This review makes me want to read read all of Ishiguro’s books.

Update: This second review clinches it. Ishiguro is a must-read now.

Update 2: I was just reading Maud Newton’s blog and came across this post. I swear I didn’t copy it. How weird! Great minds think alike.

Update 3: Aha! Our wonderful Random House rep has a copy of Never Let Me Go, which has a pretty cover by the way, and will bring it by next Monday.

The NYT has an here. The best part is the comparison page, where Christo’s project stands side by side with Hargo’s. Christo’s costs? $29,000,000. Hargo’s? $3.50. Good times.

So it’s time I came out from behind the curtain so to speak for a minute. I am just too damn excited. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 3 years old. I’ve been diabetic for as long as I have memories (except one that I have from the crib). Today I started on an insulin pump. You can see it here. I have to say it’s pretty damn cool. And when I got back to work, I found this article on blood glucose monitors waiting for me. A painless way to test blood sugar would be a dream come true for millions of people.
Anyway, I feel a bit like a cyborg now. My pump is bright blue and so far is working fine. I can barely tell it’s there. So for any diabetics out there who happen to read this blog, check out the pump. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Belize is a beautiful country. Nestled on the coast between Guatemala and Mexico, it also has the longest barrier reef in the Americas. We stayed in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, which you can get to by boat or small plane.
We chose the latter.

The short ride over is memorable in itself—clear blue water with tiny bits of land.

Continue reading →

I am back from a great vacation. It was hard stepping off the plane and realizing that I had to not only put on a sweater, but my winter coat too. I can’t imagine anyone is feeling too bad for me though. I will have more on the vacation later—I snorkeled and saw some really cool stuff (barricuda!). Plus I read 5 books! But it’s the weekend and I am still on vacation (really I just have to clean the house a bit) so you may not hear from me until Monday.
On another note, I realized today that the anniversary of this blog was last week as well. I started it on February 7th 2004. So happy anniversary to me.

I just returned from an outdoor excursion. If you haven’t heard, New England has been hit by a Nor’easter. We usually get the Sunday paper delivered (for the crossword mainly) and lo and behold, it wasn’t there this morning! Maybe because there’s over 2 feet of snow? So we set out in search of the Sunday paper. Conditions are lousy here. Very few sidewalks cleared, so you have to walk in the street amongst the plows. Luckily, very few cars are on the road as well. We managed to find a paper—unfortunately it was still in its bundle in front of the Mini Mart where it had been delivered by some intrepid Boston Globe person—very few stores are open and those that are have run out of the paper. So I took one and left the money in the crack of the door. Is that wrong?
Here are a few pictures I took (freezing my fingers in the meanwhile). I am not skilled enough to set up a cool slide show (a skill I am determined to learn. I am going on vacation in a few weeks and will want to post cool pictures of Howler Monkeys.)
Here is the view from the front steps of my building:

Some poor schmuck’s car:

Interesting snow patterns:

Here’s a more accurate picture of what it feels like outside right now (I think its -15° out right now):

And a neat snow drift (that’s Mr. Bookdwarf almost being crushed by the snow wave):

And that is part of my big snow adventure. Now I am going to defrost my legs and drink a hot toddy.

Staring out my window here at work, the lovely snowflakes have turned into the crappier sleet now. Sigh. I am busy busy busy right now. How can you be so busy in January, the slowest retail month of the year, you say? Well, try being out for a week and also preparing for the Harvard kids return in a few weeks. That’s what is making my eyes water currently. Or maybe it’s blood from staring at the computer for 8 hours a day straight. Anyway, I am reading some good stuff right now (including The Recognitions, which is taking a great deal of time. I had to put it down to go do some work on my biceps so I can hold the book up) and I hope to post about it soon.

Actually, that is not entirely true. I did some fun stuff in Charlottesville, VA, as well as catch a cold. I went to Monticello, the gorgeous home of Jefferson. I imagine that it is even prettier in the spring when the flowers start blooming. Jefferson was an avid botanist and brought lots and lots of plants from overseas back home. The house itself Jefferson designed. It includes lots of windows, several mechanical inventions, and some beautiful artwork.
Charlottesville is also home to many many great used bookstores. I visited 5 of them and came home with a few new books. Heartwood Books, right next to the University of Virginia, has an amazing fiction section. Mr. Bookdwarf took one look at the pile of books in my arms and said, “You can’t buy all of those.” So I limited myself to 4 books. We also stopped by Blue Whale Books, Read it Again Sam, Daedalus, and ,a href=”http://www.charlottesvilletourism.org/php-bin/resource.php?id=440″>The Avocado Pit. None of them seem to have their own websites, but if you are ever in the area, you should check them out. I was impressed with their selections and with the sheer number of bookstores.
Now I am trying to recover from this cold. We will see if I make it into work tomorrow.

I might be around today, but am taking off tomorrow for the wilds of Virginia to visit Mr. Bookdwarf’s family. Expect to hear from me next week though. Happy New Year in advance! What are your plans?

Sorry, I insist that if that awful song is stuck in my head, it must be stuck in yours too! I decided to list my favorite records of 2004. Why would you care what I listen to, you might be asking? Well, I don’t know. I listen to a lot of music and most of it is influenced by the boys in the basement. The Swiss Army know what they are talking about. So here is my list in no order—just the top 10 records I liked the most:
1. Arcade Fire Funeral
2. Interpol Antics
3. Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
4. Kanye West The College Dropout
5. Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans
6. Mice Parade Obrigado Saudade
7. Air Talkie Walkie
8. Madvillain Madvillainy
9. DJ Danger Mouse The Grey Album
10. Cocorosie La Maison de Mon Reve

Well, there you have it. All the most played records on my iPod. Any questions about them, ask me.