50 book challenge: it begins.

The origins of the 50 book challenge, I believe, can be found in this LiveJournal page. The goal is simple: read 50 books in a year. I guess it's a little late for me to start, but I'll try to catch up. Good thing I read War and Peace last year!

This initial list is actually in backwards chronological order, as I recall them.

1, 2 and 3. Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, all by C.S. Lewis. The first was intriguing, the second tedious, and the third merely tolerable. Stick to the Chronicles of Narnia.

4. Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky. Very much deserving of the praise it's received--on the book's merits, in addition to the fascinating story of the manuscript's rediscovery.

5. Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco. Much more tedious than I remember from reading in high school. I think I had more time then for intellectual noodling, as well as long mostly plotless novels about vague conspiracies. Still, I'd rather this than the Da Vinci Code.

6. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray. Er, also very long. With flashes of brilliance. The digression on the internal politics of Pumpernickel I could have done without. I actually found Thackeray's characterizations of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley to be well-rounded: both showing the inherent flaws that accompany their respective virtues. Becky's ambition comes with overvaulting ambition, of course, while Amelia's good-natured sweetness has its own dark side:

Amelia stood scared and silent as William thus suddenly broke the chain by which she held him and declared his independence and superiority. He had placed himself at her feet so long that the poor little woman had been accustomed to trample upon him. She didn’t wish to marry him, but she wished to keep him. She wished to give him nothing, but that he should give her all. It is a bargain not unfrequently levied in love.

7. Carnegie, David Nasaw. Carnegie was short (only five feet). This book is very long. Too long. At times, it reads like an amplified day planner, with long, long quotes from letters. If I wanted to read a book of Carnegie's correspondence, I would do so. The biographer's task is to digest, not simply regurgitate. (I think this metaphor has me, the reader, eating poop, but...)

8. The Art of Travel, Alain de Botton. Slow start but some of later essays offer half-decent speculations of why we travel and what we do and do not get out of it. Especially good was the essay on how artists condition the way we see a place--Van Gogh for Provence, e.g. This is from Proust, of course.

Because dogs need fashion accessories, too.

Doggles. More here, if you can stand it.


UPDATE: While in Denver last week on a business trip, I happened to overhear one of my colleagues mention that she had, in fact, purchased Doggles for her pooch. I'm not sure if I like what this says about my workplace, but there's confirmation at least that someone is buying these ridiculous things.

Purim with Baby Benjalina

Playing in the snow today.

Baby B at 4 months

Children, do not try this at home.

Original here. I'm not sure I like the music any better, but the ambient sound is good.

Baby.

And here he is in action:

Tardy.

Here is a link to some photos from Death Valley and Hawaii.

I apologize for my long absence. I did not intend to become the J.D. Salinger of the blogosphere. Oh, wait -- except everyone knows where I live. Well, in any event --

First, I want to thank everyone who contributed to the ride. Quite simply, I could not have done this without you. Everyone gave generously, and while I did not reach my goal of $6,000, I made $3,500, which is what I needed. Maybe next time . . .

Now, on to the ride itself. As you may have guessed, the most remarkable aspect of the day was the intense heat. On May 6, the day of the ride, the temperature in Death Valley reached a high of 104. And that number even understates the heat that you feel while on your bike -- because above the asphalt of the road, the temperature can be as much as 10 degrees higher. But it's a dry heat! I kept telling myself.

Anyway, because of the extreme conditions, the organizers decided to start riders off at 6 a.m. instead of 7, a decision that everyone supported. So here I am, about 15 miles after starting:





I had probably gone about 30 miles before the sun even peeked over the mountains. (Fortunately, the road to Badwater is nestled at the base of the Black Mountains, which form the eastern boundary of the valley, so that helps.) Occasionally I would be on my own -- there were only about 75 riders there, far fewer than the 300 who do the fall ride. But most of the time, I would say, I was riding with at least one other biker. We would each take turns "pulling" the other, so as to minimize the energy spent forcing our way through the wind, which for much of the day was a steady 20 mph. That meant for a stiff headwind from mile 30 to 50 or so -- fortunately, the wind stayed steady, and so we at least had a tailwind on the way back.

Anyway, I was the second rider to reach the top of Jubilee Pass, the 7-mile climb that marked the halfway point:



I had been hanging with another rider at the start, but he easily dropped me when he wanted to increase the tempo. The descent from Jubilee Pass was a joy. I barely pedaled, and hit a maximum speed of about 40 mph. You could distinctly feel the point when you descended back into the heat of the valley; it was like an oven. And for a while, I had a steady fierce tailwind. Soon, however, I started to really suffer from the heat. I had been drinking what I thought was a lot of water, naturally, but obviously I hadn't been able to train in Pittsburgh for the conditions in Death Valley. And so I got somewhat dehydrated.

I lost a lot of momentum in the last 5 or 10 miles; it felt like every revolution of the pedals was a minor miracle. Lucky for me the last mile or so was purely downhill. I'm not sure if I could have made it otherwise.

Anyway, the short version is that after I arrived back at the Furnace Creek ranch, I ended up getting a couple of bags of IV fluids. Mmm, tasty! That did the trick, though. I felt better immediately, and was able to put down a large dinner that evening. In all, the ride was an amazing experience, but in the future, maybe Death Valley in early May is not the best environment for a humble carbon-based life form like me.

I guess a minor victory is that at least my problems were not diabetes-related. Now that would have made for a sticky wicket. . .

I have returned.

After Death Valley, Jeanne and I went to Hawaii for a week. We returned Monday evening, but my personal time zone is still seriously disoriented. I believe I may now be operating on Albanian Standard Time. Or possible Easter Island Daylight Saving Time; I'm not really sure.

Anyway, more details of my travels to follow. Warning: IV fluids and lepers are involved.