My love-hate relationships (update #389)

Things I love today:
Dried Strawberries (I know - weird, huh? had them in Alaska, and now I'm in love with them)
Vacations
Leaving Work Early to Go Home to Take a Nap (see Things I Hate Today for the reason)
Bicycles
Flip Flops
Jade Necklace (purchased in AK, of course)
Moose
Books
Good Sleeping Weather
Dinner at a Favorite Restaurant (Friday night! Looking forward to it)
Not Working on Fridays
Not Working on One's Birthday
Brand-New Nephews


Things I hate today (and possibly all the time):
Summer Colds (I had one in June and a killer one this month...you sick people with germs and plagues? Stay away from me in August)
Biking Glove Tan Lines
Rowing/Biking Short Tan Lines
The Claw (caused in one's hand by a pinched nerve/compaction injury from biking in rainy/cold weather)
Birthdays Spent 1) taking a bar exam (2003), 2) at the dentist (2009)

I like to read. Do you like to read?

I read two books whilst on vacation, Internet. While both were quite good, one really stole the show, and now I'm telling everyone about it, including you, Internet.

Book 1: The Book Thief

Apparently I'm totally behind the times since this book was first published in 2006, and it's been on bestseller and book club lists ever since. Yet I? Had never heard of it before the plane trip to Alaska.

It took me the first 20 pages to figure out who on earth was narrating the story. Then it took me another 20 pages to get used to the little lines and sentences inset into the text. And then after that? Could not put it down. This is probably one of the best books I've read in years, and a lot of it had to do with the care with which the author chose his wording. Definitely a great read.

I can totally see why it took Markus Zusak three years to complete the writing of this novel. His turns of phrase, use of colors and imagery, all of it: excellent.

Book 2: Pnin

This book by Vladimir Nabokov was given to me by a fellow traveller who'd already finished with it. I've never read Nabokov - yes, that means no Lolita or Pale Fire, though since I've now heard that Prof. Pnin makes an appearance in Pale Fire, I might have to check that out - and didn't know what to expect. I really enjoyed this story, not in small part because it's much more lighthearted and relatively plotless than one would expect from a Russian novelist. (Anna Karenina or Crime & Punishment this is not.) Also, it wasn't until I looked it up online afterwards that I finally figured out how to pronounce it. (Nabokov slyly inserts several different pronunciations within the novel, leaving people like me who Have To Know frustrated.) Nabokov has an excellent way with words in this fairly short read about the daily minutiae of a Russian émigré and his new life as a professor in America, and it was perfect for the plane ride home.

Oh, the places you can get to in AK...if you have transportation.

Methods of transportation I used in Alaska:

1. Plane (arrival to and from ANC)
2. Cab (car variety)
2. Walk (lots of this)
3. Train (glass-topped variety)
4. Bus (both charter and city)
5. Horse (a few hours near Talkeetna)
6. Hike (6 or 7 miles in Denali State Park)
6. Auto (support van for biking, rental car)
7. Bike (about 240 miles)
8. Ferry (across Prince William Sound)
9. Kayak (in the Kachemak Bay)
10. Taxi (catamaran water variety)

Modes left to try:
1. Dog sled
2. Skis
3. Float plane
4. Pack mule
5. Ice skates

(I think we did everything else.)

Northern Exposures

For more Alaska pictures, check them out here.

I'm back in Minnesota...

...And although there's no place like home, Alaska's pretty nice. More pictures and stories to come soon.

Denali