Random Fodder

I have been working on the Readers' Challenge for ten months now. My ultimate goal is to Read 23 books in one year.

The next-to-last month has slipped by in my challenge. Of course, I'm ending up cutting it very close, but I'm not worried. I have just one book left to finish by October 22. As my luck would have it, the book that I'm over halfway through with was requested by another patron, so I couldn't keep the book! Aargh! That's an obvious setback. Luckily, I am already about halfway through another book, too, but it's non-fiction and much slower reading.

So, here's the one book I did manage to finish this past month:

September 2008 (Month 11)

22. The View from the Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier
    This is an interesting collection of short stories, most of which have a somber tone. Many revolve around characters who are morning in their own way about missed opportunities. Though most of the stories carry this common theme, the characters and settings are completely different between stories. For instance, there is a Star Trek-esque fan fiction, a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story, a fable about a mute man who lived in a world where everyone else sang melodiously, and a story about a man who accidentally buys God's overcoat that has papers with prayers spilling from the pockets. Among the 13 short stories, there will be touching moments and thought-provoking proverbs, but the melancholy tone carries throughout. A well written book. Suggested for anyone who won't mind a lack of outrageously happy endings.

The third month has ended in my Readers' Challenge. Since I started, I updated my goal from reading 23 books in three years to instead to Read 23 books in one year. After three months, I have read 9 books. At this rate, I'll still have read my "quota" within 8 months. So long as I don't have another Orchid Thief in my list (see below for details), I may finish even before then.

Here are the four books I read in the second month, December 2007:

4. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
   Despite the fact that this book was 520 pages, well over my self-imposed page limit, this was my favorite book thus far. The story is a chronologically broken telling of a man's time traveling life and his relationship with his wife. Though his travels were out of his conscious control, he often time traveled back to his wife's childhood and spent time with her there. I particularly appreciated the mythology of time travel in this book: He has accepted that "what has happened, has happened" and that he can't change events. (On one occasion, his attempts to avoid an embarrassing situation are actually the cause of the embarrassing situation.) He also has no control over traveling, and unlike most books or shows, he does not travel with his clothes. The book is a great story of romance conquering all and should appeal to both science fiction fans as well as those who enjoy romance.
5. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
   Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead was one of my favorite movies, and the script is just as much fun. It's even better in the aspect that you can carefully read and re-read the fast-talking portions of the script that simply zing by in the movie or in a performance.
6. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
   I really couldn't stand this story. I couldn't figure out why in the world critics enjoy this story. When I have some free time, I'll have to grab Cliff's Notes for The Metamorphosis to see what people enjoy about the story. I think I have a grasp of some of the metaphors in the story, but even these don't redeem the plot. Does anyone have some words of wisdom about this story?
7. The Children of Men by P.D. James
   James' book is a great story of survival and redemption in a society that has given up all hope. In this story, the entire world has become sterile, and no one has given birth for over twenty-five years. James describes what England has become politically and socially after 25 years of optimism followed by hopelessness.
   I read this book because I enjoyed the movie, but I quickly found out that this book isn't really related to the movie. It's as if someone read the book and thought, "That gives me a great idea for a movie, but I couldn't use the plot without getting permission from the author." Nonetheless, the movie makes for a great movie and the book makes for a great book.

Here are the two books I read in the third month, January 2008:

8. The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
   This book was a bit of a disaster. I enjoyed Adaptation, so I thought I would read the book that the movie was based on. What I didn't know was that this book wasn't anything like the movie. The main characters of the movie (played by Nicholas Cage) are not in the book at all. This book is a biography of John Laroche, who was arrested stealing orchids from Florida swampland. Most of the book isn't even a biography, but instead a history of orchids, other plants, and Florida. The book me three long weeks to read. If you're very interested in flowers and people who devote their lives to flowers, then give this book a shot. Otherwise, watch Adaptation and maybe you'll like it. Here's one instance where I can clearly say that the movie was better than the book.
9. Speed Cleaning 101: Cut Your Cleaning Time in Half! by Laura Dellutri
   This is really a how-to book about how to efficiently clean your house. I chose it because I also have a goal to clean up my house and keep it clean. Dellutri has worked in the professional cleaning service for years, and she has gleaned many great ideas. Quick read with many great ideas. Facts like where the worst bacteria homes are in the house (kitchen sponge and refrigerator door) as well as how to clean efficiently (side-to-side strokes, not circular motions).

See more progress on: Read 23 books in three years

I thought I'd post an update on one of my goals for this year (and last year, and the year before). A year ago, I posted on 43 Things that perhaps moving into the new apartment would make things easier to keep the place neat and tidy. 2007 proved that this wasn't the case at all. I decided yesterday that I’ve got to really focus on accomplishing this goal so I can help keep my wife’s sanity intact.

Yesterday, I finally got around to getting started on cleaning up the apartment:

1. I picked up the kids’ toys after they went to bed and put the toys in bins. I warned the kids that they will be expected to keep their room clean and that some toys will be disappearing as we store them and/or give them away.
2. I ran two loads of dishes last night and mostly cleared out the sink.
3. The kids’ dirty clothes were piled on the floor, so I bought a second hamper so the kids have a place to put their dirty clothes.
4. We had a large mess on the kitchen floor where our recyclables really had no good place to go. The storage area was far too small (just two plastic drink containers and the bin was full). This resulted in plastic and cardboard spilling across the kitchen floor. To remedy this, I bought a couple plastic bins large enough to hold our standard amount of plastic, cardboard, and glass.
5. I put our futon back into the upright "couch" position — it had been in the flat "bed" position ever since we had company during the holidays.

So, for one night’s work, the place looks a bit cleaner and organized — and certainly less cluttered.

