Being from the central part of the country, spending Thanksgiving on the beach seems surreal. However, Thursday morning I found myself on the beach near San Luis Obispo where I was staying with friends of friends and consuming large quantities of food. Aside from post-tofurkey sickness, it was a fun holiday. We played many rounds of Cranium[1] proving many times that girls rule and boys drool before falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning.
On the Friday drive back to the city, we listened to NPR's This American Life which featured readings of blogs written by soldiers in Iraq. It was interesting and chilling. I recommend checking out Rebel Coyote's LiveJournal for a well-written and honest account. For a more blunt view, you can read Colby Buzzell's book, My War: Killing Time In Iraq, which was derived from his blog entries.
Last Sunday, I read 10:01 by Lance Olsen. It is a rare occasion that I read a book in one sitting[2]. Other than the fact that book is only 187 pages, the only reason I kept reading it was because I was waiting for something to happen. Eventually something happens, but it reads more like a character study and lacks a cohesive plot. Set in the Mall Of America, the book describes the consumer culture from various view points (cynical, exuberant, indifferent) giving you a sense of who goes to malls and why. The story is probably meant to be a statement but the ending wraps so abruptly, I didn't grasp the meaning of the climax right away.
Musically, I'm a little obsessed with Say Hi To Your Mom. There are nine songs available on the band website for your consumption followed by a reasonably priced shop from which to purchase swag.
[1] Scroll down to the "online Cranium!" link and you too can find out what the fun is all about!
[2] I still haven't finished Just A Modern Rock Story, and I stopped carrying around One Hundred Years of Solitude. Yeah, I know I need to read more too.
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