6 Month Reading Roundup

I guess this is pretty much what the Blog has become, after 21 years.  I'd been making the effort to post every month or so there for a while, but I'm guessing I just wasn't up for it, early in the year.  Sudden job change, and all that.

The first couple months of this year, I feel like I didn't have much of an attention span.  I also wasn't driving 45 minutes or an hour every day, so my audiobook time was diminished.  

Things have picked up, and I'm doing a little better mentally, so I'm trucking along.  There have been a few more re-reads than in years past.  Just wanted to revisit a couple things, I guess.

A quick list of what I've been reading the first half of this year:

January

Light in August    by William Faulkner.

I've always listed Faulkner as a favorite, but I just hadn't read anything of his in four or five years.  Pulled this one off the shelf.  Originally read as part of Dr. Kerrick's American Lit (or perhaps his Southern Lit) class.  This one's brutal.  And oddly funny.  Calling something "the most human" of somebody's work isn't a great descriptor, but this one seems the largest and most complete examination of humanity, in Faulkner's world.  It's a favorite.  

Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing    by Stephen King

A companion piece to On Writing which I read in late 2022, it was a Book of the Month Club selection way back when.  Part of the continuing project.  Mostly a collection of forewords with a couple of essays and articles thrown in.  On its own, it's not much special, but I do like it as a companion piece.....

Bullet Train  by Kitaro Isaka

The novel on which the Brad Pitt flick (which I liked rather a lot) is based.  More philosophical, and definitely less Looney Tunes than the film adaptation, I kinda liked it.

The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command   by Edwin Coddington

This came from the library of my late friend Kevin Britton.  Kevin passed a year ago (give or take a day) in a motorcycle accident.  He, our friend Eric and I had gotten together only a week prior at a Tennessee Smokies baseball game.  Late in the year, Eric gave me this....it came from Kevin's library.  It was fitting, because it seemed like Kevin and I would trade books once a year, and end up reading a couple more based on the recommendations of the other.

As for the book, it's dry, but fascinating.  A strong look at the political and pragmatic pressures on all bodies involved with directing the battle.....

February

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches   by Tyler Kepner

I dug this one.  I learned a bit, which is impressive, considering that I think I know everything about baseball.....

Glitches and Stiches   by Nicole Givens Kurtz

A bit of Cybernoir.  A gift from my buddy Dino.  Cyberpunk, in general, isn't my cup of tea, but this one was grounded enough as a noir-ish police procedural that I blew through it in a couple days.  Big props to Kurtz for her depiction of Anxiety in the workplace.

True Grit  by Charles Portis

Another re-read.  It's turned into an annual re-read, for me.  I first read this back in the 80's....my Great Aunt Mae gave me a box of books that had been sitting in a closet at her house.  There were a lot of 60's and 70's TV and film adaptations, along with a handful of James Blish's Star Trek Readers, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and a copy of True Grit.  I read it, but in all honesty, it didn't leave a huge impression, except for a couple of images (Rooster Cogburn kicking the boys off the porch for taunting a mule; and the finger chopping scene, both of which matched up very well with the Coens' depiction in their film adaptation).  It's absolutely a helluva read.  Highly recommended.

Number One Walking    by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss

A Christmas gift from my mom, it's a graphic novelesque look at his career, mostly after Standup.....

March

Get Ready: A Champion's Guide to Preparing for the Moments That Matter  by Buzzy Cohen

Buzzy's book had popped up in a couple places, but I decided to listen to it after hearing him talk about it on the Jeopardy podcast.  Not a bad listen, and not as Jeopardy-centric as I'd thought going in.  Good primer in prepwork, especially valuable for those not used to it.  I like to think of it as a bit of a Type A Primer for Type B personalities.

The Grand Scheme of Things by Ian Strang

I've followed this guy on Twitter for a while, and he's a funny cat.  Picked up his book, which I enjoyed.  It was  bit long, but on the whole, I dug it.

The Stand  by Stephen King

I've been doing a chronological read-through of King's work, and I'd not wanted to double back, but for some reason, The Stand has a way of pulling me out of a funk.  Add to that, I'm not a great fan of the stuff that King first put out after his van accident, so I jumped into this one.  Thoughts this time around?  Franny sure gets the short end of the stick in the last 1/3 of the novel....she's largely the heart of the book, if not its conscience.  She's relegated to backup character by the time Stu and company wander out to Las Vegas.....

Wait for Signs  by Craig Johnson

A collection of short stories surrounding Walt Longmire.  Shyam made this one our route listen.

April

The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud

I think it's my favorite thing I've read this year.  A bit of True Grit meets The Martian Chronicles, run through Ballingrud's Weird Horror filter.  I give this one a high recommendation.

The Cruellest Month    by Louise Penny

Another series Shyam has gotten me into.  I don't know why I keep coming back to the Inspector Gameche books, but there's something affirmative in Gameche's kind nature.

Bone in the Throat    by Anthony Bourdain

It's not bad, but it can't seem to find a balance that it's comfortable with between humor and gravity.  In my head, I'd cast Brad Garrett as Tommy's Uncle, using his Jimmy John's commercial persona.  His final outcome was great.....

Hell's Angels: a Strange and Terrible Saga    by Hunter S. Thompson

I've had this on my shelf for 25 years, buying it during my initial HST phase.  I read 6 or 7 of Thompson's books in that wave, but not this one, for some reason.  Pulled it off the shelf and read it.  Not bad.  It's probably Thompson at his most journalistic, though he admits that he didn't know if it were researching or slowly getting absorbed during his travels. 

The Donut Legion   by Joe R. Lansdale

Without meaning it to, this became my doctor waiting room book.  Between visits for myself and my Mom, I read this in four different appointment sittings.  Good southern-fried romp from Joe.  Doesn't set the world on fire...well, except for one plot point.....

May

Dreamcatcher    by Stephen King

Part of the continuing project.   I didn't care for this one when it came out, and I cared for it less the second time around, in 2023.  

It's not bad, necessarily, so much as it feels like two or three novel ideas welded together.  Part of me always wondered if the genesis of the idea didn't come in the 70's or 80's, when a sort of constant background antagonist were the government agents employed at "The Shop."

I will note that this was written largely during his recuperation from that van accident.....

Shoeless Joe    by WP Kinsella

Another re-read.  I'd actually picked up a copy for my nephew, and I decided to re-read it so I could check for objectionable material that I might have forgotten (there isn't much, aside from some sadly casual racism).  The Field of Dreams adaptation is superior, but it does lose some of the Magic Quest feel that Ray's journey to pick up JD Salinger and Moonlight Graham takes.....

Found: an Anthology of Found Footage Horror Stories   edited by Andrew Cull & Gabino Iglesias

A Kindle read.  Read a story every few days for a couple months.  It's a bit of a mixed bag.  Too many "transcripts" as a plot device.  "Green Magnetic Tape" is pretty effective....and oddly, I liked Andrew Cull's intro to the collection very much.

Pigs  by Johanna Stoberock

An Audible listen.  Stoberock appeared on Jeopardy and mentioned her book.  An odd, dark fairy tale of a novel....Stoberock turns a good phrase.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

A fun read....we listened to this one while going over the mountains to North Carolina for a delivery.

June

Ball Four    by Jim Bouton

Another one that I'd picked up for my nephew.  Another one re-reading to check for objectionable content....maybe there is some, but I read this when I was 12, so I'm pretty sure he can handle locker-room talk.  

There is no better book written from inside the game of baseball.

Bouton is candid about himself, serious and self-deprecating, in his chances in playing for the 1969 expansion Seattle Pilots, and later, the contending Houston Astros.

There aren't many times I'll recommend listening to the audiobook before I would reading the work itself, but this is one of them.  Bouton's rendition of his work is astounding, from getting tickled remembering stories from the season, to getting heartbroken recounting the death of his daughter in a traffic accident in one of the 10-year updates.

Harold by Steven Wright

Steven Wright's non-sequitur ode to daydreaming in school.

Harold is a third-grader, and this novel recounts his daydream one afternoon in the late 1960's.....the timeframe is wobbly, occasionally referencing things much later.  Our narrator addresses such anachronisms simply:  mind your own business.

