May 2008
Mistress of the Art of Death
May 26 2008 10:51 PM Filed in: Books
I just finished another book, Mistress of the Art of
Death, by Ariana Franklin. It's a mystery novel that
takes place in the 12th century. I like to mix up my
reading, some humor, some drama, some action,
fiction, non-fiction, you name it. It's been a while
since I've read a who-dunnit mystery, and this was a
very good one.
The premise for the book is: four children have been murdered in Cambridge, England. The town, a very Christian town, blames the Jews; mainly because one of the children, the first to be killed, was crucified. The Jews of the town are locked away, and the King sends for help. The main character of the story is Adelia, she is a doctor from Italy, whose specialty is being a coroner. Now, back in the 12th century women weren't known for being doctors, if you were a woman that could heal someone, you were obviously a witch (that's one thing I do enjoy about reading this book, since it deals so much with what I consider the stupidity that is organized religion), so she has a male traveler along with her, whom they pretend is the doctor. There is also another male, Simon of Naples. He is the detective of the group.
The story is beautifully written, and is very interesting. I recommend it for anyone who is into a good mystery novel.
The premise for the book is: four children have been murdered in Cambridge, England. The town, a very Christian town, blames the Jews; mainly because one of the children, the first to be killed, was crucified. The Jews of the town are locked away, and the King sends for help. The main character of the story is Adelia, she is a doctor from Italy, whose specialty is being a coroner. Now, back in the 12th century women weren't known for being doctors, if you were a woman that could heal someone, you were obviously a witch (that's one thing I do enjoy about reading this book, since it deals so much with what I consider the stupidity that is organized religion), so she has a male traveler along with her, whom they pretend is the doctor. There is also another male, Simon of Naples. He is the detective of the group.
The story is beautifully written, and is very interesting. I recommend it for anyone who is into a good mystery novel.
Wii Fit
May 23 2008 03:53 PM Filed in: Video Games
Back when I placed a pre-order for Mario Kart Wii, I
also went ahead and placed an order for Wii Fit. Wii
Fit has received good reviews, and has done well in
Japan and Europe, so I figured there was no harm in
ordering a copy. It arrived yesterday, and I gave it
a try last night.
When you first start Wii Fit you choose your Mii, and you enter basic information, like Height and Age. Once you do that it tells you your current weight, your BMI and also it shows where you are on the chart of fitness. I am currently listed as overweight. All that is above me is obese, which I will hopefully never reach in my lifetime. I am 5'9", 36 years old, and 181 lbs. I would like to get down to around 170 or so. While I have been eating better, that alone won't get me there. It has helped me get down from 189, which is what I was the beginning of the year. Now I need to combine it with exercise.
Once all that information was entered I set up a goal. I said I'd like to lose 1.5 pounds every two weeks. I figured that was a good start. Once that was done I gave the game a go.
You can choose from four categories: yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games. I started off with aerobics. The first thing I did was hula-hoop. While I admit it does feel weird to stand on the wii fitness board and shake your hips about simulating using a hula-hoop, it was a good little 3 minute workout. Next I tried the step aerobics. I really enjoyed this one. After that was running. For this one you don't use the fitness board, instead you place the wii remote in your pocket and you run in place. Now that was a workout, and also kind of hard, because I kept running toward the TV : )
I gave a couple of the balance games a tryout too. The skiing and ski jump are a lot of fun, as was the heading of soccer balls.
While I have only given it a day so far, I do find it enjoyable, and should give me a way to get some exercise each evening.
When you first start Wii Fit you choose your Mii, and you enter basic information, like Height and Age. Once you do that it tells you your current weight, your BMI and also it shows where you are on the chart of fitness. I am currently listed as overweight. All that is above me is obese, which I will hopefully never reach in my lifetime. I am 5'9", 36 years old, and 181 lbs. I would like to get down to around 170 or so. While I have been eating better, that alone won't get me there. It has helped me get down from 189, which is what I was the beginning of the year. Now I need to combine it with exercise.
Once all that information was entered I set up a goal. I said I'd like to lose 1.5 pounds every two weeks. I figured that was a good start. Once that was done I gave the game a go.
