The Nightmare of the Wrong Book

hmmmmm. If you were going to be a bit further north, Marilyn Robinson's Housekeeping would be good. Lots of geology in it.

m.a.

It sounds fascinating!! I loved her book "Cleaning Out Closets."

Sorry, that was cheap of me. Cheap laugh, snorting, juvenile. Won't do again. Hate self.

What about Simon Winchester's "Krakatoa"? Not precisely California, but pretty much on topic.

I always bring a book that is the opposite of the travel. I brought "Dr. Zhivago" to the Caribbean isaland of St. Kitts, for example. I like the juxtaposition.

Oh! I have the perfect one for you, although you may have already read it. "The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology" by Simon Winchester. All about the drafting of the first modern geological map of Great Britain, with great tangents on how modern geology and the fossil record shook up all the believers in the flood and the literal interpretation of the Bible. How topical!

All Simon Winchester All the Time! He's actually working on a 1906 book, I hear. San Fran. Earthquake.

Ha - jw - great minds and all that. Have you read "The Professor & the Mad Man," by Winchester? All about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary. Actually, it is right up Ton fan's alley.

You might have to keep hating yourself for a little longer:
It's "Down and Out in Paris AND London," not "in."

I've never even thought of taking location-specific books when I travel. I just take what I'm reading. I think I took the fourth Harry Potter and something like Dracula when I went to Brazil. I don't think a connection can be found between those books and the place.

I'm going to Laguna Beach soon, I should probably just take an assortment of fashion magazines.

Cubedweller:
Yes, I have indeed read that book. You know me so well.

Cubedweller: It's actually sitting on my bookshelf right now, just screaming at me to be read. I think Simon Winchester is great. He has a wonderful way of not patronizing his readers by dumbing down the science, but also showing the human side of the story. Although I did have to keep breaking out my college geology text. I think that actually made the book more fun, rather than less.

Oh, great. I slink out of lurkdom periodically to blog and I GET NO RESPECT!

Actually, I'm always happy to provide the setup for a joke.

m.a.

Tom Fan, "Down and Out in Paris and London" is the Orwell book. That's not the book I read. I read "Down and Out in Paris in London," by Flaubert. [First rule of journalism: Never back down.]

Hmm. Simon Winchester is working on a book about the 1906 earthquake. Joel is going to CA for two weeks to supervise fault lines. Coincidence?

Joel, you hit a good one. And a nice entry for the SCC, well done.

This Kit reminds me of the time I went to Germany with a copy of Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".

I had a hell of a time getting through customs.

Oh, wait, maybe that was Florida.

bc

Hey, "The Professor and the Madman", that was a good read.

Next time I go to Europe I'm going to bring Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" novels. The ones in print, anyway.

I'm definitely going to check out these Winchester books, they sound interesting. Good catch on that "coincidence", jw.

The Devil made Joel do it!

bc

For California, try ANYTHING by Steinbeck ...

California? "Searching for the sound, my life with the grateful dead" by phil lesh. The only Dead book ever written by a member of the band.

Steinbeck makes Sara thirsty.

What about Pynchon's Vineland?

Or, try "Reefer Madness" by Eric Schlosser. To brush up on your migrant farmer. Just in case....... (ignore the chapters with the porn, of course)

I agree with JW, Vineland by Pynchon works well for a northern California book.

Richard Brautigan's "A Confederate General in Big Sur" will give you an interesting 60's perspective of the Northern coastal culture. While lingering in the 60's, Scott Turows, "The Laws of Our Fathers" is a good read.

Gosh, this is fun. Such a well read group.

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" is a book with landscape and geology -- and road-tripping, sort of. Not Californian, of course. And possibly a bit girly. And creepy. But if you're short on ideas . . . . Plus they have gum trees in California, right? So there is that connection.

If you like tectonic plates you've got to get to Thingvellir in Iceland. It's a national park around a rift between two plates. You can stand in the crack and touch a plate with each hand. Very, very cool place, as is all of Iceland.

Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I don't recall that CA figures prominantly, but the Pacific rim certainly does. There's a bit of geology in it, but more from a mining rather than earthquake perspective. But mostly, if you haven't read it, you should. Certainly from a language perspective, it is great fun.

Try John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra.

Joel, if you are looking for a fault line to kick try the Hayward fault. It's due to pop and if you set it off it would relieve the tension of the residents around it who are waiting for it to go.

More geology, less fine literature: the "Roadside Geology of ____" books are excellent, and California merits 2 separate books: Northern + Central CA and Yosemite Valley.

If (when?) you go to Yosemite NP, buy their $9 "The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park". Its short, with lots of explanations and pictures, and explains the variety of geologic processes happening in the area.

I always end up bringing academic papers on trips, and then hating myself cause they never get read. :\

I like your musings on california tectonics... I was out there this past year for a geo field trip.

