I know, I know… I really ought to be working on that recap of my recent road-trip vacation, not to mention a couple of other topics that are growing less timely by the second. But Halloween is fast approaching and I’m having trouble focusing on those other entries, so I’m going to give myself a break and do a quick meme that’s been going around. I first spotted it at SamuraiFrog’s Electronic Cerebrectomy.
Jaquandor put up an interesting meme the other day, based around the idea of traveling back in time and encountering an earlier version of yourself. Since I loves me a good Grandfather Paradox, and I’ve now reached a sufficiently curmudgeonish age to dish out unsolicited advice to younger selves, let’s gather up some banana peels and stale beer for the Mr. Fusion and get this DeLorean rolling! Er, hovering. Whatever.
I’ve seen this meme floating around Facebook the past couple days and was thinking I’d give it a whirl anyhow, but this morning I got tagged by a friend, so no more procrastinating for me.
The idea is to come up with “15 albums you’ve heard that will always stick with you,” whatever that means. (I interpret it to mean the ones you’ve played so many times you’ve got them memorized, or they represent some kind of emotional milestone for you, or you have a specific memory or anecdote associated with them.) You’re supposed to list the first 15 titles you come up with in a maximum of 15 minutes. Like most people, I imagine, I thought of way more than just 15 titles in far less than the allotted time. I’m listing them all below the fold, along with the usual commentary.
For any Loyal Readers who may also be Facebook friends, please note that I’ve tinkered with the list a bit since I posted it over there, and my commentaries are much more detailed here. If that affects your interest levels in any way…
No doubt my teenage self would be surprised and disappointed to learn this, but the truth is I don’t read a lot of science fiction anymore, and even when I did, my interests tended toward the less-respectible, less-than-serious stuff: movie tie-ins, old pulp heroes like Doc Savage and John Carter, and space opera. So-called “hard” SF or the tomes with literary and/or philosophical aspirations rarely caught my interest. Which means I’m usually at something of a disadvantage when I’m confronted by those lists of the Great Works that occasionally circulate, because I just haven’t read many of the Great Works. Even so, I always feel the compulsion to throw in my two cents anyway because, you know… they’re lists. And lists, by their very existence, demand that you comment on them, because they’re inevitably just some other person’s ideas of what constitutes greatness, and we all know that mileage varies. Especially when you’re contrary by nature, as I tend to be.
Anyhow, here’s one such list of 100 SF books that everyone supposedly needs to read, discovered and meme-ized by the always-reliable Jaquandor. Following his lead, I shall bold the titles I’ve read, italicize those I own but haven’t gotten around to reading, and color red the ones I do not own but hope to read one of these days. I’ve also added a twist by striking out the handful of titles that I know I never want to read. And of course, there will be commentary. So… onward!
As you may have gathered from recent entries, I’ve been really busy at work lately. Really damn busy. So busy that my coworkers and I have been referring to the situation as “The Apocalypse.” I just reached my five-year anniversary with my current employer — this job has now officially become the longest-running one I’ve ever had, and I hope I’m not jinxing myself by mentioning it — and in all that time, I’ve never seen it this crazy. Late nights every night for two solid weeks, sometimes very late nights, and a six-inch stack of paper in my inbox that never seems to get any shorter, no matter how many hours I put in. Just call me Sisyphus, I guess.
I was even planning to go in last weekend to try and get on top of some of it, but my rebellious body had plans of its own, which consisted mainly of vomiting so hard I could feel my stomach itself clenching. Not the muscles and flab that the world sees in the vicinity of my waistband, but the actual internal organ. The visual image that came to mind once everything finally relaxed was the nurses on M*A*S*H squeezing one of those black respirator bags shut, and the way it slowly refilled after it was released. I initially thought I had food poisoning, but I’ve since decided it was very possibly a reaction to the stress I’ve been under recently.
