Worried All The Time

Worried All The Time - David Anderegg Ph. D

As a parent, I find myself constantly worrying “Am I doing enough for my child? Am I expecting too much? Am I expecting to little? Am I doing this correctly?” etc, etc, etc. I’ve always been a worrier. Whether those around me have realized it or not, it’s been a constant in my life, for good or for bad, but mostly for bad.

Reading this book was a search for some relief from constant parental worrying on my part. To a certain extent it’s been helpful, since it isn’t filled with the platitudes you’ll find in 99% of the parenting books out there. It deals with straight facts about children, schools, violence, and the myriad other things a sophomore parent worries about. Therefore, it’s a little dry. However, to a logic programmer like myself, it’s a decent “slap upside the head” when my restless mind starts to exaggerate things. I highly recommend it for every nervous parent.

Little Children

Little Children – Tom Perrotta

This one surprised me. I wanted to read something outside the hard SF genre, something about everyday modern existence and struggle in suburbia. A lot of the “list mania” reading lists in Amazon.com pointed me to this book.

The story is about a number of characters going about their lives suburban Boston. And like all of us, their internal thoughts and feelings can differ greatly with the persona the public sees. It seems a mundane topic, but I identified with the thoughts and of at least a few characters in here. In the end it turned to be a satisfying read, affirming that the bulk of society is just as lost and clueless about this life as I am.

The Art Of Intrusion

The Art Of Intrusion - Kevin Mitnick

This one’s written by Kevin Mitnick. Anyone with the least bit of computer knowledge should recognize that name. In fact, I’ll probably wind up on some government list for even including it in my blog. The books is about various real-life “hacking” episodes as told to Mitnick, in most cases, by the perpetrators themselves. Some of the chapters will be pretty boring to most, but there are a few chapters which should make any security conscious person’s hair stand on end.

A Grand Day Out

Sydney, Kristin and myself spent the morning hiking through Horicon Marsh. It was an absolutely wonderfull morning. Not too hot, not too cold, and a great breeze to bring the ducks and geese to a near standstill on landing. The marsh had a large number of geese, but those numbers will increase ten-fold by the end of October.

I love these days out with the girls, looking at nature, and letting them run their heads off while I take in the scenery. It’s also great when they show an interest in what they find and ask me about them, like the giant puffballs and turtles. I can only hope they keep that silliness and curiosity throughout their lives.

All and all, a grand day out.

Market Forces

Market Forces - By Richard Morgan

Throw Mad Max, Wall Street, and Evolutionary Market Theory into a blender, and what you get? Morgan’s third novel, Market Forces. This one’s set-up was the hardest to swallow of the three, but amazingly, by mid-book he’s got you believing everything and feeling for the tragic main character. I suppose that’s the mark of a truly gifted writer.

Ok, the premise is this:
40 years into the future, most nation-state governments are simply puppets of multinational investment houses. There are two distinct and completely separated parts of society the wealthy elite who work for, or own, the investment firms; and the “unwashed masses” living in abject poverty and rampant crime. These firms, who’s bottom line is the accumulation of capital and wealth for their partners, deal in “Conflict Investment”. Conflict investment is the financial backing of dictators, rebels, and governments in exchange for goods, favors, or usually a percentage of the country’s GDP. Here’s an example: They invest in a particular rebel uprising by giving money and guns in exchange for the booty when the current government is overthrown. Or conversely, they can play the other side, backing a dictator against threatening rebels in exchange for a cut of the GDP.

Far fetched, yes, but not altogether crazy when you understand “investing” at an international level. What IS far-fetched is how the various houses compete for investment contracts. Teams of drivers battle it out, “Mad Max” style on the abandoned interstates to see who gets the contract. These battles have evolved into the spectator sport of choice for the rest of society, and are almost always fatal for the losing drivers.

Like I said, I was skeptical that I could finish this one since I’ll put down any book that doesn’t pass a believability “smell test”. However, Morgan’s writing had me feeling pretty deeply for the main character (ironic that his name is Chris too), and the market evolution angle is well thought out. Give it a chance and you won’t be disappointed.

Broken Angels

Broken Angels - By Richard Morgan
Broken Angels is Morgan’s second novel, and a sort of prequel to Altered Carbon. This book takes place several years prior, and finds Kovaks (the lead character in Altered Carbon) as a member of the elite military forces. Again, the implications of being able to change physical “sleeves” plays a huge role in the story, as well as the fact that you can be “broadcast” like a radio signal to an awaiting sleeve at some location across the galaxy.

While not as intriguing as Altered Carbon, and more in the cast of the classic Hammer’s Slammers series, Broken Angels is worth a read. If nothing else than another, deeper, glimpse into the dark future laid out in Altered Carbon.

