Updating The 2010 Book List

Ok, I was going to try and update my book list more regularly but that didn’t really happen. So, I am going to catch back up and list the books I have read since the last time. Here we go:

15. Lamb

This book was awesome! It is a book the childhood adventures of Jesus and his best buddy Biff. It is funny, touching, well written and very entertaining. I would certainly recommend this one.

16. Word Freak

This book was on a list of the my favorite sports writer’s list of top sports books. It is a behind the scenes look at the world of competitive Scrabble. I have been trying to read books about a wide array of subjects to keep myself well rounded, so having known nothing of competitive Scrabble I decided to give this a shot. It was pretty entertaining, especially learning about the people who are the best in the world playing Scrabble. They are all weirdos and maybe geniuses. At times this one got a little boring when there were long sections about the weird words only used at the highest levels of this “sport”. The author could have touched on a few of them, but not every single one! Overall this was a pretty good read.

17. The Geography of Bliss

This was about the author’s journey to find the happiest places on Earth. I knew I would like this because it involved traveling. It was interesting what he found that made people happier than others. It is not what you would think and you might be surprised when you find out who some of the happiest people on Earth are. Good book!

18. Forever War

This started a string of three book about the Iraq war. This one is by Dexter Filkins and it is an account of his time spent in Afghanistan but mostly Iraq. He gives a very detailed description of what it is like to be a soldier in Iraq, a reporter in Iraq and a citizen of war torn Iraq. It is pretty brutal. I have always been against the invasion in Iraq and this book made me even more pissed about the whole thing. It is a horrible situation for everyone involved (except the people getting rich off of it I guess…assholes!). If you can stomach the grizzly details then this is a great and informative read.

19. Generation Kill

This is another first person account by the author embedded in Iraq. The author, Evan Wright, goes along with a group of Recon soldiers as they prepare to and become the lead group in the invasion of Iraq. It is a very good look at the mentality of the soldiers who were asked to do some horrible things and for no real apparent reason. It really details how unprepared and unplanned the whole invasion was. Again, if you can stomach some very gruesome details it is a good read. It will probably piss you off though, so be prepared for that.

20. Big Boy Rules: American Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq

This one will really piss you off! Again, the author is embedded in Iraq, but this time he rides along with paid mercenaries, or “Security Companies” as they storm around Iraq doing anything they want to anyone they want without any repercussions while they are paid exorbitant amounts by our government. These trigger happy, money grubbing meat heads apparently do nothing to help the cause of making Iraq livable again, but only make it worse and supposedly they are on our side. After reading this third book about the war over there I decided that was enough because it is just so frustrating to learn how fucked up things are over there. Maybe things were bad before we invaded, but we have just made it worse. Such a shitty situation!

21. Ball Four

This book sounded really interesting,  a tell all behind the scenes book written by an ex-Yankee pitcher. Well, it wasn’t very interesting. I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe had it been written about a modern team, like it Derek Jeter came out with a Yankee tell all book now, I would have been more into it.

22. The Book of Basketball

Written by Bill Simmons, my favorite sports writer, this is a everything you needed to know and didn’t need to know about the history of the NBA. I love the NBA and you pretty much have to to like this book or even finish it (it is over 700 pages long). I couldn’t put it down. He ranks players, teams, re does the hall of, goes through every season, along with all kinds of other interesting NBA stuff. And he is funny, very funny. This book was awesome. I recommend it only to other fans of the NBA though and I don’t know many.

23. A Long Way Down

I was going to be in London so I wanted to read a book set in London. This is the one I choose and I am glad I did. About 4 people that don’t know each other, that go to the same spot, on the same night, to throw themselves off a building. It was funny at times, sad at times and always entertaining. I would recommend this book and I plan on reading more Nick Hornby books soon.

24. One Day

I was in the airport in Dusseldorf about to board a plane to New York city and I realized I didn’t have a book to read. I ran to the book shop, found the tiny section of English language book and just grabbed this one. I noticed on the front cover Nick Hornby gave it a good review so I went with it. I had no idea what it was about even. Well, I didn’t put it down the entire 9 hour flight. It about two people that meet in college one night and then every chapter is that same day but one year later. I think it was a really cool way to tell how their relationship developed over those 20 years. This might be the best book  have read this year. Maybe because I was trapped on a plane for 9 hours it seemed really good, like when you are super hungry everything tastes awesome, but I loved it! Read it.

