Wed Reading Meme...
May. 21st, 2014 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. What I just finished reading?
Same as last week - Magic Rises. I don't tend to be a fast reader - although I've realized I tend to read more carefully than speed readers. Noticed this in discussions with friends and family members. I'll remember things from a book, or pick up on things, that whirled past them. Possibly because I'm not skimming?
Weirdly, I skim a lot at work - but that's because I'm reading the equivalent of stereo instructions. This week it was the technical specifications for a clean-agent fire suppression system to be designed and installed in a data center. Determined a few things while reading it - 1) the chief of IT who co-wrote it, can't write worth shit, nor is he very good at floor plans or architectural drawings. They forgot to put in the square footage, or for that matter detail what was in the room and provide the proper dimensions. I spent two hours fighting with him over the phone yesterday - to get detailed specifications so that I can figure out the best method of procuring/buying the system. (I work for the government, you would not believe the regulations involved in buying a fire alarm system. And it depends on the method. If it is a public works? Then you have to get the approval of the agency's board of directors to use the Request for Proposal Method. If it's not a public works, then you don't. Public works is defined as construction and/or adding value to a building. Now, there's a bit of a debate at work on whether the design and installation of a fire alarm system is a public works. According to my boss - it isn't unless you have to add conduits. Otherwise you are just installing a computer or appliance, so professional service. According to everyone else - it is a public works since you are adding value to the building, and installing equipment. So, I sort of need to know if conduits are required to determine what to do next. (ie. does it go to the Board first or not?) ) 2) I know more about fire alarm systems right now than I ever wanted to know. And I'm frankly astonished that the trains run on time or at all for that matter.
2.what I am reading now?
Slowly working my way through the steam-punk sci-fi, romantic adventure The Iron Duke. Just finished reading the scene that people were whinging about on Amazon and Good Reads.
My take? These people need to broaden their reading horizons a bit (less Nicholas Sparks and more Shakespeare) or learn how to read. One or the other. A lot of the reviewers on Amazon and Good Reads, frankly bewilder me.
All that happened was while the hero was making love to the heroine (performing oral sex on her), she freaked out and told him to stop. But he didn't hear her, because he was drunk off his gord, as was she. So he continued until she had an orgasm. But she couldn't bear losing control or feeling that deeply sexually - because of her experiences under the Horde's rule. (It's complicated. In this world, which is basically Victorian England, people have been infected by nanonites which heal them, and unfortunately, through the use of radio frequencies can be used to control their emotions and physical actions. The bad guys took over England, before the hero destroyed their radio tower, by controlling the citizens' nanonites through radio waves. Citizens, who weren't under their control, were infected by a nanonite, which turned them into zombies. OR they managed to evacuate to the USA and were safe. At any rate, the people being controlled by the nanonites were forced to attend balls - and them manipulated into a sexual frenzy - where they would literally have sex with anything or anyone who was available at the time. Personally? I think that would be far more triggering than what happened between the tortured hero (who was a sex slave at one point) and the heroine. ) At any rate, she gets upset and shoots him with an opium dart (surprised she didn't kill him, considering he was inebriated - you'd think that opium plus alcohol...). He feels all remorseful and hates the fact he hurt her. Honestly, I think she needs to take a little responsibility here. Which she does, and she tells me that she wants to do it - but needs more control, and why she reacted the way she did - it wasn't him, it was what the Horde did to her. So, moral of the story? Ignore book reviewers on Amazon and Good Reads, they swing towards hyperbole.
It's more a romance novel than an adventure novel. And a wee bit slow in places. Also, the author like a lot of these modern romance novelists, feels the need to start the story when the two characters meet - which frankly is the least interesting. Their back stories are a lot more interesting and I'd have preferred a longer novel with less summarizing of the back story, and more detail. (I miss the old school novelists who did this.)
The other books currently reading are:
* The aforementioned (in a previous post) The Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo, which is surprisingly good and the best book I've read or seen on nutrition and leaky gut, ceiliac disease, etc. Not sure about the recipes yet. Need to try a few first.
