Feast on this.

It is Friday, which means it’s time for another feast.

Appetizer
Name something you would not want to own.

A snake. I just don’t really understand the reptile-as-a-pet thing. If I’m going to have a pet, I want it to be furry and cuddly.

My wife, on the other hand, is always saying she’d like to have one. Shudder. The things give me the creeps…

Soup
Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).

I have brown hair, which is fairly soft. It also has a tendency to become extremely oily if I don’t wash it every day. My facial hair ranges from dark brown to a reddish brown. And my.. well, we won’t go there. You can guess.

Salad
Finish this sentence: I’ll never forget ___________.

Being a jerk with my dad on so many occasions, usually over stupid stuff. Take my mistakes as a lesson: be nice to your loved ones while they’re alive, even if they do infuriate you at times. Once they’re gone, you’ll regret being an ass. Trust me on this.

Main Course
Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?

I can’t think of anyone famous who I’d want to be at all, even if it was just for a day. I’m quite comfy in my body.

Dessert
Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.

I’m of German descent and I absolutely love mathematics!

The Feast of Friday

Another Friday, another feast.

Appetizer
How fast can you type?

I’m not entirely sure. Somewhere in the range of 85-100 words per minute. I haven’t tested myself in quite a while. I know that I type fast enough, so I don’t really care about the exact number. I also know that people frequently tell me, while chatting with me online, that I “type far too fast.” (Hi Chantal.)

While on the topic, I don’t however, type correctly. I probably use the wrong fingers for a few keys, particularly keys that aren’t used a whole lot, like the shift+number keys. That’s the price you pay when you teach yourself how to type by having battle after battle with a DOS prompt, I suppose.

Soup
What is your favorite online game?

Wow. That’s a tough question. I’ve enjoyed a large number of online multiplayer games over the years. Counter-Strike / Counter-Strike Source, Day of Defeat / Day of Defeat Source, and Subspace are all games that I’ve logged far too many online hours with. World of Warcraft was also a favorite of mine for a while, until I realized (repeatedly) that it’s a game I can’t play “casually.” I suppose as of right now, Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 holds the #1 spot. It’s rough around the edges, and isn’t nearly as polised as Day of Defeat Source, but I enjoy the gameplay more.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?

Ugh. Not a question I wanted to see. I’d say a 6 or 7. I think I’m fairly intelligent, but I know there are many people out there who would make me look totally ignorant.

Main Course
Name three of your best teachers from your school years.

Mrs. White for fourth grade, who was a real sweetheart. I don’t remember much about her teaching style (or efficiency), but I do remember that she was about as nice as you could expect anyone to be. She also had a cute addiction to potato chips.

Mr. Tomko for my 9th grade biology class. I wasn’t a fan of biology, but he made it interesting, and was also a nice fellow. He struck me as the type who enjoyed learning for the sake of learning, and that always gets high points with me.

Mr. Kremin (spelling questionable) for fifth grade. Good teacher, nice guy, didn’t put up with any crap from problem students. He was also the first person I ever knew who used a text-only browser. He often requested for me to print out pages that had images at home, because he was unable to see them with his computer.

Dessert
What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?

Writing and studying. I have a 5 page essay about a short fiction piece due on Monday. I also have my American history midterm Monday. For that, the professor gave us a list of 5 different questions to be prepared for. For each one, we need to be able to write 3-5 pages in response. Come Monday, he’ll take four of those questions, and split them into two brackets. We select one question from each bracket, and write our responses. So, even if I “cheat” and only study for four of the questions, I still need to have enough information in my head to be able to write, in theory, 12-20 pages of response.

Suffice to say, I will be a busy little bee this weekend.

If I have any spare time after studying and writing my essay for English class, I’ll probably do some pleasure reading. I finished Speaker for the Dead last night (post about this soon forthcoming), and started reading Sharpe’s Tiger today. Worry not, fellow Ender fans; I’ve not given up on him! I loved Speaker for the Dead. I just want a brief break from Ender before I read Xenocide.

Feast on this.

I learned about Friday’s Feast through James, and thought it was a nifty little meme. So, here’s my first stab at it. Enjoy.

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of bread?

Tough question, because I like a lot of different breads. My favorite would probably be garlic bread (of any kind), or a 12 grain bread I found at our local Aldi’s store. However, if the cheese and herb biscuits from Red Lobster can be counted as a bread, then that is by far my favorite. Those things are great.
Soup
When was the last time you bought a new pillow?

A few months ago. I actually need a couple of new pillows now. Does anyone know of a good brand of pillow that won’t go flat within a month?

Salad
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?

