Google street maps

I received an email from my brother John late today telling me that the old car we recently sold is shown in front of our house on Austin street maps. My response - what are Austin street maps. After he replied telling me it is part of google maps, I looked up my address, and holy cow, there is my house. Two cars in front. Christmas lights are still up. So this was done over Christmas. The view can be maneuvered with the mouse. Wow. Its really good.

I have to wonder if this is a good thing tho. There have got to be a lot of creeps out there that could use these views for nefarious deeds. I don't really know what could happen to us personally but it bothers me in the back of my mind.

PS The basketball goal is gone - it fell on the Honda during a heavy storm over the Christmas holidays.

Unplugged

I was listening to Laura Ingraham's radio show yesterday as I took the end of the week off for Spring Break. She was talking about "unplugging" from the electronic connected world, if not for a short a period of time to cleanse and rejuvenate the brain. She also spoke with Jon Mattleman (link from Technorati) about programs he uses with middle schoolers and why unplugging is a good thing.

This topic is constantly lurking about our house. As our kids use the internet more for email, chatting, and stuff, we are battling to limit the time spent online. But our kids don't come close to the hundreds of minutes a day online either - but on occaission they can come close.

How difficult is it for us to unplug? In my opinion we're not in too deep. Only one computer in the house, well except for Evan's and nobody wants to go into his room and he doesn't want to come out, and as a result demand far outstrips supply as far as online time goes. Only one family cell phone with no text messaging and I have a business cell phone - no texting. Cable TV is only the basic of basics. We get 12 channels maybe and several are the community access stations which are jokes. Everyone now has a personal mp3 player too, except Evan recently had his stolen and is using Sam's. Beyond that we're relatively free of technology, and yet we feel its tidal pull. Email must be checked, Facebook page maintained, mp3 players managed, research for school (something actually productive!), and checking the blog reader. Homework on the computer is accompanied by Instant Messages, and other chatter and distractions.

Unplugging is a conscious effort, hard work most of the time met with resistence. We took a trip last October to Big Bend National Park as part of unplugging, but an mp3 player or 2 went along, and all the pre-trip planning happened online. It was successful but we were swept back into the tech current as we returned home.

I can't argue against a regular respite from the information superhighway, on a family basis too, but its a planned, announced event.

Happy Pi Day (3.14)

Happy Pi Day. Here's to hoping that last decimal place will never be calculated.

Pi are not squared, pi are round.

For Once Please Keep Talking

At work one morning I was a bit hungry and remembered there was some good thick French bread leftover from the previous day's lunch of BBQ. I heated it up and piled some peanut butter on it nice and thick, then headed back to my desk. I sat down, took a big bite, started to chew, and the phone rang. Without thinking I picked up the phone and discovered I couldn't open my mouth due to the peanut butter. I think I mumbled something and feverishly began chewing. Luckily for me, it was a sales call from a temp/staffing agency and she was telling me how great her company was. All I could think of was - Please Keep Talking - and she did.

It was Jerry Lewis all over again.

High Speed Wheelie

On the way home from work as I am driving on interstate 35 I glance over to my right to the access road and see a motorcycle. At that moment the motorcyclist lifts the front wheel off the pavement and rides a wheelie. He keeps that front wheel up for quite a while. I look quickly at my speedometer and I am at 65 mph - the motorcycle is even with me and holds that speed, even passing a car or two in other lanes while on one wheel. It looks crazy to me to risk falling but he maintains it for about 15 seconds, over a quarter mile, before setting down to slow due to an approaching red light.

Not good for anyone's blood pressure.

Wisdom teeth

Evan had his wisdom teeth pulled this past Leap Day. All four came out. I took off the morning from work to take him in and he was in for the procedure a little after 8:30 a.m. Sean showed up from her office about an hour later before Evan was put in recovery. When we first saw him he was in a recliner and looked to be completely out. But he came to briefly and asked us if his teeth had been pulled yet. After we indicated yes his teeth were out, he went back to sleep for about 20 minutes. I brought him home and he promptly took some meds and hit the sack.

I remembered two things from the past from this. First was a doctor's visit I took Evan to when he was about a year old. It was to have his ears drained. He was crying and miserable from the pain, and I was there only as a substitute because the more qualified pediatric nurse mom was working. The doctor explained briefly what was to happen with me and started to take Evan to the back rooms to work on him. I was told to stay in the waiting room. As I handed Evan over he began to reach back to me and ratcheted up the crying a few notches. He looked horrified. I don't like that memory much. But he was put in a "papoose board", they drained his ears and he was happy on the way home and that night.

