Read at least 1 chapter per day.

I restarted the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy after having finished The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I had put the book down for a year now since it was so good, I knew once I read it all their would be no more. So I put it aside. I seem to do that when I really like something rather than breeze through it.

I really haven’t been keeping up with this one. I about 10 books on the go that don’t seem to be reading themselves.

Today I read the first chapter of God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. It seems like it would make a good general hand out pamphlet for strong atheism.

Finished it.

The second half of the book was much better than the first and I was introduced to a new word: Calliope

Something Wicked This Way Comes

The chapters in this book average 2 to 4 pages each but this one takes the cake:

Chapter 31

“NOTHING MUCH Else happened, all the rest of that night.”

The power went last night at 5:15, right after Forest Gump ended on the movie network. I read by candle light from 8 to 10, took a walk around in the neighborhood in perfect darkness. Came home, showered by candle light. Power kicked in just after midnight.

I drove out 20 minutes north towards a little known abandoned ski hill last week. My lone hike followed a rather steep and densely overgrown pole line that would have once served as a T bar or perhaps a very low lying chair lift but that seems dangerously unlikely. Once at the top, I set up comfortably on a rock that bore a specific geological marker, meaning it was the highest peak in the given range. Once there I read the final one hundred pages of Red Mars, being interrupted near the end by a moving black mass in the corner of my eye. Assuming a black bear was only 15 feet to my right I casually smacked my walking stick on a boulder to scare it without actually being the least bit disturbed by it’s presence as it had become somewhat common place to meet face to face with bears in my hikes. This time around my guest was not a bear but simply a curious porcupine which began chirping a high pitch tune much to my amusement. We had a stare down for several minutes while I tried to call in the same fashion that one would call over a squirrel, chipmunk or rabbit. I returned to my book but had a hard time getting into the story due to the curious eyes still examining me. I got up and walked after it chasing it into the brush, he (or she) stopped several times to present me with the option of impaling myself on his back which flared out to offer maximum protection to him…and maximum damage to him. I returned to my rock finished my book, ate lunch then began reading the first chapter of green mars.

An interesting note, Red Mars is packed full of descriptions of the Martian terrain, surely much more than anybody could actually want. In one particular passage they spoke of the view of Hellas canyon which was 30 km wide from wall to wall. It just so happened that from my vantage point I could see the western hemispheres tallest smoke stack (chimney) 30 km due south. Seeing just how far it was in the horizon from my mountain apex gave me a sense of awe for the description in the book. Perhaps if I had reference points for the other geological features mentioned the would leave awestruck rather than bored at 700 word descriptions.

Rain came once I was 33 pages into Green Mars forcing me to make my way back to my car, this time taking a well maintained trail along the ridge of the hill. Once again a porcupine came across my path however neither of us stopped to acknowledge the presence of the other. As serene as it is up there the must be somewhere nearer to enjoy a book.

I’m starting to get better at this, becoming more consistent and not needing any form of least bit of silence to read, in fact I can read, comprehend and retain while holding a completely unrelated conversation at the same time.