Before classes started, a lot. Perhaps 15-20? I don’t know a number, even an approximate number, but I know it was too much. Now that classes have started it’s dropped drastically. I’d say 5 hours or so. It’s something I’m actively trying to curb.
Main Course
What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?

Honestly, I have no idea. I very rarely get sick. I think when I had a flu a few years ago my temperature went up to somewhere between 102 and 104, but I’d be lying if I said I remembered an exact temperature. I can, however, give an exact temperature for my son. He recently had an ear infection, and his temperature reached 103.2.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks:  When I ____________, I _____________.

When I’m reading a book, I get frustrated when people keep talking to me. I know it’s not particularly nice, but it’s rather clear that I’m trying to read something. It reasons that I don’t want to have a long, drawn out conversation at the time. I don’t mind if someone needs to ask or tell me something, but I wish they’d do so, and then hush up.

A Book Meme

I’ve seen this meme on a few different blogs, but I finally decided to do it after seeing it over at Tales from the Reading Room.

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

If it comes with pages in-between two covers, I’m generally happy with it. If they all were the same price, I’d probably go with hardback, simply because I like the feel of them more than paperbacks. On the other hand, I’d have to eventually switch back to paperbacks, because I’m sure I’d quickly run out of shelf space, if all I owned were hardbacks.

Amazon or brick and mortar?

Both. When I know what book I’m wanting, I generally buy it from Amazon, because it’s easy (and fast). Being in a small town, the nearest decent bookstore is about two hours away. However, I love browsing at a brick and mortar store. When the family takes a trip to Columbus, they generally have to drag me out of Barnes and Noble. I don’t kick and scream, but I certainly don’t like leaving, either. Those big, cushy chairs are just so nice…

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

No real preference on this one. As noted, I live in a small town with no decent bookstore to speak of. I’ll take what I can get!

Bookmark or dogear?

Bookmark, for sure. I’m one of those people that cries out in dismay if I accidentally tear a page, or even drop the book and bend a page or two. It’s never happened yet because I’m so careful with them, but I think if I broke the spine of one of my books, I just might cry.

Alphabetize by author or alphebetize by title or random?

At this point in time, totally random. There are odd pockets of books that are on the same subject, and a few pockets where the books are by one author (like Tolkien), but for the most part, my shelves are just one big mess. I’ll be lame and say I live dangerously.

Keep, throw away, or sell?

Keep. Keep. Keep. If I have a book that I really have no intention of ever reading again, I’ll consider selling it. But throw away? As in the garbage? Are you insane?!

Keep dustjacket or toss it?

I generally keep all of my dustjackets. They’re not important in the least to how the book reads, but I still like having them. Then again, I keep old computer game manuals too, so what’s that tell you?

Read with dustjacket or remove it?

I always remove dustjackets when I’m reading a book. For one, it gets irritating fighting the damn thing everytime I try to read. For another thing, I hate seeing the top and bottom edges of the dustjacket become covered in those tiny tears, due to laying against things.

Short story or novel?

Novels. I’ve never enjoyed short stories much. About the time I begin getting interested in one, it’s over.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?

I have no real preference on this one, because I don’t like short stories. I do know, however, that I don’t own any collections of short stories by one author, so I’ll have to default to anthologies. The only reason I own a few sci-fi anthologies is because a friend was going to throw them away and I couldn’t stand it. I know. I have a problem.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Again, I’ll have to default on this one, this time to Harry Potter. I’ve never read Lemony Snicket. Having said that, I don’t care much for Potter. I’ve read the first two books of the series, and truthfully (please, no rotten tomatoes!), I don’t see what the big deal is. To me, it came across as a sub-par fantasy book with stereotypical characters. There was nothing really there that made me want to keep coming back.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

A bit of both! I prefer to stop at chapter breaks, or those wonderful little mid-chapter breaks that (nice) authors put in, but sometimes I don’t get to do this. In particular, when I’m reading in bed, sometimes I just have to call it quits at the end of a paragraph. This generally happens when two variables are met:

1. I’m extremely tired, and know I can’t read much longer.
2. The nearest “break” is the next chapter, which is 50 pages away.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

Neither. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”, thank you very much. If I were forced to choose, probably the latter, because that ignites at least a little bit of hope of trolls or some other nasty fantasy creature.

Buy or Borrow?

I buy most of the time. I do a hefty amount of borrowing as well, but only from the library.

New or used?

