talking to my self

First day back at the gym after a fortnight off.

Well, that was made of fail. A stop-starty mile in thirteen minutes, which is three and a half minutes longer than normal, and gods above and below, my wind is gone.

The weight work wasn't terrible, which I ascribe to my irregular programme of situups and pushups over the break, and I ran into one of the guys on campus, so I might well be going climbing on Saturday.

After the gym, I went to the French tea place, and bought myself Grand Yunnan and Rooibos au tilleul et a la menthe. They are tasty. I can see this tea thing might become a habit.

Now I must attempt to push the thesis on a little further, and talk about aretalogies. Perhaps after dinner, though: I'm getting a little hungry now.

talking to my self

First day back at the gym after a fortnight off.

Well, that was made of fail. A stop-starty mile in thirteen minutes, which is three and a half minutes longer than normal, and gods above and below, my wind is gone.

The weight work wasn't terrible, which I ascribe to my irregular programme of situups and pushups over the break, and I ran into one of the guys on campus, so I might well be going climbing on Saturday.

After the gym, I went to the French tea place, and bought myself Grand Yunnan and Rooibos au tilleul et a la menthe. They are tasty. I can see this tea thing might become a habit.

Now I must attempt to push the thesis on a little further, and talk about aretalogies. Perhaps after dinner, though: I'm getting a little hungry now.

The year in review

2009 wasn't the best year ever. On the other hand, it could definitely have been worse.

What I achieved: passed my exams, started climbing better/more often, stayed reasonably fit, stayed reasonably sane, tramped all over London in four days, spent four weeks on an archaeological dig in the heart of England, started - and am almost halfway through - a final year thesis, read 110 books.

110 books is nearly thirty fewer than last year. On the other hand, I've been reading a lot more history books, and those take longer. Not to mention the thesis, with all its French and fiddly scholarship, has taken up a lot of time.

Top ten (fiction) books read this year, not necessarily in order:

1. Ursula K. LeGuin, The Dispossessed
2. Elizabeth Bear, By The Mountain Bound
3. Daniel Fox, Dragon In Chains
4. Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals
5. Amanda Downum, The Drowning City
6. Elizabeth Bear, Seven for a Secret
7. Anthony Price, Other Paths to Glory
8. Sarah Monette, Corambis
9. Marie Brennan, In Ashes Lie
10. Kristin Cashore, Graceling.

I must also say here that Dragon In Chains is absolutely beautiful right down to the prose level, and By The Mountain Bound is fabulous and bloody heart-breaking.

The absence of science fiction on that list, apart from the LeGuin... has a lot to do with the fact that while I find space opera amusing, and dystopias engaging, very few of the former are actually any good and very few of the latter are actually enjoyable to read.

Write me thoughtful and interesting and well-written science fiction, people!

---

Top three non-fiction books of the year, in order:

1. Peter Parsons, City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish: Greek Papyri Beneath the Egyptian Sands Reveal a Long-Lost World, London, 2007.

2. Richard M. Eaton, A Social History of the Deccan 1300-1761: Nine Indian Lives, Cambridge, 2005.

3. Guido Majno, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World, Harvard, 1975.


I do love the Parsons book: it's written for the non-specialist, and full of the sense and taste and minutiae of daily live. And very well-written, too.

---

Resolutions for the coming year? I do have a few...

Climb better. Live better. Write better.

Be a better person.

The year in review

2009 wasn't the best year ever. On the other hand, it could definitely have been worse.

What I achieved: passed my exams, started climbing better/more often, stayed reasonably fit, stayed reasonably sane, tramped all over London in four days, spent four weeks on an archaeological dig in the heart of England, started - and am almost halfway through - a final year thesis, read 110 books.

110 books is nearly thirty fewer than last year. On the other hand, I've been reading a lot more history books, and those take longer. Not to mention the thesis, with all its French and fiddly scholarship, has taken up a lot of time.

Top ten (fiction) books read this year, not necessarily in order:

1. Ursula K. LeGuin, The Dispossessed
2. Elizabeth Bear, By The Mountain Bound
3. Daniel Fox, Dragon In Chains
4. Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals
5. Amanda Downum, The Drowning City
6. Elizabeth Bear, Seven for a Secret
7. Anthony Price, Other Paths to Glory
8. Sarah Monette, Corambis
9. Marie Brennan, In Ashes Lie
10. Kristin Cashore, Graceling.

I must also say here that Dragon In Chains is absolutely beautiful right down to the prose level, and By The Mountain Bound is fabulous and bloody heart-breaking.

The absence of science fiction on that list, apart from the LeGuin... has a lot to do with the fact that while I find space opera amusing, and dystopias engaging, very few of the former are actually any good and very few of the latter are actually enjoyable to read.

Write me thoughtful and interesting and well-written science fiction, people!

---

Top three non-fiction books of the year, in order:

1. Peter Parsons, City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish: Greek Papyri Beneath the Egyptian Sands Reveal a Long-Lost World, London, 2007.

2. Richard M. Eaton, A Social History of the Deccan 1300-1761: Nine Indian Lives, Cambridge, 2005.

3. Guido Majno, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World, Harvard, 1975.


I do love the Parsons book: it's written for the non-specialist, and full of the sense and taste and minutiae of daily live. And very well-written, too.

---

Resolutions for the coming year? I do have a few...

Climb better. Live better. Write better.

Be a better person.