Hilarious, and occasionally angry.  I was touched a couple of times.  In many ways, I was Harold.  In some, I still am.

She Rides Shotgun   by Jordan Harper

The route listen.   Well put together.

Lock-In   by John Scalzi

A romp.   

2022 Reading Roundup

Just a roundup of what I read in 2022:

January

Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL  by Jeff Pearlman

When Pearlman's passionate about his subject, he's a good read.  And he was passionate about tracking this down.  Good read....I wish the current USFL, in its first season, had even 1/8th of the color and energy portrayed in Pearlman's book.....

The Ends of the World    by Peter Brannen

A look through the various eras and extinction events suffered by the Planet....works as an excellent companion piece to Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction

Rose Madder    by Stephen King

The continuing project.  This was one of the ones I'd never read all the way through.  I think I started it and abandoned it somewhere just after its publication.  Actually, not a bad read at all, though I wish King hadn't leaned so hard into mental illness as the genesis of Norman's abusive behavior....almost as if it's an out or an excuse of some kind.....

All About Me!    by Mel Brooks.

Lots of people found new projects during Covid-19's early days....Mel decided to write a memoir about his 70+ year career.  On the whole, I ended up not getting as much out of his movie-making stories that I'd hoped, but his adventures in TV before the movies, and on Broadway after, are well worth the read.

Camera Man   by Dana Stevens

The best biography of Buster Keaton I've read.  (I've now read three, to date).

February

Ballpark:  Baseball in the American City    by Paul Goldberger

A nice walk through the history of the ballpark and the Major League.  Does get a little repetitive....even if those multipurpose stadiums of the 70's are banal, do you have to use that word so much?

Ronan Boyle Into the Strage Place     by Thomas Lennon

This one is probably the funniest of the three Ronan Boyle books.  With one particular interaction having me crack up at a stoplight.

Junkyard Dogs    by Craig Johnson

Quick read.  Johnson continues to turn a good phrase....

You've Got Red on You:  How Shaun of the Dead was Brought to Life  by Clark Collis

Decent read....good look at the making of the flick....

Based on a True Story: a Memoir     by Norm MacDonald

Damn, but I miss Norm.  A re-read.  Easily one of the funniest books I've read.

The Green Mile  by Stephen King

The one was better than I remembered.....

March

The Lincoln Highway    by Amor Towles

I got this one for Christmas.  I'd been hearing about Towles for a couple of books....I liked this one.  

The Drive-In 2: (Not Just One of Them Sequels)   by Joe R. Lansdale

Just some good old goofy Lansdale.  I'd like to sit back and shoot the shit with this guy, perhaps more than any other author I read.....

The Shark-Infested Custard   by Charles Willeford

Hilarious, and dark as hell

Ghost Story   by Peter Straub

I ended up not caring for this one.  Long.  Never really coming to a satisfying point. 

April

George Washington    by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn

A little dry, but a good enough overview of his presidency

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination   by Neil Gabler

Creativity as a business endeavour fascinates me.....

Desperation    by Stephen King

I liked this one better than when I first read it in 1996....still, it's quite a bit longer than it needs to be.....

Eat a Peach   by David Wong

Interesting....as much a musing on management as it is a memoir

May

American War     by Omar El Akkad

One of my two or three favorite books that I've read this year.  I might have liked it even more if we weren't living in a dystopian future already, and perhaps running headline into the scenario outlined in this book....

Hunter Houston and the Molten Menace   by Bobby Nash

A gift from a buddy.  A quick read.  Nash has a good ear for The South....

The Regulators   by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman

Another new one----I'd never made it all the way through this one.  On its own, it's not bad.  But it doesn't have the same feel as the original Bachman books, somehow.....

In Cold Blood   by Truman Capote

Decided to re-read after catching the Capote flick one afternoon.  A re-read.  Actually read it for the work itself, instead of for content, in that half-assed resentful way I tended to read assigned works back in the day....

Never a Bad Game: Fifty-Plus Years in the Southern League    by Mark McCarter

Picked up for 75 cents at a local used book store.  Bathroom reading, if you wanna know the truth.  Also?  This one smells of being hurriedly and half-interestedly put together.  There's a bit of wikipedia journalism going on with this one.....

Razzmatazz      by Christopher Moore

With two books, Moore's Noir series is edging toward my favorite bit of his work.  At the very least, it's made me laugh more consistently than the bulk of his work since Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove.  (And I say that liking the Pocket series a great deal....).  Funny, with lots of nice turns of phrase....

June

A Better Man  by Michael Ian Black

In a letter to his son, Black speaks on what being a man in the 21st century means.  This wasn't quite what I was expecting... though I was quite pleased by what I read.....

Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of the Making of Mad Max Fury Road   by Kyle Buchanan

A helluva good read.  Probably my favorite thing I've read this year.....

Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind     by Yuval Noah Harari

My bedtime read for most of the spring...  

The Devil Crept In      by Ania Ahlborn

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did.  Solid concept.  but there were times the writing just felt wooden.....

The Dark Tower:  Wizard and Glass     by Stephen King

This one's in my top five favorite King works.  It was a pleasure to revisit.....

July

Once More Around the Park: A Baseball Reader   by Roger Angell

I'd had this on the shelf for a long time, and started thumbing through it when Angell passed.  Hundreds...thousands?....write about baseball, but few approach the poetic, nor have the pragmatic, philosophic eye for the game like Angell.

The Death of WCW by R.D. Reynolds and Brian Alvarez

Read this one around the 4th of July holiday, which was the second busiest week in my store's history.  Needed something light.  

John Adams by John Patrick Diggins

Another quick read.  Adams is as close as we got to a Philosopher King.  Always fascinating.

Transgressive Horror: Reflections on Scare Films that Broke the Rules edited by Christopher McGothlin

A Kickstarter collection of essays that my friend Alex had a piece in.  Not a bad read...surprisingly good take on Godzilla in there.....

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

This one had popped up as recommendation on a couple sites.  I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.....

August

Kindred by Octavia Butler

A re-read...hadn't read it since a SF class in College, and back then I read it too quickly to really enjoy it.  I liked it then, but really enjoyed it in 2022.  For me, who gets horror vibes from Fish out of Water scenarios anyway, thinks this is as good a horror read as it is SF.  

The Pallbearer's Club  by Paul Tremblay

What's better than one unreliable narrator?  TWO unreliable narrators!  This one's not bad.  Tremblay does good work in general....

Noir, edited by David B. Coe and John Zakour

Part of a Kickstarter....I liked "Basilisk Bluff" and "A Clear-Cut Reason" quite a bit.

Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale

I've read a lot of Lansdale, but somehow this one had slipped through the cracks, which is a shame, because it's a Banger.  In part, I'd not read the book because I'd seen the film adaptation first, which wasn't a bad flick at all.  The book is a lot of fun...

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

I started this one while I was in the hospital this year.  My first time in the hospital.  I did have a very nice doctor who talked books with me....coincidentally, this one was one of our favorites. 

September

The Church of Baseball: the making of Bull Durham   by Ron Shelton

Bull Durham is a flick that I've always kinda enjoyed, but have only really started appreciating in the past few years.  Maturity may be part of it, though I'm loathe to try to label myself as "mature."

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

I actually read Shyam's copy.  I picked it up and couldn't put it down.  Claustrophobic.  Weird.  And with just enough hospital stuff that it felt....proximal?  I'll watch for more from this guy

Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of his Work, Life and Influences  by Bev Vincent.

I wish I'd done my homework a little more.  It's not bad, but it just felt too much like one of those $18 magazines they sell in magazine stands because they aren't publishing as many magazines as they used to.  

There's Just One Problem by Brian Gewirtz

Surprisingly good read.  Creativity and Entertainment as a corporate enterprise always fascinates me.  This is a strong look at one organization's creative process, at least over the past couple of decades....

Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson

Johnson turns a good phrase, but this might be the strongest of the Longmire books, as it doesn't lean on Johnson's gift of gab, and gives us an strong look into the double toughness of Walt Longmire....

the Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black

Decent entry point, I'd say, into the extinction event story Reads kinda cinematically, looking at the day of the asteroid strike on the Yucatan, the days, months, years and centuries. It's a deeply passionate subject for Black who's weathered some changes of her own in the last few years, some of them nearly as personally cataclysmic as the fate that befell the dinosaurs....