And almost forgot!!!!! If you go to Yosemite, drive down Tioga pass and go eat at the Mobile station in Lee Vining. Yes, a Mobile station. You'll thank me later.

You all are so high-brow! Raymond Chandler is the perfect California read.

Mary Ann,

I'm sure you warrant some more self respect. Why don't you play a joke on one of the regular inner circle here. They need a little poling and levity from the outside.

Joel: You've forgotten a suggestion made by a poster with the name JWF a week or so ago: "Please try to read some history books regarding the founding fathers, the constitution, the judicial process so as to be somewhat knowledgable and be able to expostulate your beliefs with some facts instead of fallacious rantings."

So there it is. And, please, no excuses, like you already WROTE a book about one of the founding fathers. We're on to you.

I first read "The Brothers Karamazov" in Omsk, the city in Siberia where Dostoevsky spent four years in exile. I finished it while riding the Trans-Siberian railroad back to Moscow. Location really can bring a book alive.

I've never thought about matching the geography of my vacation to the books I take. Maybe that's because I mostly visit relatives in PA.

I do put a lot of thought into which and how many books to take. Usually a few mysteries for the plane ride - Ruth Rendell, Tony Hillerman, J.A. Jance. Then LeCarre when I'm settled in. As I noted in yesterday's kaboodle, I picked up 1984 to reread and was planning on doing that on the plane in Sep...There are some good book mentions there, if you can figure out which one to peruse...

I actually do most of my travelling by reading about it. Isabel Allende would be a good choice for CA...

i'm surprised no one mentioned karouac's "big sur" - i'm a big fan of beat literature...

i took "bangkok 8" with me to a hippy wedding in denver... took 3 books with me to italy but i can't remember what they were - i'm a shameless mystery pulp fiction afficianado who can't spell afficianado...

"...you'll be settling in at cocktail hour...ignoring the heat of the noonday sun" Man, cocktail hour sure starts early for Joel, my kinda guy.

And remember, LB, it's always noon *somewhere* in the world, right? Joel can start drinking at 9 o'clock in the morning in California with a clear conscience -- "hey, it's noon in D.C., man."

Ha! I can't believe you remember that, jw. That's e-romantic.

I call Steinbeck a "dusty author." It's actually a compliment. Very few writers can parch a person with description. Gosh, I hate The Grapes of Wrath.

Even though he's good enough to dehydrate, I wouldn't recommend him. I really don't like him in general. I don't care if that makes me abominable in the eyes of most people who read.

But if you must read Steinbeck, always follow it with a story set in London. It's always raining in London books. Or go to a water park.

Please kick the faults in the Mojave, exciting without actually destroying much (witness the Landers and Hector Mine EQs). We now have detailed topography along the faults for a "before" and need an event for an "after" comparison.

I usually buy my books after I arrive - I have a large collection from everywhere I've travelled.

SoCal suggestions:
McPhee _Control of Nature_, "Los Angeles vs. the Mountains." Faults push things up, mountains fall down on residents' heads, government removes mountain bits (often by trucking it back up the mountain).

Marc Reisner _Cadillac Desert: The America West and Its Disappearing Water_
Water flows uphill, towards money and power

Mike Davis _City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles_
A bit over the top, but interesting take on LA

Elements of landscape, geology, road-tripping, huh?

You could always go with Tolkien.

Mind you, if you're going to Japan afterwards, you should take along THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH by Basho. The Penguin Classics edition is definitely lighter than the Tale of Genji.

for japan i'd take ringu by Kadokawa Shoten - if you like horror...

Achenbach,
Since I have a personalized, signed (by the artist)print of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens above my fireplace, I was able to speak to Simon Winchester when he was on the Diane Rehm program on NPR. Winchester was supposed to be teaching a year's worth of classes at San Jose State University--you might check if he's still there--although his academic stint may have ended in June.

Too many Winchester suggestions for my tastes as a native Californian. You might stop in the museum at Mt. Lassen state park, as it's a crazy Loomis relative who climbed the volcano when it erupted around the turn of the last century and photographed the billowing smoke. (You can Google this.) Ah, the Pacific "ring of fire."

Are you specifically interested in geology? Try visiting the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park--had an old friend, Bob, from the Cupertino apartments who worked there.

For reading, try Gordon Thomas' and Max Morgan Witts' 1971 book, "The San Francisco Quake."

A recent book you (given your Southern roots) might enjoy is "The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire": "'The King of California' is a sweeping, lyrical narrative that will carry readers from the Catholic fathers who built their missions up and down El Camino Real to the psychotic murderers incarcerated at the infamous Corcoran State Prison. Along the way, Arax and Wartzman tell the incredible story of how the Boswells, a Georgia slave-owning family who migrated to California in the early 1920s, drained one of America's biggest lakes and carved out the richest cotton kingdom in the world."

