In a decent mood lately. Why? Why oh why, if only I could bottle the recipe.

Eating blueberries with waffles every morning. The waffles have crushed walnuts and flax meal in them. And broke down and been adding an egg.

I over did the running. Was doing 12 miles three times a week at no slower than 10 minutes / mile with the last couple miles really hard every other time. This is the first time such relatively slow running ever caused knee problems, although clearly I've something up with my right knee that I ought to get checked out. And it's taking longer to get better. Now 4 days out. Sure I could run if I had to. I can push off just fine. It's any kind of twisting that's the problem...

I bought a elliptical for cross training. Going to try to run less often and hopefully the elliptical will have good crossover....

Still avoiding alcohol lately. Occasional (not daily) beer. No wine. No headaches.

In the middle of a 9 day home vacation.

Just finished The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle, which I guess I enjoyed and maybe is mainly why I'm in a good mood???? It's a guilty enjoyment. Quite silly. I think much sillier than fantasy/dragons/elves/etc. Yet the one guy has at least 4 masters degrees, etc.

With (good) fantasy you simplify technology and people to escape to a simpler world, yet hopefully get down to some basic truths about existence. You make sense of an otherwise pointless existence. It's an almost religious thing.

With ("good") sci fi you simplify people while adding in nerdy sci fi ideas and I guess say, "oh cool, neato!" I think back in the 50's, 60's, 70's, maybe 80's... but then increasingly less so, there was this hope. The possibilities seemed limitless. Now we've basically shut down the space program. And our big inventions have been internet phones. The sci fi predictions have fallen so so short. The "cool neato!" thing is gone to a large extent. And it's kind of a silly idea compared to what fantasy fiction at least can potentially be anyway.

But I eventually got into The Mote because of the alien viewpoint. Which of course is another part of "sci fi". The part Vance claimed to be interested in. He called it... sociological fiction?? I think. You can go through a magic door or a space ship to get to the alien/other culture. I got into it. Still silly though.

Also The Telling by LeGuin. I don't even remember what the ending was now.... Somewhat abrupt ending. Oh yes, these people on this world got it all wrong. Trying to squash the "backward" ways of a mostly neighboring culture as they enter into the Ekumen with all it's interstellar technology. It's really a pretty straightforward and obvious thing. Hardly any plot and her point is pretty obvious. Perhaps a reply to militant atheists? But in a strawman way. Not that I'm a atheist anyway.

Cello workshop seriously sucked up all my time. I guess I definitely got better at the cello. Now sick to death of cello and taking a break. Wonder what the net effect will be. I think now I maybe want to find that Gorecki piece no matter the cost. ...really got to work on learning the ESQ1 also...

So for 5 or 6 weeks I averaged 34 miles a week, then two weeks of 20 thanks to sickness and race taper. Last week though did 36 and this week did 21 just in the first two days. Just now going back to a true long run, plus a hard run plus three more 7, 8 mile runs. About an 80/20 easy/hard ratio. With the easy being breathing through nose. Boring stuff. Really effing boring.

10% in to Mieville's Kraken and put it aside. The main character is too dumb. It's OK if most characters are stupid, but the main character can't also be. Was thinking that actually a book with a few intelligent people surrounded by idiots pretty well summarizes quite a few books. Previous Mieville books didn't have such stupid main characters....

So back to Le Guin, I think basically having ideas automatically means "didactic" / preachy. And thus, just not something to worry about.

Built a pergola/arbor today for my thriving wysteria. Also pond water is clearing up. Blackberry bushes are growing like crazy. Really like my yard.

Was thinking jazz is like at least three people having a happy/humorous conversation....

I don't feel like I'm doing enough at work to justify my pay. This worries me. Otherwise the job is just fircking fanatanastick.

Wife recovering from exploratory fertility related surgery. In the last instant of the world our inability to reproduce doesn't matter too awfully much. But I guess you could call this continuing failed process like the very long slow drawn out erasing of a potential human. That is sort of what it feels like.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
This is better than Mistborn. The magic system isn't explained so much. Some mystery is left.. The world has more detailed. And/or more is just left out to keep one's interesting. Mistborn was far too honest. This one has a hero who seems to have an ace. He just never dies. And he's being put through hell.

So hero with an ace, being put through hell in a richly detailed world full of mystery.

Very good book.

LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness just doesn't impress me so much. Liked Dispossed soooo much better.. The idea of androgynous people, I think so much more could be done with that. No wonder the book did nothing for me when I read it so many years ago. The fact that people seem to consider this her best book, when I'm so unimpressed by it, is why i've never really gotten into her writing. But, I have really liked Dispossed and The Lathe of Heaven. So definitely will read more of her stuff.

Ursula Le Guin. Perhaps I just wasn't smart enough when younger. It was at least 15 years ago, possibly 20 that I read The Left Hand of Darkness and just didn't get anything from it. Just read the Dispossed and loved it. Now reading the Lathe of Heaven. It's not the same level but it's enjoyable. More like a long short story. Shall mow through all by Le Guin I'm thinking. I've been starved for this kind of cerebral work, that is still a good story.

Annarres(sp) sounds great to me. Well, better anyway. Of course Sabul, etc, not so much. I've had my own Sabul experiences. Love that my boss now is intelligent and female. And that I'm surrounded by women, although I've not much in common with them.