If I were a rich man, new books, easily. However, rich I am not, so I reserve my new book purchases for things I can’t usually find used, such as history books. I’m quickly acquiring a large amount of used fantasy and sci-fi books, mostly because I can get them for a quarter a piece.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

All of the above. I often read amazon.com reviews, and pay attention to them, too. I’ll also take recommendations, particularly from friends who I know enjoy the same stuff as I do. And, of course, I love browsing. The only problem with buying based on browsing is that I can generally find at least a dozen books I’d like to buy, but I can typically only afford one or two.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

I prefer tidy endings. I’m not fond of reading three hundred plus pages simply to be left with an ending that doesn’t resolve all of the problems the author has created. Unless, of course, a sequel is on the way. Oddly enough, I suppose the ending to The Dark Tower was a cliffhanger, in a way, and I liked it just fine.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?

I’m one of those people that generally has a book in hand, regardless of where I’m at or where I’m going. I’ll read at anytime during the day, and just about anywhere, too.

Standalone or series?

Series, generally. If I enjoy the characters in one book, I’m generally quite pleased to find that I can read more about them later. My only gripe with this though, is that I wish authors would learn when to draw the line. Some series just go on too long. The Wheel of Time series comes to mind…

Favorite series?

I’ll join the lemmings and shout out Lord of the Rings. It never gets old. I haven’t read them in years, but for a while, I also enjoyed a few of the Dragonlance series as well. I recently tried to get into the Redwall series at the recommendation of a family member, but I just couldn’t get into the whole mouse thing. Fantasy creatures I have no problem with, but talking mice? No thank you.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Looking at the books I own, I don’t think I have any that are really obscure. I’m sure I have quite a few history books that the general populace hasn’t read, but I’m sure others have heard of them.

Favorite books read last year?

Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das (which I’m rereading currently), The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla.

Favorite books of all time?

I’m hesitant to say it, because of how much I’ve already gushed about them, but oh well: Lord of the Rings is, by far, my absolute favorite series of books. Having started reading it at around 10, it has honestly shaped my entire character. It kicked off my interest in fantasy, as well as my interest in medieval history, which has since ballooned out to encompass all of history. On the nonfiction side of things, I’d have to say that Hitler by Joachim C. Fest was a great read. It really deepened my interest in the Second World War.

I won’t tag anyone, because I know most people hate it, but if you read the meme and you want to do it, feel free. It’s not like you need my permission anyway, right?

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Me

LearningNerd tagged me with the “5 things you didn’t know about me” meme. So, here’s my response.

1. Like her, I’ve also been playing MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online roleplaying games) for quite a while. I can’t remember when I started exactly; perhaps in the 7th or 8th grade with Ultimate Online. I later moved on to EverQuest, which I played for a really long time. My most recent foray into digital dragonslaying was with World of Warcraft. I quit once due to becoming far too addicted to it. I’m playing it again now, and watching my “gotta’ play Warcraft!” urges carefully. If it starts getting into the red, goodbye, Warcraft account.
2. The first foreign language I attempted to teach myself was Scottish Gaelic, with this book. I knew nothing about teaching myself a language, and gave up quite quickly. The fact that Gaelic seems to use 25 letters for a two syllable word didn’t help matters much. Now that I know a bit more about learning languages, Gaelic has slowly crawled back onto my “I’m interested in that” list. It’s certainly low on the list, but it’s there.
3. My interest, and subsequently love, in history was sparked by a “historical” movie which was dreadfully incorrect in more ways than you could count. The costuming was wrong, the historical details were off, but damn, it was still an excellent movie. It was, of course, Braveheart. I’ve probably seen it 10 or 15 times at this point if not more.
4. For a brief time in my late teens I went through a militaristic gothic stage. I’d only wear black, generally black pants and a long-sleeved black shirt, along with black military boots. I also dyed my hair black – even my goatee. Pictures of me during this time are scarce (thankfully), but they do exist. They prove that teenagers will do anything to get attention. My, how stupid I looked. Considering where I live, it’s a wonder I wasn’t mugged a few times for it.
5. I don’t like small animals that can move quickly, particularly ones that move jerkily like birds. They give me the creeps for some reason. I don’t know if it’s because I feel that they could close in on me without me being able to do anything about it or what. Whatever the reason, I just don’t like them much.

While I personally don’t have any problem at all with being “tagged” for these things, I know a lot of people hate it. Having said that, I won’t be tagging anyone specifically, so as to not step on any toes. I’ll leave it up to you if you’d like to do this. If you do do it after reading my entry here, drop a link to this post so I’ll know about your responses.

Five Questions

I saw this meme at John Baker’s blog. I wasn’t tagged by anyone to do it, but it looked like a fun meme, so without further ado…

1. Why do you blog?

Good question. Really good question. My initial thought on that question is, “I don’t really know why I blog.” If I dig a bit deeper, I come up with a few different things.

