I've Got the Fever

For the last several years I’ve noticed, with little more than passing fancy, how people in all stages of air travel seem to entertain themselves with little grids of numbers. I could see that some numbers were missing, and the apparent goal was to fill in all the blanks. Like a crossword puzzle with numbers? Where you do a lot of adding? That was about as far as my interest took me. I like to read on airplanes anyway.

Then while visiting SodaBoy’s parents last year at Thanksgiving, we saw them working on these number games. At this time, I first learned the name of the mysterious wordless crosswords: Sudoku. I also made a mental note that a book of Sudokus might make a good future gift for them. [And then I actually remembered, and bought a Will Shortz book for them this past Christmas. Hot damn! I’m on a roll.]

It wasn't until their recent holiday visit that I actually learned how Sudokus work. The first night of their stay, we had 6 o’clock dinner reservations, but were instructed to come by their hotel earlier, since they were eager to see us. When we arrived at their room for pre-dinner cocktails/cokes, both SodaBoy’s parents were working on Sudokus, so they explained how to solve them. I was immediately intrigued.

It’s very simple really. The puzzle consists of a 9 x 9 grid, which is further divided into 3 x 3 squares. Each little box must contain a number from 1-9; no number can be repeated across any given row, down any given column, or within any given 3 x 3 square. There is no adding required, just the most basic of counting skills.




This handy little diagram from Wikipedia beautifully illustrates why the green-colored box must be a 5. It simply cannot be any other number.




After dinner that night, I rustled around the house, looking in our paper recyclables until I found an old Sudoku. Unfortunately the puzzle was classified as “HARD” and I did not persist long enough to solve it correctly. I decided HARD wasn’t the best level to start with, and looked online. Goldmine! This site offers "billions" of Sudoku puzzles, all free and designed for either printing or online play. Of course there are many other sites as well... you’ve gotta love the internets.

I have been printing them up, because as a newbie, I need to a few make notes as I go along. Even printing on both sides of the paper is a getting a little consumptive though. I am not keen to play online: I spend enough time on the damn computer already. I may need to go back to the bookstore and pick up a book of puzzles for myself; it might be cheaper than all this ink and paper.

Seriously, if you've never tried one before, go check out the Sudokus. They are totally addictive, and more fun than they look. And I probably shouldn’t call myself a novice any more, even though it’s only been a week or so now. Last night I completed my first “EVIL” level puzzle. Thank you, thank you...

I will accept your congratulations now.

2006: The Year in Books Meme

This list of books are those I read in the 2006 calendar year. The seemingly random order is simply the sequence in which I read the books. It really seems like there were more, but I fell down on my record keeping in the latter half of 2005, so some of the "missing books" I'm remembering were probably from that time frame. If it's not on the list, I can't claim it for the year. Why, yes... I normally do obsessively keep lists of the books I read. Don't you? In 2007, I'm going to start tracking movies, too. Oh, boy!

I'd love to see this turn into a meme so I can see what you all have been reading, too. I am not going to link to the books, because there are too many, and I am too lazy, and it would take forever. Plus, I think it might have the unintended effect of scaring people away from playing along. So go out there into bloggyland and tell me what you've read. And leave me a comment so I know to come and find you. Now, to the list...

The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson
True to Form by Elizabeth Berg
Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller
Until I Find You by John Irving
Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent
Life Without Water by Nancy Peacock
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry
Rats by Robert Sullivan
A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler
Drop City by T.C. Boyle
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Friend of the Earth by T.C. Boyle
This is Biology by Ernst Mayr
Quarantine by Jim Crace
Property Of by Alice Hoffman
The Legacy of Luna by Julia Butterfly Hill
Maybe Baby edited by Lori Leibovich
The Lady and the Panda by Vicki Constantine Croke
All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
Object Lessons by Anna Quindlen
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The Third Child by Marge Piercy
Nature Via Nurture by Matt Ridley

Enough Already With the Damn Teeth

Yesterday I had a headache all day. The intensity varied, but the headache never went away. At one point I had to stop unloading the dishwasher and lie down because the associated nausea was so bad. So when I got ready for bed last night, I prepared for the situation: sinus pills and my lavender eye pillow within easy reach on the bedside table.

I don’t often remember my dreams. When I do, it usually means I’ve been sleeping poorly, which has been happening a lot lately. Last night was a good example, as sometimes the pain from the headaches can be bad enough to wake me from a sound slumber.

I dreamed that three of my back teeth from my upper left jaw dropped out in one fell swoop. The three teeth were attached to one another, like a little mini-denture. In the dream, I rinsed the teeth clean, then went to the dentist’s office, teeth in hand. I explained to the receptionist that I had a dental emergency. She proceeded to pull the dental emergency velvet cord that was hanging nearby.

Here things get fuzzy and I don’t remember any more details, but I woke up shortly after, with my head still throbbing. I took a sinus pill, and got out the eye pillow, and eventually drifted back into a light sleep.

Then I started dreaming again. In the second dream, I had just woken up from a dream where three of my teeth had fallen out. Naturally I went to a mirror to make sure it was just a dream. During the dream dental inspection, I was happy to discover all teeth were still in place. However, all was not well... I found two loose teeth, both wobbling and making that horrible grinding noise that teeth make right before they fall out.

I had one losing-my-teeth dream already earlier this month. I know this is a common dream, cross culturally. People everywhere dream about teeth falling out with horror. I'm sure it's just symptomatic of my stress about not finding a job, or spilled over holiday stress (the last of my numerous family Christmas celebrations was yesterday evening). But three times in such a short period? When I don’t ordinarily remember my dreams at all? It’s a little much for me. Someone else can have a turn.

