...that you've been reading too much Patrick O'Brian (contributed by various members of The Gunroom):

You start wishing people joy. "Wish you joy of your new car."

You blame your recent bad luck on lack of any backstays nearby to scratch.

Your arguments with your spouse now involve phrases like "Which I already took the trash out, didn't I?"

You've taken to eating toasted cheese.

You use the phrase "brought by the lee" in every day situations.

You call cleaning your house "a clean sweep fore and aft".

You've ever heard "Roast Beef of Old England" and found yourself getting hungry.

When you see an unusual beetle, you feel guilty for not putting it in your pocket.

All the metal in your house is polished really, really well.

(Lissun Chris Hopkins) more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I have books. Lots of books. My wife says way too many books. But, hey, it's better than some habits I could have!

Storage is always a problem. We have bookshelves throughout the house and a good chunk of the collection is in semi-permanent storage in boxes in the basement.

Via BoingBoing, something to make me wish for a house other than a ranch. Book storage in a staircase! Way cool!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Via the Wayback Machine, pictures of Robert A. Heinlein's bomb shelter! This was the model for the bomb shelter featured in Heinlein's novel, Farnham's Freehold (click on the link for several sample chapters).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yes, I've read it before. Heck, I read it last year. And now I'm reading it again...twice...once (via audiobook) to hear the ebb and flow and to make mental note of places to read more closely and once (via the hardcover omnibus boxed set edition).

So join me as I participate in the 2008 Gunroom Group Read of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin series. This will be the first (continually growing) entry, I'll update this as I work my way through. Bits are being posted at The Gunroom mailing list and I may snip bits of the responses as they come up from there.

In the meantime, may I entreat you (if you are interested in O'Brian, even vaguely) to join either The Gunroom or a newly formed Yahoo Group, Reading Jack Aubrey? The Gunroom is somewhat wide in its discussions, after all, it is about Patrick O'Brian "and everything else". But, if you can take the volume, you'll find a nice bunch of folks and learn much from what we call The All-Knowing List. Reading Jack Aubrey is focused on The Canon, and there are strict rules regarding spoilers, but the discussion there will benefit folks new to the series. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 01:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The ever informative Ansible, Issue #247, is up!

Cory Doctorow announced the birth on 3 February of a daughter proudly named...Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow.

Oh my. Tell me that kid ain't gonna catch heck in school.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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John's Reading Report (January 200

OK, I am not quite the reading machine that Fred is, but I did do a little reading this last month:

I started and finished The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. I first read this about seven years ago, and it had a bigger impact on me this time around. If you've read this and know me well, you'll know why. I usually don't read "literary" SF, but this one is well worth it.

I also continue to read my regular monthly magazines as they come, and am continuing to work my way through the Ana-backlog.

I am also currently about a third of the way through Bill Bryson's The Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. I got this for Christmas, and wanted to read it as soon as possible. While aimed squarely at the Boomer generation (with a birthdate in 1968, I fall in that awkward midpoint: too young to be a Boomer, just a little too old to be as Gen-Xer), this book is providing me ample laugh-out-loud moments, which are really good for the soul.

Still in progress:

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett. I'm going to have to re-read portions of this. My attention strayed from cognitive science during the Holidays to lighter fare. Now that we're back in the grim clutches of the post-Holiday work grind, I can get back to pondering existence and consciousness.

On deck:

Orbit, John J. Nance. A Christmas gift, and the next novel I'll be reading.

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemerovsky. One offered up by the Amazon algorithm based on product searches and past purchases. I hope it is as compelling as the author's own story.

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman. I've been meaning to read this for, like, forever.

Flashman, George MacDonald Fraser. Thanks to a plug by the Llamabutchers.

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter.

Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World, Carl Zimmer.

Still about five months' worth of Analog magazine.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:38 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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