One of my favorite parts of vacation is to voraciously consume a pile of books. I’m a fast reader (and a good skimmer when I’m bored of a book) so most vacations end up with at least a book a day read. My algorithm for picking the books to read is random. I have shelves of unread books, piles of unread books, and bookstores full of unread books. Of course, there is also Amazon where a book is merely 1–Click away. I try to mix in “mental floss” every three books (e.g. a novel) – just to make sure I don’t become a “dull non-fiction only” reader (ok – it’s actually because I like to read fiction.)
Following are short reviews of the books I read last week – in order. Some were great, some were ok, and a few sucked.
Bone Games: I started this one on the way back from the New Mexico Marathon. It was a fascinating personal exploration by the author into extreme sports, shamanism, zen, and the search for transcendence (whatever that means.) I’m regularly asked why I’m running a marathon on the North Pole in April – the long answer is “read this book.” Recommended for all athletes and extreme sports fanatics.
Anonymous Lawyer: Two works – “fucking hilarious.” For a taste, check out the blog. This was – by far – the funniest / funnest book of the week. If you blog, or like to read blogs, are a lawyer, or hate lawyers, this is for you.
4 Hour Marathon: I must get faster. 5 hours is too long to be running 26.2 miles. My PR is 4:05 – there is no question that I should be able to comfortably break 4 hours in a marathon. However, I didn’t learn anything from this book – it basically said (a) run more, (b) do intervals, (c) do tempo workouts, and (d) lift weights. Doh.
Promoting Your Podcast: I can’t remember who recommended this book, but I figured I should read it since I’ve got investments in companies that are related to podcasting, including FeedBurner, NewsGator, and ClickCaster. If you are a beginning (or aspiring) podcaster, this is full of great information. I was delighted that FeedBurner is a key part of this book’s recommendations.
The I Chong: Another awesome book. I vaguely knew that Tommy Chong had recently spent some time in jail. As a child of the 70’s, Cheech and Chong was my first real exposure to “The Herb.” While I’ve never been a stoner, I remember being a young Dallas Cowboys fan while rolling around on the floor laughing at Up in Smoke. Our current administration busted Chong for ostensibly selling glass bong pipes across state lines and tossed him in jail for nine months. This is his story of the experience along with a bunch of personal philosophy tossed in. Excellent.
The End of Medicine: Every book that Andy Kessler has written has been superb. The End of Medicine was no different – it was deep, insightful, fun to read, and full of great stuff. If you are an investor, entrepreneur, or are interested in the health care system, this is a must read.
The Return of the Player: I loved Robert Altman’s movie The Player so I thought I’d give Michael Tolkin’s sequel a try. It was ok. I’m a little bored of the “LA Novel” – this is another one that fits the genre. The first half drags on while the second half happens too fast. As I read it, I felt like I was watching a movie, so feel free to wait for the screenplay to come to a theater near you.
The Connoisseur’s Guide to Sushi: I love sushi. I learned a lot from this book. It’s long so I was reduced to skimming since I didn’t want to learn endless details about every type of sushi known to man. But – it was good. And no – I don’t put that neon green stuff in my soy sauce (although I like to put in on pickled ginger and snarf it down while I’m waiting for my fish to come.)
24: Veto Power: January 2007 can’t come soon enough for me so I’ve been reduced to reading Jack Bauer novels.
The Art of The Long View: I dug deep into my bookshelf for this one. I can’t even remember when I bought this – Peter Schwartz is a well known futurist and the chairman of Global Business Network. This book was originally published in 1991 (and the dust on it showed – I wonder if I hauled it all the way from Boston.) It was fascinating, especially to read the history of what a futurist predicted. Some of the “how to scenario plan” stuff was dull (and got skimmed), but all of the predictions and theorizing was super interesting.
Sense & Nonsense in the Office: Sucked. Boring.
24 more hours and I’m back in the real world. Doink, Doink, Doink.
Once a quarter, Amy and I vanish for a week. No telephone, no email, no computer. Amy turned 40 on Thursday so we took last week off. I mostly checked out a week ago Thursday, had a huge surprise party for Amy on Thursday night, co-moderated a debate between Bill Ritter and Bob Beauprez (Colorado’s candidates for governor) on Friday, turned off my computer and disappeared for a while.
I had a number of emails in my inbox from folks when I resurfaced yesterday asking if everything was ok since I hadn’t been blogging. I try to time these things so I get two weekends in the holiday, although I usually check my email on the Friday before I return so I don’t have a super silly day on Monday. I remembered to turn on an email out of office message – but not a blog out of office message (is there really such a thing? – I always feel odd reading someone’s post that “they are going on vacation and won’t be posting for a while.) For all of you that wrote wondering where I was, thanks for the concern and – as Amy loves to say – “hey – try turning off your computer for a few days.”
We were originally going to go to London for 10 days – half in the city and half to hang out at a castle somewhere while Amy rode horses and I played tennis. After the London terrorist scare, I decided I didn’t want to fly back and forth from London and deal with any existential anxiety I might have around 9/11, so I convinced Amy to go to LA for a few days followed by tennis at Green Valley Spa. I hate LA and tried my hardest to weasel out, but Amy really wanted to do something special for her 40th birthday. On Thursday 9/7, I threw her a surprise birthday party with 150 of her closest friends (surprise birthday party rule #42 – never have the party on the actual birth day.) On Friday 9/8, Amy told me we could bag our LA trip (she knows I hate LA.) So – we had the perfect vacation – at home, in Boulder – although everyone thought we were out of town.