A very old favorite--with lots of illustrations, the Sunset (magazine) publication, the book, "California Backroads," although I would guess that a number of those old backroads are now highways.

If you need to know the wonderful little nooks and crannies of the state, I believe my memory still serves me quite well--ditto on a winery or two--please let me know.

I also think Joan Didion's latest book was about California. H.W. Brands did a great nonfiction work not too long ago about the California Gold Rush. In the same vein (pun intended), you may want to peruse the also recent nonfiction work, "A Daughter of Fortune," by Isabel Allende.

Pynchon's "Crying of Lot 49" works as a southern California novel.

Strip Botticelli, anyone?

Well, you could always read Jane Austen. Of course it would be far more sensible to read her while in Britian.

How about 'The Forgetting' by David Schenk. Its a biography of Alzheimers Disease. It might strike you as an odd choice, but it's actually a very uplifiting read. While your thoughts are surrounded by things on a grand scale, and a grand timeline, it will keep you grounded and help you know that even in our small lifespan, the darkest things are not always what they seem. Of course I have a loved one who suffers so that may be why I find this a compelling read.

Hey, I love California despite its faults--the Hayward, the San Andreas, etc.

Granted it's Southern CA, but I greatly enjoyed Richard Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast". It was a treat to be in a restaurant in San Diego's Old Town a few months back and realize I had read about the place as it was a century and a half ago. (Oh- it's *those* Bandinis!)

Chandler is always good, and I seem to remember in Woody Guthrie's "Bound for Glory" he spends some time in California.... Bonus points for the books-on-tape as read by Arlo.

Or anything by Steven Hawking. That should be great fit for a mountian top.

Too bad you couldn't attach a rimshot .wav file to that post.

I actually bought Winchester's "Krakatoa" as a gift for a loved one this past Christmas. It was opened on Dec. 26th, as the tsunami was ripping into Southeast Asia. Creepy coincidence.

Joel: How about Rebecca Solnit's "River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West"? There's also "The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream" by H.W. Brands or "Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain" by Michael Paterniti. And nothing beats a little Robinson Jeffers when sitting on a California bluff overlooking the sea...

When in California you can't go wrong with anything by Elron Hubbard.

Washington Post book review god Michael Dirda frequently gets questions in his on-line chat related to linking the right book to your vacation/travel destination. Too bad he's already done this week's session as he would likely have some good ideas about CA-centric reading. I am headed to Savannah, GA this weekend and this calls a (re)reading of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

For Japan, you might want to consider Martin Cruz Smith's December 6th. Light reading, but a good yarn.

I'm going to go out on a limb and recommend Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block. It's probably a little girly for you, but I'm confident you can overcome that. Also, it's quite short, like a little shot of fruity sorbet between courses, so you'll get all of the refreshment without filling up.

Wow, great suggestions. I have the H.W. Brands on the Gold Rush, I'll need some 1906 books, but fiction is critical, too, and I think I'll go for the dusty Steinbeck. Not sure I can do Brautigan or Kerouac again -- why risk the possibility that, like Yardley re-reading Catcher in the Rye, you'll discover that a beloved book is actually terrible. Wolfe's "Acid Test" is good California stuff. LL's Boswell suggestion is intriguing.

For Mostly Lurking, who posted at 1:55: When visited Pennsylvania you can read any of Updike's Rabbit books, or maybe Of The Farm, which I dimly recall was set there.

Good gosh we've degenerated into a book club.

weetzie bat! i've read that -

it was frikkin weird, man.

book club? does oprah know about this?

We should market us.

for dr, the Hawking suggestor:

http://www.mchawking.com/

I dare you to check that out.

Soon it will be more common to see a scarlet "A" on the cover of a paperback than it is to see an orange "O."

On the fiction side, there's also Kim Stanley Robinson's "Three Californias" trilogy. And his "Years of Rice and Salt" has a fair bit set in CA.

Sara - How can you not love The Grapes of Wrath? That final scene with the granddaughter and grandfather (I don't want to say more and ruin it in case anyone out there hasn't read it yet and intends to)? The most poignant thing I ever read by far. I also remember loving Cannery Row. Was that dry and dusty - I don't recall?

To get your head right for California, I suggest Tom Robbins--I think Jitterbug Perfume is his best, but Skinny Legs and All is more profound.

As light reading for Japan, my choice is Ransom, by Jay McInerney. Well-written and amusing, but serious, too.

Of course, you can't go wrong with Steinbeck--I read East of Eden twice this year and it didn't make me thirsty at all, and Cannery Row is quick but satisfying.

Now that we've all given our suggestions, I hope you are planning to read all these books and comment on them, that should only take a few years.

