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Some interesting thoughts: The title of the book is from Shakespeare. Hamlet said "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myslef a king of infinite space." This quote was repeated twice in the book, and probably has special meaning to Hawking, since it sums up his life in a nutshell. His disability has freed him to spend his days thinking great thoughts. In a way, I understand his freedom. When you're handicapped, you are seldom distracted by people asking you to help them move furniture, go to parties, or have sex. I still do all these things, but not because I am in demand. Hawking's wife has probably never asked him how long he was going to take getting those bookshelves built. I don't mean to diminish his genius, but I think that he is freer than most to explore it. FWIW, I recommend the book to anyone who's willing to consider new concepts. You'll find yourself disagreeing with a lot of it, but nowhere in the book does Hawking demand that you accept his theories. If you can read only one of his books, however, I recommend "A Brief History of Time". *
I haven't updated lately due to the security breach at blogger.com. Here's a blog that I couldn't post earlier this week, the day after Christmas: Christmas is finally over. If you came here for my thoughts on the true meaning of Christmas, you'll be disappointed. The horse is dead. We can stop beating it. I had a total of five days off for the holiday, and today was the first and only day that I could just hang around the house and do stuff I had been wanting to do. I spent the entire day in my workshop. Inspired by some woodworking magazines I'd gotten from the library, I thought I'd get the shop in some sort of order for that bookcase I should have built two years ago. After cleaning up for a while, I decided to build the doors for my shop cabinets. Rustic really isn't my style, but it's appropriate for a workshop. You don't want to waste your time, energy, or money on cabinet doors for a backyard shop, so I turned to my pile of old weathered fence boards that My father-in-law gave me a few years ago. They were just right for a job like this. I made eight doors, but I still have to get hinges and handles (or build handles). The ceiling of the shop is made of old corrugated tin. The smaller pieces of tin are being used as a wainscot around the room. Rustic, charming... and free. Janice spoke with an old friend in Baton Rouge today. She called to ask Janice to be godmother to her new baby. She accepted. Between the two of us we now have five god children, so we won't be completely forgotten when we die. This was a nice holiday surprise. Thanks to P. and J. for the honor. * Monday, December 24, 2001
Janice has me printing up her Poppy Seed dressing recipe to give to friends and family. In case you're not getting the printed version, here 'tis. Poppy Seed Dressing ¾ c. Sugar Add the poppy seeds and blend for a few seconds longer. Refrigerate. Serve over torn red-leaf lettuce with mandarin orange slices (fresh or canned) and slivered toasted almonds. *The secret is fresh onion juice, obtained by grating or finely chopping in a food processor, a white onion, and straining the juice. ENJOY! * Archives |
