Post Xmas Follies

So the Xmas Holidastrophe has passed with minimal bloodshed and recriminations; no damaged dishes or hurt feelings.  Yay!  Someday the horrordays will be enjoyable for me all the way through.  I just know it.

On the other hand.... it did have some very nice presents!  Here are my prizes in their awesomness (you do not have to be me to enjoy all of them - but it helps).

•  A Year With C.S. Lewis is a daily readings collection.  Very good stuff.  imho.
• The Fractalist, Benoit Mandelbrot's memoir.  Why?  "Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line" That should be a good start.
• Structure & Interpretation of Computer Programs is a book I browsed online and now want to read.  No, I don't program.  I mean, no I don't write code.  I mean...
• GEB: An Eternal Golden Braid I was given Doug Hofstadter's book in 1979 as a birthday gift.  That copy's seen me through many sleepless nights and was a good traveling companion.  The binding on my copy's become too frail to carry around much so I put it back on my wish list.  It's not a hard-cover but the covers are heavier as is the paper, so it's all good.  Back on the road!
• Hofstadter's Grandchildren, edited by Adam Cole is a collection of inspirations flowing from G.E.B. which I have been wanting for a while and am looking forward to browsing.
• The Rapture of The Nerds by Corey Doctorow is the funny to put all of the other books in my list in the proper perspective.  I see Doctorow, Vonnegut (Kurt, not David) and M. Atwood in some ways occupying the same space, but that's just me and your mileage may vary.  Still I'm halfway through this already and have been laughing out loud in various waiting areas today.  Fortunately, many of the people around me were also reading gifted stuff and were not bothered in the least.

So this ought to keep me off the streets for a bit.  Excellent timing too, since the first snow storm is coming in tonight!  Keep the radio tuned to the Weather stations.....