Seriously, let us know what you decide on, so the virtual book club can follow along. (I'm almost through Brideshead; it's great, thanks for the tip.)

SoCal: "California Fire & Life" by Don Winslow. An excellent mystery with lots of twists; arson investigation meets the Russian mafia.

NorCal: Vikram Seth's novel in verse, "The Golden Gate", or one of Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" anthologies.

Have you been to www.californiaauthors.com? Lots of links & ideas there.

The best travel lit., in all seriousness, is "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by Walker Evans and James Agee. The kind of book you read whilst traveling westward, or really anywhere in the states, and the experience of the book is unlike any other.

If you can get through it.... I mean, it is a little depressing. But it will definitly make you thirstier than Steinbeck. Steinbeck wishes he could make you this thirsty.

bostonreader, I couldn't stop drinking water. That book almost gave me asthma. It was torture in paperback form. And the chapter on the turtle! More torture. It was very well written because I was really angry by the end of that chapter, so once again it is a testament to his talents to incite emotion as an author. But overall, torture. Dry, dusty, anger-inciting torture. That's how I can hate The Grapes of Wrath. No one really understands when I say, "Steinbeck makes me thirsty," though, so I don't really expect anyone here to say, "Oh, yes, you have a point." It's like when people ask why I never wear real foot-enclosing shoes and I say, "I have claustrophobic feet, shoes drive me crazy." They don't usually understand. They usually look at me with a "get help" sort of look and I can't really blame them.

And Joel, if you're going to read Steinbeck, make him a beach book. That way there's an ocean of water ten feet away.

Oh. East of Eden. Okay. There's my Steinbeck exception. I forgot about that book. That's not a thirst-defying book.

My best experience was stumbling on F. Scott Fitzerald's Tender is the Night while I was vacationing in the Italian/French Riviera. It was definitely a good location book for that trip!

The worst is when you bring a really good book to read while you wait around for jury duty but it's so good that you read it too quickly and finish it early. Then you're stuck waiting around. It also sucks when you finish early and you're on a plane.

"we've degenerated into a book club."

I beg your pardon, to go from a discussion about pro athletes on drugs and speedballs in a seedy motel in Jersey to a discussion of literature, contemporary and otherwise, would seem to be the opposite of degeneration.

Ahem.

Sara, I knew just what you meant about Steinbeck making you thirsty. The Grapes of Wrath is dessicating. In fact, I think reading it near the ocean might result in some sort of environmental catastrophe as the seawater would mysteriously begin to evaporate.

Sara:
Maybe in a past life you were a Chinese woman who had her feet bound. A thirsty Chinese woman with bound feet.

Joel, have a blast out there!!!!

Made two trips out west with a geologist many years ago and have to say that I still look back at those trips with very fond memories. What a nice contract to the normal Washington DC life.

Remember, if things start to shatter when the shaking starts, it's not your fault.

speaking of speedballs - does anyone have as much trouble reading burroughs as i do? i just couldn't get into "naked lunch"!

Of course, I'm not at all worried about this, but the earlier announcement was that the blog would "go dark" for "one week", and now we're contemplating an extensive world tour that could conceivably take MONTHS--do you know that Japan is on the OPPOSITE side of the planet from DC??!?

Again, not for me, but some of these Achenbloggers may need to have it broken to them gently just what the extent of deprivation is going to be...

I hope you do tell us what you end up taking along Joel. It might give me incentive to do some more reading. Right now I'm re-reading one of the greatest detective/mystery stories ever, "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins. I originally read it in Africa when a friend who was fleeing a chimpanze rehabilitation-jungle reinsertion camp (turned out to not be the glorious life saving chimps she had envisioned) didn't have room for it in her baggage and left it with me.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
Don't go away. NO!

(sniff)(sigh) s'OK. I'm better now.

what's all this "going dark" you folks keep speaking of?

The Control of Nature, John McFee - as much a book about California as "Assembling California."

I don't have any good suggestions for Cali--everything I'd suggest is either already up there or maybe not exactly applicable. Perhaps a re-visit to our youthful days with the Sweet Valley High series is in order?

For Japan, however, I'd suggest "Turning Japanese" by David Mura or "My Year of Meats" by Ruth Ozeki. They came to me highly recommended by a highly respected and dearly loved English prof... maybe that last detail is better kept unsaid, so that it doesn't unfairly bias some...

LP:
You mean you haven't heard? Joel will not be blogging next week. There will be no Kit. To use his words: prepare yourself accordingly.

mmmmm......

no, I don't accept that.

That's just not okay.

nope. not gonna happen.

Why can't we be guest-bloggers when it goes dark? I mean, even if we can't really post a Kit, someone could just annouce at the beginning of the day, "The party's in _____!" and we could all head to an old topic. I think this is the only way to preserve my sanity.

