Books, Books, Books

Three things, but all on the same theme: books.

Item 1:

Some people bargain hunt for clothes, some hunt animals, shoes, whatever. Lo, I am the great hunter of books! Out BAMM has large bargain tables, and they get library books as well, and every so often I go through them. Today, I feel I have done excellently. :)





Item 2:



Okay, goal of the year is to read 100 books this year. As of the end of March, I have read:


Living with the Dead - Kelley Armstrong
Wish You Were Here - Rita Mae Brown
Rest in Pieces - Rita Mae Brown (1/7/09)
Murder at Monticello - Rita Mae Brown (1/9/09)
Pay Dirt - Rita Mae Brown (1/11/09)
Murder, She Meowed – Rita Mae Brown (1/14/09)
Murder on the Prowl – Rita Mae Brown (1/16/09)
Cat on the Scent – Rita Mae Brown (1/19/09)
Pawing Through the Past – Rita Mae Brown (1/21/09)
Catch as Cat Can – Rita Mae Brown (1/30/09)
The Tail of the Tip-Off – Rita Mae Brown
Whisker of Evil – Rita Mae Brown (2/5/09)
Men of the Otherworld – Kelley Armstrong (2/6/09)
Furies of Calderon – Jim Butcher (2/17/09)
Academ’s Fury – Jim Butcher (2/20/09)
Catechism of the Catholic Church (2/21/09)
Cursor’s Fury – Jim Butcher (2/24/09)
Living Islam Out Loud – Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur (ed) (2/25/09)
In the Land of Invisible Women – Qanta A. Ahmed, M.D. (2/28/09)
The Caged Virgin – Ayaan Hirsi Ali (3/5/09)
Infidel – Ayaan Hirsi Ali (3/11/09)
An Exorcist Tells His Story – Gabriele Amorth (3/17/09)



22 books. So, I'm a little behind. Clearly, I need to read more.



Item 3:



I have lots of books. Some, I have decided to get rid of. Before I take them to either Goodwill or the used book store (to exchange for more books), I thought I'd query the couple of people who read here. Would any of you like some of my books? Right now the backlog of books I want to get rid of consists mainly of Star Wars books, but eventually there will be others. If you guys are interested, or know anyone who is, let me know and I can work out how to do this. Keep in mind, I'm *giving* the books away. No charge, no shipping, nada. I'd rather mail them to someone who wants them than dump them off at Goodwill where they might languish forever, or take them to the store, where I will just get more books, which, since my current library is somewhere around 1,500 books, we'll all agree I don't really need. :)

Battles B.C. and other things

Okay, this is going to be a post of a few topics:

Item 1: Battles, B.C. on the History Channel

I'm really enjoying this show. It's a mix of historians talking about the particular subject, and visuals, done in the style of 300. They've done Hannibal, David, and Joshua, and next weeks episode is on Caesar. It's both fun and educational. For instance, Hannibal's attack on Rome actually failed - he never made it that far. He decimated the troops, yes, changed warfare forever, and actually instigated the expansionist view of the Roman Empire, but he never made it to Rome, which was his goal. David, for all of being the greatest king of the Jewish empire, was typical for the day and age, but really just a brilliant tactician. One of the historians likened him to a Mafia Don, in that he had his consigliere, in Joab, who would remove problems for him. All the deaths that made it possible for him to wipe out, effectively, Saul's bloodline and claim the throne, he was never blamed for any of them. Sort of a, 'who will rid me of this troublesome priest', thing. Sometimes, it seems as though Joab would act, against David's orders, when he thought it was for the best. See his killing of Absalom, when David had told everyone not to kill him. Funnily enough, Solomon had Joab killed when he ascended to the throne. It's all about the consolidation of power.

