So to change things up a bit, this week I had my trusty number picker (a.k.a. my roommate) pick three letters so that I could get a fiction book. Since the dewey system only covers nonfiction, I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of fiction books I could find.
Drum roll please......
The book is Sims by F. Paul Wilson.
My first impression is that of the computer game. I was never a huge Sims fanatic because I didn't really like having to control them. But i was a huge fan of building extra sweet houses and awesome looking people. I always created the characters from the books I was writing because I'm a huge nerd like that. I'd do the cheat to get oodles of money, move them into my wicked sweet house, then get bored a little while later. One of my old roommates used to sit on the couch for weekends at a time playing. It seemed to keep her entertained but she was a rather sedentary being.
There's a big, red DNA strand on the front so I was kind of excited thinking that it was going to be about a pandemic or some sort of genetic abnormality like zombieism. On the second or third glance I noticed something looking out from behind the 'bars' of DNA. It's actually rather creepy because she or he either has black hands or is wearing black gloves. A very ominous sign.
It turns out it's about someone tampering with the few hundred genes that separate chimps from humans so they have bigger noggins, less hair, and can speak. It's set 'in the very near future' when genetically transmitted diseases are being fixed and humans are becoming too good to do manual labor so they pass it on to 'sims'. Sims, short for simians, are the genetically altered chimps that are kind of chimp and kind of human.
SimGen is the company that owns the chimp genome and is unleashing the creatures upon the world. But there is something sinister about SimGen. Cue thoughts of Resident Evil... Now
The good guy is Patrick Sullivan, a lawyer who wants to unionize the sims. I'm not one to give away the endings of stories so I can't tell you what happens. You'll have to find that out on your own. But it's exciting, I can tell you that.
The back cover does leave one daunting thought that I thought I should share. Ahem.
'Right now, as you read these words, some company somewhere in the world is toying with the chimp genome. That is not fiction, it is fact. Sims is a science fiction thriller that will come true. One way or another.'
Talk about creep.
It's not the kind of book I usually read but it actually wasn't too bad. If you like monkeys.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
It's only natural
Well, due to an extremely wonderful amount of homework dumped upon me last week and weekend, I wasn't able to read any of the last book. I guess it just wasn't meant to be with that one. But I wrote a few damn fine papers, let me tell you.
BUUUTTT
I was able to get a new book. The new number is 675. Probably because I sang 867530 oooonnneeee to my roommate before we walked into the Peter White. We giggled a little at the book this week but it's all naturalness is a nice combo with the 'vegan' shoes that my roommate got last week. Too bad we can't eat that healthy (healthily?).
Anyway, I know you're all excited about the new book since you're all singing that song in your head right now. Drum roll please....
Deerskins into Buckskins: How to Tan with Natural Materials: A Field Guide for Hunters and Gatherers By Matt Richards
(note to the reader, I'm not the italics crazy one, it's on the book)
My very first impression of the book took me straight back to my dorm bathroom last year. Yes, this sounds odd, I know. One of my suitemates was big into hunting, she even kept a dead coyote in the basement freezer so that she could tan the hide. Anyway, her bathroom reading choices consisted of magazines full of make eyes (for all types of animals), thinks to mount heads and bodies on, furs, leathers, etc. You get the point. Then I thought of my friend Alex because even though he wasn't a hunter, he always smelled like campfires when I was with him. And since I live in the woods and heat with wood, my next thought was home. But I think that's enough thoughts.
There are lots of pictures in the book so that was pretty helpful. And exciting. I think my favorite is of the very hippie looking guy using his full body weight to try to pull the hide away from the meat. The captions for the process are as follows:
1) Getting a clean start: use finger tips and thumbs to separate the hide from the meat. Notice how clean and encased both the meat and hide are.
2) Once you've gotten a good start, grab the hide with your hands and pull. You can also push your thumbs, fist and elbows in-between the skin and meat to release areas that are sticking
3) Use your body weight to help pull
Also on this page:
There will be a very thin layer of meat that wants to come off with the hide. This is the muscle that the deer uses to twitch flies off of its back. Nobody that I know of eats this meat because it is so thin and membraney. It is easily fleshed off later, so most folks let it come off with the hide.