Speaking of sanity, I'm totally freaking out here, and I just realized that it's because my office is about 10 degrees warmer than it should be. I thought I was having a nervous breakdown, but turns out I was just really hot. Sara's dust commentary is not helping either.

Achenbach (or should I call you Joel?), thanks for the Updike suggestion. I believe he has a new Rabbit book out - I read the others years ago, when I was living in PA...and did I read another of his recently (searching memory) - yes, yes I did.

AJ, the dilemma of finishing a book mid-plane is why I carefully plan and take more books than I think I can possibly read. It also helps that I visit people who do the same thing and have lots of books to get rid of. I once was stuck with a book so bad that I left it on the plane without finishing it.

Ivan Doig is another wonderful western writer - more Montana than CA...

I'm amazed this kaboodle has stayed on topic - maybe we are a book club!

First my favorite bartender moves a state away and now the blog goes dark. What's next. Argh. To prepare accordingly I need more notice than a couple days. Imagine going to the boss saying I need an emergency vacation next week because the AchenBlog is going dark.

*in a very whiney voice* but joelllllllll you had guest bloggers last time you were away!!!!!! why can't you have them this time?????? and what you haven't heard of a laptop? you can't create kits in cali????

Joel- 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' is the perfect complement to any trip West. No one quite sums up the bigness and weirdness of the American West as HST, and this is his masterpiece. Also, Chuck Palahniuk's books are a fair companion for the Pacific Coast too. I liked "Stranger than Fiction" a lot.

I'm taking a vacation the week AFTER. How could I be so stupid! Of course, rescheduling the Falmouth Road Race really wasn't an option.

Kbertocci: I'll do the full literary report, though possibly it'll be confined to, "This morning I read the sports section of the Chronicle. Nats lost again." But this gives me an incentive to do the full Steinbeck thing and perhaps even produce a revision of The Grapes of Wrath, only this time letting the Joad family strike oil miraculously and wind up so rich they move to Beverly Hills (I am SO creative and original I sometimes have to leap back and gasp). As for the blog going dark: This is a bit of a tricky thing. The blog isn't my job. Technically I do it in my alleged spare time. If I'm taking vacation days from the Post I'm reluctant to do much blogging. But I also don't want the blog to completely disappear and be an object of pathos, so I'll blog some from the road starting aug. 15, and will try to get a couple of pinch-hitters in here, and will blog from Japan as well, I mean if they have computers and the Internet over there.

So sorry jw. I've been drinking water all afternoon. I think I'm abnormally thirsty because of my dust commentary, as well. And I can see how you can mistake a nervous breakdown for warmth. I'm glad you figured it out, though.

Is the kaboodle going dark, too? That's what I'm stumped on. Because if not, we could just keep kaboodling here. Unless we decided to vacation along with him (which he says is the civil kaboodler thing to do).

grtc, finally! Thank you. That book is dessicating.

And Tom fan, those Chinese women with bound feet are crazy. I hope I wasn't one of them.

i though the whole "going dark" thing was a joke. A very poor joke, but a joke, nonetheless.

Denile is not just a river in Egypt, folks...

Thin Thighs in 30 Days. Trust me, this book is the ultimate embodiement of California.

JA:
Re Japan and computers/Internet. You never know -- I've heard that they really turned that country around since that Meiji restoration back in the late 19th century. There are rumors they even had a navy at one point. I don't believe it, myself, but that's what I heard.

Maybe Joel could leave us a couple of blank Kits before he leaves. Or almost blank. They could be labeled, say, Sports Kit, Space Travel Kit, Politics Kit, Religion Kit, Beer Kit, Bird Kit, etc. That might give us at least some guidance.

Mostly Lurking: "This House of Sky" by Ivan Doig is spectacular. I read it during a camping trip to Montana that included a stop at the swank Chico Hot Springs, where I saw Meg Ryan, or "Meg" as I call her. Anyway, Doig's book is a memoir of an incredibly harsh childhood on farms in Montana. His landscape descriptions are great. You get a chill when you read about those cold winds coming down from the mountains, the snow into June, the way the land and the brutal climate shape every aspect of their lives.

As for what the boodle does, I've said before, I don't control the boodle, the boodle is on its own. But I think it is good manners for everyone to agree that when the Kit goes dark, the Boodle Lounge has to be closed for repairs. Just go back to your lives and wait til the Lounge reopens, soon enough. Store up some creative energy. Otherwise it dissipates in dribs and drabs.

Can't believe I left Eartha Kit off the list.

I want my kit and kaboodle.

Lp, I took your dare! I survived 3 teenage boys and I have seen and read worse!

I read 'A Brief History of Time' because one son dared me too. I never told him, but when I got to the quantum stuff I had a headache.

Give me a classic novel instead. Here is another suggestion for Joel. Daniel Dafoe anything. Dry, 17th century style.

