Diary of a Network Geek

I finished Angels & Demons by Dan Brown last night.

It was good and only slightly marred by the fact that I’d read the DaVinci Code first, so I knew that Robert Langdon would survive. The rest, however, was a merry chase through the Vatican city.
Ah, but I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. This is the story that introduces us to the hero of the best-selling book and major motion picture, the DaVinci Code, Robert Langdon. He’s well known by now, of course, as a Harvard symbologist specializing in rather strange and occult subjects. In this book, he’s chasing the Illuminati, who were long thought dead or subsumed by the Freemasons. But, with the “invention” of anti-matter, along with a suitable containment device, the Illuminati make a sudden reappearance. They apparently send their agent to steal the highly unstable and explosive antimatter to use as a spectacular act of religious terrorism by blowing up the Vatican City. Robert Langdon is called in by the head of CERN, where the antimatter was created, for his help and to use his expertise regarding the obscure Illuminati to “save the day”. The rest of the plot, I’ll leave you to discover yourself by reading the book.

Okay, this is not quite Nabakov, but it is a fairly good read. I actually liked it better than The Da Vinci Code, but the writing is certainly no better or worse. Dan Brown isn’t the hack that a lot of literary critics make him out to be, but, then again, he’s not Ernest Hemingway or Charles Dickens, either. Angels & Demons is good, light, reading that still has some fairly high-minded premise. As I menitoned earlier, it’s a decent enough book, though I wouldn’t want to make a steady diet of Brown’s work.

Today, at lunch, I started reading No Plot? No Problem!, which is the “official” handbook for NaNoWriMo, hopefully, in preparation for attempting to participate in November. That’s a ways off, so I’m not quite willing to commit to that, but, still, I’m thinking about it.

I suppose I should explain the new poll a bit more.

I like getting things in the mail.  Well, specifically, things that aren’t bills.  I’ve been a Wired magazine subscriber for more years than I care to count.  But, at the moment, that’s the only regular subscription I have going.  I think I’d like to add at least one more, but I have very eclectic taste when it comes to reading material.  So, I’m looking for a little advice.  I’ve got several magazines in mind, which I listed in that poll, but, in case you’re not familiar with them, I’ll give a quick sketch of them here.

Dwell– Dwell is a home design magazine that I stumbled across, somehow, right when it first came out.  It’s a little edgy, but pretty modern and fairly hip.  It has some interesting ideas, some of which I might actually be willing to try in my own house.  It’s arty and would look good on my coffee table.

Men’s Vogue– Okay, first of all, I am not making this up.  Check the link, it actually does exist.  I got a free issue in the mail, probably because I subscribe to Wired or something.  It’s not bad, but, well, it says “Vogue” right on the cover and seems a little, um, er, queer.  Not that it’s bad, but I have enough trouble, seeming a little too feminine probably is not the best way to go for me.  Still, I’m thinking that having a magazine that has Vogue in the title is bound to score some kind of points with someone.
Men’s Health– Okay, my thought here was “Get off your lazy ass and get back into shape!”  No, seriously, that was mainly what I was thinking.  But, of course, Men’s Health also has a lot of articles on food, entertainment, women, sex, and style, besides just working out and exercise types of things.  Also, would look good on my coffee table.

Scientific American–  Hey, I like science and I’m American, so…  Okay, seriously, I do enjoy keeping up on some of the latest scientific developments and Popular Science is written like USA Today, for the least common denominator.  I need something that doesn’t talk down to me.  My concern is, though, that they’ll cover some of the same ground that Wired will.  Also, there might not be something that catches my attention in every single issue.

Locus–  A trade mag for science-fiction and fantasy writers.  It shows who’s writing what and when it will come out.  Sometimes is even has who was paid what kinds of advances for their novels and such.  Any big shake-ups in the industry show up here.  And, they have decent reviews as well as regular “Top Ten” bestseller lists.  It is a bit pricey though, so even if you all vote for that one, I’ll have to really think about it.  My thought here is that if I want to publish in this field, then I should know the field, you know?

Finally, of course, if there’s a really good suggestion you think I’ve overlooked, fill in your own answer!  Thanks for playing.

My house has become the Augean-Stable of suburban Texas.

LK has been very busy with her business lately and, as a consequence, has little time for me, but I haven’t been letting the time go to waste. Now that my roommate is gone, and I have no one else to blame for my mess, I’ve been cleaning. This is a much larger task than it would seem at first glance. In the past week, I’ve only managed to get three rooms mostly cleaned up: the kitchen, the bathroom and the living room. The kitchen, of course, got a little extra help from LK, who was in catering for 15+ years and couldn’t stand the horrible state I’d let things devolve into. I finished that and have maintained it quite nicely, though the floor could use a good scrubbing. I haven’t scrubbed the floor in the kitchen, though, because I spent that energy scrubbing the bathroom floor instead.

The living room has proven to be both quite a challenge and quite rewarding to clean as well. Clutter was my main enemy there. There is a price to pay for worshiping the written word: it tends to build up like sedimentary rock. I’ve spent the past four or five days going through more than five years worth of Wired, Writer’s Digest and assorted other magazines. Most got simply thrown out, of course, but I culled some good articles from others. I still have a short stack to finish going through. Some of what’s left have an article or two that I want to read, but don’t want to save. Others I still have to make a decision about keeping or discarding. If I’m in doubt, I’ve been opting for discard just to make room for something new. I seem to recall that someone told me the reason they call them “periodicals” is because, periodically, they should be thrown away. That’s some good advice!

Speaking of advice, I’m down to a single, regular magazine subscription : Wired. I let my Writer’s Digest run out and, after reviewing several year’s worth, I know I made a good decision. All the writing advice in those magazines repeats about every eighteen months. In that space of time, you can count on any topic being brought up again at least once. Besides, I have all that advice in books already. And, I’ve read most of it at least twice, if not more than twice. But, I like to have stimulating new ideas cycle through my house and brain, so I’m thinking about starting another subscription. I’ve started a poll on the sidebar so you all can offer your suggestions and vote on my thoughts. Please, help me!

Oh, now I’m off to an Independence Day picnic with the Prayer Mafia, er, “Team”, so you all enjoy your fireworks and be safe!