Day 6 of the TV Experiment

Today was tough. Very tough.

I went to bed last night feeling sick. It got so bad that I had to get up and take Ny-Quill. If you know me, I am the type of guy that tends to look at a missing arm as a "flesh wound" and avoid the world of medicine unless absolutely necessary. It was absolutely necessary...

I woke up this morning feeling a bit like someone who had spent the night being slammed into trees. This is exactly the kind of day that would find me laying on the couch in and out of consciousness watching hours upon hours of college football. It is days like this where I find myself watching games like Nevada verses Fresno State...

Anyway, that wasn't an option. And the brakes in the van desperately needed to be changed, so I went over to my friend's house to work on the van, as well as another friend's volvo. We got the brakes done, made slow progress on the engine replacement for the volvo, and ultimately both guys looked at me and said "you really should go home and take a nap" which is exactly what I did.

Jacob complained he was bored, which makes sense because he spent like five hours playing video games at Mark's house. I had little sympathy. I took my nap, got up for dinner, and got back into bed. I did manage to read today though. Since these books are lighter fare, I'll include the reviews here instead of in a separate post. I read a small book entitled Fortress Introduction to the Prophets. I found it rather unfulfilling. It gave cursory introductions to Amos, Hosea, Micah, Habakkuk and Isaiah. Then it spent half of the book talking about Jeremiah. What happened to the rest of the prophets is anyone's guess. To me it seemed like Rodney Hutton wrote a book on Jeremiah that was too short, so they tacked on the first half of the book to make it saleable. It's not a bad book, I actually enjoyed the cursory introductions, I found them informative and interesting. But I was left feeling like I didn't get the whole book. Not recommended.

I then shifted genres entirely and read The Halfling's Gem, a fantasy book by R.A. Salvatore. This is the third book in the Icewind Dale trilogy, a series my cousin Scott turned me on to. These aren't Lord of the Rings caliber books, but they are quite entertaining to read. They tell the stories of four friends, a dwarf, a barbarian, a halfling and a dark elf. They are well written, and draw you in and keep you turning the pages. If you like fantasy, these books are worth picking up.

Music today was mostly quiet. After the kids went to bed I put on Chick Corea's Akoustic Band. I bought this when it was released in 1989 and long ago lost count as to how many times I have played it. As always, the level of musicianship displayed here by Chick Corea, Dave Weckl, and John Patitucci simply defies understanding. These guys have definitely put in more than their 10,000 hours...

I followed up Chick Corea with Hemispheres by Rush. This is a lesser known work that is, IMHO, one of their very best albums. If you like Rush and haven't heard this, it's time to pick it up or download it from iTunes.

Finally I put on Duke, by Genesis. This album is the last of the big rich sound tapestries that were a hallmark of Genesis through the 1970's. It includes two hits, Turn it On Again and Misunderstanding, that were the start of what became a more pop song orientation for the band through the 1980's. I don't look at that as a bad thing, simply different. This album is the bridge between those two worlds. Well worth a listen.

Today was hard without TV, I'll admit. It would have been a simple day to just lay on the couch and watch TV. On the other hand, I got the brakes done on the van, and being outside was probably good for me. Sleeping in my bed was probably better than watching tv all day as well. In the end, I don't think it would have been a better day with the tv.

Joel