Addicted to audiobooks

Last month I did something that I rarely do any more: I actually read a physical book from cover to cover. Don't get me wrong. I love to read. However, my eyes and brain are usually too tired to absorb much by the time I get home from work.

Over the last few years, I've fallen more and more in love with audiobooks. I usually listen to at least one a month in the car. In the last few months it's been at least two. I 'read' one for my book group and another just for me. This month, I'm on my second already and I haven't even started the one for my book group yet.

My family got me bunches of books on CD for the holidays. I also bought myself several as a reward for doing our taxes (and getting us a nice refund). Then, I bought a slew of programs (books and otherwise) from Audible.com.

Here's some of the stuff I've listened to recently that I have really enjoyed:

• The World Without Us - by Alan Weisman


• The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit - by Jill Conner Browne


• Only You Can Save Mankind - by Terry Pratchett


• Darkly Dreaming Dexter - by Jeff Lindsay


• The Alchemist - by Paulo Coelho


• Water for Elephants - by Sara Gruen


• The Tipping Point - by Malcolm Gladwell

Along with a number of short stories and novellas by James Patrick Kelly, again courtesy of Audible.com.

So, while I really do hate commuting in my care for 50-75 minutes in each direction, sometimes I really don't notice the time thanks to audio programs.

In (humorous) honor of Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, the originator of Dungeons & Dragons, died earlier this week. In honor of him, my favorite Internet geek comic strip payed homage to him. I loved it and had to share:

Coffins by Costco?

Thank you, Cobwebs for bringing this oddity to my attention.

OK, folks, I find this tres weird: Costco sells coffins. I'm supposing this is cheap and convenient for those do-it-yourselfers out there who are trying to save a buck by pulling together their own funeral. Then again, maybe this is for the small business person who does a few funerals a year, in addition to running the town gas station and car wash. If one did a significant number of funerals, I'm sure you could get a better deal through a coffin distributer, right?

What's extra special creepy is they also sell cremation urns. I'm guessing this is for the bereaved to bring to the crematorium, and not to have on hand after a backyard do-it-yourself bbq.

What I really want to know is: What? No headstones?

School vacation is over, but a work vacation means productivity!

Our son arrived back from TX this afternoon. It was kind of nice not to have to deal with a teenager for over a week. Of course there was fall out from his absence. First, while trying to renew the security software on his computer, I discovered a number of minor crimes in his room (some of our CDs tossed about willy nilly, food wrappers and dirty dishes when he's not allowed to eat in his room, and just a general state of ... YUCK!). Also, while he was in the air, his grandparents called to report that he'd left his winter coat in Texas. They're going to mail it back. During the meanwhile, he can shiver on the bus stop wearing a couple of layers of sweatshirts.

All the same, I did kind of miss the little rat. I'm glad he is home.

This week will be pretty busy at work as my big project sets to launch. I have numerous last minute items to get done with deadlines throughout the week. The one nice thing about this week is that my acting team lead is on vacation. He handed off a few high priority, high visibility, tasks before he left. I like that he has that kind of confidence in me. I also like that I will be even more independent that normal this week. He said himself at our final team meeting on Friday that we are a very self-directed team. He said if we needed any management assistance in getting things taken care of, to bring in one of the other managers. However, he doubted we would need any assistance since we're very good at getting things done.

Nice!

Actually, we're even better at getting things done since our former team lead left in January. And, we always got a lot done whenever she was out of the office. We go like gangbusters when we're empowered to act on our own. So, look out world, here we come again!

Two DVD retro themers and a theatrical movie

We watched several movies this week while our son is away. On the DVD front, we rented Far From Heaven and Fido. Both movies have similar surreal 1950s settings.

Far From Heaven is about the seemingly perfect and shallow lives of an American family, where things are not as they seem. The husband, played by Dennis Quaid, is struggling with homosexual feelings while the wife develops a taboo friendship with a black man. In the homophobic 50s, it was still better to be gay than to cross racial lines.

In Fido, an average American family's life is complicated when they try to keep up with the neighbors by getting a domesticated zombie. This is far from your typical zombie movie. It's more like Leave It To Beaver meets Shawn of the Dead. Billy Connolly is fabulous as Fido, the zombie. Carrie-Anne Moss (of The Matrix and Disturbia) is wonderful as the very proper mom. The side characters are great as well, including a neighbor who treats his female zombie as his girlfriend and the little girl neighbor who hates ballet but is an excellent marksman. The later is key when you have zombies outside the town in the 'wild zone' and when anyone who drops dead will turn into one in a flash.

While watching Far From Heaven and Fido as an in-home double feature has its merits, Fido probably would be better paired with Shaun of the Dead.

Speaking of Shawn of the Dead, we ventured out this afternoon to see Penelope, which included a minor appearance by Shaun of the Dead's Nick Frost ('Ed'). We really enjoyed Penelope. A nice and light uplifting flick. Poor Penelope was literally cursed at birth with the ears and snout of a pig. Supposedly, the curse can only be broken when one of her own kind accepts her for who she is. When she reaches adulthood, her parents hire a matchmaker to find her a suitable blue blood mate. Every one of the potentials runs from her on sight. When a reporter hires a down-on-his-luck blue blood to get a picture of the poor girl, the real romance begins. But, all is not as it seems in the relationship or the curse department. The flick has a satisfyingly happy ending.

All three movies are recommended.