25. Friday Night Lights

I had always heard how good the movie was and how amazing the TV show was so I decided to read the book that started it. Books are always better anyway. This was pretty interesting most of the time, but also boring occasionally. Sometimes I just didn’t care about the players or their families and just wanted to see if they won their next game. It was well written, but just didn’t hold my interest that well. Maybe I will watch the movie now, but probably not the TV show…I have more books I need to read!

Well, there were a couple of others that I can’t remember but If I do, I will add them. Right now I am halfway through The Last Lecture, which was recommended by multiple friends, and so far it has the potential to challenge for best book of the year.

You know, I should do a blog at the end of the year and give out different book awards!! I am going to. So look forward to that! Ok, back to hoping it snows a ton tonight Later

Munich!

In Munich right now. At the coolest hostel of the trip so far. Wombats is really nice, clean and the atmosphere is very nice. Munich is not quite what I expected. My first impression after being in Paris and especially Rome, Munich seems brand new. It is so clean, has fresh paint and seams like it is a German themed shopping center in the USA. I got out away from the central downtown area today, away from the shopping and touristy areas and it seemed more real. I took off this morning with a map and no plan (I love doing this) and walked around for hours. I took stroll through the Englischer Gardens and loved it! It was such an amazing day to take a walk through such a beautiful park. My favorite part? Coming across multiple beer gardens inside the park. I stopped at one on the central lake and had a wiessbier. So great!

From the park I pointed myself in the general direction of the Olympic park on the other side of town with no real idea of how far it was. It was far! I walked for probably 2 hours with the distant Olympic tower as my landmark. It never seemed to be getting bigger but I eventually made it. I was curious to see what they did with all the facilities used for the ’72 Olympics. They are still maintaining them and it is actually a very nice area. I checked out the Olympic swimming venue, the tennis venue and the Olympic Stadium. They are all still in use and you can join as a member to use all the facilities. How sweet would that be to join an athletic club that once hosted the Olympics??

Yesterday, I did some wandering around and went to a few churches in the morning. Went to Dachau in the afternoon which was super interesting. It was kinda weird to be at an actual Nazi concentration camp. I enjoyed it for the history, but felt bad for enjoying given the horrible things that happened there. It is amazing to me that the Holocaust could actually happen and maybe before yesterday it didn’t really seem like a real event to me. Just something I had read about and seen in movies. I don’t know, it is hard to explain. I knew it happened obviously, but it felt distant to me I guess.  After seeing where it actually took place, it hit home with me. That stuff happened and it was very very real, very very horrible and it wasn’t really that long ago. I think keeping concentration camps open for the public is a must so that people can come visit and have it hit home with them as well. Humans are capable of some brutally horrible things and remembering what we have done in the past will help us never allow that to happen again. Although I am sure that sometime in the future, somewhere in the world it will happen again. And that sucks!

So, after Dachau I needed a beer so headed straight to the Hofbrauhaus! That place is sweet and if I had been with friends, not by myself, I could see me getting in some trouble there or possibly dying from alcohol poisoning! Started off with some Wiessbier, brats and kraut. I was a bit disappointed when my beer didn’t come in a 1L mug. So, after dinner I ordered another beer this time making sure it came in the biggest glass they had. So cool and Hofbrau has some decent beer! I seriously considered having another mug, but I passed. I might not have made it back to the Hostel!

Some random Munich thoughts:

- So clean here. I guess it is one of the safest cities in Europe as well. I like it.

- I always loved the imported gummi bears and had some today from the source. Even better! American gummi bears suck!

- Decided I needed a piece of clothing purchased in Europe so I bought a nice sweater yesterday. I like it!

- Walking through the markets in most places you can smell all the food cooking. Well, the smell in Munich is the best of the trip so far.

- The subway system here is the best I’ve been on. There are stops everywhere and the stations are immaculate.

- The churches here, although still very beautiful, just don’t inspire the same awe as the ones in Rome, Paris or London. Rome being the place with the highest “wow” factor.

- I don’t like that most bars and pubs here are connected to a certain brewery. I could not find a place that had multiple breweries on tap. The guy at the hostel said that is indeed the case. Too bad.