October

Holy Terror    by Cherie Priest

The Lunchtime read for a while this fall...a excellent look back at Priest's short fiction.  For my money, she doesn't get enough credit for her weird horror work...

Dandelion  by Alex Bledsoe

Nice, unsettling, spooky little story of Southern Deliverance.  Alex writes the South admirably, and this one is no different in that respect.  This one's strong.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

Man, this one crackles.  Remember the fish out of water anxiety?  Yeah.  This one is a lot stronger than I remembered.

Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain  by Charles Leerhsen   

Quick read. Not bad. Bourdain was interesting to me in that "creativity as a corporate enterprise" kinda way. I came late to his works (I don't think I read anything book length until after his death).... his TV was always interesting, but Bourdain himself always struck me as a man with an angry undercurrent. When I heard about his suicide, I was saddened, but not terribly shocked.

As far as Leerhsen's writing, the book flows well, and I like his legwork and self-deprecating humor, but there are a small handful of times where he seems to have an axe to grind with an interview subject.... and in the case of girlfriend Asia Argento, irritation at the fact she wouldn't interview.....

Thomas Jefferson,  by Joyce Appleby

Good, but it made me want to go back and re-read American Sphinx

Creek Walking,  by Tally Johnson

Quick Vacation read.  A bit uneven, but there are a couple good stories in there: "Some Hunts End Better than Others" and "Ferryman, Don't Tarry"

Swan Song by Robert McCammon.

Damn, I ended up hating this thing, and grudge read the motherfucker to try to prove myself wrong.  I was not wrong.

November

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The commute listen. One Sunday early in November, Shyam and I went to a Fathom/TCM showing of the 1962 film version of Lee's novel. It's a favorite flick, and it made me realize that I hadn't gone through the book in a while.

I was first introduced to the book in Mrs. Lillard's American Lit class. In a stunning case of procrastination on my part, I waited until the night before our discussion and test on it to even start reading it. I blew through the whole book in a couple hours. And for the first time in my life, as soon as I finished, I went back to the front and started it all over again.

Good books about the South are rarer than you might think, as even Southern writers can lapse into ridicule, even when none is intended. Lee's is neither parody nor ridiculous. Choosing Scout as narrator is an inspired choice.

Illuminations by Alan Moore

I was really looking forward to this one, and I ended up not digging it much.  Long-winded.  A little too in love with the sound of his own voice.

December

The Babysitter Lives, by Stephen Graham Johnes

This one was a rollercoaster ride.  I've only come into his work in the past few years, but Stephen Graham Jones has moved up near the top of my favorite writers list....

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Annual re-read.  

A Heart that Works, by Rob Delaney

Heartbreaking.  I don't think a book has made me ugly cry like this in a while.  Maybe since childhood.

On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft    by Stephen King

One of the top three books on the creative process that I've ever read.

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

This one had come recommended....sold as a kind of Lord of the Flies in an amusement park.  It's got a pessimism about it that I don't always care for (but not one I necessarily say is wrong).  

Dynamite and Davey Boy: The Explosive Lives of the British Bulldogs by Steven Bell

There's a lot more legwork in this one than in most wresting bios, a niche genre rife with Google Journalism.  Bell did a lot of background here, and I applaud him.  The book itself is a little disjointed, and it's very much two bios in one.  A lot of people blame wrestling for destroying folks....but the gist I get is that Davey Boy and Tom Billington were very likely going to destroy themselves anyway.....

Maphead by Ken Jennings

I dig maps.  I always have.  I was glad to find a kinship with Jennings, who has a similar fascination.  Also, I was pleased that somebody else had the same reaction to the Atlas of the DC Universe that I did, way back in the day.....

Happy Birthday Blogamathing!

 Four months?

I know, I know.

But, I been busy.

See, my last published post came from July 22, during an insomnia stretch that was possibly related to a health problem that got discovered in August.

I took a vacation week in August, and I scheduled a doctor's appointment for a checkup, and to check on a little chest congestion.  Well, the day that my appointment was scheduled, I got a call that the office would be unable to accommodate my appointment due to a large number of staff out with Covid.

Later that day, I was asked if I would  like to take an appointment at the clinic owned by the same parent company in Cleveland (the town where I work).  I said sure.

I went, and when they took my blood pressure, it was through the roof.

"Are you being treated for high blood pressure?" they asked.  I replied in the negative, since every checkup prior to this had it in the acceptable range...the last couple of years it had crept up to the high end of that spectrum, and I was expecting to have to go onto meds at some point.  They checked the pressure again, and it was high enough that they had to send me to the hospital.  There at the clinic, they did an EKG.  The doctor announced then "You're in AFIB."

I got to ride in an ambulance.  Against my protests, I had to be ridden out on a gurney.

Let me say this:  I felt fine.  A little chest congestion that I thought had been related to seasonal allergies.  I'd had intermittent insomnia, which  I'd later learn might have been part of the problem.  Blood pressure not low enough to let me sleep...

But in the ambulance I rode to Tennova Hospital in Cleveland.

I can't remember if I called Shyam from the clinic or from the Emergency Room.  I know that it was from the ER that I called my Mom and my sister.

Things that I'd heard, but didn't understand until I experienced it first hand:  Emergency Rooms are a mess right now.  Understaffed.  Overworked.  I had to do the bulk of my exams in public, in front of God and everybody.  Embarrassing, but then, everybody is there for something, so modesty be damned.

After 6 hours in the hallway, I would make it to an exam room, which would be my home for the next 30 hours or so.  There, I slept little.  I was wired from here to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I had to figure out how to pee while maintaining a modicum of decency (i.e. without doing it all over myself or my makeshift bed).  Let me mention that last parenthetical phrase....I was still on one of those deluxe hospital gurneys.  It would become an issue by the end of the second day....it's not much different than a sleeper sofa.  I had a metal bar underneath my ass that was making it more and more uncomfortable.

It was while I was in the exam room that they gave me full diagnosis: Atrial Fibrulation, and a weakened heart.  Their priority was to get my blood pressure manageable and stave off as many of the stroke factors as they could.  I was put on diuretics (which made the aforementioned peeing something of an issue).  I was put on blood thinners and blood pressure meds.

At the end of the second night, I was moved to a real hospital room.  Shyam had just left staying with me, and was talking to the head nurse, who informed her that I'd be in an actual room when she came back tomorrow.

It was actually just a couple minutes later that they showed up to move me, which was an adventure in and of itself.  The orderly who moved me wasn't able to take his normal route, as they were waxing the floors in the area he normally would travel.  As such, we had to go through a waiting area, which was floors with textured tiles.  Did I mention that my ass was sore?  Because it was.  So sore that traveling across the bumpy tile was unpleasant.  Against my orderly's wishes, I asked to walk, and explained why.  He was against it, but I didn't care.  I walked the last 60 feet to the elevators, and rode side saddle all the way to my room.  The nurses there started giving him a hard time, and I told them not to....I hope he didn't get into trouble because of me.

I would spend Wednesday night and Thursday night in room 431 of Tennova Medical Center in Cleveland.  You know, the one that overlooks the intersection of 25th St. and Keith Street?  Yeah...I could see the Big Lots!!!!

My numbers got progressively better.  My cardiologist (Dr. Marcus Alston) explained that we'd take the next while figuring out if the problem was structural (a defect), mechanical (a blockage), or electrical (a rhythm problem).

I got home with a new handful of medication to take and a shit-ton of doctors' appointments to make.  It wasn't at doctor's orders, but I've made a couple lifestyle and dietary changes since my hospital stay.  I've lost more than 40 pounds since August.  Mom's been pushing pretty hard since then to get me to join the Y to swim or do some other regular exercise.  It's something that I may do after the end of the year.  Work continues to be crazy....one minor gripe...the week after I got out of the hospital, my dumb ass ended up working a 6-day week.  There have been a lot of those this year.

-------

September saw the heart-catheterization.  That was my first medical procedure much more involved than a dental visit, or getting a cut sewn up.  That one ended up having to shave my groin just in case they had to go in there....as I would comment under anesthesia to Shyam "a lot of people saw my junk today...."