Try Christopher Moore's first book: "Practical Demonkeeping;" very California, very funny. His book "Lamb" is also a must-read, though it's not a California book.

If it weren't for this blog I wouldn't have any creative energy. There's only so much you can do with cell borders in Excel. I like the blank Kit idea.

Here you go AchenAllOver:

http://community.webshots.com/album/17846401gYNrebZgex

aww.

I love reading quantum theory - also economoic theory, macro as well as micro. Which is odd, because I cannot add.

A good read is "wealth and democracy, a political history of the American Rich" by Kevin Phillips. I read that one down in nyc.

jw, have you tried merging different cells at angles to each other to create shapes? Example with x's:

xx
xxxx
xxxxxx
xxxx
xx

You could go crazy and turn that into a bunny ear if you did another one and then a head with a face.

Ragdoll kittens too!! The history of that breed is a read unto itself.
I want a kitten.....

ja - u are making a broad assumptions that all of us have lives!

Oh, sad, the x's all lined up with the edge. It was shaped like a baseball diamond. Or a bunny ear.

I can do algebra in my head (at least back in highschool and college), but even with pencil and paper I make mistakes all the time with simple addition and subtraction. How wierd is that.

How was your spelling?

Oh snap!

Regarding the Kaboodle Downtime: I propose that Kaboodlers simply visit the chats of other WP columnists (Neal, Kurtz, Weingarten) and pepper them with questions about books, politics, oral hygene, spiders, reincarnation, cold remedies, etc. Kind of Mary Pranksters on the Electronic Superhighway Bus. Game?

Now now, grtc. That's not how we do things around here. The only castigation allowed is self-castigation and Joel castigation. For the most part.

achooooooooooooooooooo

I also like the idea of taking over the GoG blog, kind of like a gurrilla queer bar take-over.

I think we can just keep this kaboodle going next week (Joel won't know - he's on vacation!)

Or I'll just get started on the 20,000 books I need to read...

Every time someone mentions Montana agriculture, I think dental floss. Oh, my misspent youth.

bc

yeah mostlylurking - first he assumes we have lives (i don't know bout you guys but i know i definetly don't have one) then he darkens the kit and THEN tells us to have good manners! when the cat's away...

That's a great idea, CowTown. Everybody be sure to use their 'boodle handles and speak 'boodle-ese when participating in chats next week -- but remember to make it sufficiently intelligible to pass muster with Chatwoman.

Oops, apologies to omnigood -- I did not intend that comment to be nasty. I certainly was not denigrating your spelling abilities; I assumed it was a typo and was just gently teasing, since we all commit those. Please forgive me.

Hey LP!!!!!

===> A good read is "wealth and democracy, a political history of the American Rich" by Kevin Phillips. I read that one down in nyc.

Just gave the book this week to high schooler who was interested in politics, but was having some trouble explaining why, just a gut feeling.

Very good choice!!!!

Its not so odd to not be able to add while able to get into and understand theoretical anything.

Quantum theory, and ecomnomic theory are really quite creative. Adding is arithmetic, and generally something we memorise.

I cannot add either, which is only scary if you knew who in my office does accounting.

We could ask questions in the chats that all revolve around Joel. Like in Weingarten's: "Do you think of Joel more as a mentor or an idol of yours? And how much of an influence has he had on your writing?"

bc, I absolutely insist, well ok, beg that you expand on the Montana/dental floss thing. But do it next week, when His Porchness is away.

Strangely enough, I know exactly what he's talking about, although if there's an allusion I'm completely missing it.

Good, jw; good. This is turning into quite a productive brainstorming session. Let's see, in Dirda's chats we could seek opinions on "Captured by Aliens" and "The Grand Idea." In the Home Front chat we could start a discussion of porches. And you could ask Carolyn Hax's advice on your e-flirtation with Sara. The possibilities are endless.

HaHaHaHaHa!! (to jw)
Perfect! "And, yea. How come you don't have a comments section."

VERY good choice, dolphin Michael. A great survey for understanding Those in Charge, and why and how that is. (because They have the money!!!) Very well written for an economics text - not dry at all.

"Goin' to Montana soon,
Gonna be a dental floss
tycoon."

-- Frank Zappa

I think Christopher Moore's amusing, "Practical Demonkeeping" is a goody, but makes me think of Harlan Ellison's "Djinn, No Chaser" and Clive Barker's "Yattering and Jack".

I'm looking at a copy of "Island of the Sequined Love Nun", in my desk drawer.

Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" is an interesting American Road trip novel, wrapped up in some good old fashioned supernatural murder mystery.

bc

CowTown nailed it.

Sorry I'm running a few minutes behind.
*Bonus SCC Entry*.

bc

Next Wednesday we could show up on the Washington Nationals chat and ask about the whole phenomenon of how they lose when Gene is there and what Nationals security measures should be undertaken.