You can choose from four categories: yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games. I started off with aerobics. The first thing I did was hula-hoop. While I admit it does feel weird to stand on the wii fitness board and shake your hips about simulating using a hula-hoop, it was a good little 3 minute workout. Next I tried the step aerobics. I really enjoyed this one. After that was running. For this one you don't use the fitness board, instead you place the wii remote in your pocket and you run in place. Now that was a workout, and also kind of hard, because I kept running toward the TV : )
I gave a couple of the balance games a tryout too. The skiing and ski jump are a lot of fun, as was the heading of soccer balls.
While I have only given it a day so far, I do find it enjoyable, and should give me a way to get some exercise each evening.
Parker turns 1
May 19 2008 08:48 PM Filed in: Personal
My nephew, Parker, celebrated his 1st birthday over
the weekend. I went down to Columbus to attend the
party. He is such a great kid, very well behaved. My
Grandmother and Aunt were in town too, so I got to
hang out with them also. All in all it was a great
weekend.
Here's Parker in all his Auburn clothing and facial decals; that's my mother holding him.
Here's Parker in all his Auburn clothing and facial decals; that's my mother holding him.
New Mac
May 16 2008 05:59 PM Filed in: Apple
Once I got myself out of debt I started an envelope
system. If I find something I would like to purchase,
I start setting aside money for it, and once I have
the money if I still want it, I purchase it. This way
I don't just throw it on my credit card and get into
debt again.
I've started using my MacBook exclusively at work, and I love it. To handle the couple virtual machines I run, I needed to delete all the applications on my Mac to make room, so I figured I would get myself another Mac for home. At first I was looking at the iMacs, but I already have a keyboard, mouse and a 20" cinema display, so I figured I would pick up a Mac Mini. These computers are amazing. They are so small. The entire time I've owned my MacBook I've always felt it was fast and powerful enough for all I do, so I felt the Mac Mini was perfect. It's a core 2 duo with 2 GB RAM. That will handle all I use it for. I haven't loaded all my applications on it so far, but it's been running like a champ for past week and a half I've had it. I'm very happy with my purchase, and even happier that I used my system to purchase it without getting back into debt.
I've started using my MacBook exclusively at work, and I love it. To handle the couple virtual machines I run, I needed to delete all the applications on my Mac to make room, so I figured I would get myself another Mac for home. At first I was looking at the iMacs, but I already have a keyboard, mouse and a 20" cinema display, so I figured I would pick up a Mac Mini. These computers are amazing. They are so small. The entire time I've owned my MacBook I've always felt it was fast and powerful enough for all I do, so I felt the Mac Mini was perfect. It's a core 2 duo with 2 GB RAM. That will handle all I use it for. I haven't loaded all my applications on it so far, but it's been running like a champ for past week and a half I've had it. I'm very happy with my purchase, and even happier that I used my system to purchase it without getting back into debt.
Nothing But the Best
May 16 2008 05:55 PM Filed in: Music
This may be hard to believe, coming from a person
that loves punk music as much as I do, but, if you
were to look at my iPod, you would see a Swing/Easy
Listening genre, and under that you would see the 50
or so CDs I have amassed of Frank Sinatra. Yes, I
admit it, I am a fan of Ol' Blue Eyes. I've been a
fan of not only his music, but also his movies, for a
long time.
A new greatest hits CD was released last week, and I went ahead and got it. Sure, I have all of these songs, and the list of songs almost matches the list from My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra, but I still wanted to add it to my collection. The sound quality of these songs is a lot better than some of the other versions I have, guess it's the way they remastered it.
If you are a fan of Frank Sinatra, this CD does contain just about all the songs I would count as his best.
A new greatest hits CD was released last week, and I went ahead and got it. Sure, I have all of these songs, and the list of songs almost matches the list from My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra, but I still wanted to add it to my collection. The sound quality of these songs is a lot better than some of the other versions I have, guess it's the way they remastered it.
If you are a fan of Frank Sinatra, this CD does contain just about all the songs I would count as his best.