My own wisdom teeth came out in 1979 during the summer. I was working as unskilled labor in an oil refinery in Sulphur, LA and developed a blue ribbon toothache in my right lower jaw. I couldn't work and I had the feeling our supervisor thought I was faking. X-rays were taken - and the doctor tells me I have a serious bacterial abscess under my wisdom tooth on the right, but he can't understand why the left side does not hurt because it is worse. The surgery was scheduled, but the night before the pain was so bad that my mother took me to an ER for the pain. I got my first shot of demerol, but being in the ER with a toothache is little embarrassing. I remember seeing a fellow that had rammed a screwdriver into his hand, and one or two other real looking ER victims so that I felt silly with my toothache. Surgery was routine - for the doctor anyway - all 4 wisdom teeth were removed and I went home to spend the next few days having the abscesses cured. A good friend of mine came over while I was recovering and wanted to play gin rummy - penny a point.

Crossword Diety Gather

Its no secret we are crossword geeks in my family. Mom and Dad, all my brothers, myself and Sean, my paternal grandparents, all have a thing for crosswords. But as good as we might think we are either individually or collectively, we are still on the human level of solving - or in golf terms we might break 80 every once in a while, otherwise bogey golf.

Our routine here in Austin is pretty simple. I work the Friday Wall Street Journal puzzle, and then the Sunday NY Times, and if I get through those the Sunday LA Times, and maybe a few dailies from the NY Times. Speed is not of the essence. I choose to solve at my own pace. Piecing together themes, wordplay, and puns is its own reward.

The crossword deity are gathering this weekend, Feb 29- March 2, for their annual competition. Its all about speed and accuracy there. Check out the movie "Word Play" for the 2005 competition caught on film. Its time for Al Sanders to break thru and win this thing. He is the Susan Lucci of this event. C'mon Al - Get 'er done.

Another Night of Theater

Saturday the 23rd was the final night for Sam and her 7th grade classmates to perform their play. A correction to earlier post - the title of the play is actually "Final Dress Rehearsal." Another cheery performance by the cast.

Not being a regular live theater goer, I can imagine that it may be a bit difficult to watch the same play on consecutive nights, and some families there may have seen this four times as there were two classes performing the same play. This being light comedy some of the punchlines were not getting the crowd reaction comparable to the previous night, especially during the fourth performance. But the cast did not notice and put full energy into their act.

Afterwards another round of high fives for all, and then the cast and crew headed out to IHOP for a post play get together. Samantha says she asked their waiter for the wine list while ordering. That's a pretty short list at IHOP.

Sean pulled up sick Saturday right as the play was ending. On the way we had to pick up Tory who had been baby sitting for some friends we know from our church. After getting him we got Sean and Tory (ever hungry) a Panda Express bowl, and evidently Sean's had some chicken in it setting off major allergic reaction. We hustle back to the house and she downs a benadryl. We watch a movie, Aragon, I pick up Sam at IHOP near 11:30 and go home.

Sean looks as if she's recovered by the time I get back from church Sunday a.m., but it seems she gets an aftershock or two periodically over the day.

I Love Legitimate Theater

Sam's 7th grade class performed their play tonight (2/22) titled "Curtain Call." In short, it was a play within a play, the trials and tribulations of putting on a dramatic production. The inside play was "Cinderella", and Sam's character played the Fairy Godmother. Her big moment comes when she appears to do magic for Cinderella, but couldn't find her wand, and instead is forced to use a gaudy yellow pinwheel that looks like a big sunflower. Sam makes easy light work of her part, dancing around a bit at one point during her incantations.

Sam and her classmates look to be having a good time. No one seemed nervous and no gaffes occurred, that I could tell. Although at one point the Authoress is on stage speaking and it looked like her pearls came loose from around her neck and began to clatter on the microphone. It reminded me of a scene from the movie "Singing In The Rain". The actress gathered the loose strand into her hand without missing a beat.

High fives for everyone after it was over tonight, big smiles. One more performance tomorrow afternoon and the final curtain falls.

Lunar eclipse in Austin

Another lunar eclipse here in Austin TX this past Feb 20. Fortunately the powers that be scheduled this one at a decent hour and not at 3:30 am.

I was talking to my dad on the phone at the time so I walked outside and looked for the moon. Unfortunately we had a very low ceiling and I couldn't even find a single star. Horizon to horizon the sky was total mist and cloud.