This idea just popped into my head! We've got all these book ideas...someone should call Oprah.

Thankyou Cowtown. I am illuminated.

I was not into music or Zappa, just books.

Put me down (ahem) as another who can't count past 20 without removing articles of clothing, but think I have some basic grasp of physics, quantum and otherwise.

I used to drive high school teachers and college professors and TAs crazy by arriving at correct solutions to physics assignments with a bare minimum of math to back it up.

bc

American Gods is a great novel, as is Neverwhere.

Yeah, someone should call the Department of Homestand Security re. Gene W.

bc

If you like detective novels other than Raymond Chandler (which I rather like), try any of the 10 novels by the Swedish husband/wife team of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. The Man on the Balcony is suitably creepy and the last one they did, The Terrorist, is sort of déja vu all over again. In some ways they're rather funny, and Swedes aren't particularly known for their sense of humor. The books were written between 1965 and 1975, when Per died. Maj is apparently still around, and has been writing.

Ok, I confess, I haven't read them in English, but in Swedish they're really good. But, Joel, really, you won't have to learn Swedish to read them. Honest. Get 'em in English.

Tack för idag, och ha en trevlig resa. Vi alla ska sakna dig. Verkligen. Jag återkommer när du kommer tillbaka från din semester.

firsttimeblogger - does "semester" mean the same in Swedish as it does in English? If so, I've begun to crack the code.

My first and arguably best boss gave me the book "West With the Night" by Beryl Markham as a parting gift when I left the job. It is an autobiography of an aviatrix (I love that word!) and a great travel read regardless of your destination. Now that I get to be boss, I have given it as a gift to several young'uns passing through my office on their way to bigger and better things. It also got me interested in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, an incredible writer.

Just very quickly:
"Born in England in 1902, Markham was taken by her father to East Africa in 1906. She spent her childhood playing with native Maruni children and apprenticing with her father as a trainer and breeder of racehorses. In the 1930s, she became an African bush pilot, and in September 1936, became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west."

Actually, no. It means vacation. It kind of creeped me out when I was learning the language (lived in Sth in the '70s). There are enough similarities to trigger the confusion alarm, but a lot of Swedish is also based in French (where the current royal family came from -- I think during the French Revolution, but not sure). It's a pretty easy language grammatically, but I love learning new languages, and I was able to get into it pretty quickly. Also, because people at work refused to speak English with me. Total immersion is the only way to go, trust me. I began dreaming in it after 10 months. I recall that I woke up laughing. I still remember that dream.

Now, I'm trying to get up to speed in Kiswahili.

Sorry - don't know why I wrote "as a parting gift when I left the job." I mean, duh.

wow! firsttimer - i don't even speak fluent spanish and i'm hispanic! (american born but still)... i have no flair for languages even tho i LOVE 'em!

altho i can tell you this cold is making me feel like caca del toro!!!

Cubedweller - I loved West With the Night too. A friend sent it to me when I lived in Africa. Unfortunately I loaned it to someone and never got it back. I'm going to have to ask for it though as now you've made me want to re-read it!
Firsttimeblogger - I speak Munukutuba, another Bantu language, spoken in the southern part of The Republic of Congo. The noun classes are the most interesting and fun part of Bantu languages. Munukutuba means, literally, "I Speak".

I think it would be a nice thing to let the blog go dark as Joel requests. Joel, being the host, may feel that it is only polite to read what we write in response to his Kits. I know that I could never do it, every day, during vacation. So, I will respect his wishes and see you fine folks in and around Aug 15. I'm going to take the time to complete something. I don't know what, maybe some knitting, but it will be something.

Again, I am awed by the members of the Kaboodle (members? dwellers?). Not only are they exceptionally well read, intelligent, and witty, they're multilingual.

I am but a Philistine. I am unworthy. At least I know some Zappa lyrics.

Oh, bostonreader . . . .I was in Uganda and Tanzania in 2003 (Uganda to teach a course at the International Law Institute in Kampala, and Tanzania on safari), and I completely, TOTALLY, fell in love with Africa. If I were 30 years younger and still had knees that worked, I would definitely move there. Being an ex-Pat at any time enriches perspective and is a wonderful experience.

Of course, my African experience is devoted solely to two weeks in just two countries. But, oh my. What a fabulous experience. All the Africans I met were so warm and friendly and brilliant and magnificent. I really didn't want to leave. Especially, when I arrived in Stockholm the next day, there was snow on the ground. A bit startling, that. Although I wouldn't mind seeing some snow right now. Entirely too hot for me here. If I have to have this kind of weather, I'd rather be in Africa.

My heart remains there. Gotta go join it.

