11 September 1997: Back-to-Back

Thursday, 11 September 1997:

Back-to-Back

I don't think I'm quite ready to bike to work on consecutive days; it was much harder today than yesterday, not so much in that I got more winded, but my muscles were really complaining. Time to ease up a bit, I think. Fortunately (?) I'm going to spend a lot of this weekend cleaning my apartment, and driving to Milwaukee to see the Red Sox play the Brewers. (Tomorrow is Internet Night!)

It's still a kick to fly down the hills on the way home, though. That in and of itself will probably be a motivator for a while. There's a long, fairly steep hill on Tokay Blvd with a nice flat bit and a slight uphill at the bottom; if the road were slightly better paved it would be great! Unfortunately, there are small depressions every 30 feet or so - ka-thump! ka-thump! Grr.

I'm really enjoying the Jackson Browne album I bought yesterday (Late For The Sky), especially the title track. He wrote a lot of great songs in the 70s. Everyone talks about the 70s as being the disco era and all that, but I really think the best rock music ever was produced in the 70s. The Who, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Steeleye Span, Peter Gabriel, Renaissance, and, okay, I admit it; I'm a Yes fan.

Tonight was the monthly SF book discussion, and we discussed Ursula K. Le Guin's The Lathe Of Heaven, as well as her short story, "Mountain Ways", which won the 1996 James Tiptree Jr. Award. It was a pretty good discussion, although we digressed and discussed Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars and Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon The Deep. We also amused ourselves by playing with the hostess' dog.

I guess the group had been rather stagnant for a while (I've only been going for a year), but we're starting to get more people showing up, including some people who haven't been there for years, apparently. Several people nominated Molly Gloss' The Dazzle Of Day for the next round of books (I thought it was terrible, myself), and I suggested David Brin's The Postman, since there's a movie of it soon to come out (starring - urk! - Kevin Costner).

Tomorrow I'm gonna drive to work, darnitall!

Michael Rawdon (Contact)