The heart cath went a lot more easily than I'd anticipated.  And the news was overwhelmingly good....my veins look to be in excellent shape....

That good news paved the road to a cardioversion, where they shock my heart to see if they can get it back into rhythm.

I'll write that part here soon.  Maybe February?  It;s happened, and spoiler: it worked.  But I'll write more on that later this week (not February, one hopes).....

Thoughts from the Ass End of the Night, Volume 3

 Once, insomnia posts were a staple of this here blogamathing.  I spent a lot of time in my 20's and 30's waking in the middle of the night, and deciding to type nonsense onto the computer.

I'm going through a spell right now.  I'm not sure the cause, though I have a suspicion I'll detail.  I'll just say this stretch, which started last Thursday night, is kinda gruesome and maybe tonight has me a little worried.

Last Thursday, I woke up around 1 to go to the bathroom, and couldn't fall back to sleep.  Went through alternating moments of it's too hot in the room, and then too cold.  Tried sleeping on the couch so as not to wake Shyam, and ended up falling asleep in a weird position, which left my neck and shoulder in a pretty good amount of pain that whole Friday.

The weekend came, and I was off.  I was able to squeeze in a couple 7 hour sleep nights. 

Then, Monday, I closed, which was followed up by an 8AM shift Tuesday.  I slept about 5 hours.  Which is about normal for one of those nights.  Wednesday, I also closed.  Tuesday, after the All-Star Game, I went to bed, and slept for about 2 hours, before waking again.  I was awake all the way until Shyam's alarm waking her.  Like I said, I closed, so I was able to sleep from about 7 to 11 and catch up somewhat.

Yesterday, Thursday, I was off.  I was woken at about 6 by thunderstorms.  There was a lot of lightning and wind, so I got up to make sure nothing major was coming our way.  After heading out for an oil change and a visit with my Mom, I came home and napped for about 45 minutes.  Tonight, we went to bed around 10.  Around 11:45, I got up to pee, and came back to bed.  I slept again until about 1:30, and I've been wide the fuck awake ever since.  Twice I've gotten up to go read in the living room, and got myself back to the point of nodding.  And as soon as I lie down, I'm wide awake.

As a minor note, in the few minutes it's taken me to punch these paragraphs out, I can feel myself getting sleepy.

I wish I knew what was wrong.

Summer's part of it.  It's not even necessarily the heat.  It's fucking swampy outside, all the time.  Unloading trucks at work lately have left us looking like we're playing basketball.  It's uncomfortable to sleep in, even with fans and AC going.  I also have a minor suspicion that our bedroom AC unit is about to give up the ghost.

Another part of it is the shifting schedule.  I don't have a set schedule.  Haven't for 19 years, at least.  I'm used to having to close a bit.

We lost another manager recently and somewhat unexpectedly.  As a result, we had to move our evening manager into that role, which left me grocery manager and me to close the store.  I've gone from closing one night a week to 2-4 times.  My body doesn't know when to sleep, and I'm having a hard time coping.

It's 5:47.  My alarm's supposed to go off in about an hour.  I can feel myself being sleepy.  I just don't know if I'll fall asleep when I lie down. 

If I didn't have a pair of new hires to do today, I'd consider calling in....

Add to that, my boss goes on vacation tomorrow, and I'm working 9 of the next 10 days.  I don't have anybody to spell me if I should call in.

I will admit to having a couple things on my mind.  

My friend Kevin Britton died at the beginning of this month in a motorcycle accident.  Eric and I had met up with him just the previous Sunday to take in a Smokies game.  Because of work, I wasn't able to attend a funeral service.  I didn't think it bugged me a the time, but it might be sticking with me.

My friend Micah's mom suffered a stroke a little while back, and he's had too much on his plate.  It bothered me how difficult it was to get her into a hospital room, and then, how difficult it's been to secure treatment.

We've been having trouble finding enough help at work.  That's not new.  That's been ongoing for months.  The past couple of months, though, it's been bothering me, as I've seen my hour count start to rise.

I don't get to see Shyam as often as I'd like.  And when we do see each other, one or both of us is too tired to do anything much fun.

I haven't gotten to see Thor: Love and Thunder yet.  That's aggravating.

I was supposed to be on vacation this week.  We had tried to plan a vacation with the family like last year's to Gulf Shores, but somebody had a claim in on this week.  About a month ago, that claim moved back a week.  I'd like to have gone somewhere with my family.  I've gotten to hang out with my nephew once this summer....and he's gonna be starting school again in a couple weeks.  

Meh.  Sorry to unburden myself....

Mid Year Reading Round up 2022

 Just a quick rundown of what I've read, so far, in 2022:

January

Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL  by Jeff Pearlman

When Pearlman's passionate about his subject, he's a good read.  And he was passionate about tracking this down.  Good read....I wish the current USFL, in its first season, had even 1/8th of the color and energy portrayed in Pearlman's book.....

The Ends of the World    by Peter Brannen

A look through the various eras and extinction events suffered by the Planet....works as an excellent companion piece to Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction

Rose Madder    by Stephen King

The continuing project.  This was one of the ones I'd never read all the way through.  I think I started it and abandoned it somewhere just after its publication.  Actually, not a bad read at all, though I wish King hadn't leaned so hard into mental illness as the genesis of Norman's abusive behavior....almost as if it's an out or an excuse of some kind.....

All About Me!    by Mel Brooks.

Lots of people found new projects during Covid-19's early days....Mel decided to write a memoir about his 70+ year career.  On the whole, I ended up not getting as much out of his movie-making stories that I'd hoped, but his adventures in TV before the movies, and on Broadway after, are well worth the read.

Camera Man   by Dana Stevens

The best biography of Buster Keaton I've read.  (I've now read three, to date).

February

Ballpark:  Baseball in the American City    by Paul Goldberger

A nice walk through the history of the ballpark and the Major League.  Does get a little repetitive....even if those multipurpose stadiums of the 70's are banal, do you have to use that word so much?

Ronan Boyle Into the Strage Place     by Thomas Lennon

This one is probably the funniest of the three Ronan Boyle books.  With one particular interaction having me crack up at a stoplight.

Junkyard Dogs    by Craig Johnson

Quick read.  Johnson continues to turn a good phrase....

You've Got Red on You:  How Shaun of the Dead was Brought to Life  by Clark Collis

Decent read....good look at the making of the flick....

Based on a True Story: a Memoir     by Norm MacDonald

Damn, but I miss Norm.  A re-read.  Easily one of the funniest books I've read.

The Green Mile  by Stephen King

The one was better than I remembered.....

March

The Lincoln Highway    by Amor Towles

I got this one for Christmas.  I'd been hearing about Towles for a couple of books....I liked this one.  

The Drive-In 2: (Not Just One of Them Sequels)   by Joe R. Lansdale

Just some good old goofy Lansdale.  I'd like to sit back and shoot the shit with this guy, perhaps more than any other author I read.....

The Shark-Infested Custard   by Charles Willeford

Hilarious, and dark as hell

Ghost Story   by Peter Straub

I ended up not caring for this one.  Long.  Never really coming to a satisfying point. 

April

George Washington    by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn

A little dry, but a good enough overview of his presidency

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination   by Neil Gabler

Creativity as a business endeavour fascinates me.....

Desperation    by Stephen King

I liked this one better than when I first read it in 1996....still, it's quite a bit longer than it needs to be.....

Eat a Peach   by David Wong

Interesting....as much a musing on management as it is a memoir

May

American War     by Omar El Akkad

One of my two or three favorite books that I've read this year.  I might have liked it even more if we weren't living in a dystopian future already, and perhaps running headline into the scenario outlined in this book....

Hunter Houston and the Molten Menace   by Bobby Nash

A gift from a buddy.  A quick read.  Nash has a good ear for The South....

The Regulators   by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman

Another new one----I'd never made it all the way through this one.  On its own, it's not bad.  But it doesn't have the same feel as the original Bachman books, somehow.....

