books, works, and bathrooms.

[lagilman]

Last night I went to hear Simon Winchester (auhtor of KRAKATOA, THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN, etc) speak about his new book. ATLANTIC. It was a good blend of history and storytelling, peppered by his rather varied experiences (and a funny story about war coverage back in the days of teletype). Unfortunately, it was almost ruined when someone in the audience decided to use the Q&A to vent his unhappiness with Winchester's decision to downplay Columbus' impact in favor of the Vikings' explorations of the New World. Euro-male petulance at its least impressive, as he pretty much whined that Winchester had said bad things about Columbus/Southern Europe. The author made a good case for why he favored the Vikings (for one, they actually GOT to where they were going, and created a settlement/had the first European child born in NA) but it took the talk's moderator to shut the guy down and move things on.

Anyway, the book sounds interesting, and last night I pulled a copy down to my brand new Nook (yes, I've joined Nook Nation) and hope to get to read it sometime, um, soon. As soon as I get through everything else I need/want to read, yeah. I can see where ebook-buying can get one into trouble. "But the TBR pile doesn't take up any space!"


Today was one of those days where you don't think you got anything done until you actually write it all down. Not a brilliantly productive day, but stuff accomplished, including another 2,200 words on Bonnie #4.
Meanwhile, the bathroom renovations have - after several months of administrative oy -- been scheduled. I have two-three weeks of utter chaos to look forward to, yay. Everyone looking forward to hearing me whinge about that?

And snow tonight. Probably just enough to make things pretty, though.

Comments

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Simon Winchester (auhtor of KRAKATOA,

I have that book. It's a very good book.}:P

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I loved The Professor and the Madman. One of the first books on CD I ever listened to.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Is that the book about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary? Because I loved that too, but over here (in the UK) it's called "The Surgeon of Crowthorne". I'm extrapolating, assuming that Winchester hasn't written more than one book about a madman...

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Please post before and after pictures of the bathroom renovations. I'm truly interested.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

If you want to, of course.

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

You are very brave. I've wanted to renovate my house's sole bathroom ever since I moved in but horror stories have frightened me off. I'd love to hear how your renovation goes. Maybe it will give me courage. LOL

[lagilman]

I've lived through a full bathroom reno before, but that was when I lived in a 2.5 bath house. More of a challenge when it's a single bathroom, yeah, but I've offers of shower-usage from my neighbor, and crash space for the days when the apartment is off-limits, so I should be fine (I worked through the kitchen renovation, I should be able to do the same here. Maybe. Hopefully.)

[paulliver.livejournal.com]

There's various amounts of evidence for various Old World civilizations reaching the Americans before CC, but he went when the time was ripe for mass immigration, so he gets the crown.