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The Shape of Things

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Jackie over at Farm Lane Books Blog asked the question “What shape is your rating system?” She was wondering what the aggregate data of book ratings would look like represented graphically. So I went to my trusty spreadsheet that contains all the books I have read since 1995 and did a quick little chart that shows how my book ratings are distributed. From the chart you would think that I never met a book that I didn’t like. But, it turns out that I am much like many the commenters on Jackie’s blog. I don’t finish books I don’t like so they don’t show up on my booklist and therefore don’t show up on my ratings chart.

Whistler, British Columbia

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A few pictures from my recent trip to British Columbia. My good friend Ron who lives in the Hague was back in his home province of BC for a visit so I thought I would meet him there to see it all through his eyes. In addition to Whistler we also spent time in the amazing city of Vancouver, but I didn’t take very good pictures of the city, so I probably won’t post them. The weather was really warm and sunny while we were there. But the air was fresh and cool, especially at night.

Whistler: Peak 2 Peak

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Whistler has the gondola with the longest cable span in the world. Once you pass the last support tower, it is amazing how far down the cable bends before climbing up the other side. Still, even at its lowest point you are still way the heck up there. If you click on the final picture to enlarge it, you can get some idea of how high the gondola is.

The Best Bar in the World

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I just returned from a great, if short, trip to British Columbia (which I will write more about later). While I was in Vancouver, I remembered a little factoid from my one previous trip there about five years ago. The Starbucks in VanCity have the BEST fudge oatmeal bars in the world. I am thinking about buying them in bulk. But that would make me a little bulkier than I want to be. I haven’t tried this recipe, but it says it is for the Starbucks Oat Fudge Bars. Bake a batch and send a few my way.

Big Sigh Country

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From the second one steps off the plane in Jackson, Wyoming, it is hard not to feel the stress of the world melt away. The small airport in Jackson has the Grand Tetons as a spectacular backdrop and the fresh air smelling of conifers hits you instantly. We were lucky enough to spend a long weekend here over the 4th of July visiting John’s older brother and his family. I had been in Jackson twice before, once in the fall and once in the winter, but this was my first trip in the summer.

What a spectacular place to be in the summer. Even getting rain for a few hours on two of the days we were there, the weather was great. Warm sunny days with cool nights. In fact the 4th was cool enough to build a fire in the fireplace. We had a great time hanging out with family, went for a beautiful hike in Grand Teton National Park, and took a raft down the Snake River for a few hours. The raft trip was probably my favorite part. They had had lots of rain leading up to our visit so John’s brother decided to keep novices like us out of the whitewater. Fine by me, floating down the river, beautiful scenery, Pepperidge Farms Goldfish…I couldn’t have asked for better.

The Year of Acquiring EVERYTHING

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You may recall that I was going to try and not acquire anything unnecessary until we buy a house next year. And then I had a few minor slips here and here.

Well, since then all hell has broken loose–at least as it relates to that goal. I get no prizes for largely limiting my unauthorized acquisitions to books. It is so difficult to go to great used bookstores and not buy something. You might say “stay the heck out of bookstores”. But on the very short list of places that give me pure joy, bookstores are right at the top. The money spent on these books has been pretty low (thanks to the “used” part) but the stacks of books, unread and read, are becoming structurally unsafe. Toss in a few classical CDs I bought after determining I needed some fresh fodder for my iPod, a box of travel-themed stickers (Am I a 13 year old girl? What the heck am I going to do with them?), a pair of sneakers to relieve my literally aching feet, and it all adds up to an abandoned goal.

The good news is that I don’t really beat myself over unmet goals. This will become especially apparent when I do the final reckoning of my 40 by 40 list next month as I leave my 30s behind and face the ever-quickening march to death. And before my Dad chimes in (Ernie in Peoria) and tells me to get over myself and my perpetual mid-life crisis, I am actually just being funny about the march to death part. It is true of course, but it doesn’t bother me in the same way that it did a few years ago.

Now I can’t wait to “acquire” a house next year so I can find room (in fact a whole room) for all of those books…