In Cold Blood   by Truman Capote

Decided to re-read after catching the Capote flick one afternoon.  A re-read.  Actually read it for the work itself, instead of for content, in that half-assed resentful way I tended to read assigned works back in the day....

Never a Bad Game: Fifty-Plus Years in the Southern League    by Mark McCarter

Picked up for 75 cents at a local used book store.  Bathroom reading, if you wanna know the truth.  Also?  This one smells of being hurriedly and half-interestedly put together.  There's a bit of wikipedia journalism going on with this one.....

Razzmatazz      by Christopher Moore

With two books, Moore's Noir series is edging toward my favorite bit of his work.  At the very least, it's made me laugh more consistently than the bulk of his work since Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove.  (And I say that liking the Pocket series a great deal....).  Funny, with lots of nice turns of phrase....

June

A Better Man  by Michael Ian Black

In a letter to his son, Black speaks on what being a man in the 21st century means.  This wasn't quite what I was expecting... though I was quite pleased by what I read.....

Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of the Making of Mad Max Fury Road   by Kyle Buchanan

A helluva good read.  Probably my favorite thing I've read this year.....

Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind     by Yuval Noah Harari

My bedtime read for most of the spring...  

The Devil Crept In      by Ania Ahlborn

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did.  Solid concept.  but there were times the writing just felt wooden.....

The Dark Tower:  Wizard and Glass     by Stephen King

This one's in my top five favorite King works.  It was a pleasure to revisit.....

Yep. 4 months.

 I been busy. 

Don't ever go salaried in retail. 

Grading the King

1Anyway, apropos of only that, here's how I'd grade out approximately the first half of his published novels, nonfiction and short story collections:

9

Carrie (1974)      B

Salem's Lot   (1975)     A

The Shining    (1977)   A+

Rage  (1977, as Richard Bachman)     C

The Stand     (1978)     A+

Night Shift    (1978)     B

The Long Walk    (1979, as Richard Bachman)     B+

The Dead Zone    (1979)     B

Firestarter     (1980)      C

Roadwork      (1981, as Richard Bachman)      B

Danse Macabre    (1981)        B

Cujo      (1981)       C

Different Seasons     (1982)      B+    (The Body A+/Apt Pupil C/Shawshank A/Breathing B)

The Running Man    (1982, as Richard Bachman)     C

The Gunslinger   (1982, Dark Tower, volume I)      B+

Christine     (1983)       B

Pet Sematary     (1983)     A-

Cycle of the Werewolf     (1983)     C+

The Talisman      (1984, with Peter Straub)       A

Thinner     (1984, as Richard Bachman)      B-

Skeleton Crew     (1985)       B+

It      (1986)        A+

The Eyes of the Dragon     (1987)    B+

Misery     (1987)       B+

Drawing of the Three     (1987, Dark Tower, volume II)      B+

The Tommyknockers     (1987)       D

The Dark Half     (1989)          B

Four Past Midnight     (1990)   B-  (Langoliers D/Secret Window B/Libary B/Sun Dog B+)

The Waste Lands       (1991, Dark tower, volume III)      A

Needful Things       (1991)      B+

Gerald's Game      (1992)      B-

Dolores Claiborne     (1992)    B

Nightmares and Dreamscapes   (1993)       B

Insomnia     (1994)         C+

Rose Madder     (1995)     B-

The Green Mile      (1996)     A

Almost arbitrary.  You might ask me again on a different day, and I'd give it a different grade.  The Shining, The Stand and It are the class of the first half, with The Talisman, Green Mile and Waste Lands coming in just behind.....

I'm coming up on Desperation, which I don't recall liking much when I read it the first time, and its companion The Regulators I liked even less.  But, I've had my mind changed a couple of times in the project....I liked Dark Half more this time around than when I first read it, and Firestarter and Four Past Midnight a lot less......

We'll see.....

Meme Dump

 

The 2021 Reading Roundup

 Just a quick rundown of what I read in 2021:

January

Four Past Midnight, by Stephen King

Continuing re-read project.  Couple of these are a bit more taut than I remember.  Secret Window, Secret Garden feels like a flipside companion piece to The Dark Half....

The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens, by Chris DeRose

Easily the best (and most and best researched) volume on the Battle of Athens I've read. 

The Searcher,  by Tana French

I liked it, but it didn't hold the same amount of water as most of her work.  Had one particular plot point that pulled the rug out from under me, and I just couldn't get into it like her best work.

Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf

Fun, if clunky.  Definitely a book improved on with its film adaptation....

We Promised You a Great Main Event: an Unauthorized WWE History, by Bill Hanstock

Meh.  Google journalism.  But maybe the best you'll find, since a good oral history would be next to impossible.

February

The Spy with No Pants by John Swartzwelder

I think I love these Swartzwelder books more than I love baseball, pizza or professional wrestling.

The Empire Strikes Back: From a Certain Point of View, edited by 

Meh.  There are a couple good ones, but four or five months later, I don't remember a thing I read in this.....

Dark Tower: the Waste Lands   by Stephen King

So much fun.  I mentioned when I read Drawing of the Three last year that the section where Eddie meets Roland is maybe some of the finest writing King has put to page in his career.  But as a story, the Waste Lands is where the Dark Tower finds its feet.  It starts cooking with gas, and this remains one of my favorite King books.

The History of the Ancient World   by Susan Wise Bauer

A commute listen....one that I wished I'd read instead.   I can visualize a lot, but for some reason, I don't see maps well.  I need the visual aid.   That said, this is a well put together work, and I'll be reading her follow up on Ancient Rome very soon.

Night of the Mannequins   by Stephen Graham Jones

Quick, fast paced, weird horror.  Stephen Graham Jones is moving quickly up my list of favorite writers.  I wanted this one to end a little more ambiguously, but I still enjoy this one very much.  In a quick Twitter review, I mentioned that it made me want to watch the movie Twister, for some reason.  To which SGJ responded: "I can't stop watching Twister...."

March

A Song with Teeth   by T Frohock

This might be my favorite new read this year.  I love a nice period piece, and Frohock's Los Nefilim covers a stretch in European history (fantastically, using an adverb that works on a couple levels) that I am just now coming to in my personal reading.  I'm picky about both fantasy and historical fiction, but Frohock zeroes in on exactly what I've been looking for with this series.....

Medallion Status     by John Hodgman

Hodgman had popped up on a couple of podcasts I'd listened to just prior to this, and in one, he was plugging this read.  I like a guy who can turn a good phrase, and for months since, I've been referring mentally to eggs as disgusting snotty chaos.

Sidelined: Sports, Culture and Being a Woman in America by Julie DiCaro

I've been reading DiCaro's work for years....since way back in the blogging days.  We've followed each other on Twitter, and sadly, I've seen a lot of the disgusting shit people say to and about her.  Posting my review brought an odd amount of heat from the same trolls.  This was a good read, and I've passed a couple copies out to friends......

April

T-Rex and the Crater of Doom   by Walter Alvarez

A Kindle/Lunchtime read.  As much about the scientific process as it is the end result.  Dry, but enjoyable.

American Gods  by Neil Gaiman

A commute listen.  My friend Jillian was reading this, and asked if it was worth finishing.  It's actually a better listen than a read.  Gaiman's work feels better aurally, if that makes any sense.  Also, I need to go to Rock City again...I haven't been since the second grade....

Miami Blues    by Charles Willeford

This came recommended by a Bill Ryan piece I read here.  I dug it.  It tickles the part of my brain that digs the Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty brand of Southern Gothic.  Grotesquely hilarious enough that I laughed until I cried about Hoke Mosely's dentures.

Needful Things    by Stephen King

The last Castle Rock story.  This one was a big deal to me back in the day.  Reading it now, it represents the best of King's instincts (his love of his small towns, the decency and lack thereof in everybody, King's astute memories of childhood), and also his worst (he gets maudlin, and saccharine sweet at the weirdest times...also, a couple of the threads tying to other Castle Rock works just feel forced...the whole Ace Merrill bit really, really grinds at me).  Still, this one ends in a whirlwind, and I ended up liking it very much the second time around, nearly 30 years later....

May

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race  by Douglas Brinkley

A commute listen.  Digs hard into the politics of the space race.  Made me think hard about Werner von Braun.....

