Minecraft

With Santa season looming I have this mixed bag of excitement and dread. This has led to comfort gaming. Comfort gaming is that magical time where you play a game with no goals, no princesses to save, no aliens to defeat, no checkpoints, and no storylines to follow.

My comfort game is Minecraft. I will spend hours on end, ignoring the entire world while I collect cobblestone, turn sand into glass, and build structures that have no concept of gravity or physics. The simple and slightly OCD nature of Minecraft is very relaxing, but also extremely time consuming and distracting. My non-fiction reading has dropped to nil this past week. I'd like to blame at least a little bit of that on family that is visiting from out of town, but no, it's all Minecraft.

I's 5:00 somewhere in Minecraft.

Next week will be a monster. A new library branch opens, and that means a busy week for the IT department. And just as we recover from that, then Thanksgiving happens, my hours increase, and there is a good chance I'll be shut down for the rest of the year.

My gut says this is time to take a break, but maybe this is a great time to use reading as my comfort. That makes a lot more sense that building a 47-story-high castle with indoor lavaflows and patrolling Snow Golems. Maybe I need to set an aggressive goal to keep me honest? How about 5 straight days of reading 20 pages? Then next weekend I can build to my heart's content and maybe recreate Middle Earth in cube form like I've always wanted to do.

Nightmares, Bohemians, and jolly old elves

I may not enjoy Halloween, but I do have a tradition for Halloween. Every year I sit down and watch Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Why? One: I love this movie. and Two: once Halloween is out of the way it means that Santa season is fast approaching.

I do feel sorry for Thanksgiving, its sad that a season gets bushwhacked like that. But this year Santa arrives on November 10th and no matter how much complaining I hear about Christmas arriving so early . . . I love it!

Being Santa brings a joy that I have not experienced in any other job, ever. Will I have to deal with screaming toddlers, shrieking babies, smelly diapers, annoying and pushy parents, and beard pulling brats all while sweating in a felt suit with a fake white beard strapped to my chin? Yes. And I'll do it with a smile on my face because of that one kid that tells me what the want for Christmas and then squeals with delight when I tell them, 'I'll see what I can do if you're good.'

It's the little things that make it worth wile.

On a sad note, I've turned in my video game book, Extra Lives: Why video games matter by Tom Bissell. I enjoyed it immensely and I wish i could go back and re-play most of the games that were mentioned.

Onward and upward, not rain, nor snow, nor part-time jobs of dressing up as a jolly old elf will keep me from my non-fiction quest. Meet Selection #15: Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939 by Virginia Nicholson.

Has the devil put aside for me, for me, for meeeeeeeee....

Here is what I know about Bohemians: Queen made a rhapsody for them, and Ewan McGregor played one in Moulin Rouge. . . that's about it. Hopefully I'll learn some more about them soon.

The Boy That Hated Halloween

You would think a fat kid would love Halloween, with everyone being loose with their candy. That is not the case with me. Halloween was just an extra day to get picked on and I did not look forward to that at all. And even though I remember watching The Evil Dead with my older brother, that did not mean I was less prone to being jumpy.

My Halloween tradition was to sit in my room and let my parents pass out the candy. As a teen we traditionally went on vacation around Halloween, possibly to get away from our degrading neighborhood. In college Halloween became less about candy and being spooky and more about women dressing up as naughty nurses, naughty teachers, naughty devils, naughty angels, basically any half-logical costume that a woman would wear minus most of the fabric that covered her. And while I admit this was enjoyable to see, it kind of got old, not to mention that it was almost always accompanied by drunk guys whistling and hollering.

As I moved into my professional life, Halloween meant a food day and possibly dressing a little more casually that day. Living in an apartment meant no kids would come around.

This year, however, I will not only actively participate in Halloween, I'm downright excited for it to get here. Since my wife and moved into a new house this year it will be the first time we are actually able to pass out candy. We will not be the couple on the street that is stingy with the candy, and we are passing out the good stuff, not the 5 year old Smarties or those Mary Janes purchased during the Jimmy Carter presidency. I know, I know, bringing out the good candy is a rookie mistake.

Plus, its Emma's first Halloween so we have to take advantage of dressing her up while she has no power to resist us. She'll be a strawberry this year . . . her last name is Fields . . . Strawberry Fields  . . . Beatles song?
OK glad we got past that. Because personally that whole Stawberry Fields thing was kind of destroyed when the Quantum of Solace came out.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Anyway, I'm really excited about Halloween for the first time in a long time. Even though it means Santa season is right around the corner and the next 2 months will be exhausting.

Next week I should be able to pick up some new books. I've been pretty lax and choosing titles that I want to read recently so I will definitely using my random number generators.

Cooking the Books

The sluggishness in my non-fiction reading seems to be waning, that relaxing weekend was just what I needed. The British history and the global warming books have been turned back in and I'm thoroughly enjoying my video game critiquing book, Extra Lives by Tom Bissell. I might be done with it before the weekend.

I made the mistake of reading the first chapter of The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card yesterday at lunch, now I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze another book into my schedule. This is dangerous considering my affinity for Card's novels, it would very easy to get sucked back into fantasy fiction. I need to make sure I keep some structure to my reading, reading at lunch is to be NF only, maybe I can read some fiction in the evening?

I haven't cracked Capote's In Cold Blood yet, but I plan on tackling it this weekend.

Now, I'm not sure this book counts, as it has been on my holds list for a while now, but here is selection #14: The Baby & Toddler Cookbook: Fresh, Homemade Foods for a Healthy Start by Karen Ansel, MS, RD & Charity Ferreira.

