January 22, 2005
Summarizing Syracuse
When I go wandering the streets of Syracuse, contemplating the next move, I liken my predicament to a rhyming schizophrenic gerbil. I could crawl into Richard Gere's out-hole, or await my fate like Joe Braithwaite. I missed my usual wandering in Oakwood Cemetery for my birthday this year, so I played a little double-time midnight trekking a few days later, which literally left me hiking from sunset to sunrise in -20C (-4F) weather. I stumbled upon this unbelievable gravestone, in which the wife has apparently passed away, and the husband's side of the joint rock is just waiting for a date to be etched in. The odd thing in the flower cup on the left side is a trowel, either someone's idea of a little practical laughing, or a sign of things to come.
It's been a lonely winter since Georgia, but loneliness can be all-too-good, as I'm beginning to recall. Extra time to concentrate on the self-improvement category again. So I'm back to riding my indoor trainer (hoping to shake off some of my winter weight gain), cooking, reading a ton, and otherwise trying to be productive in a house that's entirely too cold for typing and internet use (as I type this, my fingertips are numb, in spite of the knit polypropylene gloves).
I've been getting a bit worried about the job situation, though I suppose I shouldn't be. Even the family pressure to move to location X is finally ending, I guess my wishy-washiness and moving about, coupled with my brother's recent moving halfway across the country has finally beaten everyone into submission. My brother Jason I cannot thank enough, for he has bitten all the major bullets, paving the way for we younger siblings to move about and make other such decisions without raising eyebrows.
And of course in other news is the death of my poor Subaru, which apparently is in need of a transmission transplant. Without it, it will slowly grind its gears away until there is nothing left, at which time it seems rather unlikely that it will move any longer. So I'm off to looking at newer modes of transportation, including the unbeatable walking, which at least allows me access to the sort of organic mushrooms that won't bar me from getting a security clearance.
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated 
by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
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Zodiac
Zodiac touts itself as an 'eco-thriller,' and it is just that. Told from the first-person perspective of ST (or Sangamon Taylor), the book recounts a roughly six-month period of his life busting big corporations for violating environmental laws.
Not the tree-hugging political activist type, ST is equipped with chem labs, scuba divers, maps, and an organization (GEE International, the Group of Environmental Extremists) that masterfully brings the press into the fold to scare the public with the very real dangers posed by illegal dumping. It's sort of a Sierra Club member's wet dream -- a band of ecowarriors that actually get things done.
ST finds something odd happening in Boston Harbor during his tale: a new form of pollution that could poison everyone on the planet in a matter of weeks. His quest to uncover exactly who and what is causing the latest spike in toxins goes all the way up to the President of the United States, and could end up costing him his own life.
While a neat and fast-paced tale, the novel drags on a bit toward the end, begging disbelief from even the most forgiving sci-fi folk. While not as good as his latest offerings, it's still a great read for those that enjoy a good Stephenson novel (or even those who don't).
Rated 
by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
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Cat's Cradle
A few years ago, I attempted to woo an online datee, and she immediately criticized me for my politics. I protested the war on Iraq, which was "a shame." She defended her position of complete noninvolvement by standing behind Vonnegut.
It may seem odd to open a review that way. My assumption is now not that she was an idiot, but that she had only read Cat's Cradle, and only with a rather odd viewpoint.
Cat's Cradle looks at a cold-war world where the personifications of religious, political, and scientific single-mindedness collide to destroy the world.
Vonnegut tells a masterful tale, but it makes me wonder what one person's indifference would do to prevent us from all dying? So for now I will continue to unblindly stop unjust wars, even while I'm only reading.
Rated by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005