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory    by Caitlin Doughty

I'd had this one on my shelf for a while, and finally sat with it.  Good read on the American take on Death, as part of our culture.....

The Dark Horse    by Craig Johnson

I read this one during my May vacation.  Does it say much about me that I was more worried for Walt's dog than I was the child when both went missing?

Mongrels   by Stephen Graham Jones

This one's strong.  Legitimately creepy, with an air of melancholy that pervades, but doesn't overwhelm the thing.  

The Blizzard of '88    by  Mary Cable

A 1.99 Kindle read.  Actually kinda neat to read in a very hot grocery store backroom, and thinking that standing, trapped on a pier during a blizzard, to be rescued with your coat frozen to you doesn't really sound all that bad.....

Junes

Gerald's Game    by Stephen King

A Commute listen.  I liked it better than I remembered, but I still think the ending is a cop out.  I didn't like a couple of the revelations in those final chapters.  They felt cheap.

The Perfect Storm    by Sebastian Junger

 I didn't mean to re-read this one, but due to a remodel at work, my attention span was a little lacking.  This one, even as much as I like it, reads like a long magazine article....

Some Assembly Required    by TJ Condon

A friend of mine wrote this from her own experiences with her husband's wait for a liver transplant.  Tara's a natural storyteller, and this one reads very quickly.  She translates a hellish experience with grace and humor.  I bought a couple copies to pass out to people.....

Frankenstein    by Mary Shelley

I bought a copy with illustrations by the late Bernie Wrightson, this being a reprint of a Marvel project from way back when.  I forget who had the original Marvel copy back in high school, but I always dug it.  This is actually my first time through the book itself, though.  I made an aborted attempt in the eighth grade or so.  I dug it, though, and not just for the drawings!

The Ninth Metal   by Benjamin Percy

The commute listen.  There were seeds of good stuff in here, but none of it every really bore fruit.  I finished, but I didn't care for this one too much.

Fishing for Dinosaurs and other Stories   by Joe R. Lansdale

The kindle/lunchtime read.  I'd read a couple of these in other places and forms, but enjoyed the collection overall.  Black Hat Jack is definitely a favorite....

My Year Abroad    by Chang-Rae Lee

Shyam got me a subscription to a book club from Powell's, and this was the first of this year's editions.  I liked it...bombastic and funny.  I will say that the dialog felt wooden, from time to time, but on the whole, I enjoyed this one very much.

July

The Premonition: a Pandemic Story    by Michael Lewis

I'll go ahead and include this one, since I'm re-writing.  The commute listen.  Lewis delivers an interesting read....the conundrum of the last year is that if your measures work, then everybody will say it was overkill.  Of particular interest (and a subject for future reading), how a potential outbreak of Swine Flu during the Ford administration helped shape our country's disjointed responsed to Covid-19......

Apex: The World of Dinosaurs Anthology     edited by Jonathan Thompson

Meh.  A Kickstarter that just didn't bear fruit.

Dream Team   by Jack McCallum

I think I had a little Olympic fever when I read this one....that 92 Dream Team was right in my wheelhouse......good read....

August

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic    by David Quammen

This one had been on my radar for a little while, and it didn't disappoint.  Manages to parse out a lot of information without wandering into textbook territory....

Dolores Claiborne     by Stephen King

Part of the project:  I'd never actually read this one.  I liked this one a lot, especially as a twin to Gerald's Game, which makes sense, since they were both originally part of the same project.  King's love of small towns and community shines through.....

Failure is an Option: an Attempted Memoir    by H. Jon Benjamin

I highly recommend this one as a listen....Benjamin's got one of those voices that's just crept into ubiquity in the past decade.  Funny read, even if it is a little fart-laden.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood      by Quentin Tarantino

Read this one on vacation....I think I appreciate the story of Once Upon a Time coming around as a story as much as I do the story itself....and I like Once Upon a Time more than much of what Quentin's done in the past decade......

Goblin: a novel in six novellas       by Josh Malerman

Heavy on atmosphere, but light on just about anything else.  Almost felt like a D&D adventure that the setup was more satisfying than the payoff....

The Storm      by Dan Jolley

Two in a row that I finished that I didn't particularly enjoy.  The Storm just misses its mark, and manages to sneer a bit at the South.  This one made me thankful for the guys like Cherie Priest, Alex Bledsoe and John Hartness who do write the South without it feeling like parody....

September

When the Game Was Ours....     by Earvin "Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Jackie MacMullen

This was a fun read....again, like Dream Team, talking about Magic and Bird is right in my wheelhouse, even if it wasn't my focus back in the mid and late 80's.  Remarkably well put together, given the collaborative effort.....

What Strange Paradise      by Omar el Akkad

I liked this one very much...managed to turn an aggravation into its reason for being.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes     by Stephen King

What a fun read.  I always fall back on Skeleton Crew or Night Shift as favorite collection, but there are a couple humdingers in this one.  Dolan's Cadillac is a helluva good read.  Umney's Last Case is a Twilight Zone episode waiting to be made.  But I think my favorite piece is "Head Down," a nonfiction piece about his son Owen competing in Little League, competing their way toward the Little League World Series--I call it one of the better pieces of sports journalism that I've run across.....

My Heart is a Chainsaw      by Stephen Graham Jones

In the space of 4 or 5 books, Stephen Graham Jones has vaulted his way to the upper reaches of my favorite writers list.  And this one is just hella fun....crackling with energy......

October

Frankenstein in Baghdad      by Ahmed Saadawi

This one had been on my radar for a bit, but I finally sat with it in October.  Glad I read it in such close temporal proximity to Shelley's Frankenstein.  The wartime displacement dysphoria is strong in this one.....

The Drive-In      by Joe R. Lansdale

Another one that crackles with pure weird energy.  I'd read a couple of Joe's before I happened upon this one, but it was reading this one that made me say, all those years ago: "this guy is my kind of weird...."

The Between      by Tananarive Due

Due is another one that's working her way up my favorite writers list.  She just does good work, and this one is a lot of fun....it definitely kept me second guessing myself.

All the Marvels       by Douglas Wolk

Not a bad read, and I appreciated his insights on the best Marvels....including calling out Dark Reign as one of the better stories of the spread of fascism.....And I appreciated his not getting involved in the Lee/Kirby debate (I'm not comfortable with the deification of either, for the record).  I wish there had been a little more look at guys like Roy Thomas and Chris Claremont, and even Bob Harras and the Lobdell/Nicieza tandem, in building their corners of the shared Universe....

Yours Cruelly, Elvira       by Cassandra Peterson

Not a bad read at all...a late night purchase, fittingly enough.  Corny humor, schlocky horror, and cleavage.  It's a natural, for yours, truly.....

The Night the Lights Went Out       by Drew Magary

Magary, in 2018, suffered a brain bleed and collapsed.  What he presents here is part memoir/part oral history, of his own recovery from a traumatic brain injury.  Magary is a gifted writer, whose fiction I enjoy but whose nonfiction reveals his heart.  This is in the running for my favorite book of the year.....

November

Insomnia      by Stephen King

Damn, what a long book.....it's not bad, but in my second time all the way through it, I can tell you that it still feels about 300 pages long, and possibly more.....

Fan Fiction      by Brent Spiner

Surprisingly funny.  Slapstick Noir.  Managed to keep my attention despite it being whittled to splinters for much of November.....

Rawhide Down: the Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan       by Del Quentin Wilber

Shyam got this one early in the year, and I ended up reading it.  Nicely put together bit of history that I'd read little to nothing about....

December

A Fatal Grace     by Louise Penny

We listened to this one on our way to Florida, and on the way back.  Penny's dialog is good, and it's hard to think of anybody who writes food better.

The Stupidest Angel     by Christopher Moore

Revisited this one.  I don't know that I've enjoyed finding a writer more than I did finding Christopher Moore all those years ago....those early books are just such goofy fun.  And this one is no different...even if male protagonists often resemble each other muchly.....

Grave Reservations    by Cherie Priest

A little bit of a Change of pace for Priest....leaning less on the supernatural and SF elements, leaning more on her talent for dialog and humor, and injecting everything into a modern setting.  I liked it.  And I hope that it's leading to more with these characters....

