• About Me

    I’m an opinionated Grumpy Old Man. I enjoy the intellectual give and take that goes along with that, but have very little patience for stupid people (Note: there is a big difference between “stupid” and “educated”. Some of the stupidest people I’ve ever met have a PhD…). Beside arguing, I like to build things in almost any media. Right now I’m mostly building in wood, Lego, and a bunch of different electronic media. I teach in a number of different venues - from preschool all the way through graduate school. Subjects range from talmud to neuroscience to engineering.

    For fun, I like to bash people with swords (OK, so they’re made of foam. It’s still fun). Although I spend a lot of my time in a wheelchair, I manage to keep pretty active (Like bashing people with swords). I am a libertarian, and have a hard time finding anything good to say about government or politicians. OK, politicians might make good sausage, but that's about as good as it gets.

    Cope

  • VOTE!

    The question: Sould I use more graphics in my posts? I'm lazy, so I don't use them too o ften. If you think more pics would make the blog better, let me know! Simply let me know - email sphyrnatudevote@gmail.com with your vote!

  • Ask Dr. Science has MOVED

    Dr. Science now has his own Blog, so cruise on over to: http://askdoctorscience.wordpress.com to see what's cooking in the lab!
  • July 2007
    M T W T F S S
     1
    2345678
    9101112131415
    16171819202122
    23242526272829
    3031  

  • Meta

Monday Manifest – Fiction

Posted on July 30, 2007 by sphyrnatude

Well, last week we played Geek, so this week, we have a list of some of the fiction in my library:

  1. Tolkein – lord of the rings, the hobbit, Silmarillion, farmer Giles of ham, etc.
  2. Doonsbury. Lots of it. And The Far Side, Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, and Bloom County, edward gorey, Charles addams.
  3. Assortments of Fairy tales and legends from all over the world. Becuase no matter how diffrent the cultures are, the fairy tales and legends are all pretty much the same…
  4. Most of James Michener’s work. Big hairy historical fiction, with attitude.
  5. Works by pretty much any of the “classic” science fiction authors, a buncho f stuff from later when SF turned into fantasy too.
  6. Speaking of classics, the kids classics – call of the wild, huck finn, etc, and the “adult” classics – Oliver twist, Count of Monte Cristo, shakespear, and such like.
  7. Really Old Greek stuff – becuase on of my favorite university classes was an ancient lit course: odesyus, lysistrata, Ulysses, Plato, etc.
  8. Old reference books from the 1700 and 1800s. Because reading a “scientific” text that describes where to find a unicorn, mermaid, or sea monster is just too much fun. Not to mention the great anthropomorphising of animals “behavior traits” (and vice versa). Oh yeah, and essays on how science can’t be right becuase it contradicts the pope. Heh.
  9. Lots of 80’s and 90’s counter culture comic books. What is truly scary is that a lot of the orwellian stuff in them is coming true….
  10. OK, I’ll admit it: Harry Potter. All of them. For those of you living in a box: in the end, Harry and all of the weasleys succumb to the dark lord, and Hogwarts is turned into a giant starbucks. So there.

Yes, I probably do spend to much time reading, but if I didn’t, I’d have to spend more time blogging…..

Filed under: Monday Manifest |

« »

3 Responses

  1. mrschili, on July 30, 2007 at 3:10 pm said:

    I am absolutely convinced that every truth in the Universe can be found in Calvin and Hobbes.

    Oh, and thanks for TOTALLY WRECKING the end of Harry Potter for me! Lout!

    Reply
  2. Organic Mama, on July 30, 2007 at 5:18 pm said:

    OOh, where can I find a unicorn? One of my daughters would be totally up for a quest for one. Wait, will I find seamonsters along the way? That book sounds phenomenal; don’t suppose any of it is on the internet, is it?

    Reply
  3. sphyrnatude, on July 30, 2007 at 9:19 pm said:

    Dunno if that one is on the net. I kinda doubt it though.. Along with all the “scientific” descriptions of animals, there are a number of ummmmm well, unflattering comparisons made between certain animals and certain hmmmm… Shall we say “sectors of the human world population” that were viewed as little better than animals (meaning of course, any non-christian)..

    The Book of knowledge that I have (all 20 or so volumes) has some fun bits in it, but the best is an old classification of animals – they fit ALL of the animals, along with a bit of “information” about each one in what would today be considered a paperback….
    Hmmm. I think I may have to have Dr. Science write this one up a bit…

    Reply

Leave a comment