• It helps me understand the world. A professor I have this quarter has us writing lengthy journal entries on select course material. His reasoning? Writing about something helps you understand it better. Writing about something makes you think critically about the subject. Having a vague concept of something and being able to write articulately about something are two very different things. I blog because it makes me think.
• Related to the above reason, I blog because (hopefully) it helps develop my writing skills. Being able to write well is a wonderful skill to have, so I figure I might as well work on making my writing better.
• It’s fun. It’s an enjoyable hobby. It lets me meet new people with similar (and not so similar!) interests.
• It lets me bounce ideas off of other people. This brings to mind a post I saw over here. The gist of the post? Don’t get caught up in the numbers of blogging, i.e., “what, I only have 15 regular readers?!” In comparison to some blogging giants, that’s nothing. But as noted in the post above, that’s 15 people I wouldn’t communicate with on a daily basis if I didn’t blog. That’s a pretty cool point, I think. If I get even one person a day to smile, laugh, or think via my little (tiny, tiny, tiny) corner of the intarweb, so be it. That’s great.

2. Which author and/or book has most influenced you?

This may seem like a canned response at first, but it’s not: J.R.R. Tolkien. One of my older brothers loaned me his copy of The Hobbit when I was 9 or 10. I read it, then moved on to Lord of the Rings. Reading his books sparked off a number of interests, most notably my interest in fantasy and medieval history. My interest in medieval history has slowly grown to be an interest in history as a whole, not just a specific time period. Hell, history’s my major in college. All from reading a few books about hobbits, wizards, and a ring.

3. Which three blogs do you most visit?

That’s kind of difficult to answer, seeing as how I have quite a few blogs in my feed reader, and I read them all pretty much equal amounts. However, I’ll take a stab at it anyway. Just be forewarned, my stab is probably totally off the mark.

• WordPress.com Blog (which I can’t link to directly, beacuse wordpress.com/blog redirects to the wordpress.com page). Basically, the blog that feeds all of the WordPress.com news stuff. My blog is obviously hosted on WordPress.com. I like being in ‘the loop’ of what’s going on.
• Nowhere Zen NJ. A personal blog about Buddhism. Some really interesting thoughts by this fellow.
• Bright Meadow, because she’s intelligent, funny, and because of the hat picture. She knows what I’m talking about. I’d link to it, but much to my chagrin, she’s removed it from her site. Bring back the hat picture!

4. Why do you read fiction?

Because I can learn from it. Because I enjoy it. Because it lets me experience worlds that, without fiction writing, wouldn’t exist.

5. What makes you laugh?

This shirt. The Discworld series. My dumb dog, Gandalf, who is quite far from being even remotely wizardly. This video of some guy lighting his hand on fire while trying to do Zippo lighter tricks. Sluggy Freelance. The Google search results for ‘failure’, as well as this.

And now, for some tagging of other people. Jay, Cas, Billy, you guys are up (if you want – I know some people really hate these things.)

U.S. Labor Day Meme

I’ve had a few thoughts and ideas percolating for blog posts, but I’ve not written them up just yet (some I’ve written up, but I’m letting them percolate a bit more before I click that big ol’ Post button). So, here’s a meme that I saw at Bright Meadow. I’m American, it’s Labor Day here, and the meme is ‘U.S. Labor Day Meme.’ So, it’s fitting, I guess.

1. Are you craving anything and if so, what?
Hmm. Not really, not that I can think of. Everything is going well. I’ve got a roof over my head, my wife and kid are healthy, I have enough to eat and drink, and I have plenty of books stacked up to read. Oh, and I have my meditation zafu and zabuton. There are plenty of things I could have, but I could also go without them too, so…

2. What is the weather outside, and do you wish it would change?
It’s a bit chilly, actually. Things here were extremely hot all summer. As soon as September 1st rolled around, it was as if someone had flipped the switch from ‘summer’ to ‘fall.’ It’s also cloudy, but it hasn’t rained yet.

I don’t really want it to change. Being a heavy set guy, I was sweating like a pig all summer. It’s nice to be able to go outside and just enjoy the cool air. I’m also looking forward to the leaves changing colors soon.

3. What two web sites do you think you will go to next after you are finished here?
None. My intention is to finish writing this post, and then play a brief stint of Civilization IV before my son wakes up from his nap. After that, I’m going to play with him.

4. Do you wish you were somewhere else and if so, where?
Nope. To borrow a quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn, where ever you go, there you are. I’m quite content where I am.

5. Do you wish you were someone else and if so, who?
Again, nope. I’m quite happy with who I am. I could always use (lots) of improvement, but at least that way, I’m sharing the same boat with most of the world’s population. I figure I’m in good company.

I can’t think of anyone in particular I want to ‘tag’ to do this, so if you read this and are inclined to do this meme.. well, consider yourself tagged.