OTFPOTD - Good Book Edition

He does the whole one long sleeve thing.

I do love Finnish Spitz goggies though.

The internet is making our sex lives way more inventive.

I hate Kobe Bryant more than almost anyone ever but I don’t wanna get into that. In terms of on-the-field shit probably Torii Hunter or Rafael Palmiero.

Arlington is a real place as much as Kirkland is a real place. This whole building stadiums in the exurbs thing is fucking retarded.

High, heroic fantasy with great writing and great characters. Recently I’ve been reading Stephen King’s The Dark Tower books, and they have been pretty awesome so far.

Books: I have a bunch of weird books lying around at the moment. I recently discovered the NYRB, so I have The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platanov (communist workers dig foundation for house for all of the proletariat, forget why they’re digging, weirdness ensues), Inverted World by Christopher Priest (gravitational field destroying earth and last remnants huddled within a mobile train operating on train tracks), The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya (post apoc dystopian with mutants and a scary monster or something), and Names on the Land by George R. Stewart (the history of things and how we name them). I’ve been meaning to get through them but holy hell I have no time at all right now.

Dogs: I’ve always liked Siberian Huskies but recently have been intrigued by Shiba Inu and Akita.

Dumb things: Uh, I was downtown when that big storm hit in mid-December a few years back. That was right dumb of me. I’ve driven from the Canadian border to my house in an hour and fifteen minutes during a thunderstorm while driving someone else’s car. That was pretty dumb. I could come up with more but they’re mostly like those.

Internet: It’s broadening our knowledge while simultaneously diminishing our attention span and willpower. I recently joked to a friend that I’d start working on something as soon as I stopped finding things to look at on the internet, but even I couldn’t say such a thing seriously.

I just finished reading The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead, which is a pretty interesting twist on the memoir – Shields started by writing about his dad, and then became fascinated by the physical process of dying so the memoir is interspersed with all sorts of facts and information about death. Both aspects are really interesting.

Favorite breed of dog: My two cats. I’m not a dog person.
Dumbest thing I’ve ever done: Not really for public consumption.
What is the internet doing to society? That’s an excellent question which deserves a longer answer than this, but at first blush it’s creating a society where everyone thinks they’re an expert on everything, and where nobody takes responsibility for anything because they can hide behind a username. This is a poisonous combination. But on balance, the Internet is actually a very good thing.
I can’t summon the energy to hate the Padres.
Most hated athlete ever: Eric Cantona. From the stupid raised collar to the time he kicked a fan in the chest for no real reason, he’s got a whole slew of reasons to hate him.
Arlington is (a non-Austin) part of Texas, right? ’Nuff said.

I read mostly baseball books, and just finished reading But Didn’t We Have Fun? It’s an interesting history of baseball from 1843-1870. It’s pretty good stuff.

Cats rule and dogs drool. Okay, not really, I love dogs, but I love cats too. My parents have a half German Shepherd, half Golden Labrador, and it’s pretty much the best dog ever.

Dumbest thing I’ve ever done: My brother and I got BB guns for Christmas one year. My dad preached gun safety, and as soon as he let us to shoot by ourselves, we proceeded to shoot our neighbor’s metal shed. The metal pinging sounds were so satisfying. Our neighbor just so happened to be a cop and could hear us shooting his shed. He let my parents know what was going on and my dad then smashed the BB guns.

I think the internet is doing a pretty good job of creating a very narcissistic society. Facebook and Twitter statuses are the worst offenders. Do I really care that you had two lattes this morning, or that you’re having a bad hair day?

Padres? Meh.

Most hated athlete: Michael Vick. Fuck that guy. Or maybe Leonard Little. It’s a tough choice. I think maybe I hate Little a bit more because nobody gives a shit that he’s a terrible person.

Is that your preference? If so, I just started Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. Also, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is great.

For fiction, I usually read pretty light stuff to balance out the heavy nonfiction – kind of a palate cleanser. Anything by John Sandford works well for that.

My wife prefers small dogs, and for that a miniature schnauzer is excellent.

My latest lame theory is that the internet gives the illusion of communication, but strips away so many important elements that little of value is left.

Beowulf on the Beach

Shelties (raised by them) and Shibas (damn cute and way too smart). Cats are also very fine, especially if you have been apartment-bound too many years.

Best books I read over the last year- The Road by Cormac Macarthy (The There will be Blood guy.) and World War Z (A fictional book written in a non-fictional way about Zombies overrunning the world.

My favorite book is probably A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, though I’m also a fan of dystopian novels such as 1984, Brave New World, etc. Two books I’ve recently finished reading are Catch 22 and What is the What.

and promptly returned it, as I realized I would need my own paperback to tote about.

His prose (and Natasha Wimmer’s translation) make me really really happy.

I like really big furry dogs and mangy-looking mutts. Tibetan Mastiffs, Great Pyrranese, Newfoundlanders on the one end, and Australian Cattle Dogs on the other.

I know Mondays are generally travel days, but wow.

I’m reading Real Food: What to Eat and Why and I highly recommend it to anyone who is sick of the plethora of books about food out there, or who rolls their eyes when someone pulls out a Slim-Fast.
Reading The Coming Plague is a great idea for anyone who is interested in the Swine Flu situation.
*Favorite breed of dog:
Cats are much less retarded than dogs, but I like mid-sized retriever/lab/collie/mix types
*Dumbest thing you’ve ever done:
As though this needs to be public information.
*Your thoughts on what the internet is doing to society:
In many ways, dumbing us down by allowing us to have information available so readily that we don’t have to retain it or even really analyze what we find.
*Fuck the Padres, right?
No, I am fond of the Padres.
*Your most hated athlete ever and why
I hate Chipper Jones. I can’t explain why.

Meant to stimulate conversation in lagging OTFPOTD threads, the Gif of the Day is proudly brought to you by our sponsor, Snacky Smores!

Now I plan on putting my reading into action.

I suggest the Pirates series by Gideon Defoe. The books are also nice and short so people like myself can actually finish them.

*Favorite breed of dog – Scottish Terrier, if only because I have two and the only other dog I’ve really had is a mutt

*Dumbest thing you’ve ever done – It involves a girl and is probably LLLJ

*Your thoughts on what the internet is doing to society – Making communication easier in a way but also giving people an excuse not to meet face to face. “Well, we’ll always have facebook!”

*Fuck the Padres, right? – They are quite boring

*Your most hated athlete ever and why. – Paul O’Neill

To add my own little tidbit, I just graduated high school. Am I the only one who didn’t really realize they graduated high school until a lot later? I don’t really feel any different.

What have you accomplished today that makes you feel so very warm and fuzzy?

And I realized that Chipper Jones signed an extension through 2012 with an option for 2013 this year. Good Christ.