Jigsaw Mania!!

Some of my best memories are sitting with my grandparents working jigsaw puzzles in the evenings ... so I got to thinking and wondering about the current state of the jigsaw puzzle market. And I'm happy to report that it appears to be alive and flourishing. There are several vendors who offer a variety of interesting puzzles. My first purchase and foray back into the world of solving jigsaw puzzles produced this:

Nautical Treasures; 1000 pieces produced by White Mountain Puzzles

Was a lot of fun, and medium hard. I had a friend help me finish it one Saturday evening.

Wow!

It's been a year since I've posted anything on this space ... a year filled with changes both bad and good. I'm celebrating the good things, and grappling with dealing with the bad. One thing hasn't changed and that is my focus on books and reading. To that end I present:
http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/images/2012/12/13sfexp2300.jpg

this looks like an extremely interesting new group (to me) and I hope to follow and participate.

As always I continue to track and comment on things that I read here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/146490

And finally I'll continue to add pithy commentary about current events, boardgaming, and whatever else captures my interest. Happy New Year!

Military/Historical Fiction/Non-Fiction List for 2012

Several series of books that I would like to finish or make progress on this year, including Patrick O'Brian's terrific series, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Rifles (probably won't finish, too many left in the series), and maybe even Winston Churchill's History of World War II.

1. The Thirteen Gun Salute; Patrick O'Brian
2. The Nutmeg of Consolation; Patrick O'Brian
3. The Truelove; Patrick O'Brian
4. The Wine-Dark Sea
5. The Commodore
6. The Yellow Admiral
7. The Hundred Days
8. Blue at the Mizzen
9. Sharpe's Eagle; Bernard Cornwell
10. Sharpe's Gold
11. Sharpe's Battle
12. Sharpe's Company
13. Black Out; John Lawton
14. Second Violin; John Lawton
15. Six Frigates; Ian Toll
16. Pacific Crucible: War at Sea 1941-45; Ian Toll
17. Their Finest Hour; Winston Churchill
18. The Grand Alliance; Winston Churchill
19. The Landmark Herodotus
20. Ship of the Line; C.S. Forester
21. Flying Colours; C.S. Forester
22. Shoulder the Sky; Anne Perry
23. No Angels in the Gloom; Anne Perry
24. At Some Disputed Barricade; Anne Perry
25. We Shall Not Sleep; Anne Perry
26. Operations in North African Waters: October 1942-June 1943; Samuel Eliot Morison
27. The Rising Sun in the Pacific: 1931 - April 1942; Samuel Eliot Morison
    

Category 3: Military..err.. Historical... Fiction

Is Military Fiction a genre unto itself, or is it simply a subset of Historical Fiction set during a time of war or conflict? There are certain books/series of books that I wouldn't necessarily consider to be "historical" fiction, i.e. The Brotherhood of War (and all of his other) series by W.E.B. Griffin; but are certainly "military" in nature...

Whatever... I know what I like when it comes to historical fiction, and if it involves the military or if its set during war or conflict, I'm probably going to like it!

Herman Wouk was probably my first exposure to this genre with his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Caine Mutiny and his World War II classic The Winds of War/War and Remembrance.

Fantasy List for 2012

This is a list of potential stories to read to fulfill my fantasy category challenge. I may add or subtract or change as the year progresses...

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
3. Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
4. Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
5. Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook
6. Bitter Gold Hearts by Glen Cook
7. Cold Copper Tears by Glen Cook
8. Old Tin Sorrows by Glen Cook
9. Hammered by Kevin Hearne
10. The Warded Man by Peter Brett
11. The Desert Spear by Peter Brett
12. The Daylight War by Peter Brett
13. Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
14. The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding
15. Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding
16. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
17. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
18. The Very Best of Charles de Lint
19. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
20. The Waste Lands by Stephen King
21. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
22. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
23. Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
24. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
25. Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
26. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
27. The Green Man: Tales From the Mythic Forest ed. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
28. The Faery Reel ed. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
29. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
30. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
31. Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks
32. Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
33. Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede
34. The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
35. The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney
36. A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
37. Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
38. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle

Category 2: Fantasy

I was raised on Science Fiction; Star Trek on TV, Jack Williamson/John Carter of Mars/Robert Heinlein's juveniles, and the very first Star Wars movie released the year (almost to the day actually) I graduated from high school. And I've never ceased and never will, to love, respect, read, and admire the genre...

but something happened while I was at university

• I discovered and read The Lord of the Rings.
• As a somewhat introverted freshman at a university where I didn't really know anybody, I wandered into an alternative bookstore in Columbia Missouri (Rock Bottom Books & Comics... still there happily) and discovered the boxed 3-booklet set of the Original Dungeons & Dragons. Wow, how I wish I still had that set!
• I answered an ad in the university newspaper 'The Maneater' looking for game players to meet in the basement of Brady Commons... showed up, met a peer group of science fiction and fantasy nerds much like me... and learned how to play D&D, along with Traveller, and many other games whose names I can't remember.

And my love of fantasy fiction was established.

I was one of those forty-something year old men who took their families to a jammed theater to see the Fellowship of the Ring on the opening weekend... and had tears streaming down my face as Gandalf thundered YOU SHALL NOT PASS! And then sobbed (literally) as the balrog dragged him into the abyss.. I wasn't alone... there was a lot of it going on in the movie theater...

and I was that forty-something year old man who waited with his kids at the midnight bookstore premiere for each succeeding Harry Potter novel.

So...that means I've read a lot of fantasy, and will likely continue to read fantasy so long as I am able to read.

The genre has evolved over the years. It's sometimes really hard to tell what is actually 'fantasy'. We have all the vampire novels (Twilight, Sookie Stackhouse), urban fantasy (Jim Butcher/Harry Dresden), apocalyptic fantasy (S.M. Stirling), fantasy historical romance (Diana Gabaldan/Outlander)... and of course the traditional good old swords and sorcery fantasy... Brandon Sanderson, Brett Weeks, Peter Brett, Glen Cook are all current popular authors that I have on my 2012 list. 36 books may not be enough to sample everything... but I'm going to try!

A Science Fiction List for 2012

This is a list of potential stories to read to fulfill my science fiction category challenge. I may add or subtract or change as the year progresses...

1. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
   
2. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
3. Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
4. Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
6. 2010: Odyssey 2 by Arthur C. Clarke
7. 2061: Odyssey 3 by Arthur C. Clarke
8. 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
9. Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds
10. Chasm City by Alistair Reynolds
11. Judas Unchained by Peter Hamilton
12. River of Gods by Ian McDonald
13. The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
14. Desolation Road by Ian McDonald
15. Cyberabad Days (short stories) by Ian McDonald
16. Sundiver by David Brin
17. Startide Rising
18. The Uplift War
19. Brightness Reef
20. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
21. The Ghost Brigade by John Scalzi
22. The Last Colony by John Scalzi
23. Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
24. QuickSilver; Neal Stephenson
25. The Confusion; Neal Stephenson
26. Snow Crash; Neal Stephenson
27. Reamde; Neal Stephenson
28. Cryptonomicon; Neal Stephenson
29. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
30. Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
31. Halting State by Charles Stross
32. Rule 34 by Charles Stross
33. The January Dancer by Michael Flynn
34. Up Jim River by Michael Flynn

Ah yes... the CATEGORIES!

Category 1: SCIENCE FICTION

I started reading science fiction at a very young age, maybe 8 or 9 and I'm pretty sure that the first true science fiction book I read was Red Planet by Robert Heinlein, followed closely by The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson, and the whole John Carter of Mars series, and then... well, needless to say I was hooked at a young age on the genre. The cover at right is the first edition cover published, I believe, in 1949. Heinlein had all kinds of squabbles with his publishers... he wanted more sex and politics, his publishers were after 'the story' and money.

After this excellent introduction, I went on to read all of Heinlein's 'juveniles', discovered the pulps with Edmond Hamilton's excellent Captain Future series, Frank Herbert's Dune... and have never looked back.

