Review: Brave New World

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I decided to read this book in part of my attempt to read at least one classic book a season. The book was published in 1932 and the first thing I have to say is it didn't feel dated. The book is about a future society where everyone (well almost everyone) is happy and content with their status in life and when they start to feel unhappy their is a pill to take to solve that problem. There are no family structure and you are raised by society to be happy in your role in society from before birth. Multiple sex partners are encouraged. Talk of God and Shakespeare are forbidden. The main plot of the story is what happens when someone who was raised outside that world is thrown into it how he reacts to the it and how it react to him. The bottom line is I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.



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Review: Wool Omnibus

Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Finished the book last night and I enjoyed it. I wouldn't say it was the best book ever but it was a good read and kept me wanting more. It is is set up to be the first in a series, however I think you can read this book and stop and be just fine. There are some cliff hangers at the end, but that doesn't bother me too much. I haven't read a ton of science fiction books so I don't have a lot to compare it too I have discovered though that I much prefer book where it is about the people living in the future and not so much about the technology and this book fits that mold



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Review: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Having just finished the book, I am finding it hard to put into words what i thought of this book. Lincoln was such a extraordinary leader that he was willing to surrond himself with men who were ambitious and often disagreed with him. Yet he was able to bring out the best in them and earn their respect and in some cases friendship. Doris Kearns Goodwin has the ability to put you into the time and place as if you are standing in the rooms and fields were the events are happening, you begin to know the people as if they are your neighbors and colleagues. Although you know how it ends, with each turn of a page you hope that the ending somehow doesn't occur. I do highly recommend this book



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The Parting

He was dying he knew it, it was his time. In fact it was past his time. He was so old that he suspected most people already thought he was dead. He had been thinking about the past a lot lately, especially about Mary, God he missed her.

“Would you hurry up Tom, the ship isn’t going to wait for us you know”. “I’m coming, Mary I don’t know why you are in such a hurry to leave your home and family.” It is not that I want to leave, but there is nothing to keep me here. “What are you smiling at Michael O’Shannon,” “Nothing” Michael said as he steadied the horse and wagon.

He, Mary and Tom had been friends since they could walk. Mary and Tom were going to marry, that was the truth. It was true as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West. That didn’t stop him from staring. He loved how Mary stood with her hand on her hip with he skirt fitting tightly over her hip. He smiled again.

Mary and Tom walked toward the dock. “I don’t want to go” “What do you mean.” Mary stared back at Tom, her mind racing a 100 miles and hour. They had planned and saved for almost a year for this trip. Tom had always been the steady and down to earth one. It was Michael who had always been unpredictable and full of fire. A little bit like her if she was being honest. Ever since the famine had gotten worst in their area the world had turned upside down. Now Michael was the steady one and Tom had gone all dreamy. “This is my home and land and I don’t want to leave it.” “I have no reason to stay, I want something better for my future or at least my children future”

“What the heck is going on Michael thought as he saw Tom coming back toward him. His head was down looking like a puppy who had been kicked. There as nothing in the wagon he had left behind. In fact there had been vey little to start with. ”Why are you back.“ ”I am not going, I need you to go and make sure Mary is okay.“ Michael stood there and stared at Tom, mouth open swearing that the sun had just stopped in the sky. ”But, what about you and Mary, you are supposed to be married.“ ”I know“ Tom said his voice fading away. ”Maybe I’ll come later, I just can’t go now and Mary will not wait. Michael saw Mary in the distance standing facing the ship, trying not to look back. “Ok, are you sure,” “Yes”, said Tom.

Michael walked toward Mary and stood by her. He could tell she was trying not to cry. “I am supposed to go with you,” “Yes” Mary said quietly. They started toward the ship and went up the plank. They stood on the deck looking back at Tom. “Maybe he will come later” Michael said. Mary looked at him with a sad smile. They both knew that wasn’t true. The ship began to slip it’s mooring and they were ordered down below. They took one more look back at Tom, and somehow both of them knew it would be the last time they would see him.

Memories from the Past

I was going through some old analog notebooks and I came across this note that I wrote in Dec 4 2006:
Rest in Peace James Kim, your family is fine.  James Kim's body was found last night.  When I heard the news sadness swept over me.  Since then I thought how odd that feeling was.  I didn't know James Kim personally.  I remember seeing him on tech TV's  Screen saver and more recently thru the CNET video cast.  James Kim was affectionately known as a Lab rat.  He would appear in front of the camera occasionally to go over a product he tested.  He wasn't a celebrity or even a personality.  He was just a guy doing his job.   The funny thing is even six years later, occasionally I will thing about James Kim and feel sad, sometimes someone passes through your life and makes an impact that you don't recognize until much later.

Test the HTML5 video player for the Mac

The Tree

There was tree at the edge of a river. It stood there silently for many years. Occasionally when the wind blew it would creek and moan. One time the wind blew so hard it lean over so far it thought it would break its back, but it remained standing tall and firm. The storm had killed some of his neighbors which made him very sad.
He could remember there was a chair beneath him where the old man once sat for hours and played his fiddle. The tree really liked the old man, they had grown old together. He was planted when the old man was born. The old man had always treated him well. When he was a young sapling, there was a great freeze. His young branches were covered with ice and he thought for sure he was going to die. Then he saw a light coming from the distance, it was the young boy and his father. They covered him with a blanket and staked him up. When they removed the blanket he stood taller then ever.
There was the frayed end of an old rope hanging from his lower limb. The rope had once held a tire, that the man had hung one summer long ago. The man and his friends would swing from the tire and drop into the river. It was a good summer when the man’s laughter filled the air.
That winter the man only came one time. He was dressed all in brown, his hair was very short and the laughter was gone. He had a young girl, Mary with him and they kissed beneath his branches. Two summers passed before the man returned. When he returned he appeared a lot older and much sadder. The tree didn’t understand why the man had been gone so long, so he asked the river and the wind. The river told him that he heard from the ocean that some of his brother rivers ran red. The wind told him that at times the ground got so loud it made him groan. This made him quite sad.
That spring he was filled with pride when the man and Mary were joined together underneath his branches. He made sure they were well shaded and he asked the bird who had a nest in his branch to sing a song. The tree thought the bird had sung the most beautiful song he had ever heard. In a short time, there were little ones crawling underneath him. Soon they were climbing and swinging from his branches as the man once had. The man was busy so didn’t visit too often, although the tree missed him, somehow he understood. The seasons past from winter to summer then back again many times. The man’s hair turned from black to grey and then to white like snow. The tree noticed that when the man hair turned like snow, the visits got more frequent. The man would sit in a chair underneath his branches. He and his friends would talk for hours arguing and laughing. Sometimes he and Mary would sit together and the old man would plan his fiddle low and slow.
One day Mary stopped coming. The old man came a few more times and then he stopped too. Then one day the tree saw the man’s oldest some coming toward him. Behind him were two boxes being carried by the old man’s grandchildren. The tree was surprised by how gray the son’s hair had gotten. Everyone was dressed in black and there were two holes dug and the boxes were placed in them. Tears were flowing from the eyes of those who gathered beneath him. The boxes were covered with dirt and a prayer was said. The birds sang the saddest song the tree could remember and it filled him with sorrow. His limbs swayed to the song. Then he understood the old man would not be visiting him anymore. He and Mary would become a part of him, forever. This made the strangely sad and happy at the same time. He lived 2 scores on and many people would live in the house and would sit under his branches, but he remembered the man best of all.