Links and Stuff

This past week it’s been the turn of the Democrats to have their little convocation, where people get up and preach to the choir, and they officially select their nominee for President of the USA. It wasn’t without controversy, since a number of Bernie Sanders supporters are not happy their man threw his support behind Mrs. Clinton. They were quite vocal about it too. Happily, the Democratic National Convention built a wall around them to keep them out. I haven’t heard if Bernie will be getting the bill for that. But history was made in that Hillary Clinton became the first official female presidential candidate… oh, wait, qualify that. The first official female presidential candidate from a major party. Victoria Woodhull was actually the first in 1872, representing the Equal Rights Party, campaigning for women’s suffrage, equal opportunity, equal pay, and such. Oh how times have changed in 144 years! 🙂 Also, Mrs. Obama made a speech in which she used all her own words. I’m sure Mrs. Trump was watching and making notes for next time…

We continue our house-hunting and moving exercises here at Chez Smith. This past week, we looked at four or five houses. Our realtor advised against more than that or they would all become a blur and we’d forget which we liked (“the one with the study upstairs… or was that downstairs…? With the real fireplace… or was that the closet for the washer dryer…? With the fenced-in back porch and pool and trees…?”) Anyway, there were a couple of houses we liked–not loved, but thought “mmm… we could make that work.” One house we went to was in an area my wife really loves, but it wasn’t the right house. She did get quite emotional. If only there was a house there we love, at a price I love, we’d finish the search now. *sigh* As it is, the search continues…

I’ve made a start with the packing. Don’t believe me? Here’s photographic evidence! I started with some of my weightier academic tomes:

Then I was faced with the problem of finding the most suitable box for these books:

(Sorry, a bit of an in-joke for my friends over at Janet Reid‘s blog.)

After clearing one shelf, I’ve determined it’s going to take about 50 boxes to pack all the books in my office. Maybe more, given that my mathematical and spacial guessitmation skills are beyond sucky.

More on the house-hunting and packing next week. Now, a couple of links!

First, this Wall Street Journal article talking about how audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing at the moment. I don’t own many audiobooks, but I know people who swear by them. If you have a thirty minute (or more) commute to work every day, you can redeem that time with an audiobook and catch up on some reading. Or if you need something to block out your cries of pain as you exercise, what could be better than listening to the latest Stephen King? In my brief dabbling with the format, I’ve discovered I’m picky about who reads the book. That voice has to fit the text. One of the best audiobooks I’ve ever heard is John Cleese (of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame) reading C. S. Lewis’s THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS. My roommate at university had it on cassette (I’m old, okay?!), and I’d love to find a copy for myself. Writer friends, who would you like to read your current work in progress? I’d love to hear either Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) or Benedict Cumberbatch do mine. 🙂 Non-writer friends, who would you like to read your favorite novel?

The last link I want to share with you this week is from Jeff Somers, and it’s a piece he wrote for Medium.com on “How to Completely, Absolutely, and Totally Fail to Brew Beer at Home.” Something about the piece, and Jeff’s ineptness at such practical skills, resonated with me deeply. I, too, have no ability with wood, or anything that requires mechanical intuition. I’ve not tried beer making, but I don’t doubt my results would be much the same as Jeff’s. There’s a lesson here about recognizing your weak areas and leaving them well alone. If you enjoy this, then I urge you to check out Jeff’s blog, and subscribe to his newsletter. Heck, maybe even buy some of his books!

That’s all from me. How’s things with you? Any thoughts on audiobooks? Or anything else?