So here I stand some 40 years later, wondering (like we all do) where the time went, and looking around the science fiction landscape... and there's still lots of really good old stuff that I haven't read that I've always meant to... Philip Dick, C.J. Cherryh, David Drake; and of course loads of brilliant authors writing stuff today that I absolutely must read! Like Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, China Mieville, and on and on.

So .. on to the 2012 reading plan. 36 SF books won't go far (but I expect to have some room in my other categories, so...). I'm starting with a reread of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series up to Foundation's Edge (which I'm pretty sure I've never read); along with Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series (which, since I know how it ends, I MUST have read at some point... but for the life of me, as I read through the first two books, I DON'T remember any of the details...). I have Ian McDonald's Dervish House, Desolation Road, and River of Gods; Alistair Reynold's first two Revelation Space books, and Peter Hamilton's sequel to the excellent (and read in 2011) Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained. After that I will see what and where the SF trail leads me... Neal Stephenson looks excellent, Dan Simmons, C.J. Cherryh... lots of directions to go.

A long holiday weekend

The long holiday weekend comes in handy as I look back over my year of reading... and plan next years lists. Favorites from 2011 include:

• The Contract Surgeon and The Indian Agent by Dan O'Brien
• Doc by Mary Doria Russell
• Blackout by Connie Willis
• Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
• old favorites reread, and a number of new series started

But generally I notice that my reading was sort of random, wandering, and included a lot of fluff (crap is a better word maybe). A large part of that is due to the availability of free fluff (crap) for the kindle... something I intend to discontinue in 2012.

2012 is going to be the year I get back to the genres that turned me into a reader in the first place; Science Fiction and Fantasy (two separate genres...not one as so many stores mistakenly assume). My overall goal is to read 12 squared books (144) in 2012, separated into 4 categories. You can go here to see the descriptions and a record of my reading throughout the year. Here's a short list:

• Science Fiction (36 titles, includes some real chunks... heavy reading, but important books that I've wanted to read)
• Fantasy (36 titles, again with the heavy books, several rereads of old favorites)
• Military (36 titles, fiction & non-fiction... )
• Collections/Mysteries/Group Reads (36 titles, I must have 100 short story collections in my library, mysteries need to be included somewhere and I'm determined to participate in some group reads in 2012)

As I've reached my goals for 2011 (to read 100 books, I'm currently at 119), I've decided to abandon most of the partially completed books lying around and start counting for 2012 on December 1st (actually I'm starting today, but I won't record anything til Dec. 1) with the new reading lists and goals.  Future posts will include more detail and lists of books for each category.

This is a hefty reading challenge I've set for myself. I look forward to a long year of reading some good stuff...

Teaching Zoology

This coming school year, I will be teaching a high school Zoology class for the third year in a row. That may not seem significant, but if you knew how unstable our science curriculum has been over the last decade... Anyway the class is a semester long survey course. I focus mainly on the large groups of organisms and the progression through time and complexity. We do a number of survey labs where the student examines and answers questions about multiple specimens from a phylum, and we do a series of dissection labs where the students look more closely at a single specimen.

Students are expected to become familiar with the Linnaean classification system, and this generally provides a bit of angst when a student is faced with the following power-point slide:

Phylum Coelenterata: Coelenterata is an obsolete long term encompassing two animal phyla, the Ctenophora (comb jellies) and the Cnidaria (coral animals, true jellies, sea anemones, sea pens, and their allies). The name comes from the Greek "koilos" ("full bellied"), referring to the hollow body cavity common to these two phyla. They have very simple tissue organization, with only two layers of cells, external and internal.

This is of course followed by a discussion of what these things are (jellyfish and corals), lots of pictures,  and a rudimentary classification system where the student is faced with:

Anthozoa—corals and sea anemones 

Medusozoa—jellyfish:

Cubozoa—box jellyfish, sea wasps

Hydrozoa—hydroids, hydra-like animals

Scyphozoa—true jellyfish

Staurozoa—stalked jellyfish

Myxozoa—parasites

Polypodiozoa—parasites

* bolded words are the only ones they HAVE to know for quiz/test

After reviewing the phylum, the students then get to, in the laboratory, examine actual preserved specimens. Some of these are cool, some are gross, some are blah...