Funniest Thing Ever

Alright, I should be working. Really. Perhaps if I could use this awesome xkcd joke in class next week, I'd be inspired to work harder?

Review of Books - 2010

Alright, I'm a little late, but here's my review of books for 2010. I read 66 books, meeting my goal of reading an average of one book per week. Here are some of the standouts:

• Kid vs. Squid - Greg van Eekhout - Yup, I'm biased here, but this was fun and gross and sweet and whimsical and all the things that middle-grade readers like. I also got the bonus audio version, a chapter per night read by the author himself!
• Flash: Terminal Velocity and other Flash back issues - Mark Waid, writer - At Comic-Con this past summer, I was at a panel where Matt Fraction gushed at Mark Waid about how awesome the issues of Flash were that Waid wrote. Since Waid's Flash, Wally West, is the one I'm familiar with from the Justice League animated series, I picked them up and really enjoyed them for their simple, yet emotional storytelling. Now, if only Waid would write the only Green Lantern who matters, John Stewart.
• The Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whelan Turner - I reread the other Attolia books before reading this, and you'd be hard-pressed to find another series as strong as these. You'll find these in the Young Adult section, but any fan of fantasy would enjoy these books.
• Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold - Another Vorkosigan book, finally! No spoilers here, but this whole book seemed like a setup for the final chapter and epilogue, and I found them just devastating.
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green and David Levithan - Two teens with the same name, their lives intersect. I don't know how to describe it other than to say that it explores the issues that all teens face in honest ways and I'll never hear Tiny Dancer by Elton John without thinking of this book. And this is the book that introduced me to David Levithan's writing and he was the discovery of the year for me.
• Boy Meets Boy and Realm of Possibility - David Levithan - I read almost all of Levithan's singly-authored works this year, and these were the two standouts. Boy Meets Boy is more well-known, but Realm of Possibility is one of my favorite books of all-time. Yeah, these are young adult books, but one never forgets being a teen, right? Levithan's characters are almost brutally honest and emotionally raw and bracing. Love him. Love love love him. Picked up his latest, a book for adults called The Lover's Dictionary today.

Hope your readings were as enjoyable as mine. Here's to another great year of books!

Astro stuff

I am not at the current meeting of the American Astronomical Society, but thanks to Twitter, I've been able to keep up with some of the more exciting news.

• Hubble observations of Hanny's Voorwerp, first discovered using the citizen science project Galaxy Zoo:

  

• The very awesome and somewhat disturbing discovery that, not only do thunderstorms produce gamma rays, they also produce anti-matter!

  >

• And, most importantly, the first discovery of a rocky planet outside of our solar system - only 1.4 earth masses!

Looking ahead

I hope y'all have been having a lovely 2011 so far. The holidays have been leisurely and mellow here, which is how we like it. The rain has returned, so nesting at home has been encouraged.

So many people make resolutions at this time of year, but I prefer to call them "goals". Here are mine for this year:

• Continue to read books at a minimum of a book per week. (I'll post my yearly book review in the next day or so.)
• Allow myself some "me" time by doing my best to NOT work on Saturdays, with the exception of responding to student emails.
• Focus on living healthier by cooking more at home, with the following specific cooking goals
• Prepare interesting weekend breakfasts
• Cook enough on the weekends to provide leftovers during the week
• Learn how to make nasi kuning and rendang
• Cook with fresh ginger
• Develop more satisfying vegetarian meals
• Exercising more, especially enjoying the lovely climate here in San Diego
• Take more photos

Alright, when I started this blog entry I thought the list of goals would be shorter! I wish all of us a happy and healthy 2011!