Now that we have a freezer full of homemade carrot, pea, and green bean cubes, time to start planning ahead.

My wife and I have been feeding the little girl solid food for a while now, and yes two weeks is a while when you have a 6 month old that doesn't like peas, so this book is to give us some new ideas and help us plan when she gets a little older.

This is my first cookbook, and it raises a difficult question: When are you finished reading a cookbook? Does my 50 page limit apply to cookbooks? I wonder if there needs to be a new rule for books with a lot of pictures, or maybe I should plan on reading the whole thing, giving me the opportunity to copy down recipes I want to try?

Sam's place

Saturday, October 13th, 2012 9:30AM

Man Vs Non-Fiction, coming to you live from the rainy confines of Hannibal, Missouri. I'm sitting here looking out my window at a great view of the Mississippi River, the American Queen floating lazily as the tourists are just starting to emerge from their free hot breakfasts. The Mark Twain Dinette is bustling and all the souvenir shops are opening their doors, promising unique treasures and hoping to make some profits on a dreary October weekend.

The sky eventually cleared up, giving way to a beautiful day by the Mississippi River

Being from Central Missouri, Hannibal was a easy getaway weekend for my family. We came here often and most of memories of Hannibal are of rock candy, gimmicky toys, cave exploring, and riverboat tours. However, Hannibal holds another special place in my heart, and not in a good way. It was here, so many years ago, that a chubby boy scout and his father embarked on a 10 mile hike that wove between the woody campgrounds around the city, and the historic downtown stomping grounds of Sam Clemens himself. It was awful. 10 miles of hills, highway shoulders, heavy panting, and having my father keep reminding me that there was 'just a little bit of woods' to go.

I learned a lot in boy scouts: leadership skills, friendship, camping techniques, snipe hunting, my much-relied-upon fire building skills, and most importantly, I learned that my flat feet and less-than-stellar aerobic fitness made me ill suited for a 10 mile hike.

But all that is behind me. This weekend is all about relaxing and celebrating my wife and I's 3rd wedding anniversary. The combination of rain and a sleepy little 6-month-old has led to my wife and I lounging and reading. Me, with my video game critiquing book, Extra Lives by Tom Bissell, and my wife's selection of The Jester by James Patterson.

It was incredibly relaxing to sit back and read, a feeling I hope to reconstruct once we get back home. With our batteries completely re-charged we tackled Hannibal in all it's touristy glory. Though I didn't see one shop that had rock candy . . .

Bending the Rules

So far, October has not been kind to my non-fiction reading quest. Mostly in part to hectic work schedules, explorations in homemade baby food, and travel preparations. My re-addiction to the XBOX 360 game, Boarderlands, didn't help either.
Regardless, my reading has come to a bit of a standstill. And with travel plans to Red Oak, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri in the books I felt I needed to take some action. While I have not finished my 2 current selections, The Story of Britain and The Future of Ice, I do feel that some travel reading might provide that spark I need, so I chose 2 more books (breaking my rule of only 3 books at a time, I am not giving up on the other selections, just putting them off a little). I left the random number generators in the garage and I made sure each of them had a personal connection to me this time.

First, selection #12 is: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

Man Vs In Cold Blood, round 2 . . . 12 years later

I was assigned to read this book in high school . . . I never did. Please understand that in high school I was less interested in reading and more interested in my obsession with Star Wars, video games, and Magic: The Gathering . . . wow, that's pretty shocking how little that has changed! I play a lot less magic these days, only due to lack of other players, at only 6 months Emma has trouble understanding the concept of tapping for manna. Kids these days! I am determined to read this time around.

Selection #13 is: Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell.

Not sure wy this one jumped out at me

I'm hoping this will give me some good talking points so I can convince my wife I need a bigger TV downstairs to feed my addiction, err, I mean . . . oh whatever, I love gaming and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

Winter is Coming

The temperatures are cooler and the nights are getting crisp. The leaves that have survived this dreadful summer are beginning to take a well deserved rest.

September is almost over, and good riddance! September is, by far, the busiest month in the library IT world. That's not a bad thing, but it sure does make you feel worn out. Maybe it has to do with back-to-school but I think I have dealt with more wireless access issues, document recovery emergencies, and printer fiascos this month than than I have the 3 previous months combined. On top of that, the end of September means the grand finale of the library's outstanding OneRead program, which I am happy and honored to help out with despite the stress and gray hairs it causes. Tonight is the Skype videoconference with Téa Obreht, author of this year's selection, The Tiger’s Wife. Tomorrow night will be the Balkan Folk Dance which, you will all be pleased to know, I will not be a participant.

As busy I have been at work, I have not been able to read as much as I'd like to. Unfortunately that tends to lead to a decrease in reading at home as well. We have been pretty diligent about reading to Emma though, which will be increasingly important as she gets older, she will be 6 months old next week!

I have been thinking about taking a short adjournment from the non-fiction action, call it a Fall break. I was just starting Game of Thrones Book 3 when I became sidetracked with the whole having a baby thing. This weekend may be my last chance of doing that. Starting next week our weekends are going to start getting busy with family coming into town and vacation trips that will lead right up to the start of Santa season, and then I can say goodbye to my free time until the end of the year. 

I've determined that reading about Global Warming and the British History at the same time is not a good idea. Not say each of those subjects are uninteresting, far from it, but they can get a little dry. maybe I should look up a book on Salsa Dancing or Arc Welding to liven things up a bit?