May 31, 2005

the right books

file under: thoughts about things

i've got two weeks off, so i'm going out of town for a few days, starting tomorrow. vacation, glorious vacation!

it's my uncle's 75th birthday, so i'm going to celebrate with him and the family at his spread in the desert of southern california. aside from the quintessential road trip, this getaway provides the perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading, preferably while sitting near the pool with a margarita (everyone in the desert has a pool, it seems; it's the equivalent of wearing black in san francisco).

ok, so i've got some dedicated reading time; all that remains is to pick the books to fill this temporal gap, and then i'm off to wherever it is the words take me.

if only it were that easy.

...

i'm an inveterate book buyer (independent of whether or not i've finished the ones i already own). this generates no end of frustration for my fiancee, but what can poor pablo do? when that juicy remainder pops up, the one you've been wanting to read (sort of), you simply have to buy it. c'mon — it's a hardback and it's $4.99!!! and let's not forget about the books your bookish friends recommend, which you pick up in a one–click binge at amazon.com, figuring you might as well take advantage of that super–saver shipping.

all of this book buying means two things:

1. lots of books to choose from, at least one in each of my favorite genres, so that whatever mood strikes, i'll have the perfect book at hand
2. so many books to choose from that the tyranny of choice makes it almost impossible to decide which to bring

and let's not forget the issues of the believer that have been sitting on my nightstand for two months, or the issues of Wired magazine that are piling up on the coffee table (Darth Lucas! Spielberg Cruise! hard to choose — bring both).

as you can see, this is not going to have a happy ending.

at first, i start out with eyes too big for my calendar: "hmmmmm....five days? i can read three books, four magazines, and one or two essays on postmodernism and its effect on [insert totally unrelated subject here]." after a moment's reflection, i realize that at my average reading pace, it would take me about 15 days to finish said material, assuming i had an intravenous feeding tube, a catheter, and a bedpan the size of montana (ew).

ok...let's trim it back to two books and two magazines, with no intention of finishing everything. that sounds a little more reasonable. now we just need to decide genre, level of intellectual stimulation and commitment required, current author binges in progress, and the need to "break out" of whatever literary rut i may be in at the moment.

you're starting to get the picture — i'm neurotic when it comes to books.

after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, i finally settled on the following:

1. the player of games (current sci–fi author binge)
2. the innovator's dilemma (already started and need to read to avoid excessive feelings of guilt about absence from work)
3. incompleteness: the proof and paradox of kurt godel (so my mind doesn't turn into slime mold)
4. the two latest issues of Wired magazine (for when i feel like reading for 7.2 minutes before i fall asleep beside the pool)

and so i embark on my adventure, books at the ready, confident that i've made intelligent, balanced choices that should provide the proper mix of entertainment and education during my vacation.

now, if only i could decide which one to read first.

ps: any bets as to what i'll finish? personally, i think i can get through one of the Wired magazines.

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May 24, 2005

Triple

file under: my life

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May 9, 2005

Globe martini

file under: my life

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May 7, 2005

Dinner with jeff

file under: my life

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May 6, 2005

Sunset

file under: my life

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