And tonight, I got some stuff accomplished, though I didn't do nearly as much as yesterday:

1. I cleared off the table of the mounds of papers and other items cluttering half of our dining room table. Not only do we have use of our table now, but we also have more of our clutter gone!
2. Sprayed and wiped off the dining room table and chairs.
3. I went through all the areas I cleaned yesterday and made sure that any disarray from today had been cleaned up. (This is the key to keeping the house clean each day!)

There’s still plenty of work ahead of us. We’ll see what the future holds. I’ve requested some cleaning / organization / decluttering books from the library to see what suggestions and hints I can glean from skimming them.

See more progress on: clean up my house and keep it clean. I'll probably post further updates there as I continue to try and keep up with this goal.

2008 has reared its ugly head, and left me with not even a handful of completed goals:

• 3 goals (7%) were completed successfully.
• 9 goals (21%) were abandoned.
• 31 goals (72%) will be carried over for 2008.

What goals have I chosen for 2008? 31 goals have been carried over, 12 new goals have been added, and 1 goal from 2006 has returned:

1. Accomplish more goals this year than last year
2. attend a local government meeting
3. Be a better blogger
4. be an audience member for a TV show taping*
5. Be part of a flash mob
6. build an igloo
7. clean up my house and keep it clean
8. Do the Discovery Health National Body Challenge
9. drink more water
10. eat healthier
11. eat with my hands
12. exercise regularly
13. fly a kite
14. Get better at chess*
15. Give blood
16. go camping
17. have a 3 month emergency fund
18. have family devotions
19. Help my child finish the Hooked on Math program*
20. Help my mother start her home business
21. Join a professional organization*
22. Learn how to remember peoples' names
23. Learn Spanish
24. learn to do crosswords*
25. learn to ice skate*
26. Learn to juggle*
27. lose weight
28. make a time capsule
29. Make family silhouettes*
30. open the yellow pages, pick the seventh restaurant, and eat the seventh entree and dessert on the menu
31. Read 23 books in one year†
32. Reduce debt.
33. Send a message in a bottle
34. Send a postcard to Postsecret
35. sleep in a hammock
36. spend ten minutes holding the door for people
37. stick to a budget
38. stop being late
39. take 43 photos of 43 places within 43 minutes of where I live‡
40. take a family vacation
41. Take the Mensa test.*
42. Volunteer
43. Write a will*

* A new goal for 2008.
† A "new" goal for 2008 added in October 2007 and due by October 2008.
‡ A renewed goal from before 2007.

You can also view my current list and past accomplished goals at 43 Things or on my own 43 Things page here.

My top two "cheered" goals by other 43 Things users each have 10 cheers, twice as many as the next highest cheered goal. They are:

• 10 cheers - build an igloo
• 10 cheers - attend a local government meeting

So, I should probably put a little extra effort into getting these completed this year.

As I mentioned before, I joined my library's Readers' Challenge to read 23 books in three years. I got off to a very quick start in my first month — 5 books — but then I picked up the guidelines and had to ask that two of my books be removed from my list. So now, I'm at 3 books, which is still ahead of schedule to finish 23 books in under a year.

Here's my progress so far, at the end of November 2007:

0. Families That Play Together Stay Together! by Cameron and Donna Partow
   This was a very nice book that encourages families to spend time together bonding and getting/keeping healthy. (I had to remove this from my list because guidelines state that you cannot count books that you own — only books you borrow from the library!)
1. A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
   Vonnegut has always been one of my favorite authors, particularly since he was categorized by my high school as a "Contemporary Classic." Thus, I could read plenty of Vonnegut and have it count toward my required reading. A Man Without a Country is one of his more recent works, and is really more a collection of essays. I didn't appreciate this book as much as I would have liked because there was plenty of anti-Bush and Bush-equals-Hitler rhetoric. I know that Vonnegut was always more of a Socialist than anything else, but I just felt that this baseless blaming is and was above his intellect.
0. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
   This is a wonderful childrens' classic that I enjoyed multiple times as a child and yet again this month as I read the book to Sebastian. Unfortunately, I had to have this book removed from my reading list because it is not categorized as an Adult or Young Adult book.
2. Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage
   Firmin is an interesting story of a rat who spends his infancy gnawing on a large book and quickly learning to read books. He spends much of his early life living in a bookstore, reading every book he can get access to. He spends his nights eating in a risqué movie theatre. All these books and movies lead to many grand ideas, but in the end, Firmin remains just a rat, detached from humankind. Finally, Firmin finds a human to bond with, but catastrophe befalls him on multiple levels as he loses his friend and the demolition of his home — Boston's Scollay Square — destroys all that he knows. The book is a sad story of longing, told from a truly unique perspective.
3. Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children by Neale S. Godfrey
   This book is a very useful tool to help parents teach their children financial habits that should help them throughout life. The chapter on allowances sheds light on how to properly distribute money to your children (as early as three years old) and ensure that they use their money wisely by giving to charity and saving for medium- and long-term goals. The book also helps you explain to children how banks function and the confusing financial customs such as tipping and taxes. If you have children ages 3-18, you would be well advised to read this book and help your kids gain a mature view of money and finances — you will probably learn a few things about your own finances while you're at it!

I had placed a basic rule for myself that I would aim to read books that were around 200-250 pages so I wouldn't get swamped. After I made that personal guideline, one particular book kept coming up in lists of books similar to what I enjoy, so I checked it out of the library and found the first couple chapters captivating. Wouldn't you know it: That book is 540 pages! Still, that's the book I'm reading now, and it's worth it. Luckily, I'll finish this and still be a little ahead of schedule.

See more progress on: Read 23 books in three years