- I took two years of German in HS, but I can’t understand a word anyone is saying unless they say a number or “the” “you” “What” or Thank you. That bums me out!

- Of all the places I’ve been so far, Germany might be the place I would like to live. England would be sweet as well, because I speak the language (still cant understand most of them) but Germany seems most like the place for me.

- Unfortunately the internet at the Hostel kinda sucks so I can’t uplaod any pictures. Go to my Facebook and check em out!

Ok, that’s enough for now!

Roma

I must say that Rome is exceeding my expectations so far. It is very awesome so far! It is crazy, crowded and fast just as I expected but I didn’t expect Rome to be this fun to just walk around. I had heard it was unsafe in areas as well. I have walked from one side of the city the other in the last two days and have yet to feel unsafe. No one has tried to pick pocket me like they did in Paris. So far Rome, you are impressing me. Of course I still have one more day to get mugged and thrown in the alley so maybe I spoke too soon.

I have seen all the big sites so far and without question, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica were the best. This morning I waited in line for 45 minutes to get into the Vatican Museums. I was told it could take up to 3 hours so I was super happy with 45 minutes. The museums were pretty cool for the most part, the highlight being the hall of maps (I don’t remember what it is called, but hall of maps works). It is a long ornate hall lined with hand painted maps of all of Italy. The trip through the museums finished with the Sistine Chapel and the ceiling painted by Michelangelo. So cool to see that and the room where Pope’s are elected during conclave in person!

(It has been so great to see works of art from the most famous of the famous on this trip… Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Donatello, Rafael…yes all 4 Ninja Turtles! Of course many others as well. You don’t get too much, if any, of that in the U.S.)

St. Peter’s was without a doubt the highlight of the trip so far. I have always been mildly fascinated with the Vatican and had always wanted to see the inside of St. Peter’s Basilica. I had read about how amazing it was and awe inspiring. Well, I got to walk through that door today and I have to say it lives up to the hype! It is gigantic, beautifully ornate and it absolutely inspired some awe. I walked around the whole place then took the stairs to the top of the Cupola or dome. It was quite a walk! You can walk or take the Lift, but I decided F-it I’m walking. The view from the top was worth every step! You can see all of Rome.

The Coliseum was neat to see and think about what had gone on inside centuries ago, but unlike the Vatican, I wasn’t blown away by it. I also saw the Pantheon, a few fountains and a few other churches around Rome.  Most of the popular spots are so crowded with tourists that it makes it more of a pain to see. I can’t really complain as I am just one of the tourists as well, so whatever.

Random Rome Observations:

- Are people in Rome very serious about religion? I can’t tell

- Why is that in our large cities every car is normal or over sized and in the cities in Europe 99% of the cars are tiny and fuel efficient?? Oh yeah because we are wasteful!

- Pizza here is different and good. I had some yesterday from a little whole in the wall place away from the tourist traps that was great. The mushrooms on it were melt in your mouth amazing and the mozzarella was as good as it gets. (You can still get shitty pizza here though!) It has nothing in Paddington’s in Salem, OR though!

- There are a lot of fat guys that seem to be dating or married to smoking hot ladies. I guess that has to happen though when just about every woman in Rome is gorgeous!

- Bought a half pound of Grapes and a plum at a little produce market today. It was .41 Euros. That is like 70 cents! In Bend that would have been 4 bucks.

- Otherwise, Rome is expensive. Especially if you are around tourists areas.

- Walked into a Random church today and they were doing some sort of thing…mass? in Italian. The Italian language is awesome to listen to. It is kinda like Spanish with a bunch of flair, or some pizazz to it! I like it. It makes English seem so boring. If Italian was spoken in more places than just Italy it would be fun to learn.

- Speaking of language…I am a bit embarrassed that I don’t speak another language. I am going to fix that. Everyone over here speaks at least their native language and English. I’m gonna get on that when I get home. Maybe I’ll pick up German again?

-  I want to go snowboarding!

- It is fun to watch kids fight with their parents in Italy. They both yell really loudly and use their arms a lot and make big gestures at each other.

- The Rome subway system is kinda a joke. There was zero space on it tonight so I walked back home. They only have 2 lines. They need to get with it. It is also scary down there. So dark and gross and shady!

- Munich in a couple days!!