Step right up, don't be shy. Free nightmares!

The Christmas Past Meme

I saw that Nadine over at In Blue Ink had posted a picture from her Christmas past, so I decided to jump on that bandwagon. Whee! It's fun up here. This is me in 1976 with my late Grandpa J:

Finally: A Breather

Today is a break day, a chance to recuperate between the whirling festivities. SodaBoy’s parents left early this morning to drive to his sister B’s house for the next stop on their northeastern holiday tour. B and her husband have three delightful kids, so naturally they will be more fun on Christmas than us. And we need this downtime to catch up. The only gifts I’ve wrapped so far were those we gave to SodaBoy’s parents last night.

We ran a few errands earlier, including a last minute trip to the liquor store so SodaBoy could pick up a bottle of wine to bring for D tomorrow. It is a long standing tradition he likes to act out each Christmas: bringing an extra gift for the hostess. We went to the mega store, where there are acres of booze stretching out in every direction. Sometimes I wished I liked drinking more, because the bottles can be so attractive, and I can definitely appreciate the artisanal aspect to the whole fermenting, brewing and distilling processes.

Booze central was so busy they had a uniformed man out directing traffic. He motioned me into a handicap-designated parking spot, which made me distinctly uncomfortable. What if a customer arrived who actually needed the door-side parking? SodaBoy eased my guilty conscious by making a rapid selection, and we were quickly on our way.

Now that we’re home, SodaBoy is vacuuming madly, putting the shiny new Dyson to work. Our last vacuum died shortly after we moved in, and let me just tell you, masking tape is a very shoddy substitute for the real thing. The throw rug under the coffee table is a completely different color now that it’s clean again.

We’ve had bad luck with other vacuums in the past, but the Dyson uses a completely different technology than traditional vacuums, so hopefully it will hold up better. The five year warranty is longer than any of our previous models have lasted, so there is reason for hope. One definite plus is that so far there is none of that nasty burnt dust smell I hate so much about vacuuming.

I have two loads of laundry running in the basement. Next on my list is watering the tree, folding the laundry, and don’t forget the looming marathon of present wrapping. Ah, the relaxation.

Bullets of Holiday Stress

It's that time of year isn't it? We all run around like chickens with our heads cut off, and for what? I seriously think it's mostly out of guilt and obligation. OK, that's not entirely fair, but I am a big curmudgeon. We've covered that in enough detail I think.

Honestly, I think children are the reason most people carry on with this nonsense. I said to SodaBoy this very morning, "we've got to have a baby to make this whole Christmas thing more fun." Now I'll join Turtlebella on the thinking-about-having-kids-for-all-the-wrong-reasons bench.

So SodaBoy's parents are in town for the next bunch of days. Don't ask me exactly when they are leaving, because right about now I can't imagine that far away. Right before Christmas I believe.

This left me rushing around madly the last few days, trying to prepare for other upcoming family events. Entertaining doesn't leave much time for anything else.

Not to mention cleaning. I swear, we have company so often it's the only time I clean. This isn't a good strategy. If people stop coming, will the house fall into chaos?

Now I must rush off and change. As I whined about over at Phantom's, SodaBoy's parents favor early dinners at fancypants restaurants. They do not tolerate denim. I am all about denim. If it's not comfortable, I don't want to wear it. Too bad nobody asked me.

I am looking forward to the appetizer at the la-di-dah restaurant we are going to tonight, but after that... I'll be too full to enjoy myself. And being stuffed in fancywear does.not.help.

Bon Voyage, Student Loan, Bon Voyage!

I sat down this morning to pay a few bills, an exercise in frustration of late with the shortage of funds. Not this time though… today was a momentous occasion. I wrote the check for the very last payment on my student loan. I feel like celebrating. This day has been a long time coming. I didn’t have to borrow any money for the master’s degree, being able to meet my expenses with assistantships and tuition scholarships. The student loan in question dates back even further, to my undergraduate days.

A number of years ago I realized I had saved up enough so that I could have paid the whole thing off lump sum, but when I looked into it, there was very little benefit. I’d already paid all the interest, and my out-of-pocket expense would have been virtually the same if I wrote one big check, or umpteen little ones. I decided having some personal savings was more important than getting rid of the debt. Student loan is "good" debt, after all. However, none of that dampens my enthusiasm for being free of one more obligation.

Now I have to consider giving back. Well, not now in the literal sense, obviously. First I have to get a job and get my finances back in order. But as an undergraduate, as the part of the same financial aid package that included the maximum allowable Stafford loans, I also received scholarships every year funded by the Alumni Association. The monetary denominations were small, but it was a state school, and every little bit really did help. I promised myself that down the road, I would give back to help other needy students. [Of course, I was assuming I would be employed by the time I paid of my loans: the innocence of youth.]

I need to be careful how I go about this, however. The Alumni Association is pretty aggressive about fundraising, and solicit often, by mail and phone, too, which I find particularly repugnant. I will never give money to anyone who calls on the phone, never ever ever. I have no interest in being a member for the sake of membership. I am not very social, and do not wish to support the vast array of get-togethers, golf outings, and homecoming tail-gating parties they are constantly organizing.

On their website, there is no option to give exclusively to the scholarship fund. In fact, I can find no mention of the Alumni Scholarship whatsoever. Could they have discontinued the scholarship? Why? Why would they do that? What is my obligation here? And how the hell do I honor it?