The part that I found most interesting about the episode on Joshua though, was Jericho. I'm going from memory, so I'm not quoting any numbers, but when the Israelite army went to Jericho, they outnumbered the populace, and *far* outnumbered the defenders of Jericho. What they historians put forth was that, the red cord that Rahab tied out her window was a signal, but not just that the household was not to be killed. After all, the killing would be done once the army was *inside* the walls, so what good would a sign that couldn't be seen from inside do? Rather, the cord was a signal for the place where the Israelite army could sneak some of their men in. So, each day for the six days that the army was marching around Jericho, when they blew their horns, say, ten, fifteen men climbed up and hid in Rahab's house or on her roof. On the seventh day, you've got at least 60, possibly more well trained men *inside* Jericho. They could easily take down enough of the defenders on a section of the wall, to allow the army to overwhelm that section, and, from that point, take the city. So, the walls fell, metaphorically, not literally.

Item 2: Exercise and Weight

I screwed around the last little while with the weight loss. I was bad, and I gained a little of it back. However, the past week I really went back to the grind stone. Rather than sit and play with the dogs, I'm taking them around and around our yard until they tire out. It's better for them, better for me. I'm doing a solid half-hour on the tread mill, and then a half-hour of other exercise every day, at least. I'm watching what I eat, very closely. Alana posted, a while back, two good posts with quotes from the church fathers and the Bible on gluttony, and how one should conduct oneself at table. I printed them out and taped them to my bathroom mirror, as a reminder.

I lost five pounds in a week.

Now, I don't expect the loss to continue at that rate, it's somewhat insane, really. But I think it's an excellent sign.

I'm up to 3 mph on the treadmill, for the whole half hour, which is a *huge* improvement from where I started, and, you know what? I have a bruise on one wrist. It's from *letting go of the treadmill arms and swinging my arms*! I couldn't have done that at this speed a few weeks ago!

I'm going to do more though. I've given up alcohol, I poured everything in the house down the drain. I'm quitting soda entirely, so I'm going to be cranky as it works its way out of my system, I'm a total caffine addict. Pasta and bread are also going to go.

Item 3: Parents

They've left their church. Not for theological reasons, but because they didn't like the way the worship team and some other things were being run. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I asked them what they were going to be now, since the church they were going to was Mennonite, and my mother said 'Christian', dad said, 'Jehovah's Witnesses!' (he was joking).

As You Stitch So Shall Ye Rip

My Opa apparently used to say this to Oma when she was sewing. She didn't think it was as funny as he did.

The point is...using the instructions laid out by Alana here: How to Turn Jeans Into a Skirt and the expert advice of my Grandmother (as well as her sewing machine, since my mother somehow managed to break ours), I have sewn a thing! Specifically, a skirt.

Behold my skirt!

Aside from the niqab (which I use since I decided that I kind of don't want my face on here at the moment, and yes, I am aware it looks silly on me), this is what I'm planning to wear to the retreat tomorrow. And...not the scarf, maybe a snood or this blue al amira hijab I have, but worn off the back of the head, not around the neck. Something easier to clean than the tiechel. Why yes, I do test out outfits the night before I wear them. I may be overly cautious about things.

2009 Goals

In no particular order:

1. Get healthy, weigh less - seriously, for a variety of reasons, I weigh more than I should. By a lot. This shall be corrected. Entire lifestyle overhaul is in progress, and it's going well, but I'm making it a Goal.

2. Relearn how to cook. I can cook, but I need recipes to do it, and I don't do it often enough.

3. Relearn how to sew. Again, I learned, but I stopped in junior high, because it was 'girly'. I resist the urge to slap my younger self upside the head, but it's hard. To this end, I have picked up counted cross stitching kits. Not quite sewing, but something that I enjoyed and was sort of good at, so a step in the right direction. Needless to say, I have already, somehow, screwed up the first one, but it's a practice one anyway. I shall persevere!

4. Learn Latin.

5. Learn Hebrew.

(You may ask why, for 4 and 5. Just because...is what I say.)

6. Be social! I lack this desire, but I'm told it's something healthy people do, is speak to others. I shall try it...

7. Find a husband. Hey, I didn't say they were all rational or reasonable goals. And I figure I should probably start looking, if I ever want to get married.