That’s Boulder from the top of Bear Peak – my hike on Wednesday with my friend Dave. I read 11 books last week (reviews coming soon), saw a couple of movies (including Lord of War which was awesome and Invincible which reminded me of being 10 years old and a Dallas Cowboy fan), had a few great sushi meals, fully recovered from the New Mexico Marathon (meaning I slept a lot), and had a deep, beautiful vacation with my beloved.
A friend of ours – Ryan Wiese – is having a show of his art at the Pekoe Sip House at 1225 Alpine Avenue in Boulder (located near the Ideal Market in North Boulder.)
Ryan has been designing glass jewerly (the very cool and popular Laughing Mango stuff) for the past five years. This is his first show for his paintings. In addition to seeing some art, you can check out Pekoe’s specialty teas. Congrats on the show Ryan!
Yes – admit it – you miss 24 also. Don’t worry – January 20007 isn’t that far away. In the mean time, Doug Mitchell sent me a link to a blog he wrote about his search for the CTU Ring Tone. Fortunately he links through to a few instances of it. I’ve had it on my Cisco phones for months and I always get a grin on my face whenever my phone rings.
I woke up to three good posts on the 80–19–1 Rule.
I nailed my 8th marathon today in Albuquerque on my quest to a marathon in every state, on every continent, and at the North Pole by the time I’m 50. I’m going to call it 4:52* as my chip time was 5:02 but I lost a total of 10 minutes to five bathroom breaks (too much water before the start and some serious trouble in the middle.) Considering that I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs 7 days ago because of a gout attack, I’m pretty psyched.
It was a small race – I was #234 and I registered the day before the race (they didn’t have me registered when I showed up to pick up my number.) The race started at the corner of Tramway and I-40 at 5:30am – it was pitch dark when the 200 or so marathoners took off. It was a perfect day for a marathon – 60 degrees, overcast, and no wind.
The course was a strange one. The first 8 miles were uphill, the next 7 were downhill, and most of the last half was flat. It was all on roads except for miles 17 to 22 which was on a bike path. Ironically, the cars were much more polite than the bikers, who seemed annoyed that there was a race taking place on “their” bike path (note to bikers – when someone is on mile 18 of a marathon, don’t drive your bike right at them and make them jump out of the way.)
Amy, Raj, and Stef surprised me at the halfway point to cheer me on. Since my last few marathons have been large ones, Amy hasn’t been able to see me during a race (other than Miami where the course made a turn at the corner of the condo we were staying at Ocean and 14th.)
As is typical for me, miles 15 to 20 were tough – and this time included the special bonus of an upset stomach which I took care of around mile 17. I finished strong – the last 6.2 miles was my second fastest segment other than the long downhill stretch – and had plenty left at the end (the thought crossed my mind at mile 25 that I might run a few extra miles after the finish – fortunately, it was a fleeting thought that in hindsight was the product of a delusional mind.) Unfortunately, there weren’t very many people to pass – but if they were in my way, I passed them. Brian Ibbott and his superb Coverville podcast #190: The Covered Side of The Moon once again brought me home.
My next marathon is planned for December 9th at Kiawah, South Carolina. As part of my preparation for the North Pole Marathon, I’m going to try to get to the point where a 26.2 mile run is simply my long run (usually done on Sunday) with a 24 hour recovery. If I get there, I might sneak in another marathon before December (but don’t tell Amy.) Also, another 10 pounds has got to go, so if you eat a meal with me, don’t let me eat dessert.
If you found my golden retriever eyes post to be helpful for your relationship, I’ve got another tip for you. I call it “Random Answers.”
I’m in Santa Fe with Amy and my friends Raj and Stefanie Bhargava. We’re about to head to Albuquerque for tomorrow’s marathon (I’ve got my cheerleading team in tow this weekend.) We spent a bunch of time yesterday wandering up and down Canyon Road looking at art before having a superb dinner at Geronimo.
As we were going in and out of galleries, Stef and Amy kept asking us our opinion of various things. While both of us had opinions on art, we’d occasionally end up in a store (say – a linen store) that we couldn’t care less about. We were polite and gave our wives golden retriever eyes. However, I noticed Raj struggling to form an opinion on certain items.
I decided to share my “random answers” secret with him. Whenever Amy asks me an opinion on something I don’t care about, rather than either say “I don’t care” or – even worse – dig deep to form an opinion – I simply give her a random answer. Now – I don’t do this in an offhanded way – it’s not a “yes – I like it” or “no – I don’t like it.” Rather – I stare thoughtfully at the item in question, flash the now famous golden retriever eyes at her, and then give her a deep, insightful response with plenty of adjectives and adverbs in it.
This used to work all the time for me. Amy thought she was married to a guy who actually cared about things like dresses, linens, bras, chandeliers, plates, silverware, postcards, stationary, shoes, cars, paint colors, kitchen tables, scarves – you get the picture. Unfortunately, Raj pointed out this this is also known as lying, which put me in the doghouse with Amy for a few minutes. Fortunately, I managed to convince her that I was really excited about the red cowboy boots that she bought earlier in the day.
I’ve gotten to know my neighbors in Homer, Alaska – the Schallock’s – over the past two summers. They are great folks and the two kids – Jessica and Eric – are stars. Eric and I are learning Ruby together (and about to graduate to Ruby on Rails) and Jessica is turning into a super blogger. She’s also got a monthly column in The Homer Tribune – pretty cool for a senior in high school. Jessica is a great writer, extremely smart, and very thoughtful – her column this month titled Information Can Prevent Further Harm is well stated. I’m proud of Jessica and I wish I knew more teenagers that would take the same intellectual risks she takes.