Booking Through Thursday - Trends

Have your book-tastes changed over the years? More fiction? Less? Books that are darker and more serious? Lighter and more frivolous? Challenging? Easy? How-to books over novels? Mysteries over Romance?

My tastes in books have definitely changed over the years. I go through serious phases and get obsessed easily (me? no!) In high school I was heavily into science fiction (Bradbury and Clarke) and westerns (L'Amour and Grey). Some of that was because of availability. My grandfather had a second hand store and we had trading privileges. He didn't move many books, but he allowed us to bring a box of read books and pick up a box of unread books. Most of the books were westerns or romances. I think I read two or three romance novels and determined that they were all the same (boy meets girl, boy wants nothing to do with girl, big disaster happens, boy and girl fall madly in love and live happily ever after, etc.). I know that they aren't all like that, but I didn't have to wait for Dan Brown to understand about formula writing. Yes, I totally understand that the westerns were just the same, I just enjoyed the locations more. Something about the rough West had stronger appeal to me than the Moors or coasts of New England.

In college I developed the Heinlein fascination. I'm not quite sure if I liked the books or I just kept reading to see how much more outrageous he could get. After college, I discovered Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler. They were my favorite reading when I went on business trips. Two or three of those were perfect for each trip. Next up, I started exploring non-fiction. I spent several years reading various books on chaos theory and then its application to management.

Now, I always have several books going. Usually I have one for my book club (currently The Archivist's Story), a history or two (Team of Rivals is nearly finished), and a young adult or kid book (I just got my copy of Well Witched and can't wait to start!!!!).

Breaks & Breaking

I am seriously pondering why I persist in posting every day. It's not like anyone out there is reading this, so I am obviously doing it for myself. I have managed to post every day this year (more or less, I have at least journaled each day even if I have had a couple of technical difficulties in blogging). This is now a habit. Habits can be good or bad. I'm thinking that I may need to take a break from this habit to work on instilling a new one. I am not fit and really do need to be if I am going to continue keeping up with an amazingly active child. Tomorrow will be Booking Through Thursday, so I won't take a break then. There may be some eye candy out there for Friday and Saturday is, of course, lacrosse. Okay, so the break isn't coming that soon. Perhaps the end of the month would be a good time.

As for breaking, Marguerite has the best "breaking" news of all. You simply must go see her hatchling photos. Most impressive.

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Ways the World Has Changed Since I've Been in School

1. World Wide Web - nope, it didn't exist back then. Just after I got out of college, we were able to use obscure search tools to comb are way through what little was out there. Yes, I remember "surfing" without a web. Gopher or Archie, anyone?

2. Itty Bitty Computers - they used to be huge! There was no such thing as a laptop. Even "portable" was a misnomer.

3. Cordless Phones

4. Cell Phones

5. European geography had a lot fewer countries

6. Germany is no longer East and West

7. Reusable space vehicles

I can't stand it. I just can't put down three more things that have changed. I already feel old and crotchety. I am not ready for the museum (even if the first computer I used is in one).

Some Days

I wonder if I should even come out of my shell. Then, I find a sunbeam and maybe some dandelion greens, and it all seems better.

Revisiting the Game

Saturdays are lacrosse days for this family. Young Man and his team had last weekend off, but they were back on the field on Saturday. For a change, they had an afternoon game so I was able to take photos through the entire game. Unfortunately for my shutter finger, the game was a nail biter so I spent more time watching than clicking.


This was the second time Young Man's team faced this opponent. The first time, our boys were hot and tired after one game and faced these boys in the second game of the day. This time, they couldn't claim that they were too tired, but two weeks of not playing together really showed. Each of the boys on Young Man's team was playing well individually, but they just couldn't come together to play as a team. The opposing team was very good at finding and exploiting weaknesses. They made goal after goal by catching our defense out of position. Still, the score was tied at the half. The third quarter started out well, but the fourth quarter was painful to watch. The final score was 4-8 and the Crush parents had some disappointed boys for the long drive home.

The boys have one more game in the regular season. Even with this latest lost, they are in the top three and it is a close race. The team that one this weekend is in first place, but they have played fewer games than the other teams. I think all the parents are ready for the regular season to be over. We have been told that there will be some additional practices before the summer tournaments. Everyone agrees that they are sorely needed.