Day 1 Paris

Made it to Paris again without incident. The traveling so far has gone very smoothly. I am attributing that to the intense preparation I did before I left Actually, a monkey could get around. It is so easy. Found the Hostel again easily.  This place is my favorite so far. Right on the canal with a view of the canal from the room and a sweet restaurant/bar downstairs. Super clean too.

I got here, plopped my stuff on my bed and immediately took off for the Seine. Most of the popular stuff is down by the river. Saw some lady eating a baguette sandwich and saw a place to get one a block later. I’m a bit of a sandwich aficionado so, I know my sandwiches and that the bread makes the sandwich. This might have been the best sandwich I have ever had because this bread was AMAZING!!

I’m a bit torn as to which city, Paris or London is more beautiful. I think I am leaning towards Paris. I will give a final verdict after walking around later tonight. All around though I definitely like London better though. Not once in London did someone try to scam me out of money or follow me two blocks begging for a couple Euros. Come on Paris, that is not endearing anyone to your city!

- went to see the Louvre. Going in tomorrow.

- Saw the Arc de Triomphe….the first half of the walk from the Louvre to the Arc is a bit like the National Mall in DC, but cooler. Then the second half is all high-end stores.

- Then walked back down to the river to see the Eiffel Tower. Pretty impressive in person, but exactly like I expected.

- Got lost for a second….its a lot harder to find the Metro station in Paris. In London it seemed a lot easier. Might be the signage. You can’t miss the London Underground sign. Another win for London.

- Went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It was free so I went inside. Pretty impressive!

- Came back to the hostel…writing this blog. Going to head out in a sec to see some of the stuff at night. I always like seeing cool buildings and things at night when they are all lit up.

See ya!

Eric

London and Beyond

Well, I had hoped to update this blog on a more regular basis and will keep trying to do so, but the English are a bit stingy with their Internet and honestly, I have just been too busy. I have been busy because there is just so much to see and do here. It is great!

I got to Heathrow with no hassles until I had to go through Customs. As I was standing in line waiting for my turn, I noticed everyone was breezing through with no problems and figured it would be the same for me. Well, a trip to the ATM with the customs agent and a half hour interrogation later they finally let me into the country. He asked me so many random questions that had nothing to with anything relevent. At one point I was 100 percent sure I was not getting in, right after he said “I am not sure I can let you in the country”. I think he was hoping I would just give up, say “fuck it” and get on the first plane back to America. He told me there are three things you need to get into this country, travel plans home (didn’t have it), proof of funds ( it wouldn’t show my balance when I took an ATM for the customs dude, so I didn’t have this either) and an idea of what you planned to do while in the country (apparently my plan to see the sights and hang out in London wasn’t good enough for him, so I didn’t have that either). I was 0 for 3. Then unexpectedly, out of the blue he stamps my passport and tells me to have a good trip. I guess we reached the fuck with tourists 30 minute time limit. Needless to say I was pretty pumped to have made it through!

At this point I was on zero sleep and a bit frazzled from my near miss deportation. Thank god my bag was still going around and around at the baggage claim. Got on the tube, took the 30 minute ride to Central London, walked out of the tube station and was blown away by how busy it was! I guess I should have expected this, but it was shocking for a second. Maybe it was just my exhausted frazzled state. I had no trouble finding the hostel after that, thanks to Google Earth (I had already made the same walk on the internet. Google Earth is amazing!) Once I had gotten myself organized in my room, the exhaustion disappeared. It was sunny and 65 and I couldn’t wait to get out into the city and check everything out. I grabbed my daypack and just took off walking with no real plan on where I was going.

Since I arrived it has been non stop walking, tubing it up and taking in the city. The weather had been perfect until the rain started last night. I won’t bore with the details, but I have seen most of the big sights in London. My favorite?? Probably the view of Parliament from the Westminster bridge at night.

Again, I won’t bore you with details (the details being many beers, miles of walking, a two-hour train ride, no sleep, rain and a Kebab) but I am in NW England right now writing this blog in the Computer lab at University of Central Lancashire Library in Preston. Tomorrow I am going to try to relax a bit. I haven’t done that at all yet. In three days I will be in Paris, then Italy. That will be an adventure so I need to chill out for a day!

