Laurie saw the podiatrist today and got some good news. Her heel bone is healing own its own. No surgery will be required. She will switch from her walking boot to a splint in two weeks.
Posted in Family & Friends.
Tagged with foot, laurie.
By larry
– January 30, 2012
I made my first run through of my 2011 tax return this afternoon. So far it looks like my tax planning has paid off.
Posted in Economics & Finance.
Tagged with money, personal finance, taxes.
By larry
– January 29, 2012
Some titles that I have in mind for the first half of 2012:
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. 1-3 by Robert Caro. The 4th volume arrives in the spring, but it since it has been 10 years since the previous book I thought I might reread them all before diving into the new one.
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This has been recommended by a couple of friends, and it is free for Kindle owners, so I thought I would give it a shot. So far I don’t care for it — I’ll give it a couple of more chapters before I pull the plug. (Update: When grabbing the link from Wikipedia I noticed that this book is classified as young adult, which I had already suspected due to the excessive & annoying amount of exposition — the leash just got shorter.)
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I usually try to read one work of classic fiction each year. This selection was inspired by Jonathan Franzen’s recent essay in the New Yorker.
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Ninety-five percent of my reading is nonfiction, so it is unusual to see three novels on this list. This book has always intrigued me — many end-of-the-century lists ranked it among the best novels of the 2oth century, and it was largely written while Foster was a professor here in Bloomington. Also inspired by Franzen’s New Yorker essay.
Any other suggestions?
Posted in Arts & Entertainment.
Tagged with literature, reading.
By larry
– January 26, 2012
Every once in a while I will rent a Blu-ray disc from Netflix to compare it to a DVD that I already own. The idea is if the Blu-ray quality is significantly better I might replace the DVD. For movies that I truly treasure, I might want to evaluate the Blu-ray extra features for the same reason. Well, I have yet to find a single title that I would plunk down $20 to upgrade. Every Blu-ray disc is better than DVD — better picture, better sound and sometimes even better extras — but they are not significantly better. That is why it is going to take Blu-ray a little longer to replace DVD than it did for DVD to wipe out VHS, or CD to push vinyle out of the mainstream. To dislodge an established technology the new technology must be several orders of magnitude better, not just a little better. Compact discs provide the best example – music fans went out immediately and replaced their extensive vinyl catalogs with new CDs. Not so with Blu-ray — my old Godfather DVD isn’t going anywhere for now.
Incidentally, I the motivation for this post was that I rented Stop Making Sense on Blu-ray this weekend — it is a great, great movie on DVD or Blu-ray. In fact, it was the first DVD that I ever bought.
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Science & Technology.
Tagged with blu-ray, dvd, entertainment, technology, Video.
By larry
– January 23, 2012
Jack & Milie have enjoyed what little snow we have had so far this winter.
Posted in Family & Friends.
Tagged with jack, millie, snow, winter.
By larry
– January 21, 2012
A squirrel somehow acquired a pancake, then carried up our backyard tree & deposited it on a branch.
Posted in Photography.
Tagged with pancake, photo, squirrel.
By larry
– January 21, 2012
To say that the Talking Heads 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense transcends its genre would be an understatement. And the soundtrack is better than any of the Heads studio albums. This was the first movie I ever bought on DVD. The Blu-Ray version is next in my queue — I am giving it a look and listen to see if it is worth the upgrade.
Posted in Arts & Entertainment.
Tagged with Demme, film, music, Talking Heads.
By larry
– January 17, 2012
Upon further review the doc decided that Laurie’s bad ankle sprain is actually a minor break in her heal. Nothing serious, just very painful. Her ankle will be immobilized in a boot for a few weeks. The doctor seemed confident that the boot alone would do the trick, but did mention there is an outside chance that surgery would be necessary. She is getting used walking with the boot and is very glad to be up on her feet again.
Posted in Family & Friends.
Tagged with ankle, laurie.
By larry
– January 16, 2012
With Laurie more or less immobile due to a badly sprained ankle we enjoyed a lazy Sunday at home yesterday. The kids and I did go our for a short walk. We also built a snowman — Jack was not impressed with the results, and Millie decided she wanted to build one on her own.
Posted in Family & Friends, Rambling.
By larry
– January 16, 2012
Laurie missed the bottom step while carrying some laundry down to the basement. About four hours later we were driving home from the E.R. with an ankle brace, crutches and a pain pill prescription. She will see our orthopedist next week to evaluate the severity of the sprain. She could be back in business in a few days, or it could take a couple of months.
Posted in Family & Friends.
Tagged with ankle, health, laurie, ouch.
By larry
– January 14, 2012
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