Reading List (Fiction)

Here's the fiction list. Maybe my co-con will get his list up as well (if you're lucky)...

1984	George Orwell
A House for Mr. Biswas	V.S. Naipul
A Million Little Pieces	Jame Frey
Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned	Walter Mosley
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The	Michael Chabon
Arabian Nights
Asisistant, The	Bernard Malamud
Battle Royale	Koushun Takami
Bell Jar, The	Sylvia Plaith
Blindness	Jose Saramago
Bridge of San Luis Rey, The	Thorton Wilder
Brothers Karzmarov, The	Fyodor Dostoevsky
Candide	Voltaire
Cannery Row	John Steinbeck
Choke	Chuck Palahniuk
Cloud Atlas	David Mitchell
Confessions of Nat Turner, The	William Styron
Contact	Carl Sagan
Corner, The	David Simon
Corrections, The	Jonathan Franzen
Devil in the White City	Erik Larson
Drown	Junot Diaz
Einstein's Dreams	Alan Lightman
Falconer	John Cheever
Go Tell It On the Mountain	James Baldwin
How We Are Hungry	Dave Eggers
I Am Legend	Richard Matheson
Illustrated Alchemist, The	Paulo Coelho
Infinte Jest	David Foster Wallace
Invisible Cities	Italo Calvino
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell	Susanna Clark
Known World, The	Edward Jones
Memoirs of a Geisha	Arthur Golden
Midnight's Children	Salman Rushdie
Mist	Miguel de Unamuno
Money	Martin Amis
Mysterious Island, The	Jules Verne
No Longer At Ease	Chinua Achebe
Never Let Me Go	Kazuo Ishiguro
On the Road	Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Ken Kesey
Painted Bird, The	Jerzy Kosinski
Posionwood Bible, The	Barbara Kingsolver
Power and the Glory, The	Graham Greene
Rabbit, Run	John Updike
Saturday	Ian McEwon
Seven Types of Ambiguity	Elliot Perlman
Slaughterhouse Five	Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash	Neal Stephenson
Song of Solomon	Toni Morrison
Sophie's World	Jostein Gaarder
Sound and Fury, The	William faulkner
Steppenwolf	Herman Hesse
Strange Pilgrims	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Stranger, The	Albert Camus
Time-Traveler's Wife, The	Audrey Niffenegger
Ubik	Phillip Dick
White Teeth	Zadie Smith
Your Not a Stranger Here	Adam Haslett

52 Books: Life of Pi (The Preseason)

As I've stated before, in 2006, I'm going to try to read 52 books next year. I read a fair bit (a couple books a week), but for some reason I feel compelled to take on this task. The reasons are varied, some more admirable than others. One of the main reasons is that I just want to see if I can do it. Simply do I have the discipline to complete a task like this. The only thing that would prevent me from completing a task like this, is lack of will, and I want to see if I can do it. The second reason, is because I feel like I waste a lot of time. Whether its sleeping, watching Around the Horn/PTI every day, or watching old Martin episodes, I feel like I'm leaving a lot of time on the table. There have to better ways to use said time, including good ole fashion noggin' nourishing. Reason number 3 is to expose myself to more good fiction. Most of the stuff that captures my interest are political science/sociology/social theory/current affairs book. Through this project, I'll be exposed to a lot of good authors, and read some more of my old favorites.

Anyway, back to the title of this post. I came across this book in late 2003 when someone from my Coro program mentioned that Life of Pi was a great book, and I should check it out. I eventually bought it (though it usually takes two people to recommend something for me before I buy it and I was very very pleased) Even though it took me 2 years to read it, and the middle of the book was slow going, I was amazed by the scope of the book. Rarely has something challenged me to re-examine the way I think about the world, and this book did it. The basic premise involves a young indian boy on a boat with a bengal tiger, but the book is about so much more than that. Life, death, survival, faith, reason, etc. etc. etc. I dont' even want to talk about the plot too much for fear of giving something away. After I finished it, I was literally awestruck. What a way to start my expedition. If the whole year is going to be like this, I may read 52 books every year. =)

5 Reasons to move to Atlanta

As I've been traveling like a madman lately, I feel convicted to talk about my travels to a new favorite city of mine. As you may or may not know I grew up in Atlanta. When the city was getting all the hype, I was too young to experience it fully (as a high schooler) . Definitely a fun city, and a place I was proud to be from, but I wasn't reverent, the way some people seem to be.

On a short trip back there, I realized what all the hype was about (although anything would be be better than sitting in 7 inches of snow in michigan). So without further adieu, here are the top 5 reasons to move to Atlanta.

1. Family - Given that 40% of my favorite people in the entire world live here, that's got to be number 1.
   
2. Magic City - Two years ago I would substitute the Blue Flame, but since they lost their liquor license, I can't really put it on the list.
   
3. Atlantic Station - Yes, IKEA has made it to the south. It's like a Yuppie paradise down there.
   
4. Georgia Aquarium - The biggest aquarium in the world. Seeing that I love the water, yet am deathly afraid of beachfront real estate prices, this will have to do.
   
