Mr. Quackquack's Beer

Mr. Quackquack's Beer, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Ugh. I still haven't totally gotten off of meds but I'm getting there. I've been listless and headachey lately.

What I'm Reading
I finally read a Neal Stephenson book, and I chose Cryptonomicon, which takes place both during World War II and pre-911 present day (it was published originally in 1999). Much, but not all, of the action centers around British and American code-breakers and some commandos who carry out odd missions whose entire job seems to entail preventing the Germans from finding out that their codes have been broken. We also see some pacific-side action involving the Japanese occupation of the Phillipenes (yeesh!). Most of the present-day action involves a computer nerd who, along with his ultra-paranoid business partner, is trying to set up some computer-related businesses in the Phillipenes. I'm barely scratching the surface of the plot. Although it is a little long-winded, Stephenson has two things going for him. I loved the main characters, and I could tell because I cried when I found out one of them died, and I also cried when I found out one of them lived. The other thing is he has a sense of humor that Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett would be proud of.

So right now, to punish myself, I have started Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle, a three volume story that makes Cryptonomicon come across like a Nancy Drew mystery (in terms of length and complexity).

What I'm Watching
I finally started watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles. How could I not? I love the first movie with a mad passion (I like the second movie, and I didn't think the third one was bad). So far I'm not complaining. John Connor's kind of whiny but hell he's a 15 year-old boy so that's to be expected. The actor who took over the Sarah Connor role is good - she does a good tough mom without going over the top (like Linda Hamilton did in the second movie). Summer 'River Tam' Glau plays Cameron (ha ha!), the Terminator sent back to protect John. Glad to see she's getting more work. I enjoyed Firefly and wish it had lasted longer. As for the storyline: The nice thing about mucking about in the timestream is you can change things around plausibly. For instance - in the third movie we find out from John that Sarah died of cancer. In the series this isn't overlooked and they get around it in an acceptable manner.

Superbad
Damn what a funny movie. Kind of hard to watch. It involves three eighteen-year-old dorks trying to buy booze so that they can have sex with drunk girls. The three dorks look like they should be slamming back Mountain Dew and playing Dungeons and Dragons in their parent's basement. Damn funny but I felt like I needed to send my brain out for dry-cleaning after watching it.