A survey about books.

This has been going around, and although I wasn't actually tagged on this post, I saw it over on pomomusings and have been meaning to post my own answers for a couple of days.

I am a voracious reader. In general I read seven to ten books a month.

That being said, I just couldn't pass this one up.

1. One book that changed your life

I think that most of the people who know me well won't be surprised by this answer, even though it is a little odd...

I'd say that the book that most changed my life is probably The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

I became fanatical ( obsessed, even ) with this book early in high school and probably read it cover to cover hundreds of times between my freshman year and graduation. It was defining for my sense of humour, my vocabulary, my interests, and many of my friendships.

My original copy of Hitchiker's, I gave to a great friend in 1996 knowing that I would never see him again, and wanting to have something to remember me by. I had basically taken the book everywhere with me for three years, and knowing what it meant to me, he was very reluctant to take it, but did in the end. My replacement copy ( shown below ) has been on my shelf since 1997, and I still read it cover to cover about twice a year.



If I had to answer this question twice my next answer would be Velvit Elvis by Rob Bell.

2. One book you’ve read more than once

I almost always re-read books that I liked the on the first read. There are certain books though that I make a point to re-read at least once a year ( or so ).

Just a couple of these include Hitchiker's ( of course ) and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island

I so want to say The Bible... and ( like Adam ) I would say The Bible if I KNEW I'd be getting off the island at some point... the forced reading would be good for me...

However, if I were stuck on the island permanently I'd rather have something distracting to read than something I'd have to think about...

Maybe the complete works of Chris Moore ?

4. Two books that made you laugh

Lamb by Chris Moore. One of my new favorite books.

The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman.

5. One book that made you cry

When we were kids, instead of watching TV in the evenings, Dad would read out loud to my brother and sister and I while we sat around on the floor. Dad collects books about Robin Hood, and one of his favorites is Robin Hood by Henry Gilbert, published in 1912.

Every time he read it out loud to us, and even when I went back and read it myself in later years, I always cried at the end when Robin Hood dies.

6. One book you wish had been written

How do you answer this question? I guess I'm not sure what the book would be about, but I feel strongly that the following people should write books. I would buy one.

Steve Good ( No, this blog doesn't actually get updated )
Marty Ford

7. One book you wish had never been written

Again, I find this question horribly unfair... I'm no where close to having read all the books in the world and am therefore unqualified to say that some books should never have been written...

Also, I'm having a hard time thinking of any books I've read that I absolutely just hated...

I'm pretty open to the freedom of thinking and freedom of expression thing too... So even if I don't like a book, or don't agree with the content there-in I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that it should never have been written...

8. One book you’re currently reading

I am currently reading I, Strahd - The Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N. Elrod and They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read

I have several friends and blog-quaintances who have written or published books that I've been meaning to order and read, but not gotten around to yet.

My friend Kevin Pettway writes a web comic called Heros of Lesser Earth. He published a book of his comics in the fall of last year, that I wish I had grabbed a copy of.

Gordon Atkinson of RealLivePreacher.com also has a book published that I would like to pick up and read.




Well, that's it for me...

As for the customary tagging, I am interested in seeing the following folks respond:
Marty, Steve, Sarah, Jenn, Anna, Julie P and Tersie

a haiku

So... I was feeling artistic and wrote a haiku this morning... actually, after some research it appears that I actually wrote a senryū.

How fascinating....

Anyway. Here is it is for your enjoyment.

good for taking notes
reminders, to-do's, doodles
my thanks to 3M

To be truly appreciated, this particular haiku must be presented on the medium to which it refers... So I give you a photo.

Almost time to clean off the pike again...

As Dangerous as the Law Allows!

Well, I'm in San Francisco for Macworld. ( more on that later, probably ).

Today after we got our booth setup, we had basically the whole day to wander around and be tourists in San Francisco.

Whilst we were out wandering around, we scoped out Pier 39 down at Fisherman's Wharf.
( Think medium sized, sprawling, tourist trap mall on a pier... )

Snapped a photo of this sign while we were there, which brings up some of the following questions...



Just how "intense" does the law allow an amusement ride/attraction to be?

4D ?? What the heck ? Please read this... Wikipedia : Fourth Dimension

Needless to say we passed on that one...

More later...

Quote of the day

Jenn called me earlier on her way into town.

