Monthly Archives: April 2011

Then, we went about nesting, as I am prone to do. This is our place now. It’s certainly still in process, but we love our space.

To keep things a bit less overwhelming, we’ll go two rooms at a time.

So, back in October Emily and I moved into a new place. We promised the folks back on the East Coast before and after pictures of the move. Today, I decided to finally make good on that promise.

In general, here is how the place looked when we moved in:

As much as I might want to, I don’t have time to write detailed posts about all the books I’ve been reading this year, not even just the ones I loved. So, here are short bits about five books, with the hope I’ll do another five in the near future.

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1. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon

A detective story set in an alternate version of our world in which Israel dissolved after it’s creation post WWII, and the US government temporarily allotted a portion of Sitka, Alaska for Jewish settlement.

Out of the 26 books I’ve read so far in 2011, this has to be in the top three. As Chabon’s follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize winning effort in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, it’s more proof that Chabon is on a very short list of the greatest living writers.

I normally just show a picture of the cover, but I couldn’t resist a photo of Chabon and Gaiman together. There can’t be more talented best friends in the world.

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2. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

Another classic that I finally got around to reading. Hilarious, smart, and readable enough to consume the whole thing without putting the book down.

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3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz

A beautifully written story of one Dominican family, set both in present day US and three generations in the DR, most notably under the terrible reign of El Jefe during the Trujillo era.

The voices of the narrators, especially the primary narrator, are wildly original. By the end of the novel I cared deeply about these characters. This is one everybody should read.

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4. The Forever War – Joe Haldeman

One of my favorite things, both as a story device, and as a part of actual reality, is the theory of relativity. The Forever War is about what war would be like if it was taking place all over a universe where light speed travel was possible. While back on earth centuries would pass, the soldiers would have lived only four years or so if they’d been traveling light speed during that time.

Haldeman does a really great job playing with all the potential actualities stemming from this light speed war taking place over countless generations of two species. It’s a really fun read.

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5. Graceling and Fire – Kristin Cashore

Young adult fantasy, the second book is actually a prequel set in the same fictional world with only one character who figures into Graceling. To make  a long story short, without spoilers, each book is about a young woman with extraordinary abilities, in a world where it is common for people to have abilities, but those who have them are feared and often hated.

I really enjoyed these books, the Fire even more than Graceling, and I can’t wait until the third book in the trilogy comes out this August.

Thanks to Brian and Wes, I finally listened to OFWGKTA. These guys are young, crazy, amazingly talented high school dropouts.

This song and music video is engaging, disturbing, smart, fascinating and troubling. It’s great art.

As a bonus, here is their electric performance on Fallon. It’s evidence of the reality that ‘Tyler, the Creator’ and is cohorts grew up skateboarding, smoking pot, and consuming culture without following carefully designed race lines concerning what they were ‘supposed to be interested in’ according to what some asshole in a suit decided kids listen to and watch based on demographic.

Odd Future represents the subterranean rage and discontent amongst American youth, and not youth as in teens… hell, perhaps I mean youth as in people under 40. For so many reasons, and at the high cost of an unavoidable pun, OFWGKTA just may be the future of music.

I shared this fantastic short film over at my tumblr, you should watch it: The Last Temptation of Chris.

I sure am behind on sharing trailers I like. Lame.

1. Everything Must Go

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2. The Hangover: Part II

The first full trailer for the film. After watching this I feel the same way I felt about the first film: There are all these reasons I normally wouldn’t like this movie on paper, and yet I can’t stop laughing at the trailer. As far as details go, it looks like your stereotypical sequel, the bad kind. Yet, I can’t help being excited. I’ll be there opening weekend.

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3. The Big Bang

So, I’m a little embarrassed about wanting to see this, but in the hopes it’s a decent take on the pulpy noir detective story, I’m intrigued.

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4. Larry Crowne

Sure, why not.

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5. The Green Lantern (Abridged Wonder-Con Footage)

So, with all this footage, it looks to me like it might have a bit of that Fantastic Four silliness, but with more awesome and a lot less suck.

It could be epic.

As part of my continuing obsession with loving all sorts of random shit, finding said random shit on the internet when I’m not sleeping, and then sharing all of that random shit with the internets, I started a tumblr page.

Here: Agent Insomniac.