Cloud Atlas

I know it's a little premature to start labeling a 500-page book as one of your favorites when you're only on page 46, but I'm really enjoying Cloud Atlas so far. Amazon kept telling me I'd like it, and it sounded interesting (but challenging) based on the reviews. It was also a finalist for the Man Booker Prize in the year in was released. So, I put it on my wishlist, and I got three copies for Christmas.

Although I was enjoying Augusten Burroughs's Dry, I found myself stranded without that book and with one of my three copies of Cloud Atlas. So I broke the one-book-at-a-time rule and began reading.

The novel began with the journal of a man travelling near Australia via ship in the 19th century. Although none of this sounds like something I'd enjoy (19th century, ship voyage, journal entries), David Mitchell manages to mirror a style I don't usually like and keep it compulsively readable. About 40 pages into this section, there is an abrupt mid-sentence ending. I turned the page, and another section was beginning.

This surprise send me immediately back to amazon.com to read the reviews and see what was going on. Apparently the first five sections of the book end midstory. The sixth story is complete. Then, the first five stories are concluded in reverse order.

Each of the six stories is in a totally different setting and uses a different writing style. I've only begun the second section (it takes place in Europe in 1931), and it's obvious that Mitchell is brilliant. This section reads as if it's by another author from another time. And, according to some of the reviews, I haven't even read the best story yet.

I'm now in a somewhat obsessed state where it's almost painful to sit at work without reading. So, instead, I'm ranting about how great the book is in the hopes that someone will understand or maybe even start reading it and share in the fantastic experience.

BookMooch

I don't really think of myself as a pack rat, but does anyone? The one thing I know I have a bad habit of holding on to is books. What's worse is that they're not even all books that I've read. I tend to buy stacks of books that sound interesting and never get to them. I've got two full shelves in my bedroom as well as a couple boxes that I don't think my parents realize are still in one of their closets. And, that's just the books I haven't read yet.

I've gotten better about buying books recently, so a lot of the ones on my shelf and in my old closet are a few years old. My tastes have changed in that time (from a pretentious English major to someone willing to settle for more mainstream fiction). But I can't bring myself to get rid of them. I've sold some online and brought quite a few to Half Price, but if there's any chance that I'll ever think of reading it in the future, I've still got it. The prices you get for used books are so pathetic, it's often like trading five (or more) books for one.

But yesterday I discovered BookMooch. It's a network of people who trade books for free. All you have to do is list the books you have that you're willing to trade. When someone requests one of your books, you ship it to them (that's the only cost), and you get a point. You can then exchange your point for a book on the site. You also get a point for every ten books you list. So, each book is an even trade. I give someone a book I don't want and I get a book that I do. It makes it a lot easier for me to justify getting rid of old books if I get a new one tha I'm excited about reading in exchange.

And, since the site works a little better everytime a new person joins, I wanted to tell as many people as possible.

literally

I realize that a rant against the misuse of the English language isn't terribly original, but I just can't resist this one. I've noticed a lot of people recently who use the world "literally" in a completely inappropriate manner. It's like they literally have no brain.

This morning (Friday) in the elevator, a girl was talking to her friend about how much yesterday had felt like Friday to her. She then said that she was "literally here on Saturday today." It's Friday, but it's literally Saturday. Really?

I've picked up on this kind of usage a lot recently (literally millions of times), but now that I'm writing a blog about it, I'm running low on examples. Please help me out if you've got some funny examples of this literal slaughter of our language.

Barack Obama

I'll be honest: I've been supporting Obama for a while now without knowing much about him. It just seemed like the cool thing to do. But I've started trying to learn more about him, and I like him more everytime I learn something knew.

Now, I realize that this puts me about two and half years behind, but I had not seen his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention until today. Wow! He's amazing. He made me feel patriotic, which is not something I've felt in a very long time. I can't wait to read his book.

Austin

Everyone talks about what a cool city Austin is, but, despite growing up less than four hours away, I'd never really spent any time there. I kinda figured no city in Texas could be that great, especially not the center of Texas government. I was so wrong.

Donnice was in a meeting all day Friday, so I just drove around the city. I had no idea where I was going, but I managed to see quite a bit. I saw the fancy houses on the hill above the river. I saw Zilker Park. I spent some time walking around the botanical gardens, which seems like a strange thing to do in Decemeber but was actually quite peaceful (and not too terribly cold). I drove down South Congress and got fair trade organic coffee at Ruta Maya. I visited the enormous Whole Foods between 5th and 6th. It was a good day.

That night, Donnice and I had dinner at Taj Palace. It's the first Indian place we tried in Austin, and it was better than any of the Indian places we've been to in Dallas. (Austin also gave Dallas it's best Indian restaurant, Clay Pit.)

Friday night Donnice stayed in while I met with Joel and Jonathan, two friends from middle school. It's probably been ten years since I'd seen them, so hanging out again could've been pretty awkward, but I had a great time. They took me to The Beauty Bar, a very cool bar on 7th, where (according to Joel and Jonathan) all the frat boy types are afraid to go because they think it's all queers. Just so I could see the most famous part of Austin nightlife, we went over to 6th Street for a while. As Joel and Jonathan had warned me, it had a lot more frat-boy types. But it also had some pretty great live music. Then, we made a short appearance at a birthday party for one of their friends. It was a very strange group of UT choir members; they sang the entire time. I got back to the hotel around 2:45, quite a bit later that I'd been out at any time in the past 3 years. It was a great night, and it's good to know that two of my best friends from ten years ago could still be good friends to me now.