My favorite is the use of the word membraney. My handy spell check is telling me that it isn't actually a word.
My other favorite thing about the book is its use of bold for random things and underlining the things deemed special by the author.
For those of you who wish to know how to tan your hide (not your own personal hide of course. That would hurt) THE BASIC METHOD includes these steps:
Fleshing
Bucking
Graining
Membraning
Rinsing
Wringing
Dressing
Sewing
Softening
Making a smoking sack
Smoking
And voila! You have a tanned hide! Ready to be made into stylish choices such as pants or, for those of you along the more traditional line, vests with the always sexy fringe. Personally though, I would want the dress.
BUUUTTT
I was able to get a new book. The new number is 675. Probably because I sang 867530 oooonnneeee to my roommate before we walked into the Peter White. We giggled a little at the book this week but it's all naturalness is a nice combo with the 'vegan' shoes that my roommate got last week. Too bad we can't eat that healthy (healthily?).
Anyway, I know you're all excited about the new book since you're all singing that song in your head right now. Drum roll please....
Deerskins into Buckskins: How to Tan with Natural Materials: A Field Guide for Hunters and Gatherers By Matt Richards
(note to the reader, I'm not the italics crazy one, it's on the book)
My very first impression of the book took me straight back to my dorm bathroom last year. Yes, this sounds odd, I know. One of my suitemates was big into hunting, she even kept a dead coyote in the basement freezer so that she could tan the hide. Anyway, her bathroom reading choices consisted of magazines full of make eyes (for all types of animals), thinks to mount heads and bodies on, furs, leathers, etc. You get the point. Then I thought of my friend Alex because even though he wasn't a hunter, he always smelled like campfires when I was with him. And since I live in the woods and heat with wood, my next thought was home. But I think that's enough thoughts.
There are lots of pictures in the book so that was pretty helpful. And exciting. I think my favorite is of the very hippie looking guy using his full body weight to try to pull the hide away from the meat. The captions for the process are as follows:
1) Getting a clean start: use finger tips and thumbs to separate the hide from the meat. Notice how clean and encased both the meat and hide are.
2) Once you've gotten a good start, grab the hide with your hands and pull. You can also push your thumbs, fist and elbows in-between the skin and meat to release areas that are sticking
3) Use your body weight to help pull
Also on this page:
There will be a very thin layer of meat that wants to come off with the hide. This is the muscle that the deer uses to twitch flies off of its back. Nobody that I know of eats this meat because it is so thin and membraney. It is easily fleshed off later, so most folks let it come off with the hide.
My favorite is the use of the word membraney. My handy spell check is telling me that it isn't actually a word.
My other favorite thing about the book is its use of bold for random things and underlining the things deemed special by the author.
For those of you who wish to know how to tan your hide (not your own personal hide of course. That would hurt) THE BASIC METHOD includes these steps:
Fleshing
Bucking
Graining
Membraning
Rinsing
Wringing
Dressing
Sewing
Softening
Making a smoking sack
Smoking
And voila! You have a tanned hide! Ready to be made into stylish choices such as pants or, for those of you along the more traditional line, vests with the always sexy fringe. Personally though, I would want the dress.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
876
There wasn't actually an 876 so I ended up with 877. The 800's are literature, which made me a little excited. Maybe an actual fiction novel this time!
I did get what I'm suspecting is a novel of some sort. But. It's old. Waaaaay old. The first due date shown on the card is November 6, 1931. "The Satires of Juvenal"
It's a cool looking book, because it's so old. There are stains on the weathered black leather cover. The pages have passed the yellowing stage and moved onto being almost somewhat brown in spots. The corners of the hardcover have worn off their covering and bent inwards. It looks like it's been around and well loved. Which makes sense because it's been in the Peter White for almost 80 years.
My first impressions flipping through are that it's going to be a tough read.Decimus Junius Juvenalis was born 'about the year on Christ 38.' In my experience, texts this old can be the hardest to get through. I was in the honors program when I came to school (not enjoyable at all) and one of the first classes we had to take for that was The Origins of Western Values in Antiquity. If that sounds gross, that's because it was. We started at the very first known of written work and moved our way toward the middle ages making sure to stop at the ENTIRE Illiad in 6 days, Plato, and friends. I thought my brain was going to explode at times reading those so I have a feeling there isn't going to be much difference with this.