Practical Paleo is jam-packed with over 120 easy recipes, all with special notes about common food allergens including nightshades and FODMAPs. Meal plans are also included, and are designed specifically to support:
immune health (autoimmune conditions)
blood sugar regulation (diabetes 1 & 2, hypoglycemia)
digestive health (leaky gut, IBS & IBD)
multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndromethyroid health (hypo and hyper - Hashimotos, Graves)
heart health (cholesterol & blood pressure)
neurological health (Parkinson's & Alzheimer's)
cancer recovery
fat loss
athletic performance
a "squeaky-clean" Paleo approach
What's wonderful about the book is it explains why grains hurt your gut, why and how leaky gut occurs, and how to heal it - without putting you to sleep in the process. Amongst other things, it includes a guide to food labeling and food quality - explaining what each means.
It also explains how legumes are primarily a carbohydrate not a protein source, and difficult to digest - causing gas in many people. Or about anti-nutrients - and how these act as blockers - the seeds and nuts of plants tend to be high in anti-nutrients.
* Playbuilding as Qualitative Research by Joe Norris which I borrowed from one of the people that I'm co-writing an experimental play with at church. This is a book that is highly recommended to anyone who is studying social psychology, sociology, education, or the drama. Particularly recommended to play-writes and screen-writers.
Fascinating non-fictional work that discusses how various social situations or causes can be examined through a collaborative play-building. Through improve, various exercises, and sharing techniques - collaborators build a play about a specific social issue and present to an audience - often as an interactive piece. Borrows heavily from Brecht and the idea of the collapse of the 4th wall.
Some quotes that caught my attention:
1. Using both empirical and imaginative data, vignettes are devised using a variety of theaterical forms that serve as evocateurs inviting live audiences into the quest for meaning about social issues that face them.
Audiences participate in situations where they question their present stances based on listening to The OTHER.
2. Multiple perspectives make engagement more complex.
The ability to merge one's own vision with the disparate visions of others requires a unique balance of personal integrity and humility.
The stories of others are strong evocateurs for one's own stories.
I'm considering utilizing this - if and when - I get up the guts to volunteer for the Horizon's project. The Horizon's project is a creative writing program and mentoring/tutoring program for disadvantaged high school and junior high students in the inner city. Some of the exercises could work beautifully to evoke stories and creative writing from the kids.
We're currently utilizing the exercises and the overall approach in our theater workshop. I'm a hands on learner. Lectures put me to sleep. For me to learn - I need to interact, to discuss, to figure it out. Luckily, the undergraduate school that I attended focused on the hand-on approach. Law school was hit and miss, much like the rest of my education. As much as I'd like to blame the teachers for this - I honestly don't think it is their fault so much as the system and the policy makers who structure it. Seriously? They need to require all policy makers to spend at least a year as a teaching assistant, and another year taking courses on "learning". Less quantitative research and more qualitative. I have an old college bud who got a PH.D in Public Policy, focusing on education, and I think it was a waste. She knows nothing about how people learn. How can you begin to set educational policy or discuss it - if you don't understand the various ways people learn and why? How can you begin to teach someone if you don't understand that some of the students in your class mishear what you are saying, are dyslexic, reverse words or letters, or need a more hands on/interactive approach? This is a topic that continues to make me crazy. One of the reasons I love the television series, The WIRE, is that it really underlines these problems with our educational system.
3.What I'm reading next?
Eh, probably the latest Dresden novel, The Skin Game, like most of my flist. But it is possible I'll grab the next book in the Iron Seas series, not sure yet - have mixed feelings about this one. It's a bit slow. Also flirting with various other novels such as the Goblin Emperor.
ETA: Had to go back and re-edit this thing 5 times, due to formatting errors. I miss the days when it didn't matter - assuming there were any outside of my imagination. We tend to think the past was better, mainly because we have deleted all the nasty stuff. My difficulty with formatting - is I lack the patience for it. It's not that I can't do it, so much as I can't be bothered. Which admittedly poses difficulties in a world - where effective communication depends primarily on how good you are at formatting.
Same as last week - Magic Rises. I don't tend to be a fast reader - although I've realized I tend to read more carefully than speed readers. Noticed this in discussions with friends and family members. I'll remember things from a book, or pick up on things, that whirled past them. Possibly because I'm not skimming?