Some random observations:

- Pedestrians definitely DO NOT have any right of way in London. You will get run over if you jump out expecting a car to stop like they do in Bend.

- Apparently every girl in Central London is required to wear a skirt with black tights and hooker boots. I’m not complaining.

- The coolest building in Portland or Seattle would just seem run of the mill mediocre here in London.

- Although biased, the beer here cannot compare to what we get in Oregon. I’m not complaining as I love trying all this new beer, but it is just not the same and not what I’m used to. That is why I am here though, to try new stuff, so it is English Cask beer for me until I leave.

- not tipping for drinks seems weird and I feel like a cheap ass every time I don’t tip. I have been watching to see if anyone ever tips and have yet to see it happen.

- I wish that our politicians would openly mock the opposition to their face like the guy in the House of Commons did the other day. Pretty funny!

- Westminster Abbey was worth the £15 to get in. So cool!

- I love the groups of school children in their Harry Potter-esque school uniforms and thier accents. The whole everyone has an accent thing is not that big a deal, but for some reason I love listening to little kids with their accents.

- ok, thats enough…..i’ll try and update again soon!

PDX

The blog has been on vacation for a loooong time I know, but it coming back because I am going on vacation! I am currently sitting in the PDX airport about to start my journey to London and then on to Europe and then onto wherever the wind (and my wallet) take me. Pretty excited! I am so ready to get on this plane and get this party started.

I was just dropped off by sis and mom, who held it together pretty well. My sis even found me a heart Oregon patch to put on my bag. I had been looking for one of those everywhere! I am taking that as a good omen things are going go well on this adventure.

Ok, I gotta go. I will be updating this blog regularly throughout the trip and posting a few pics. The majority of the pics will be posted on FB if I remember to take em. I have a tendency to forget because I am usually to busy taking things in for myself. I take bunch though I am sure.

Ok, next entry will be from London, or Reykjavik (if I get delayed there, which I am kinda hoping I do).

Adios!

Eric

 

14. Around the World in Eighty Rounds: Chasing a Golf Ball from Tierra del Fuego to the Land of the Midnight Sun

I was really excited to read this book after it was recommended to me by a co-worker. It was a really great idea for a travel book and I really enjoyed it for the most part. I figured I would like it for the golf stories, but really enjoyed it more for the travel stories. It made me realize once again that I need to get out there more instead of just reading about other places. It’s frustrating! Also, I had never really had as big a desire to travel to South America like I desired to see other places. Well, after reading this it is right up there with all the other places I have to go.

If you are a golfer, you should read this. If you like travel writing you should read this. If you like both, you should definitely read this!

Thinks I Would Like To Do This Summer

Just a little list of the things I would like to accomplish this summer. These could all change by next week, but right now this is what I am thinking about. I really think this summer is going to be great. I usually have this attitude going  into summer and this one is no different with exception that I REALLY REALLY think this summer is going to awesome. I plan on working hard to make sure I am right. Last summer? Not so great. Good, but not great.There is a ton of room for improvement.

Ok, this is what I am going to do this summer:

- Pass the pre-qualifying test for the PGA. This should be no problem.

- Pass the PGA’s player ability test. I did it quite a few years ago, and with enough practice there is no reason I can’t do it again.

- I am going to concentrate more on my ball golf this summer, but that doesn’t mean I can’t also work hard on my Disc Golf. I want to be shooting near par consistently by the end of the summer. Being new to the game, I think I have a lot of room to improve my skills and I think I am capable of being pretty decent.

- I want to play in an official Disc Golf tourney just to see how I do and absorb some technique from the people who really know how to play.

- I read an article today that said Melbourne Australia is the capital of Southern Hemisphere golf. I will be researching a possible move there (or somewhere cool) this summer as I continue working toward becoming a golf pro. I would love to work down there (or somewhere cool) for even just this upcoming winter. A year of summer sounds pretty good.

- I will go to the lake A LOT! I think I went twice last summer and if you know me, that is just unacceptable.

- I will try to talk my dad into letting me keep the jet-ski over here this summer. It would get so much more use and I know it wants to go to the lake WAY more than it did last year as well.

- I am going to have a great time at Troy and Burl’s wedding. It will be fun to get back together and party with some friends I haven’t seen in a while, as well as with my current group of friends.

