The Argument Clinic

Came across this site today and thought it was interesting.  I hadn’t heard of the book before, but it talks about the top ten lists of books that different contemporary authors came up with.  Not particularly interested in reading the book, but thought that the complete listing of the 544 books that made the different lists was interesting.  There are some I definitely wouldn’t be interested in and many that I thought to myself ‘oh yeah, I own that book, should probably get around to reading it someday’.  I thought the list could be helpful for me to look back at sometime if I am having a tough time coming up with something to read.  Though guessing that won’t be for a while given how much time I (don’t) have to read while I am in grad school and how many books I already have at home that I haven’t read yet

Anyways, thought it was interesting and went through the list and figured out that I have read 46 of them (considering that I have read quite a few books in my life I was interested to see that it made up such a small percentage!) and already have plans (see post from earlier today) to read a few others on the list.

So my dad and I went to see the bourne ultimatum on saturday evening, I really enjoyed it   Highly recommended!  I enjoyed the previous installments and thought this was actually better than the bourne supremacy. 

Other than that I have spent some time reading, just started anna karenina and plan to work my way through that during vacation.  Checked it out of the library, I haven’t been to a library to browse for books in a while and forgot how much I enjoy it.  Enjoy it just as much as barnes and noble only it’s a lot cheaper

Am on a russian novel kick right now since I never got around to reading them and have meant to.  So plan to read anna karenina, brothers karamazov, crime and punishment (am about halfway through that right now), and, eventually, war and peace.  Will likely move on to others after that, but wanted to start off with the classics.  Have exhausted most british literature of interest to me (tend to do well in that jeopardy category!) so figured I should branch out a little.  Enjoying it so far.  It is a relief to give my mind a break from engineering for a little while too  

That’s pretty much it for now…mostly counting down until vacation starts on saturday because I can’t wait!

So this summer is going by pretty quickly, though I am not really complaining cause it means my class also went by faster.  Not an especially good experience with that class this summer, won’t get into it much but will just say it made for a stressful summer and I am glad that, as of two days ago, it’s over!  Just need to wait for my grade now.

Have a few weeks off from class between now and my fall semester (when I take two classes).  In about a week and a half I leave for vacation at schroon lake, looking forward to getting away and relaxing.  Am in desperate need of a vacation, as most people who have talked to me lately can attest to…have been kind of irritable and tense lately…but, really, I haven’t had a vacation since I went to schroon lake last year and in the interim have taken 4 classes and balanced that with full time work and business travel and such…so the fact that I have any level of sanity right now is the best I would really hope for under the circumstances, I guess.

Anyways, a few weeks ago I went to see a moody blues concert with my dad at SPAC, which was a lot of fun, we lucked out with the weather and the concert overall was really good   It was my birthday present to my dad, had a really good time

Then last week my mom and I went to see the philadelphia orchestra at SPAC with yo-yo ma as the soloist, I went to see him last year as well and always enjoy hearing him.  He played two cello concertos and did an amazing job on both of them (of course!).  Weather cooled down in the evening, which was a relief because earlier in the day it was ridiculously hot.  

Then last week for work we had an offsite at the saratoga racetrack, and it was in the 80s with a nice cool breeze so it was the perfect day to be outside   I don’t actually gamble, but I enjoy going anyway (and can’t complain about the free food!). 

Other than that I have spent the majority of the last few weeks catching up on class work and studying for my final.  Hoping to get my grade before vacation so I don’t have that bothering me that week.

This weekend my dad and I plan to go see the bourne ultimatum, which I have been wanting to see for a while.  Other than that I plan to spent most of my evenings over the next few weeks catching up on tv and reading because I have very little time to read anything enjoyable during the semester.  Guess that’s it for now…