Holy explosive-growth-well-above-replacement-rates, Batman! My plan to thin out my library via a two books out for every one in policy has been a dismal failure. A combination of awesome authors touring through DC and a tax refund that was largely funneled to Amazon have been to blame.
On Wednesday, I caught Marsha Ackermann's talk on her social history of air conditioning; it's basically her dissertation. It was timely, since I've been meaning to read Heat Wave, about the Chicago heat a few years back. She gave a decent but muffled talk, not really using the mic. Her audience was stacked with old friends from her days of working for the Smithsonian, I gathered. The fact that she went back for a PhD in middle age and is now a fabulous academic gives me hope that if I change my mind and go back to grad school someday, I could be ok.
While in that store, I also found a signed copy of Forty Signs of Rain. W00t!!! I'm a bit sore I missed seeing KSR speak, but I'm not sure he even came through town.
I'm usually pretty good about following the stores' lineups. Since this is the first of a trilogy, I'm sure it will be much more thought-provoking than "The Day After Tommorrow."
Which brings me to Friday's talk at Politics & Prose. David Brooks was great! He was very funny, but stayed interesting and really knew his audience. I can't wait to read On Paradise Drive. The real reason I'm excited about the trip out there, though, is because the store's remainder tables where a gold mine. I got another present for my sister's birthday and most of my Christmas shopping done, too. Plus, They had The Carpet Wars and Bangkok 8 in hardback for cheap, and I'd had my eye on them for a while.
Today, I need to finish Goddard's Getting There and return it and another library book before starting on The End of Oil. Later, I might see a movie. I'll probably hold off on F911 and hope to catch it at the AFI next week, after the crowds thin out.
On Wednesday, I caught Marsha Ackermann's talk on her social history of air conditioning; it's basically her dissertation. It was timely, since I've been meaning to read Heat Wave, about the Chicago heat a few years back. She gave a decent but muffled talk, not really using the mic. Her audience was stacked with old friends from her days of working for the Smithsonian, I gathered. The fact that she went back for a PhD in middle age and is now a fabulous academic gives me hope that if I change my mind and go back to grad school someday, I could be ok.
While in that store, I also found a signed copy of Forty Signs of Rain. W00t!!! I'm a bit sore I missed seeing KSR speak, but I'm not sure he even came through town.
I'm usually pretty good about following the stores' lineups. Since this is the first of a trilogy, I'm sure it will be much more thought-provoking than "The Day After Tommorrow."
Which brings me to Friday's talk at Politics & Prose. David Brooks was great! He was very funny, but stayed interesting and really knew his audience. I can't wait to read On Paradise Drive. The real reason I'm excited about the trip out there, though, is because the store's remainder tables where a gold mine. I got another present for my sister's birthday and most of my Christmas shopping done, too. Plus, They had The Carpet Wars and Bangkok 8 in hardback for cheap, and I'd had my eye on them for a while.
Today, I need to finish Goddard's Getting There and return it and another library book before starting on The End of Oil. Later, I might see a movie. I'll probably hold off on F911 and hope to catch it at the AFI next week, after the crowds thin out.
_sarah_:
We don't have one in MI. My roommate went to California.
violet:
Did someone tell you I was shy?