Very disappointing. Celestial events are rare and awesome, and I feel deprived of a lifetime experience.

Kasey our border collie - my moon-gazing soul mate - once again failed to notice.

Don't talk to me, I have headphones on.

Sitting in a hockey game over the weekend, I glanced about at the crowd around me and noticed half a dozen folks in my end of the arena with earbuds in their ears. What could they possibly be listening to at a hockey game, and how could they possibly enjoy the music with all the crowd noise? And how could they possibly be good company to the people they were with?

I decided to venture out into public with earbuds in my own ears after this. I had to make a quick trip after work to WalMart for a few necessities and took my mp3 player with me. Threading the cord into my pocket and buds into my ears, I push PLAY and head into the store.

First up - I'll Follow The Sun (Beatles). Earlier I had built a playlist of tracks in the player of music that were greater than 1:30 but less than 2:00 in length, about 175 tracks or slightly more than 5 hours of music. I want to avoid what Tory calls "mp3ADD". If I don't like something I don't have to wait long for changes. MP3ADD is a disease that causes you to continually cycle through the music on your player trying to find something to listen to. The Beatles are a good inoculation against this ailment. Head to the grocery side of the store.

The lady inside the front door greets me welcoming me to Wal Mart. I turn taking the basket and say thanks. Mental note: turn down voice volume at once.

Next - Circus Clown Calliope. Wow, is that still in there? I am probably the only person in the world listening to calliope music.

I notice that people see me, and the headphones. Its probably my paranoia but it looks like they are thinking "What is that old dude doing with headphones on?" I did see a few others wearing earphones, and I tried to give them that knowing nod that says "yeah we're shopping and listening to tunes," but they were teens and they looked back at me with typical indifference. How disappointing. I thought I could fit in finally.

There is a sheet metal worker where I work who I have never seen without earphones in his ears. Even at our company Christmas party this year he had them in.

Ah, a Neverhood game song (titled "Jose Feliciano" by Terry Taylor). The Neverhood was probably the only computer game I have enjoyed playing, and the sound track is fun as well.

Sometime before leaving I also hear some Danny Elfman music from the movie Big Fish, a Chopin Prelude, and some brass ensemble music amoung others. Again, I will wager of all the folks wearing headphones right then, I am the only one listening to that kind of music.

At checkout I pull out the left earbud and hear the first live voice since I came in. I wouldn't say I learned why some like having music in their head constantly. Or why I would take my mp3 player into a movie theater. But having that little mp3 player with me has become more pleasant.

At least it has a pop top lid

Is this something we really need? A cheeseburger in a can. I hope that they come without onions or tomatoes.

Chess on TV or In Movies

A recent casual conversation brought up how chess appears in movies or TV shows to portray a character's traits while playing the game. The one discussed the opening scenes of Casablanca in which Rick (Bogart) is playing chess with Peter Lorre. What does chess say about Rick? and why at the beginning of the movie. It turns out Bogart was a big fan of chess and was a fairly strong player.

What movies come to mind that I have seen in which chess featured? Searching For Bobby Fischer immediately pops up. Chess was used a device to illustrate a child's gift and the changes this gift brings to his family. Lots of chess action, and players are not necessarily made fun of. Next is 2001 A Space Odyssey in which the computer HAL plays chess with the astronauts. Nice use of chess here to convey the computer's precision in planning and strategies to defeat mere frail humans. The first Harry Potter movie uses chess as a protective obstacle for the Sorcerer's Stone, and here demonstrates one of the character's willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of the others (altho in the end he survives of course). Finally from my memory comes Stalag 17 where one of the chess pieces is used to inform Nazi prison camp guards of allied POW plans for escapes. I think a James Bond movie has chess but a can't find it in my memory.

I can only think of three TV shows that had chess anywhere in them. The first was Star Trek. For some reason Capt Kirk is able to defeat Spock on a fairly routine basis, probably to show that Kirk relies on a fusion of logic, emotion, and intellect to strategize while Spock is logic bound. However in one episode Spock is able to defeat the ship's computer in three straight games when he should only be able to draw - this clues Spock to conclude that the computer is malfunctioning and therefore some intruder is aboard. Genius. The TV mystery series Columbo had an excellent episode in which two chess grandmasters are competing in a match and one ends up murdering the other, or else Columbo wouldn't have anything to do. I recall an interesting restaurant scene in which the two players begin playing a game using items found on the tables for pieces (olives, salt shakers etc) and the gingham table cloth as the board, and I believe the outcome of that game provided the final straw for one GM to kill the other. Lastly is the Cosby Show but since I rarely watched it I don't remember why it was used. Probably so Cliff could talk a big game only to be defeated by Rudy.