Weirdly, I skim a lot at work - but that's because I'm reading the equivalent of stereo instructions. This week it was the technical specifications for a clean-agent fire suppression system to be designed and installed in a data center. Determined a few things while reading it - 1) the chief of IT who co-wrote it, can't write worth shit, nor is he very good at floor plans or architectural drawings. They forgot to put in the square footage, or for that matter detail what was in the room and provide the proper dimensions. I spent two hours fighting with him over the phone yesterday - to get detailed specifications so that I can figure out the best method of procuring/buying the system. (I work for the government, you would not believe the regulations involved in buying a fire alarm system. And it depends on the method. If it is a public works? Then you have to get the approval of the agency's board of directors to use the Request for Proposal Method. If it's not a public works, then you don't. Public works is defined as construction and/or adding value to a building. Now, there's a bit of a debate at work on whether the design and installation of a fire alarm system is a public works. According to my boss - it isn't unless you have to add conduits. Otherwise you are just installing a computer or appliance, so professional service. According to everyone else - it is a public works since you are adding value to the building, and installing equipment. So, I sort of need to know if conduits are required to determine what to do next. (ie. does it go to the Board first or not?) ) 2) I know more about fire alarm systems right now than I ever wanted to know. And I'm frankly astonished that the trains run on time or at all for that matter.
2.what I am reading now?
Slowly working my way through the steam-punk sci-fi, romantic adventure The Iron Duke. Just finished reading the scene that people were whinging about on Amazon and Good Reads.
My take? These people need to broaden their reading horizons a bit (less Nicholas Sparks and more Shakespeare) or learn how to read. One or the other. A lot of the reviewers on Amazon and Good Reads, frankly bewilder me.
All that happened was while the hero was making love to the heroine (performing oral sex on her), she freaked out and told him to stop. But he didn't hear her, because he was drunk off his gord, as was she. So he continued until she had an orgasm. But she couldn't bear losing control or feeling that deeply sexually - because of her experiences under the Horde's rule. (It's complicated. In this world, which is basically Victorian England, people have been infected by nanonites which heal them, and unfortunately, through the use of radio frequencies can be used to control their emotions and physical actions. The bad guys took over England, before the hero destroyed their radio tower, by controlling the citizens' nanonites through radio waves. Citizens, who weren't under their control, were infected by a nanonite, which turned them into zombies. OR they managed to evacuate to the USA and were safe. At any rate, the people being controlled by the nanonites were forced to attend balls - and them manipulated into a sexual frenzy - where they would literally have sex with anything or anyone who was available at the time. Personally? I think that would be far more triggering than what happened between the tortured hero (who was a sex slave at one point) and the heroine. ) At any rate, she gets upset and shoots him with an opium dart (surprised she didn't kill him, considering he was inebriated - you'd think that opium plus alcohol...). He feels all remorseful and hates the fact he hurt her. Honestly, I think she needs to take a little responsibility here. Which she does, and she tells me that she wants to do it - but needs more control, and why she reacted the way she did - it wasn't him, it was what the Horde did to her. So, moral of the story? Ignore book reviewers on Amazon and Good Reads, they swing towards hyperbole.
It's more a romance novel than an adventure novel. And a wee bit slow in places. Also, the author like a lot of these modern romance novelists, feels the need to start the story when the two characters meet - which frankly is the least interesting. Their back stories are a lot more interesting and I'd have preferred a longer novel with less summarizing of the back story, and more detail. (I miss the old school novelists who did this.)
The other books currently reading are:
* The aforementioned (in a previous post) The Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo, which is surprisingly good and the best book I've read or seen on nutrition and leaky gut, ceiliac disease, etc. Not sure about the recipes yet. Need to try a few first.
Practical Paleo is jam-packed with over 120 easy recipes, all with special notes about common food allergens including nightshades and FODMAPs. Meal plans are also included, and are designed specifically to support:
immune health (autoimmune conditions)
blood sugar regulation (diabetes 1 & 2, hypoglycemia)
digestive health (leaky gut, IBS & IBD)
multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndromethyroid health (hypo and hyper - Hashimotos, Graves)
heart health (cholesterol & blood pressure)
neurological health (Parkinson's & Alzheimer's)
cancer recovery
fat loss
athletic performance
a "squeaky-clean" Paleo approach
What's wonderful about the book is it explains why grains hurt your gut, why and how leaky gut occurs, and how to heal it - without putting you to sleep in the process. Amongst other things, it includes a guide to food labeling and food quality - explaining what each means.
