book - Random Geekage

Currently reading Busy Doing Nothing

by Rekka and Devine of 100 Rabbits. It tells the story of how they sailed from Shimoda, Japan to Victoria, Canada. It simultaneously makes me want to buy a boat and also never be anywhere near open water for the rest of my life.

A giant wave broke over us, and knocked Pino over. I didn’t see it happen. A wall of water washed over me. I saw nothing but water. I fell. The water dragged me off my feet, and carried me right out of the cockpit. I was underwater, my vision blurred by a curtain of seawater. I was facing up, I could see shapes, and colors through the salty, wet veil enveloping me. I remember thinking then: "Well, this is the end. This is how it happens."

Along with Steven Roberts and Peter Knowles, they increase my wanderlust.

Started reading "Say Why to Drugs" by Dr. Suzi Gage.

Dr. Gage first came to my attention via Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces podcast. She then started her own podcast, Say Why to Drugs and has just released a book of the same name which basically collates the info given in the podcast into print form. It aims to give a good overview of the various substances consumed by humans - whether legal or otherwise - and does so without judgement or bias. Covering what the substance is, what it has been used for historically, what the intended effects are on the body and the potential side effects it has.

The book is very accessible with minimal clinical language and I think it should be required reading for high schoolers, or even earlier. Certainly much better than the puritanical "drugs are bad" approach I had at school.

Currently reading "Moods of Future Joys" by Alastair Humphreys.

It is the first half of his autobiographical account of the 4 years he spent traversing the globe by bicycle on a slim budget of £7000. From London, through Europe, the Middle East and down the east of Africa.

Mornings come peacefully on the road. I wake slowly with the daylight, turning in my sleeping bag, adjusting the bundle of clothes that act as my pillow and dozing off once or twice until my head is clear and ready to begin the day. I lie still and listen to the sounds outside my tent. Sometimes birdsong, sometimes whooshing vehicles, sometimes water, sometimes silence. I unzip the tent door and feel the fresh air on my face. I check the weather and particlarly the wind: strong winds can seriously spoil my day.

Started reading The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross.

First dead tree fiction book in several years. More occult computing FTW!

I swear I'll stop with The Laundry Files stuff at some point.

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Started reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality again. I had a copy a while ago but it seems to have vanished. For those not in the know, the book is written by Eliezer Yudkowsky and the LessWrong folk.

I'm not normally a fanfiction kind of person, most of the stuff I have heard of tends to be...strange. Slash and suchlike. However, this is actually quite good.