That's all I can conjure up. I know there are others. Give me time to remember. Chess is usually a metaphor for stuffy, nerdy, or other diminutive characterizations, but the above shows used it quite effectively and in a good chess light.

Unfinished posts

Blogger really does me no favors by allowing a post to be saved without publishing. I am able to leave some things in there like leftovers in our refrigerator, eventually they turn bad and are thrown away.

Here's to starting something that gets finished, or rather the other way around.

Not another New Year Resolution post!

Not exactly. Philo recommends taking up something you once loved to do but have quit doing for some reason.

I’m struck, too, that one can still take up paths long neglected, and that doing so is surprisingly rewarding. I took up playing the bass again after thirty years; in fact, my main Christmas present was a Crate BX100 bass amp. I’ve started composing music, something I hadn’t done since college. Dymphna has taken up ice skating. If you’re in search of a New Year’s resolution, I recommend thinking back and taking up again something you used to love but gave up along the way.

I've given up so many things in the past that picking one is going to be difficult. I think I'll look over a few.

In the not too distant past I was serious about learning to play the piano. At my 33rd birthday I showed up at my first lesson with a book of Scott Joplin's rags under my arm and told my teacher that was what I wanted to play. She kindly took the book away from me a gave me the basic Piano 101 books that every beginner must start from. Before beginning lessons I drafted 10 goals I wanted to accomplish. After receiving much encouragement from an AOL online group of teachers I dove in. Five years later I stopped taking lessons. I estimate I made about 2 years worth of progress, and probably met only about 2 to 3 of my stated goals. Sounds disappointing, but not really. Having elementary and preschool age children made practice time difficult. Plus I am not a natural - everything learned was through hard work. I still can play bits of the music I did learn, and at the time listened to much music I wouldn't have otherwise heard or cared about. I went to the Scott Joplin Music Festivals in Missouri, met performers there, became a distant friend to one of them. I could go on. Piano was good to me.

Before starting high school I was bitten by the chess bug. Bobby Fischer was playing for the world championship against the hated Russians, and I followed that match closely. I received a chess set and clock for Christmas 1973, of which I still have the pieces, lots of books and began playing competitively. I actually would get into trouble for staying out too late at night going to chess meeting held at the local university. I got better through study and practice, to a point, and then hit a snag. At some point I realized that chess is a really difficult game that would take some major studying in order to get beyond the average competitive levels. I wasn't ready to give up my golf game for chess.

For some odd reason hockey is a family favorite. My two boys played quite a bit of roller blade hockey growing up. It always looked like fun. A few years back I tried it playing in an adult league in Round Rock Texas. It was a blast. I can't remember a team sport being that much fun. Hockey was fun, frustrating, physically demanding, and exciting - and that's from the adult slow motion league. In my final season I scored the 2 goals in the championship game.

Of the 3 listed, hockey ain't gonna happen. My skates have been cannibalized by Evan and Tory for wheels and bearing and the hardware is missing. Plus I am so badly out of shape I wouldn't last 30 seconds on a shift, and I haven't skated since that last game.

Piano - I like it. Still play occasionally. I am all for playing more but I won't be taking lessons anymore. I will play simpler music and practice reading music as much as possible, and try to enjoy the music. At times when I was learning, I tended to get angry and frustrated at my progress or lack thereof and wouldn't be able to hear what I was doing as a whole. Playing for my own enjoyment sounds like a worthy goal.

Chess is the likely winner here. Tory has shown great interest in learning the game in the past few months, going as far as helping start a club and ladder group at his school. He has managed to beat me once so far, but other than that I have had the upper hand. The bad news for Tory, as I have told him, is that I am not very good meaning he has a long way to go. Looking at chess books and playing through instructional games does not seem so onerous anymore. I think I am more patient and able to take in the intended information, maybe even pass it on to Tory in a way he will absorb it as well.

Everywhere Texas

Thanks to my friend Joe for sending me this link.

This has been sitting in draft for 3 months. I watched the video again and recognized a lot of those scenes. Cut N Shoot was often a stop on the way home from Texas A&M back to Lake Charles to get a cold drink and snack. I think now its disappearing, being consumed by nearby Conroe.