A Christmas Carol     by Charles Dickens

Annual re-read.  I don't know that it gets the credit it deserves for being a spooky story.....

Radiants      by David B. Coe

Quick read, intended for Young Adults.  It flows very nicely.  Vibes of X-Men and Firestarter....I liked this one.  Coe turns a good phrase.....

Nineteen?

 Nineteen years.

Who'da thunk it?

I'm not here as often as I once was.

But I'm still here.

Married Shyam on Halloween.  It was a delightfully weird ceremony.  My reason:  I've used up weekends off for the past 20 years going to exactly the same wedding.  If we were asking people to give up part of their time off, we wanted to put our weird little mark on it.  Our friend Marc married us in my Mom's backyard.  His notes were inside a Flash Gordon graphic novel.  My nephew served as ringbearer, while dressed as Yoda.  There were costumes.  There were nerf guns.  Marc read Large Marge's soliloquy from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.  We asked folks to bring a Jack O'Lantern.

It was a small ceremony, and I felt bad that we couldn't have more folks there, but at the same time, I didn't want to overwhelm Mom's house.

But, Shyam and I are hitched now.  It's not a huge change.  We've lived together for four years, and I couldn't being to imagine spending time with anybody else.  She's my girl.

Odd little things?  Getting used to wearing a ring.  Just the physical act of it, with none of the weight of marriage behind it.  I don't wear jewelry.  I don't even wear a watch.  We have a ceramic Unicorn in the bathroom that Shyam's had for years.  It's what she's used as a ringcatcher for years, and I've taken to using it during my shower.  I think I've forgotten to put the ring on 3 or 4 times, at this point.  And we've not even been married 2 weeks yet.

Also, names.  We hadn't even discussed it much prior to the ceremony.  But I did ask her if she was taking my name or keeping hers.  She told me she'd take my name, but replace her first name instead of her last.   

She makes me laugh.

Anyway, a few pictures:

I wore my Lebowski hockey jersey, although it was simply because my bright orange dress shirt was missing a button when I put it on right before the wedding.

It was completely accidental, but the one on the bottom left seems so frustrated by it all right then.

Shyam's folks with us.

Never give my sister your phone.  So many selfies.

Those who came in costume...Jill and Chris's daughter was a zombie prom queen.....

So, anyway...we're hitched.  We'll be heading to Disney in December for a honeymoon.

Anyway, the blogamathing?  19 years of nonsense, and counting.....

Thoughts from the Ass End of the Night, volume XX

 Not really an insomniac's post.  Just staying up a bit.  I've had my schedule jiggered and fucked.  I'm closing all week.

We had a co-worker quit somewhat unexpectedly Thursday.  Walked out.  Left us hanging.  Quickest way to fill his shifts without upsetting the apple cart was for me to move to his closing shifts.

I say "somewhat" unexpected.  I won't name names, but he'd been acting increasingly erratic for about a month, a month and a half.  Increasingly aggressive.  Increasingly complaining.  Solid employee, good guy.  Almost a complete personality change in six weeks.

Drugs?  I think it crossed all our minds.  Either introducing new (likely illegal) ones to his system, or removing (likely prescribed ones) from his system without knowledge or consultation with medical pros.  It's speculation, but given the abrupt nature of this change, I think it's a valid thought process.

I dunno.  We're going through a remodel.  Have been since late April.  The biggest part of it's done, but we've had to do two show stores in the past six weeks or so.  Extra stress.  It's not fun.  And the end result will mean a minor change to my duties, as well as the duties of the other managers.  These changes involve a department the manager in question was very, very uncomfortable with.  I think that had some to do with his decision to leave, as well.

I'll miss him.  And not just because I'm having to pick up all his closing shifts this week, and a large portion of them until we get a new Evening Manager hired.

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What else is new?  

I read and recommend Omar el Akkad's What Strange Paradise.  For Christmas, Shyam bought me a membership to a Book of the Month (or every other month) from Powell's  out in Oregon.  This was this month's mailing.

I won't say too much, because doing so would spoil a tremendous novel.  I'll just say that a couple narrative choices that were nagging at me became clear by the end.....

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It's September 21.  The regular portion of the baseball season is nearly done.  Last Friday, we hit a Chattanooga Lookouts game, my first since 2019.  It turned out to be the last of the the Lookouts' season, weekend rain washed out both Saturday's and Sunday's games.

We made it to one Smokies game all year, too.

Our schedules, combined with some medical stuff going on in families, it made 2021 tough to get out.

Truth be told, I'm getting a little worn out with my work schedule.  Not having free time to go do stuff outside of work has been a concern for all of the nearly 20 years I've been with the company.  This year, with Covid, the Remodel, staffing difficulties and all the personal shit we've been dealing with, it makes you feel like the only reward for hard work is more hard work.

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While I'm writing, for the first time in a couple months, can I recommend another book?  This one, a cook book....

I ordered this mostly as a gag, but I've ended up getting more mileage out of this cookbook purchase than any other I've bought.  Mostly because it starts with a simple base (even I can cook a burger), but has a handful of interesting twists and ideas.  Plus, with our having a vegetarian in the house, I've been able to substitute both Impossible and Beyond burgers with ease into the recipes (Impossible seems to work a little better, it's a difference in percentage points....).

Tonight's dinner was A Good Manchego is Hard to Find burgers.  Grilled shallots, manchego cheese, fig jam.  This is the second time making these particular burgers (I had to substitute a plain yellow onion, as we'd used the last of our shallots for dinner this past weekend).  They turn out tasty, and a it's a switchup from the routine.  There are five or six burgers we've tried from this book, and I think the next one will be a Creme Fraiche/Blueberry mashup....found some Creme Fraische at Chattanooga's new Trader Joe's, which I visited for the first time today.

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Anyway.  That's the blog post.  Maybe I should get back in the habit of doing this, because I feel a little better having written it.  It used to be an every day thing.  First post I've done since July, though.  We'll figure it out, I reckon.....

2021 Mid-Year Reading Roundup

Well, I published this, and it looks like I accidentally deleted everything past February.  Such are the joys of Blogger.  I mean, if this were 2004, I'd talk about moving to another platform, but considering I apparently can't be bothered to write anything on here more than once a month, I guess we'll just shrug it off as one too many wires in plugged into the socket, and just try again. 

A blog post?  What???W?W???

It's June, and here's a brief roundup of what I've been reading in the early part of 2021:

January

Four Past Midnight, by Stephen King

Continuing re-read project.  Couple of these are a bit more taut than I remember.  Secret Window, Secret Garden feels like a flipside companion piece to The Dark Half....

The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens, by Chris DeRose

Easily the best (and most and best researched) volume on the Battle of Athens I've read. 

The Searcher,  by Tana French

I liked it, but it didn't hold the same amount of water as most of her work.  Had one particular plot point that pulled the rug out from under me, and I just couldn't get into it like her best work.

Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf

Fun, if clunky.  Definitely a book improved on with its film adaptation....

We Promised You a Great Main Event: an Unauthorized WWE History, by Bill Hanstock

Meh.  Google journalism.  But maybe the best you'll find, since a good oral history would be next to impossible.

February

The Spy with No Pants by John Swartzwelder

I think I love these Swartzwelder books more than I love baseball, pizza or professional wrestling.

The Empire Strikes Back: From a Certain Point of View, edited by 

Meh.  There are a couple good ones, but four or five months later, I don't remember a thing I read in this.....

Dark Tower: the Waste Lands   by Stephen King

So much fun.  I mentioned when I read Drawing of the Three last year that the section where Eddie meets Roland is maybe some of the finest writing King has put to page in his career.  But as a story, the Waste Lands is where the Dark Tower finds its feet.  It starts cooking with gas, and this remains one of my favorite King books.

The History of the Ancient World   by Susan Wise Bauer

A commute listen....one that I wished I'd read instead.   I can visualize a lot, but for some reason, I don't see maps well.  I need the visual aid.   That said, this is a well put together work, and I'll be reading her follow up on Ancient Rome very soon.