* Organic : Animals may not receive hormones/antiboitics unless in the case of illness. They consume organic feed and have outdoor access but may not use it. Animals are not necessarily grass-fed. Certification is costly and some reputable farms are forced to forgo it. (True, found that out listening to a conversation at the farmers market.) Compliance is verified through third-party auditing.
* Natural - means minimally processed and companies use this word deceivingly. All cuts are by definition minimally processed and free of flavorings or chemicals.
* No added hormones - it is illegal to use hormones in raising poultry or pork, therefore, the use of this phrase on poultry or pork is a marketing ploy. (LOL!)
It also explains how legumes are primarily a carbohydrate not a protein source, and difficult to digest - causing gas in many people. Or about anti-nutrients - and how these act as blockers - the seeds and nuts of plants tend to be high in anti-nutrients.
* Playbuilding as Qualitative Research by Joe Norris which I borrowed from one of the people that I'm co-writing an experimental play with at church. This is a book that is highly recommended to anyone who is studying social psychology, sociology, education, or the drama. Particularly recommended to play-writes and screen-writers.
Fascinating non-fictional work that discusses how various social situations or causes can be examined through a collaborative play-building. Through improve, various exercises, and sharing techniques - collaborators build a play about a specific social issue and present to an audience - often as an interactive piece. Borrows heavily from Brecht and the idea of the collapse of the 4th wall.
Some quotes that caught my attention:
1. Using both empirical and imaginative data, vignettes are devised using a variety of theaterical forms that serve as evocateurs inviting live audiences into the quest for meaning about social issues that face them.
Audiences participate in situations where they question their present stances based on listening to The OTHER.
2. Multiple perspectives make engagement more complex.
The ability to merge one's own vision with the disparate visions of others requires a unique balance of personal integrity and humility.
The stories of others are strong evocateurs for one's own stories.
I'm considering utilizing this - if and when - I get up the guts to volunteer for the Horizon's project. The Horizon's project is a creative writing program and mentoring/tutoring program for disadvantaged high school and junior high students in the inner city. Some of the exercises could work beautifully to evoke stories and creative writing from the kids.
We're currently utilizing the exercises and the overall approach in our theater workshop. I'm a hands on learner. Lectures put me to sleep. For me to learn - I need to interact, to discuss, to figure it out. Luckily, the undergraduate school that I attended focused on the hand-on approach. Law school was hit and miss, much like the rest of my education. As much as I'd like to blame the teachers for this - I honestly don't think it is their fault so much as the system and the policy makers who structure it. Seriously? They need to require all policy makers to spend at least a year as a teaching assistant, and another year taking courses on "learning". Less quantitative research and more qualitative. I have an old college bud who got a PH.D in Public Policy, focusing on education, and I think it was a waste. She knows nothing about how people learn. How can you begin to set educational policy or discuss it - if you don't understand the various ways people learn and why? How can you begin to teach someone if you don't understand that some of the students in your class mishear what you are saying, are dyslexic, reverse words or letters, or need a more hands on/interactive approach? This is a topic that continues to make me crazy. One of the reasons I love the television series, The WIRE, is that it really underlines these problems with our educational system.
3.What I'm reading next?
Eh, probably the latest Dresden novel, The Skin Game, like most of my flist. But it is possible I'll grab the next book in the Iron Seas series, not sure yet - have mixed feelings about this one. It's a bit slow. Also flirting with various other novels such as the Goblin Emperor.
ETA: Had to go back and re-edit this thing 5 times, due to formatting errors. I miss the days when it didn't matter - assuming there were any outside of my imagination. We tend to think the past was better, mainly because we have deleted all the nasty stuff. My difficulty with formatting - is I lack the patience for it. It's not that I can't do it, so much as I can't be bothered. Which admittedly poses difficulties in a world - where effective communication depends primarily on how good you are at formatting.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-05-22 11:16 pm (UTC)They do help at times - I've managed to steer clear of a few books due to reviews. Although sometimes a negative review will spark my curiousity and I'll read the book just to see what ticked the reviewers off. I've done that with television shows and movies too.
I admittedly read this book due to the reviews.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-23 01:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-23 01:25 am (UTC)The spoilers will intrigue me. And if they aren't giving me enough? I read the quotes.
Unfortunately my work place changed its security settings again, so while I can access Good Reads at work, I can't see any of the graphics, search the site or get the reviews. Highly annoying.