- I am going to keep working out and try to even notch it up a bit. I have been super active the last few months and my body is thanking me for it. It likes to have fun too!

- I want to meet some new people in Bend. I am really horrible at doing this but I would really like to try. Maybe I will join some sort of club or group to get myself out there.

- I am going to keep reading as much as possible. I will always be taking a book to the lake and since I will be going there a lot, I could get a lot of reading in this summer. Sounds good.

- I would like to repair a friendship, if even possible now, that I am not too interested in losing.

- I am going to make an effort to be incredibly nice and positive around anyone and everyone this summer. I think I do a pretty decent job of doing that right now, but I will be stepping it up in this area as well. That’s the kind of person I want to be for two reasons. One, it makes me feel good, and two, others just like being around people like that! This could even help with the meeting new friends things mentioned above.

- There is a quote from my favorite movie that I also just heard at a funeral (celebration of life) that is great. “Get busy living, or get busy dying”. Well, this summer I plan on getting super busy living!

Have a great summer everyone. It is almost here!

I Think I Have a Plan

Thats right, I think I have a bit of a plan. I have wavered on this for years and I think I am finally going to give it a shot. I think this new goal will open up a ton of opportunities for me, and frankly, I need some new opportunities big time right now. I have been researching this a lot the last few weeks and I am actually pretty excited about it. When I had thought about doing this in the past, it was just something I thought I should probably do. Now, I want to do it!

Thats right, I am going to become a golf pro! There are so many more options here than just sitting behind a counter taking tee times and collecting money, which is what I had always pictures golf pros doing. Of course I would probably have to start there, but I wouldn’t be there long. Becoming a pro opens up opportunities to work in aspects of the golf industry. Being that golf has always been my favorite sport and activity, I feel it finally time to give this a shot. If it doesn’t work out, at least I tried it. One of things that has sparked my interest is the opportunities to work all over the world. Of course there are tons of jobs in the U.S. but there so many more outside the states. How fun would it be to work as a golf pro in New Zealand or Australia for a bit, or where golf came from, Great Britain and Ireland? Pretty cool!

I need something to work toward right now badly! I need a goal and something to occupy me mentally. This is going to be it. I am going to get the study materials to pass the qualifying test, pass the Player Ability Test in early June (I passed it in 2003 but it has since expired, but who cares, I want to take it again), register as an apprentice after I pass and then order the Level One materials and get started! I won’t be pulling a Ted either. I will be busting this out because the faster I get done the faster I can book my trip to Augusta and watch The Masters (the biggest perk to being a Class A PGA Professional)!

I’m excited!

Active Rickey

I think I have recently discovered something about myself that should have been fairly obvious, but I had never fully realized. Being super active makes me happy. Pretty simple.  The past few weeks I have been keeping myself busy with all kinds of outdoor activities and it has felt awesome. I have been snowboarding, I tried skiing, disc golfed multiple times, played basketball, played ball golf, been hitting the gym and I have even been doing interval sprinting exercises a few times week. I have also been doing quite a bit of non physical activity, or activities that keep the brain working. I have been reading a ton, taking a class, taking a test next week and exploring new job and career options. I really haven’t been wasting a ton of time at all.

I think back to the past and the happiest times in my life have always coincided with periods of super activity. Two summer ago? Non stop golf, lake trips, bike riding, camping, a little traveling, etc…it never stopped. Great summer! If the last few weeks are any indication, as I have been as active as I have been in a long time, this summer is going to be one of the best. I plan on keeping it up and as the weather becomes even better, doing as much as I can squeeze in. I am a very able-bodied person in relatively good shape and it would be a waste to not take advantage of that. It is a waste of my time to not use the perfectly working body and brain I was lucky enough to be born with.  There are so many people out there less fortunate than me that are unable or too old to be out there doing stuff.

Maybe in the past I thought I was super active because I was in a good spot in life and happy. Though I really think the cause of the happiness is being active and not wasting any time.  Again, not a huge revelation and this should have been fairly apparent to me. But as many of you know, I have a tendency to overlook the painfully obvious sometimes. The thing that excites me the most about this new revelation, is that my activity level is my choice. I control it and because of that, I control my level of happiness. That is a pretty huge thing to have just realized.

So, if anyone is ever doing, well, just about anything, let me know. I am interested!

Eric