In any event, this Apocalypse thing has made me rather grouchy — possibly you’ve noticed? — for all kinds of reasons, not least of which is the effect it’s had on my blogging. I know that sounds stupid and superficial and some of you are probably thinking I have messed-up priorities, but the fact is I derive a lot of personal fulfillment from this particular hobby, and I keenly feel its absence when I’m unable to do it. Blogging reassures me that I haven’t completely surrendered my writing ambitions and allowed whatever gifts I may have to wither away, that I am still, somewhere deep down inside, the brash, romantic twentysomething that I think I liked far more than my 40-year-old self. Blogging is also a necessary escape from the mundane demands of what I do for a living, my own little fiefdom in which I don’t have to satisfy account managers or clients or legal departments or the faceless editors of the Chicago Manual of Style. Here, I am in charge, and all I have to do here is satisfy myself. And hopefully my Three Loyal Readers, assuming you’re still out there.
During times when the scope of my life spirals inward to the point where I can’t even manage to keep up on this, let alone anything more important… well, then I feel entirely justified to gripe about not having much of a life. Don’t misunderstand. I enjoy what I do for a living, I really do. But I’m not the type who can survive for long doing nothing more than working, commuting, and sleeping. Some people may love their jobs that much, but I am convinced they are an extremely lucky minority to which I do not belong.
All of which is a needlessly long explanation for what you’re about to encounter below the fold, assuming you haven’t already clicked away to greener online pastures. Yes, kids, it’s a meme! Not as worthwhile as a coherent essay about an actual topic perhaps, but it’s something I can putter at for two minutes here and there during my busy-busy-busy days over the course of a week or two. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing with this particular meme throughout the Apocalypse.
For the record, I snagged this one from SamuraiFrog a couple months back but I’m just now getting around to using it. I’ve said that entirely too much lately.
So… are we ready? Okay, then, let’s begin…
I spotted the following meme on the subject of comic books over at SamuraiFrog‘s last night and thought it’d be fun to do it today, in honor of Free Comic Book Day. If you’re unaware of it, Free Comic Book Day is held annually on the first Saturday in May, and it’s exactly what the name suggests: Participating comic shops nationwide give away free comics to anyone who sets foot through the door. The idea is to try and draw new readers — and customers — into the somewhat insular world of this hobby that, quite honestly and sadly, is in decline.
Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I had to leave the house for the day, and the moment of maximum relevance has now passed. That’s pretty typical for me anymore, I’m afraid. Always a day late and a dollar short. I’m going to do the meme anyhow, though. Hope nobody minds.
For the record, I am really just a dilettante in the world of comics. I’ve been lurking around the fringes of this particular scene off and on for years, and I enjoy reading the form, but I’ve never gotten into full-bore into the hobby. Much of my knowledge of the important characters and stories comes not from the primary source material, the comics themselves, but from the movies and cartoons based upon them, and from occasional research when something comes up in conversation.
Just so y’all know where I’m coming from…
I seem to be writing and thinking about music quite a bit lately, thanks in part to my Friday Evening Videos feature, but also because I’ve recently experienced a genuine reawakening of interest in the subject. Blame it on the iPod I got for my birthday a few months back. I’m still not entirely sold on the iPod/digital music concept; I find I’m not inclined to carry the thing around with me the way many people seem to, and I’m still uncomfortable with the thought of my music existing as intangible data that could vanish in the wink of an eye if something goes wrong… and let’s not even get started on the OCD-fueled dilemmas I’m having over the choice of what, exactly, to rip into my iTunes library! (No, I’m not ripping everything in my collection, for various reasons.) But having a new toy has inspired me to start seeking out new songs and albums again after years of honestly not caring much about music at all, so that’s something.
Given all that, I’d say this is the perfect time to do the lengthy music meme I spotted over at Byzantium’s Shores yesterday morning. And one… two… one-two-three-four!
After this morning’s grim entry, I’m feeling the need to lighten the mood a little, so here’s a Star Trek-related meme that was recently done by both Jaquandor and SamuraiFrog. Seems I’m always the last one on the block to catch the latest meme these days… sigh.
As Jaquandor notes, this question-and-answer doohickey (he calls them “quiz things,” I’ve always heard them called memes, and I’m not sure which is more appropriate) starts off with pretty innocuous stuff, but then becomes quite a bit more inflammatory starting at question nine. I’m feeling kind of feisty today, though, so I figure what the hell. Be warned that if you choose to read on, you may learn more about me than you really want to know. I won’t be held responsible for any blood-pressure spikes that may result.