Christmas lights

Last weekend Samantha and I got everything Christmas out of the attic. We decided to put the icicle lights up on the house again for this year. As the picture shows, we had ice last Christmas and the ice ended up pulling down one of the light chains and busted a good many of the tiny bulbs. The first job then was to fix the damaged lights. The first one out of the box must have been the chain that took the biggest hit last year as many sections of it wouldn't work. Sam and I decided to cannibalize it to get the others properly working. We were surprised to find an unopened box of icicles to replaced the damaged one.

Part of this year's fun was discovered over the summer. As part of a bulk garbage pick-up by the city, I decided to empty the attic of unnecessary items. In doing this I discovered where I had put lots of other lights from years gone by. After the icicle lights were fixed and put up in front, I began untangling and fixing these old lights. I recognized these right away. We have some lights that are big bulbs, about the size of eggs and solid colored. Not my faves. Also many chains of smaller bulbs that are solid colored and clear colored. Last of the bulbed lights are three or four chains of smaller bulbs that are very faded and beat up. These used to hang in our back yard for a year or two long ago. We would turn them on at night and go play in the backyard when the boys were little. The boys loved to play soccer at night, and who could blame them - its much cooler then.

I ended up fixing these extras and putting them up on the back of our house and along the fence next to the road. It looks goofy but I'll take a Christmas exemption on that.

There is a lot of variety of lights up on houses around the neighborhood. I have been looking at the houses nearby that leave the lights on the house year round ( but don't turn them on obviously) and there are large sections of these lights that don't work. Some houses have one strand near the door or on a tree, and others have lights everywhere. And then there are the chasing lights that turn the house into a Blockbuster Video store.

My preference is for the simple lights altho the icicle light is more the norm today. I like the small bulbs, clear and with colors. Its a bonus if some of these lights pop on and off randomly - I have only a few of those treasured bulbs now.

Overall our house looks much like it has for the past many years, as do our neighbor's. Next week we go to the Trail Of Light on Town Lake for that traditional trip - with hot chocolate.

Keeps me Searching for a heart of gold

Had any memorable online or other research experiences? How did you get what you needed? Give up eventually? Let this guy know.

http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/12/new_survey_what.html

Sam, Lucy, and Kasey

Here are a few photos of Samantha taken recently with Lucy and Kasey. This is really to see if I can embed a slideshow into a blog posting.

Remembrance of a good kitty

Our kitty Lucy had to be put down last Friday morning, Nov 9. The last few days were pretty tough for her and it was clear the end was at hand. I could try to relate 20 years of cute anecdotes about Lucy but that might take a while.

Lucy was adopted in June of 1987 at about 6 to 8 weeks of age from the Williamson County Humane Society. Of all our cats she was probably the most sane and predictable. She was definitely a creature of habit.

As I am the first to rise at our house in the mornings, Lucy would be waiting for me each morning as I got out of bed. She would trot ahead of me to the kitchen and wait to be fed. In the evenings as I got to bed and laid down she would pop up on the foot of the bed, and then walk on my legs and would stop at my sternum and lay down. After some ferocious purring for about 5 minutes or so, she would then stand up walk to the foot of the bed and get on my knit afgan and settle in for the night. These pleasantries went on for years - it was a comfortable, warm routine. Lucy would also come to the front door as I walked in from work, often appearing to be greeting me, but then quickly lead back to her food bowl.

She liked being around the family as we did things, often walking on a board game on the floor that we'd be playing. She wasn't too taken with Kasey our border collie tho, often choosing to hiss at her.

One last bit. In the last year or two she was unable to jump up on beds or furniture, and slept in the main room, not my bedroom. I usually have to get up in the middle of the night. It was not uncommon to see Lucy sitting upright in the middle of my bedroom as I got up at 3:30 a.m. She would watch me stagger to the bathroom and then back to bed. I would occasionally stop and give her a brief head and ear scratching. She would lean into my fingers for a moment and then I'd go back to bed wondering what she was up to.

I will miss Lucy, and the quiet consistency she brought.

Laurence Juber Plays Austin

The great Laurence Juber played a very nice show here last Friday night, Nov 2. I looked forward to this concert after acquiring several of his CDs over the years. Juber is an exceptional acoustic guitarist. The sounds he gets out of one guitar are impressive. And he is working hard too - every finger and arm muscle is being used - and yet he made it all look very easy. Sometimes sitting, or standing, finger picking or flat picking. A crisp clean sound, very few squeaks, and nice clear melodies. LJ does whatever is necessary to get the most out of his guitar, whacking the instrument for percussion, often slapping the strings, popping harmonics, bending strings, and little tinkly picking. Nice, enjoyable, professional.

