I am a latecomer to the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is a shame. Even in translation, his writing is beautiful, lyrical, and full of imagery and power (some credit goes to the translator, of course!). I very much enjoyed this story, which has some interesting things to say about love and self-delusion and pursuit and success and failure. The characterization is very well done. Plotwise, the continual emphasis on the protagonist’s obsession with sex-sex-sex-sex-sex became somewhat tedious, but this is a minor detraction from an otherwise engaging tale. And, in contrast to many books I’ve read of late, it has a solid, delicious-yet-not-trite ending.
I got a 2 GB iPod Shuffle for my birthday (thanks, Mom!) — an entirely unanticipated gift. I’d never owned an MP3 player and, when I’d seen the Shuffle in stores, figured it wouldn’t really be all that useful — no display, you know? But then I got one of my own, and [...]
Unlike the International Space Station, the aurora remains a sky phenomenon that I have yet to witness with my own eyes. Yet I have read about and seen glorious images of the colored curtains of light, shifting suspended over arctic landscapes. While often yellow or green, some auroras are red or even purple [...]
I saw the International Space Station with my own eyes for the first time today. It crossed over Los Angeles from about 8:52 p.m. to 8:57 p.m. (You can get a list of upcoming local flybys based on your zip code.) It was bright: magnitude -3.0, according to that website (”magnitude” of [...]