Night of the Mannequins   by Stephen Graham Jones

Quick, fast paced, weird horror.  Stephen Graham Jones is moving quickly up my list of favorite writers.  I wanted this one to end a little more ambiguously, but I still enjoy this one very much.  In a quick Twitter review, I mentioned that it made me want to watch the movie Twister, for some reason.  To which SGJ responded: "I can't stop watching Twister...."

March

A Song with Teeth   by T Frohock

This might be my favorite new read this year.  I love a nice period piece, and Frohock's Los Nefilim covers a stretch in European history (fantastically, using an adverb that works on a couple levels) that I am just now coming to in my personal reading.  I'm picky about both fantasy and historical fiction, but Frohock zeroes in on exactly what I've been looking for with this series.....

Medallion Status     by John Hodgman

Hodgman had popped up on a couple of podcasts I'd listened to just prior to this, and in one, he was plugging this read.  I like a guy who can turn a good phrase, and for months since, I've been referring mentally to eggs as disgusting snotty chaos.

Sidelined: Sports, Culture and Being a Woman in America by Julie DiCaro

I've been reading DiCaro's work for years....since way back in the blogging days.  We've followed each other on Twitter, and sadly, I've seen a lot of the disgusting shit people say to and about her.  Posting my review brought an odd amount of heat from the same trolls.  This was a good read, and I've passed a couple copies out to friends......

April

T-Rex and the Crater of Doom   by Walter Alvarez

A Kindle/Lunchtime read.  As much about the scientific process as it is the end result.  Dry, but enjoyable.

American Gods  by Neil Gaiman

A commute listen.  My friend Jillian was reading this, and asked if it was worth finishing.  It's actually a better listen than a read.  Gaiman's work feels better aurally, if that makes any sense.  Also, I need to go to Rock City again...I haven't been since the second grade....

Miami Blues    by Charles Willeford

This came recommended by a Bill Ryan piece I read here.  I dug it.  It tickles the part of my brain that digs the Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty brand of Southern Gothic.  Grotesquely hilarious enough that I laughed until I cried about Hoke Mosely's dentures.

Needful Things    by Stephen King

The last Castle Rock story.  This one was a big deal to me back in the day.  Reading it now, it represents the best of King's instincts (his love of his small towns, the decency and lack thereof in everybody, King's astute memories of childhood), and also his worst (he gets maudlin, and saccharine sweet at the weirdest times...also, a couple of the threads tying to other Castle Rock works just feel forced...the whole Ace Merrill bit really, really grinds at me).  Still, this one ends in a whirlwind, and I ended up liking it very much the second time around, nearly 30 years later....

May

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race  by Douglas Brinkley

A commute listen.  Digs hard into the politics of the space race.  Made me think hard about Werner von Braun.....

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory    by Caitlin Doughty

I'd had this one on my shelf for a while, and finally sat with it.  Good read on the American take on Death, as part of our culture.....

The Dark Horse    by Craig Johnson

I read this one during my May vacation.  Does it say much about me that I was more worried for Walt's dog than I was the child when both went missing?

Mongrels   by Stephen Graham Jones

This one's strong.  Legitimately creepy, with an air of melancholy that pervades, but doesn't overwhelm the thing.  

The Blizzard of '88    by  Mary Cable

A 1.99 Kindle read.  Actually kinda neat to read in a very hot grocery store backroom, and thinking that standing, trapped on a pier during a blizzard, to be rescued with your coat frozen to you doesn't really sound all that bad.....

Junes

Gerald's Game    by Stephen King

A Commute listen.  I liked it better than I remembered, but I still think the ending is a cop out.  I didn't like a couple of the revelations in those final chapters.  They felt cheap.

The Perfect Storm    by Sebastian Junger

 I didn't mean to re-read this one, but due to a remodel at work, my attention span was a little lacking.  This one, even as much as I like it, reads like a long magazine article....

Some Assembly Required    by TJ Condon

A friend of mine wrote this from her own experiences with her husband's wait for a liver transplant.  Tara's a natural storyteller, and this one reads very quickly.  She translates a hellish experience with grace and humor.  I bought a couple copies to pass out to people.....

Frankenstein    by Mary Shelley

I bought a copy with illustrations by the late Bernie Wrightson, this being a reprint of a Marvel project from way back when.  I forget who had the original Marvel copy back in high school, but I always dug it.  This is actually my first time through the book itself, though.  I made an aborted attempt in the eighth grade or so.  I dug it, though, and not just for the drawings!

The Ninth Metal   by Benjamin Percy

The commute listen.  There were seeds of good stuff in here, but none of it every really bore fruit.  I finished, but I didn't care for this one too much.

Fishing for Dinosaurs and other Stories   by Joe R. Lansdale

The kindle/lunchtime read.  I'd read a couple of these in other places and forms, but enjoyed the collection overall.  Black Hat Jack is definitely a favorite....

My Year Abroad    by Chang-Rae Lee

Shyam got me a subscription to a book club from Powell's, and this was the first of this year's editions.  I liked it...bombastic and funny.  I will say that the dialog felt wooden, from time to time, but on the whole, I enjoyed this one very much.

July

The Premonition: a Pandemic Story    by Michael Lewis

I'll go ahead and include this one, since I'm re-writing.  The commute listen.  Lewis delivers an interesting read....the conundrum of the last year is that if your measures work, then everybody will say it was overkill.  Of particular interest (and a subject for future reading), how a potential outbreak of Swine Flu during the Ford administration helped shape our country's disjointed responsed to Covid-19......

Dreams and memories.....

 It's odd the things you remember.  Dates.  Times.

On April 15, 1994, as a junior in high school, I asked somebody on a date. Spent days working up the guts to do it. Finally got up the courage, and asked.  And she thought I was joking, and laughed.  I was demolished in that way that only teenagers are demolished.  I laughed along, acting like I was indeed joking about such things.  Saved whatever face i was looking to save in 1994.  I guess.

I've written about it before, and the person who I asked figured out that it was her I was referring to.  She got ahold of my number through friends and called me to apologize.  That's been more than 10 years ago.  We're cool.  We were cool way before that, but it was still decent of her to call.

Being a teenager is hard.  I work with teenagers, and I have to remind myself of that at least 3 times a week, right after I've talked myself out of pitching a 16-year-old through a plate glass window.

That said, being a grownup isn't much easier. 27 years later, and that one still sneaks into anxiety dreams on occasion......

Wrasslin' and Whatnot

 Personal Top 10 Wrestlemania Matches

1.  Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage, Wrestlemania III....a 34 year-old wrasslin' match that just holds up.  It's as much about the nostalgia as it is the ringwork.  In the spring of 1987, I was on the back end of my true believer status, and I hated the hell out of Randy Savage.  This was a grudge match, and it ends so satisfyingly.  The ringwork, by the way, is top notch.  It gets some shit down the line for how much Savage wanted it laid out.  I don't care.  The end result is still a lot of fun.

2.  Undertaker vs. Triple H, Hell in a Cell, Shawn Michaels special referee, Wrestlemania XXVIII

Damn.  This one's savage.  I don't know that there's a better Wrestlemania streak than taker from 25-28.  But this one is just savage.  With all 3 bodies telling a story of respect.

3.  Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, Wrestlemania XIII

Still the best executed double turn in the history of wrestling.  Hard to believe this match will be turning 25 next year.

4.  Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart, Wrestlemania X.   Just a clinic.  Almost a fuck you to Vince.  No clowning.  Very little showboating, except for the requisite heel stuff from Owen.  Just a clinic where two brothers wanted to show who was better...and the best there is.

5.  Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle,   Wrestlemania XX.  I miss Guerrero. Very much.  He had another one or two of these in him.

6.  Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker,  Wrestlemania XXV.   Again, a clinic.  This time in Ring psychology.  These two play the crowd like a piano

7.  Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart, 60-minute iron man match, Wrestlemania XII.  Amazing.  Just Amazing.

8.  Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar, Wrestlemania XIX.   Whoa.  Just whoa.

9.  Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan.   Wrestlemania XXXV.    This is a match that Kofi and Bryan both deserved.

10.  Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper,   Wrestlemania VIII.  So much fun.  Bret carries Piper, but Piper holds his own...he's one of the best brawlers in history.  Only thing holding this back from higher is a hammy moment when Piper listens to the crowd.....