Altered Carbon

Altered Carbon - By Richard Morgan

OK, this one’s WAY out there, but it’s the best book I’ve read in several years. Imagine the future about 200+ years from now when, if you can finance it, your entire mental being (your self awareness, thoughts, memories etc.) can be imprinted into a silicon chip. This chip can be placed into a socket located at the base of the skull of a so-equipped body. Therefore, you are now able to switch bodies (“sleeves” as they are now called) easily when they become damaged, don’t have the physical capabilities you need, or even just boring. Since your entire “self” is now data, the ultra rich can not only afford multiple sleeves, but can periodically create “backups” of themselves to be re-imprinted in a new sleeve if a catastrophic event happens. True physical death becomes irrelevant for the elite class of society.

Wrap the above description with a dark noir narrative crime story and you get “Altered Carbon”. I highly recommend it.

Nine Things You Simply Must Do

Nine Things You Simply Must Do: To Succeed in Love and Life - Henry Cloud

Yep, you guessed it... I'm back on the self help book tour again. Recent upheavals at the workplace have stretched me out physically and mentally again. I happened to spot this new title on the shelves while visiting the library (which I do just about every week).

Lance Armstrong's War

Lance Armstrong's War: One Man's Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France - by Daniel Coyle

The latest book to come out on Armstrong. I've read just about everything else on him, and this one's the best. It's even better than Armstrong's own books.

The book follows the entire 2004 TdF campaign, from winter training to post-podium musings. Where most of the other LA books have portrayed him as either the Next Coming or the spawn of Satan, this one takes the middle ground, and let's ther reader form their own opinion. It's a great read, and VERY well written.

An Unexpected Snow

Snow fell from Saturday night until well into Sunday evening here in Milwaukee. It started out as the big fluffy type on Saturday, but by Sunday midday it was the wettest, heaviest stuff I've seen in years. A shovel-full must have weighted 25 pounds. Sydney and Kristin were persuaded to head outside with me for a little fun. They've been inside for long spans recently and we try to get them out as much as we can. The trouble is that with Natalie’s RSV risk, we have to temper our enthusiasm with letting the kids out against everyone getting sick and endangering Natalie.

Naturally, with snow like this, a snowman was in order. Since the snow pack so easily, the problem wasn't making the parts, it was keeping the parts small enough to lift into place. I was just able to roll the first part into place in the front yard, and the second ball was almost too heavy to lift. It froze completely solid Sunday night, so it will probably last long enough for me to have to mow around it this spring.

A Day Out

We spent Saturday day-tripping to see ‘Uncle’ Bryon and his wife Susan in Green Bay. It was a study in contrasts.

The girls (and Jen for that matter) were excited to get out of the house. I was just happy to get up there to see some old friends. The weather was perfect, and the roads were fine. Amazingly, there wasn’t a single outburst from anyone the entire trip up there.

Being a newly married couple without kids, their house is beautifully (IMHO) decorated with a fairly sophisticated taste. Everything is glass and rather elegant. Prints and artwork abound. As I stood there, taking it all in and being happy for my friend, I couldn’t help but contrast my home and my life to his. Where their house is artwork, glass and stemware, my life is finger paintings, foam, and plastic sippy cups. Don’t’ get me wrong; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with either. It was just funny to see how different the surroundings evolved around two guys who roomed together in college.

On the way back to Milwaukee we decided to drive through Manitowoc. Why? Well…. Why not? We stopped at the lakefront park and walked out onto the breakwater awhile before we got too cold. All in all, a fun day.

What I'm reading now....

What started out as simply an interest in learning more about the efficient portfolio theory and the efficient frontier theory has me reading college textbooks again. Now why didn't I just decide to learn this the first time?

The Last of a First

I experienced a bittersweet moment recently, one that I haven't been able to shake since. My youngest daughter Natalie, who just turned 6 months, was sitting and playing in her excersaucer when I knelt down to play with her. She was slightly turned away from me but when she heard the noise, she turned to see what it was. My face was about 2 feet away from hers. There was a clearly noticeable moment of image processing taking part in her head, and then a huge smile swept across her face. It was as if she was saying "Hey! I know you! You're Daddy!" Inside, I was the happiest I've been in years. It was exactly the kind of grounding moment I needed, exactly when I most needed it.

Later on that evening, when the rest of the house was dark and quiet, in my usual fashion I stayed up late. I happened to be reading when it suddenly hit me... That moment was the last of its kind that I will ever experience as a father. The realization brought tears to my eyes, and an all too familiar sadness back to my heart.

I know there's a whole book of 'Firsts', both pleasant and unpleasant, waiting to be encountered between my kids and I. I know that. But of all the moments I've shared so far with my three daughters, these 'first identification' moments are amongst the most special to me. With all the stress and assorted crap I wade through everyday, they're like touchstones, and I can clearly remember each one. It’s sad to realize that they won’t happen again.