On Saturday, we had a wonderful brunch at Mother's Cafe and Garden. We sat in "the garden," an enclosed porch area with lots of plants and a small fountain. There was a guy playing the harp. It was very peaceful. Mother's is a one of several vegetarian restaurants in Austin. The menu was full of food that sounded completely delicious, and Donnice and I both really enjoyed our meal.

Despite the wonderful lunch, the highlight of the day on Saturday was when we met Brian, Kellie, Robert, Kenna, Allison, Joel, and Jonanthan at Trudy's for dinner and margaritas. It was really great to catch up with all of them. However, it was a little sad to be at a table too long for one conversation. It sucks to have to go back and forth between conversations when you're trying to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while. I had fun to talking to Kenna about her new job at Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing. It's an ad agency, but it's very small and it focuses on social marketing issues. It sounds like a cool place to work.

After dinner, Donnice and I went to the Alamo Drafthouse with Brian and Kellie. It was a very cool theater, kinda like the Austin version of the Studio Movie Grill. But that's like saying Whole Foods is the Austin version of Walmart Neighborhood Market; it's so much better comparisons don't really make sense. Brian also gave us a mix cd (and cute little Christmas mugs with candy and hot chocolate). I think the last mix cd I listened to was the one Michael gave me when I moved to Cincinnati, so I really enjoyed listening to it on the way home on Sunday. There's nothing like the first time through a mixtape when every song is a pleasant surprise.

It was an amazing weekend, and I could write more, but I'm sure even this much babbling is trying the patience of some of you, so I'll end it here. Austin is an amazing place, and I have great friends there. I can't wait to get back.

new car

Donnice and I have been talking about buying a Prius for about two months now.

The original plan was to wait until we move in June.

But a few weeks ago, Donnice began suggesting that we might buy earlier, maybe even around Christmas or my birthday (Jan 13). And since she's the one who's good with money and who is currently taking public transit to work, it's really her call.

And last week, when it got cold, she'd had enough. She didn't want to deal with DART when it was 40 degrees outside. And, I certainly wasn't going to hold her back if she was ready (like I said she the one who's good with money), especially since it's gonna be my car.

So, on Saturday, after going to an early movie (they're only $5 before noon), we started driving toward Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney (the first green car dealership). I called Stephane, our sales guy, on the way up, but he didn't answer. We didn't want to show up and have to wait around for him, so we decided to stop at the Honda dealership and look at the Civic Hybrid. I knew I wanted a Prius, but I thought it would be good to at least check out the Civic since we had some extra time.

I had this idea in my head of the pre-2006 Civic. It seemed like such a boring, generic car that I couldn't imagine owning one. But the new design is really a lot nicer. Both the interior and exterior are far more stylish than previous generations of the Civic. It even had a few advantages over the Prius, especailly the price (although the base price is similar, the Civic I wanted was $3,000 cheaper than the Prius I wanted). I left the Honda dealership for our appointment at the Toyota dealership (Stephane called back just before our test drive of the Civic) thinking that I might be back before the end of the day to buy the Civic.

I spoke with Stephane a while and looked at several Prii that they had in stock (none of them were what I wanted), I was pretty convinced that I wanted the Civic. Then, I took the Prius for a second test drive (I'd driven it a couple weeks before when we visited the dealership for the first time). The Prius is so freaking cool! It's different, and it has so much more personality, and you don't have to use your keys. You just leave them in your pocket, and the car detects them automatically, allowing you to open the door and start the car without ever touching the key. Plus, it's got better pickup, more space, and bluetooth.

But the Civic will save us $60 every month for the next five years. I hate decisions!


UPDATE: I bought the Prius, and I'm picking is up tonight (12/11). I bought it from Pat Lobb, the first green dealership. They were just named one of the top ten dealerships in the country by The New York Times:

Pat Lobb Toyota, McKinney, Texas
Both lean and clean, the Pat Lobb Toyota dealership in McKinney is "green" as well. For the true environmentalist, nothing could be better than buying and servicing a Prius from Pat Lobb Toyota in Texas. The dealership's construction is incorporated of approximately 75-percent recycled materials. Highlights include rubber sidewalks made from recycled tires, a cistern that catches roof rainwater for use in landscape irrigation, and waterless urinals that save thousands of gallons annually. Pat Lobb Toyota is also the first dealership to be registered with the U.S. Green Building Council.

focus groups

I moderated my first focus groups with TRG yesterday! They were just short, internal group, not groups with real-world consumers and expensive recruiting costs, but I was in charge. I co-moderated some groups for Contemporary Dance Theatre in grad school, but this was my first time to do it as part of a real job.

There were two groups on men and two groups of women, and the women made moderating feel really easy. The men were more work. They spoke a lot less, so I had to do more to make them talk. I'd been told not to be afraid of silence, but I may have taken that advice a little too seriously. I assumed that what felt like long silences to me were probably only a few seconds in reality. Apparently they felt even longer to Glenn, who was sitting behind the mirror for the most difficult of the four groups. But, Glenn and I had time to talk between groups, and I thought about his feedback when I went in for the next group, which he said was much better.

Although they weren't perfect, I think the groups went pretty well for my first time moderating. I really enjoyed leading the discussions. Maybe it's because I'm quiet. I often feel like I don't contribute my fair share to conversations. But in a focus group, I'm in control. I don't say much, but I steer the conversation and facilitate discussion. It's a rare situation, because I know I'm an important part of the discussion even when I appear to just sit back and listen.