I arrived just as he began the first song. After a birthday dinner for Samantha at Chuy's, I had to fill up the car, get to an ATM for cash, drive to the site, park and get in all in about 30 minutes, and barely made it.

I had made a list of the pieces played but they got thrown away by my wife who thought they were trash. Notables though were Layla (even the piano part at the end), Every Breath You Take, Pink Panther, Wonderful World, the Beatles' Rain and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, If I Only Had A Brain, of the songs he has arranged. Lots of his own compositions.

He played two sets of at least an hour with a 30 minute break to sign cd's and chat with the audience in the lobby. He signed a young boy's guitar and even played it a bit for him.

Juber clearly enjoys what he's doing. At one point he asks the audience if they're having a good time. After enthusiastic applause, he says, "well that's good because I'd be doing this anyway."

HEB Check Out

Standing in line at the HEB check out tonight I notice a woman in front of me purchases 16 items. The man directly in front of then purchases 15 items. This is in the "Ten Items Or Less" line. Harumph. No, same items do not count as one item. My bad karma is now washed away - I watched passively, chatting with a lady that attends our church, and waited to buy my 5. One of the these days tho, I will get up the nerve, and probably still do nothing. Except harumph a lot.

Say it ain't so, Jo!

Jo Rowling recently has disclosed that Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is or rather was gay. That would explain the light blue and the purple robes he wears.

I don't know. If it didn't happen in the books, it didn't happen. Not very brave of her to trot out this characteristic of Dumbledore after all the books are written and sold. Probably should have been left alone.

I still love the books. My kids and I discuss them often, usually involving utterly impossible hypothetical situations.

Lucy, struggling

I was stooped over, peering into the fridge this morning looking about unable to find what I was looking for. Then it dawned on me that I did not remember what I was searching for. I stood up, looked about the kitchen, and then down at the floor and saw Lucy our cat bumping into my feet. Ah yes, Lucy needs food. Another scan of the shelves in the refrigerator and I spot her can of food. After spooning out a bit of food, I pick up Lucy and point her nose at the food and she begins eating.

After 20 plus years Lucy can no longer see very well, if at all. We have had to confine her to the kitchen because she was getting boxed in places, bumping into things, and tangled up underfoot. Not to mention hitting the correct spot in, um, eliminating was not very good either. Add this to her near total hearing loss, renal failure (her food is prescription only), back legs not working so hot, and weight of about 4 pounds, and there is not much of her left to go wrong. She has an awkward sleeping position as well, much like an upright fetal crouch of some sort. It is difficult for her to be comfortable.

On the other hand, she eats with energy, looks alert - her nose is in the air sniffing much of the time, and does not appear to be in pain. She asks to be fed often.

Personally I think Lucy is still with us because she wants to be. She hasn't decided to quit yet. There is something about our family she holds on to. All of our kids have not known a day of their life without her. Its been a long road for Lucy, and she still walks on, mainly bumping into stuff now.

Before I could begin this entry, I had to find my reading glasses, 150's now and probably on my way to 175's, and my right elbow and forearm is aching from keyboard usage most of the day.

Slow reader

In his book On Writing, Steven King admits to being a slow reader. In a period of a year he will read between 60 to 70 books. That few!? King does listen to books as well as reads them. Jasper Fforde in his talk at the booksigning here in Austin says he is never without something to read. Fforde will read anything in any genre - he loves stories.

I have been counting lately how many books I read. For September, I read On Writing, First Amoung Sequels by Fforde, and One Good Dog by Jon Katz. The Katz book I listened to on tape. That's 3.

To date in October I am "0 for". I am about 100 pages in Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing, using book and recording, about 100 pages into Q-School by John Feinstein, and 1 chapter into From Jesus To Christianity, a text being used at church class. This is why for the longest time I read mostly short stories, simply because I could finish them before losing interest or starting something else.

I guess my question is how they get all that reading done? I've often wondered how much other people read and where I fit. Is 3 books a month average? I think I am going to aim for a book a week, Sunday to Saturday. That's probably 50 pages a day!

The biggest threat to my goal is that I tend to fall asleep, especially if laying down, late at night, on the bed, with the fan running.