http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjINMLy3l1E&playnext=1&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DWjirdPv-6MOoa-TiJVdHp

Intelligent life across infinite worlds. (Tschai Spaceport). Was thinking about this idea near the end of Lincoln. Missed some of the speeches where he kind of droned on a bit while thinking about it. Only Jack Vance that I've read captures this idea. Finishing a James Tiptree book (Beauty Falls...?) about torturing aliens for the drugs they secrete, etc. It doesn't even remotely catch this idea. In fact, it's just not good writing IMO. Reviews said it wasn't her best. Too plot dependent. Too contrived. I don't know. Somewhat tedious. Then a feeling of the hammer going to drop which just holds and holds and holds for so long. Must missing something.

Among Others by Jo Walton?
Mostly lists a bunch of sci-fi books. I've read about half. I liked it. Makes me really wish I was a part of a book club. I'm pretty sure no such thing exists here. Which goes back to blog title. Weirdly abrupt ending.

Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
Started good but fell apart exactly as one would expect for something that long which had no outline. I quit halfway through book 7 actually.

The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
My boss likes this. It's great that she reads sci-fi. But as of 35% this book is tedious. Mostly just the future, very little of the 14th century. That part is better. The characters and there interaction is somewhat like Tiptree. Too focused on uninteresting details.

Bad Ronald by Jack Vance
Not the genre he was so good at. Neat idea. Nothing more.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
Very well written. Good stuff. Somehow a dated concept, though it could still happen tomorrow. After the Dark Tower this was such a welcome breath of fresh air.

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin
Kind of short, the bad guy(s) ultimately easily defeated. But I liked it better than The Left Hand of Darkness. The combo of that book being so highy touted caused me to assume it was her best, and thus didn't check her other stuff out much. The Dispossessed is her best I think. This was good. Tackles the important concepts. If I were to write this is how I guess. Must tackle the concept of the rightwing mind. Although still that mind comes across as too stupid to be believable. Would be a thing to manage to do it in a more believable way. Which isn't to say that Le Guin isn't exactly correct already...

Another migraine today. Worrisome as they're coming more often. Today for the first time I tied a bandana tightly around my head, such as my mom says my lookalike grandfather did. (The only thing I know about him.) Seemed to help slightly. The lortabs did nothing. Lately got one from wine, so now I can't drink wine. Which pisses me off, but there's a bright side to that I guess.... This time I just don't know what caused it. But I'm worried that lately hard runs have coincided with migraines..... Please don't let that be a trigger....

Wife is babying me, which is wonderful. (Although griping about it, as usual.)