockchain and regenerative agriculture, but this is an educational read and a fine novel. Everyone should read this book.
So sad right now
#MicroMonday I recommend @mpmilestogo who has been sharing beautiful photos of life in Vietnam
Whew, 48 hour power outage due to about a foot of snow on Saturday. Recognizing how lucky we are to have good electricity 24 hours a day.
Finished reading: Breaking Bread with the Dead by Alan Jacobs 📚I think my favorite thing about this book (thank you @ayjay) is the permission it gives to read old books. If the book is no longer politically correct, that’s OK, accept it and use that for insight into the time when it was written. @ayjay is much more nuanced and this book is definitely worth reading.
Currently reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 📚