In mid sentence she stopped and said "I think the Blue's Brothers are walking towards me on the side of the road... " [ long pause ] "Oh, never mind.... It was just a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses".

Although I suspect it was a couple of the local boys from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and not, in fact, Jehovah's witnesses, the phone call still made my day.

Lost & Found.

I took a walk today instead of going to lunch.

On my return walk I stopped at the little coffee joint just down from the office to get a hot drink, and when I left to come back this way I noticed a cell phone laying in the road.

There were no vehicles in the immediate vicinity and no one on the street, so I grabbed the phone and pocketed it for the walk back to the office.

When I got back to my desk I tried the "Home" number in the contact list and got no answer, and was in the process of trying to determine who the phone belonged to and how to return it, when it rang... The number on the caller ID said "Mom". I let that call go to VoiceMail, waited a few minutes, and then called the Mom number from my own phone.

A girl named Alex picked up and said she was trying to call her phone from her Mom's phone because she couldn't figure out where she had put hers. She seemed pretty relieved when I told her I had found it and would be happy to return it to her.

Since I work at a large building downtown, it was no big deal to drop the phone in a padded envelope and leave it at the front desk with her name on it. I told her we were open till five, and that she could stop by and get it anytime. I put a note in the envelope saying

"Hey, I'm glad I found this and was able to get ahold of you... Happy New Year, -Eli"

Much to my surprise, the receptionist called me just a few minutes ago and asked me to come down to the desk.

When I got down there, she handed me back my envelope.



It has $15 in it.

I was just doing what I hope someone would do if they found my iPhone laying in the street. I know I've dropped it enough times that it's only a matter of time until I leave it laying somewhere.

Thanks for the gift Alex. It wasn't necessary, but Thank You and Happy New Year.

Dad's boots.

Silas turned one on Saturday.

We had a small get together at the house. Mostly family and really close friends just getting together to eat cake and ice cream. Although Ellie was excited for the birthday party, Silas doesn't quite "get it" yet.

He was just happy to have cake, and seemed to think it was weird that everyone crowded in the kitchen to watch him eat.

Anyhoo... Although Silas got waaaayyyy too much for Christmas, and his birthday get together was specifically advertised as "no gifts please"... He got some anyway...

One gift in particular though needs to be mentioned...

From his Great-Papaw Ruggles ( my Dad's dad ) Silas got a pair of black cowboy boots.

Here they are...



Some pretty snazzy kicks for a guy who can't even walk on his own yet... They're a little big for him, but at the rate he is growing he'll be running around in them in no time...

The boots themselves are a nice gift, but what makes these boots special is that Papaw Ruggles gave them to me, more than twenty-five years ago.

This is me, wearing them. I would guess myself to be between two and three in this photo.



After I outgrew the boots, Papaw made sure they got passed on to my brother. Then he made sure they got passed on to our cousins Kristopher and Matthew who each wore them until they wouldn't fit anymore.

I probably hadn't given the boots a second thought from the time I was two, until Silas pulled them out of the bag on Saturday, and here Papaw had re-claimed them when Matthew grew out of them and polished them up, and put them away, and waited until he had a great-grandson to pass them on to... And now, more than twenty five years after his daddy wore them Silas will be stomping around the house in them.

How cool is that.

Oh... in that photo of me I had just received a fancy new farm tractor to peddle around on. My brother and sister and I played on that tractor inside and out until we were all too big for it, and then it dissapeared.

Well... Here is a photo of Ellie playing on the tractor at Papaw's house when she was about a year-and-a-half old...



It won't be much longer and I suspect that Silas will be inheriting another one of Dad's old toys.

I just hope that we can take as good care of them as my my Papaw did, so that one of these days when I'm Papaw-Ruggles I can pass on to my Ellie & Silas's kids and grand-kids toys that belonged to their mom and dad when they were that age.

Jesus Junk

Dan Kimball's book, They Like Jesus but not the Church, has a great chapter on Jesus in pop culture, and even touches on Marko's oft posted topic of "Jesus Junk".

Was out Christmas shopping on Dec 23, and ran across a rack of these guys at Border's in Parkersburg.



I really wanted one, but Jenn wouldn't let me.

If you read the fine print you'll even see that he has "poseable arms, and gliding action!"




Oh... and the best bit.... Jesus is not recommended for children under three years.