I'm trying to google more about him but I'm currently enjoying internet problems so that will have to be another post. Until then, I shall immerse myself in history. Ugh.
I did get what I'm suspecting is a novel of some sort. But. It's old. Waaaaay old. The first due date shown on the card is November 6, 1931. "The Satires of Juvenal"
It's a cool looking book, because it's so old. There are stains on the weathered black leather cover. The pages have passed the yellowing stage and moved onto being almost somewhat brown in spots. The corners of the hardcover have worn off their covering and bent inwards. It looks like it's been around and well loved. Which makes sense because it's been in the Peter White for almost 80 years.
My first impressions flipping through are that it's going to be a tough read.Decimus Junius Juvenalis was born 'about the year on Christ 38.' In my experience, texts this old can be the hardest to get through. I was in the honors program when I came to school (not enjoyable at all) and one of the first classes we had to take for that was The Origins of Western Values in Antiquity. If that sounds gross, that's because it was. We started at the very first known of written work and moved our way toward the middle ages making sure to stop at the ENTIRE Illiad in 6 days, Plato, and friends. I thought my brain was going to explode at times reading those so I have a feeling there isn't going to be much difference with this.
I'm trying to google more about him but I'm currently enjoying internet problems so that will have to be another post. Until then, I shall immerse myself in history. Ugh.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Fun Facts
I've learned lots of fun things from my big book of maps, and relearned some that I'd forgotten since I took AP European History in high school. The reading was a little dense, I think that's just how all history books are, but parts of it were interesting and there were a lot of cool maps.
Some things I didn't know or thought were interesting:
*Dublin was once a Viking ruled colony
*The Vikings also settled in Russia, not only just to the east
*Jamaica (since I was just there) was settled in 1509 by the Spanish
*Iowa had large coal deposits -- when I think of Iowa, I only think of corn
*Between 1945 and 1975, the population of Miami doubled
*The greatest number of immigrants who went into Canada were from Italy and Britain
*Toward the end of the Cold War in 1987, on top of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., there were four other declared nuclear powers in the world, the U.K., France, China, and India
*In 1983, the life expectancy in Afghanistan was 45 years or less
*The Peoples of the African Congo were considered an advanced culture in the middle of the fifteenth century while the American Indians were considered primitive.
*In 1450, most of Russia and much of China were not known to the Europeans
A lot of what I found interesting had to do with the maps, which is hard to tell you about since I can't show them to you. I enjoyed this one a lot but it wasn't as interesting as the mob book, just because the mob is more interesting than history and was all new to me. My history teacher would be proud of me though because I actually remember some of what she taught me.
I'm hoping to have a chance to read more in the morning and tell you more fun things. If not, you'll have to wait and see what the next new book will be.
Some things I didn't know or thought were interesting:
*Dublin was once a Viking ruled colony
*The Vikings also settled in Russia, not only just to the east
*Jamaica (since I was just there) was settled in 1509 by the Spanish
*Iowa had large coal deposits -- when I think of Iowa, I only think of corn
*Between 1945 and 1975, the population of Miami doubled
*The greatest number of immigrants who went into Canada were from Italy and Britain
*Toward the end of the Cold War in 1987, on top of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., there were four other declared nuclear powers in the world, the U.K., France, China, and India
*In 1983, the life expectancy in Afghanistan was 45 years or less
*The Peoples of the African Congo were considered an advanced culture in the middle of the fifteenth century while the American Indians were considered primitive.
*In 1450, most of Russia and much of China were not known to the Europeans
A lot of what I found interesting had to do with the maps, which is hard to tell you about since I can't show them to you. I enjoyed this one a lot but it wasn't as interesting as the mob book, just because the mob is more interesting than history and was all new to me. My history teacher would be proud of me though because I actually remember some of what she taught me.
I'm hoping to have a chance to read more in the morning and tell you more fun things. If not, you'll have to wait and see what the next new book will be.
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