tales of an ordinary girl

I'm off now to Dragon Con for 4 wonderful days. If you were reading last year you may remember all the terrific and not-so-terrific costumes that populate the con.

This year I'm not so much of a Dragon Con newb, so maybe I'll take everything in stride. I'll still take pictures of costumes as I can because they're so fun, but I hope to have more fun too. And, the Space and Science tracks are filled with more than just Myth Busters and Ghost Hunters, so there should be some good panels. Last year the Short Film track had Cthulu goodness, but unfortunately I don't see any on schedule for this year. :(

But most of all it'll be fun to see old friends and hopefully this year, play some games! :)

I have a problem with books. Last month while I was reading American Gods I found another copy on one of my bookshelves that I had no idea I owned. I thought I'd left it on an airplane by accident several years ago, but maybe that was another Gaiman book (which I'll have to find and re-buy now, of course even though I haven't thought of it in years). I did manage to find a copy of Stardust on my bookshelf though that I had forgotten about.

My problem with books is that I buy too many to possibly read them all. Perhaps that's why keeping a reading list of "to read" books has been good for me. But the main problem, buying too many books, remains. There are too many books, too many good books, to ever hope to even read a small portion of them.

This month I managed to finish two fairly lengthy books. Pitiful! The good thing is that I enjoyed them, for the most part. That's the whole point, right? Look for reviews coming in September, hopefully.

Read in August
The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
War of Flowers - Tad Williams

Currently Reading
Julian - Gore Vidal

Right now my only expectation is to finish Julian this month, but a few more might be possible. I'm going to try to focus on one book at a time and see how that goes. No grabbing the first book I see on my desk as I rush off to work and no picking a new book at night because I'm too lazy to go out to my car and get the book I've been reading. :)

Coming Up Next
Lost Languages - Andrew Robinson
Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill
Darwin's Ghost - Steve Jones
Seasons - Robert Frost
A History of the End of the World - Jonathan Kirsch
Spirit Gate - Kate Elliott
Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea - Carl Zimmer
Dark Tower - Stephen King
The Lucifer Effect - Philip Zimbardo
The Android's Dream - John Scalzi

Join Dr Martin Rundkvist over at Aardvarchaeology for the 68th Skeptic Circle. In this edition many interesting topics are covered including:

I’ll have my scientists one-dimensional and without opinions, please!
Einstein was wrong.
The (non-)Danger of Microwaves

Give it a look!