5. Before I had the Atlanta Falcons here, but seeing as they aren't going to make the playoffs I figured it made sense to swap this one out. Either the Waffle House, Shirley Franklin, or Young Jeezy....
   

Last Meals

So, I've decided to stop eating red meat. After the spoiled mealoaf debacle, I was left with no choice. But before I start my task, there are several meals which must be eaten before the end of the year:

1. Burger King: Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Crossanwich- Very underrated as a breakfast sandwich, much better than anything McDonald's can come up with.
   
2. Filet Mignon (Done) - Act Like You know.
   
3. Papa Johns: Pepperoni Pizza (Done) - I had a supreme last week, but that doesn't really count.
   
4. Quizno's: Classic Italian (Done) - I'm really sad about leaving this one behind.
   
5. Waffle House: Hashbrowns, Scattered and Topped (Done) - Caught a Waffle House in North Carolina, suprisingly enough. I've had some good meals recently, as well as some bad ones. Sweet tea, a chicken melt plate on texas toast, and the aforementioned hash browns will definitely put you in a good mood (if you can get past the slightly dirty silverware).
   
6. McDonald's: Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese - The ultimate comfort food.
   

5 Reasons to Move to New York

Well, since my co-con is thinking about providing the anniversary edition, I'm going to do what I do best. Talk about random stuff. So in the past 3 weeks, I've been to New York, Atlanta, DC, and Chapel Hill, NC. And before the year is up, I've got St. Louis, hopefully Atlanta again, and Las Vegas. The reason why I mention all these places, is because none of them are Michigan, where I had forgotten how much I hate 16 degree weather. Seriously. I absolutely hate it. I would rather burn in eternal fire, than have to endure three more winters. Nonetheless, let me get back to the title of this post, which includes 5 reasons why I would rather be in New York (even though the weather is also cold there).

1. Good Chinese Food Delivery. Finding someone who makes good Beef & Broccoli, is like women finding a pair of jeans that fits them well. It's the holy grail.
   
2. Cheap Books on the Street - Where else can you buy bootleg books?
   
3. 24 Hour Diners - Because where else can you get a delicious turkey burger at 3:00 in the morning.
   
4. No Car Note - I feel like I could deal with the extra rent money, in excahnge for not having a car note, insurance, and gas money.
   
5. Chance to be an extra in a movie - See Aristocrates.
   

10 Things Every Single Man Must Own: 6

6. A key-ring that can fix, cut, and open anything
Sure, your power-tool collection is outstanding—but it'll do you no good sitting in your closet when your date's sunglasses come apart at the restaurant. Show off how useful you can be by whipping out the tiny-but-powerful Leatherman Micra key-ring (leatherman.com). The two-and-a-half-inch, 1.75-ounce stainless-steel multi-tool combines scissors, tweezers, nail file, ruler, bottle opener, three screwdrivers, and a blade (of course). You’ll be amazed how indispensable it (and you, by extension) will become to her.

So Aristocrates decided to take one of these. Some scattered thoughts: My past date's (which have been very few and far between) have usually been at dinner, so its rare that I'll have to fix sunglasses. Besides, given the environment in which I live, I suspect the person would prefer to cop a new pair and more generally, cop a new-anything that "breaks." Furthermore, some items on the key-ring seem more for personal use (e.g. tweezers, nail file).

Here is my main point though, if I'm going to have this ready and available at all times with my date, I'm likely going to have it with me wherever I go. Well, if you are one of the millions of loyal readers of this blog, you'll know The Generalist lives on the road and I actually will be in North Carolina, Syracuse, Alabama, and Michigan over the next two weeks - that means mad, mad, mad plane rides. Is the Leatherman Micra Key-Ring going to make it through security checkpoints? Not if the checkpoint is doing its job, as it includes scissors and "a blade (of course)," thus, if I wasn't on the top of my game, I would get the joint confiscated on multiple occasions. Nice to have - yes, but I have better versions of all of the components at the crib separately.

Oh but wait, as I was composing this, the last paragraph apparently became null and void. Incredibly, small scissors and screwdrivers are among the items airline passengers will soon be allowed to take aboard planes again. Maybe, I'll just go cop this thing for the hell-of-it...

P.S. 11:47 and I apparently really get along. Crazy to me.

P.P.S. To all you crack fiends: Use that BlackBerry while you can.

Smarmy Post

I've been trying to bang this post out for a while, but unfortunately the Courtyard Marriott in North Carolina and my Thinkpad don't really like each other. I feel like mad things have happened since the last time I set down to write. In the past 2 weeks I've been in New York for 5 days, Atlanta for 5 days, and North Carolina for 4.

The XBOX 360 came out (I seriously entertained ideas of getting a HDTV), I realized that my co-contributor and his roomate live a movie, and, I got to catch up with some of my favorite people. I also missed 2 Lost episodes, 2 Prison Break episodes, and a partridge and a pear tree.

All this time was not for naught, as I made my first visit to IKEA (YES!!!), where I bought inexpensive bookends, cheap quilts, and unnecessary bookshelf lamps. I also finished a book, which I enthusiastically recommend for people who like smarmy intellectualy types (and who doesn't like smarmy intellectual types):
The Know-It-All : One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J. Jacobs (Hardcover)