Friday, December 16, 2011
Travels with Lar
December 11 – 17, 2011
Archbald, PA
Archbald is a small community just north of Scranton and just South of the State Line for New York. It is about two hours from any major airport. Not a bad little community, but it is back in the Appalachian Mountains so it was a little bit chilly in Archbald.
I didn't do a whole lot in Archbald. Class started at 7:30 each morning (translate that to 5:30 Colorado time.) It was dark when I got to work. It was almost dark when I got out. That is one of the drawbacks of winter classes. And it was pretty chilly.
On Friday evening, I drove back to Philadelphia, spent the night and flew back to Denver Saturday morning.
Books on Tape (CD)
December 16, 2011
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
How to start this review. Let's do the negative first. I will not recommend it. Too much language. To much "intimacy", which is a polite way of saying graphic bodily action. I got real good at hitting the "next tract button on the CD player, but the language always takes you by surprise. I am not sure I liked the time traveler himself, but I did like his wife. Why did I listen to the whole thing? It was what I had for three pretty long drives. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone much past the second (out of 16) CDs.
But . . . the story is intriguing. He time travels against his will with no control over when he goes, how long he will be gone, where he ends up, or when he ends up. It is a genetic thing. Sometimes he goes forward. Most of the time he goes back. Emotional events seem to attract him, and there are certain patterns to his time traveling. Most people don't know he has the condition. And a very intriguing issue, he can take nothing with him or bring nothing back - including clothes - so he always appears either in the current time when he comes back, or in the other time where he goes, naked. I think the premise she worked with is absolutely brilliant.
But she ruined it by writing a story that her mother - or at least her grandmother - wouldn't have approved of.
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
How to start this review. Let's do the negative first. I will not recommend it. Too much language. To much "intimacy", which is a polite way of saying graphic bodily action. I got real good at hitting the "next tract button on the CD player, but the language always takes you by surprise. I am not sure I liked the time traveler himself, but I did like his wife. Why did I listen to the whole thing? It was what I had for three pretty long drives. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone much past the second (out of 16) CDs.
But . . . the story is intriguing. He time travels against his will with no control over when he goes, how long he will be gone, where he ends up, or when he ends up. It is a genetic thing. Sometimes he goes forward. Most of the time he goes back. Emotional events seem to attract him, and there are certain patterns to his time traveling. Most people don't know he has the condition. And a very intriguing issue, he can take nothing with him or bring nothing back - including clothes - so he always appears either in the current time when he comes back, or in the other time where he goes, naked. I think the premise she worked with is absolutely brilliant.
But she ruined it by writing a story that her mother - or at least her grandmother - wouldn't have approved of.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Visit From Grandpa
December 9-11, 2011
I was teaching in Columbia, Maryland for a week. The week following, I was to teach in Archbald, Pennsylvania. This presented a rare opportunity for me to go see Andrea and her kids in Stafford, Virginia - about 80 miles from the Maryland site and about 250 miles from the Pennsylvania site. It meant sacrificing going home over the weekend, but Mar and I decided that would be okay just for this chance.
After work on Friday, I drove through construction around Washington, D.C. and finally got to Andrea's house. Thank heavens for GPS. She lives in a little out of the way development - even in the out of the way corner of that out of the way development - and if I was trying to follow a map, or even directions, I would still be lost. It is a log way from everything which is a challenge for Andrea and her family, but it is truly beautiful.
It was a fun weekend. We had a ward Christmas breakfast on Saturday. We went shopping. The boys had two parties. The kiddos just kept me having fun. I enjoyed myself very much. Spencer gave up his bedroom for Grandpa so I was well cared for. Unfortunately, Ben was gone on a "road show" for the Marines.
After enjoying them all, I left and traveled up to Pennsylvania. I took a suitcase full of gifts and treats to deliver back in Colorado. I missed home, but I loved being with the kids.
Here are some pictures of their house and home (with not so candid shots of the kiddos.)
I was teaching in Columbia, Maryland for a week. The week following, I was to teach in Archbald, Pennsylvania. This presented a rare opportunity for me to go see Andrea and her kids in Stafford, Virginia - about 80 miles from the Maryland site and about 250 miles from the Pennsylvania site. It meant sacrificing going home over the weekend, but Mar and I decided that would be okay just for this chance.
After work on Friday, I drove through construction around Washington, D.C. and finally got to Andrea's house. Thank heavens for GPS. She lives in a little out of the way development - even in the out of the way corner of that out of the way development - and if I was trying to follow a map, or even directions, I would still be lost. It is a log way from everything which is a challenge for Andrea and her family, but it is truly beautiful.
It was a fun weekend. We had a ward Christmas breakfast on Saturday. We went shopping. The boys had two parties. The kiddos just kept me having fun. I enjoyed myself very much. Spencer gave up his bedroom for Grandpa so I was well cared for. Unfortunately, Ben was gone on a "road show" for the Marines.
After enjoying them all, I left and traveled up to Pennsylvania. I took a suitcase full of gifts and treats to deliver back in Colorado. I missed home, but I loved being with the kids.
Here are some pictures of their house and home (with not so candid shots of the kiddos.)
The cute little house in the woods - Andrea says in the summer it is really so thick in the woods that you can not see the houses next door.
A couple of nights before I got there they had a big storm which blew over this tree - it is stuck on another tree and if that one falls it will hit the house - anybody got a chain saw.
Living Room
Master bedroom
Spencers "Pirate" bedsroom
Emma's room
Jasen's abode
Michael's abode
The boys share a large room and each half is "decorated" to their taste
Family room - downstairs
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Reading List
December 13, 2011
The Sleeping Beauty
I read this version because it was available on my Kindle. Afterwards I found that I may have missed the best part of this edition. There are illustrations done by Arthur Rackham that didn't come across in the Kindle migration. I found a few of them on the internet. The pictures make the story come alive.
Reading List
December 7, 2011
The Red House Mystery
What do you say when you come across a mystery written by the author of Winnie the Pooh? "Oh, I just must read this!" Yea, right. But I decided to see what it was like. After starting it, I was perusing my 501 must read list and, lo and behold, there it was on the list.
So how does this mystery stack up to, say Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Very well, thank you. In fact, it is somewhat better. In The Red House Mystery, Milne actually gives you all of the clues – well most of the clues. But then he does something unexpected. He actually tells you why they don't make sense. All along you have a prime suspect, but he doesn't fit the clues. Milne lets you discover the real issues a little bit at a time. But then, alas, he doesn't tell you one or two little tidbits, so it would take a real good sleuth to figure out exactly what happened.
I liked it. You'll like. I recommend it. It would work good for a book club. Winnie the Pooh would be proud.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Travels with Lar
December 4 – 9, 2011
Columbia, Maryland
I flew into Baltimore on Sunday.
I went to Columbia for work – I was teaching two classes – 3 days and then two days.
Classes went okay.
It was a rainy week. I really didn't do anything special this week at all.
It was the last class that is to be taught at the Mentor office in Columbia, MD. Mentor is closing this office and asking the employees to work from home. So at the end of the class I packed all of the systems into shipping crates to send them back to Wilsonville, OR. It wasn't a particularly hard task and I did it in stages during the week as there were systems that were not being used for the class.
And that's it. Not very exciting was it?
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