Sunday, August 08, 2004

Sunday Morning Reading We've declared Sunday "Official Reading Day," so I've got my copy of All the Pretty Horses at my side ready to go.  It's not my normal cup of tea, but since it's one of the few novels I have available to use in the 11th grade classes this coming school year, I feel I should at least give it a go.  I'm twenty-six pages into it and am still having a hard time figuring out who is who, why the author doesn't like quotation marks or commas, and whether or not I should believe the snowstorm that the protagonist finds himself in when he arrives in downtown San Antonio.  On the last point, maybe I should check around online to see if any snowstorms hit San Antonio around the time the novel is set.  Won't help me with my punctuation grumblings, though. Amazon.com has an excerpt of the first few pages of All the Pretty Horses:  click here to see what I've been talking about. To be honest, I haven't read nearly as much this summer as I promised myself back in June.  Just haven't found the time to do so.  Though if I added up all the words I read online everyday, I'm sure I've gotten through a few novels-worth. No excuse, though.  Today I'm whipping through All the Pretty Horses no matter what.  Then I'm picking up Native Son and making a dent in that.  Oh, and I'm also going to watch Manchester United kick off the season against Arsenal at 3:30 p.m.  Might even drink that Polish beer I've been meaning to get to.  And I think we're heading to the gym to work out.  Yep, plenty of time. Well, if you don't have a book or any patience at hand, here's some shorter reading you might find interesting: TECH '54, WHERE ARE YOU?:  A writer for Popular Science decides to find out whether or not we are truly better off with all the technology we have at our disposal than we were fifty years ago.  An amusing and informative article about how dependant we are on even the smallest things that didn't exist in 1954. THE CASE AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH:   Ron Reagan, the son of Republican icon President Ronald Reagan, goes into great detail about why, even if you've voted Republican your whole life, you should not vote for the current president come November.  Very interesting reading, especially considering the author. HOW THEY COULD STEAL THE ELECTION THIS TIME:  Is computerized voting really the best way to go?  How easy would it be to rig an election if there are no paper ballots to prove a dispute about the outcome?  Long, but still interesting, article on the subject. THE SPECKLED BAND:  The Sherlock Holmes classic posted using the comments of a photo blog. THE VIRTUE OF IDLENESS:  If you've been too lazy to read any of the above links, here's the one for you.  A great article about how the whole "early to bed, early to rise" premise is a bunch of bull and how being lazy is the way to go.  Gives you some ammo in the fight to sit on your ass all Sunday if you want. 11:00:40 AM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.