Recent readings

Finished reading Humans and Hybrids while we were on vacation a few weeks back. And.... not worth it. Too many ideas jumbled together; the stuff that I didn't like in Hominids wasn't justified by what came later. One interesting question that I hope to return to later is that in Sawyer's alternate Neaderthal universe, the populace decided not to let the bottom 5% in intelligence breed; as a result of this eugenics program, their intelligence bell curve shifted upwards. I was pondering the contrast between this and the way Huxley deals with the Deltas in Brave New World, and I was wondering (setting aside the moral quicksand of both alternatives) which is more practical --- are there some jobs that would drive an intelligent person crazy, and for which society needs the Deltas? This might make for an interesting essay, or a panel discussion at a con. "Do we Need Deltas?" I think the answer is "yes". (Now if you'll excuse me, I need to experience the roof... roof... roof....)

Started to read The Voice, which is Thomas Quasthoff's autobiography, but couldn't get through it. Boring, I'm afraid.

Started to read Thrones, Dominations, the posthumous Wimsey-Vane novel. Jill Patton Walsh is no Dorothy Sayers. Gave up after three chapters, and re-read Busman's Honeymoon to cleanse the palate.

Recent readings

Finished reading Humans and Hybrids while we were on vacation a few weeks back. And.... not worth it. Too many ideas jumbled together; the stuff that I didn't like in Hominids wasn't justified by what came later. One interesting question that I hope to return to later is that in Sawyer's alternate Neaderthal universe, the populace decided not to let the bottom 5% in intelligence breed; as a result of this eugenics program, their intelligence bell curve shifted upwards. I was pondering the contrast between this and the way Huxley deals with the Deltas in Brave New World, and I was wondering (setting aside the moral quicksand of both alternatives) which is more practical --- are there some jobs that would drive an intelligent person crazy, and for which society needs the Deltas? This might make for an interesting essay, or a panel discussion at a con. "Do we Need Deltas?" I think the answer is "yes". (Now if you'll excuse me, I need to experience the roof... roof... roof....)

Started to read The Voice, which is Thomas Quasthoff's autobiography, but couldn't get through it. Boring, I'm afraid.

Started to read Thrones, Dominations, the posthumous Wimsey-Vane novel. Jill Patton Walsh is no Dorothy Sayers. Gave up after three chapters, and re-read Busman's Honeymoon to cleanse the palate.

Biking season isn't over yet!

H got a bike rack for the car, so this morning I biked to work directly from JCDS after we got the kids settled in to their school day. Yay, I don't have to give up biking now that school has started! The route from JCDS to work is mostly flat, as opposed to the rolling hills of the home-to-work route, so it's a consistent amount of pedaling -- as opposed to work hard, then coast, then work, then coast.

So many people have commented on how much more fit I look, and I can feel the difference, that I am not looking forward to giving it up once the season ends. So yes, I will invest money in cold-weather cycling gear after all.

Biking season isn't over yet!

H got a bike rack for the car, so this morning I biked to work directly from JCDS after we got the kids settled in to their school day. Yay, I don't have to give up biking now that school has started! The route from JCDS to work is mostly flat, as opposed to the rolling hills of the home-to-work route, so it's a consistent amount of pedaling -- as opposed to work hard, then coast, then work, then coast.

So many people have commented on how much more fit I look, and I can feel the difference, that I am not looking forward to giving it up once the season ends. So yes, I will invest money in cold-weather cycling gear after all.