Speaking of mysteries, I once read a book called "Kicked to Death by a Camel." Absolutely hilarious, but I can't remember who wrote it.

The Swedish royal house hails from France. Bernadotte, was a French Marshal under Napoleon.

I know this from a really really old novel called 'Desiree', loosely based on the life of Madame Bearndotte.

I don't knit but would be willing to crochet while Joel is gone. Boy, this whole blog today is proof that i have no life.

Richard Bulliett, a professor of history at Columbia, wrote "Kitcked to Death by a Camel." I've heard of it because I know of his professional work; I'll have to read it. I think it won a award for best mystery or something.

Glad to know that you have the H.W. Brands book on the Gold Rush. I met Brands when he was in San Antonio--because of our respective interest in the Alamo.

On your flight to Japan, you might want to read Michener's hefty "Hawaii." Levi Loomis was the first white child born in the Hawaiian islands, but only by a matter of days (perhaps as much as two weeks), as many of the missionary wives became pregnant on the long boat trip from the East Coast around the tip of South America. Levi's father, Nathaniel, was the first to bring a printing press to the Sandwich Islands.

Will you be stopping in Crescent City to cover the past tsunamis there--also a hotbed for quake activity (Humboldt and Del Norte counties). Oregon Caves are just over the border--the old timber lodge there is interesting, a relic, and probably a veritable firetrap today.

Trying to think of a good, really northern (above Santa Rosa) California book title for you, but am coming up blank. Perhaps a biography of Luther Burbank? The logging history of the redwoods--must be a book on the subject in downtown Eureka, or near the Humboldt campus in Arcata.

And if you love Twain, perhaps dropping into Virginia City, just over the California-Nevada border, would be fun. I remember a large exhibit of Twain artifacts on display there when I was a little girl--items used by Twain during his days as a reporter on the Territorial Enterprise when the Comstock Lode was in its heydey.

Here's a true, funny story regarding how words that sound alike but have different meanings in 2 languages can get you in trouble. In French, the word "preservatif" means "condom". I was immersed in French study and went to the grocery story with a fellow student who was very health conscious. She asked for some bread "sans preservatifs". Well, she wanted bread without chemical additives, but the poor store clerk couldn't figure out what in the world she meant by asking for bread without condoms!

"Kicked..." not kitcked. I'm not sure what being kitcked by a camel is, but it certainly sounds unpleasant.

There are actually some weird differences among Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. It also may have something to do with which country dominated which other(s) over the years. Languages can be used in a pretty subversive manner.

I've always wanted to learn Icelandic to read the sagas. Remains on my list. So many languages, so little time.

"The Swedish royal house hails from France. Bernadotte, was a French Marshal under Napoleon.

I know this from a really really old novel called 'Desiree', loosely based on the life of Madame Bearndotte."

dr,
I met up with an old friend who became a writer after the summer we--and about another 120 young students--spent at a Goethe Language Institute in Prien am Chiemsee in 1972. He was writing a book about Bernadotte. I would imagine that Ron's finished the work by now. How strange that you should mention this!

After I finish "The Moonstone", I'm going to check "Kicked to Death by a Camel" out of the library. Thanks jw and grtc!

I made the huge mistake of reading Peter Benchley's "The Deep" when I was vacationing in the Caribbean - I spent the whole trip looking over my shoulder for pirates...

"People who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read"
-Frank Zappa, when asked what he thought of rock journalists.

And with that, good night, fellow boodlers.

Firsttimeblogger - I just looked at the home page of the Post and the article in the "Home" section is titled "How to say cool in Swedish". Don't get too excited - it's about home decorating, not language. Still - a funny coincidence.
NO I DO NOT WANT TO GET INTO ANOTHER DISCUSSION ABOUT THE METAPHYSICAL NATURE OF COINCIDENCES.

see and all this time i thought i was an intellectual but man am i blown away by you guys!!!!

Linda, I found the novel on the Bernadottes and the time of Napoleon in my highschool library. If I remember correctly the novel was several decades old at that time and for the life of me I cannot remember who wrote it. I might be wrong but I think Madame Bernadotte did not have a good life as a Royal, and now I am intrigued to find out more. Biography here I come.

A couple of years ago, I found a really old copy of this novel at the Salvation Army store down the road. It was like finding an old friend. Its in good condition, but fragile. It was the first in my growing collection of old books.

bostonreader:
WHY NOT? I really enjoyed lurking that day!

I vote that the WP start a chat room for all it's loyal followers...so we can chat and comment to our hearts content even when they do something very journalistic (is that a word?) and send their reporters on assignment. Or vacation.

anything TC Boyle. If you're going north to south, start with drop circle, then as you get into marin county, read budding prospects, then as you get closer to LA and Santa Monica, read Tortilla Canyon.

And while you're in Marin, be sure to go to the audobon ranch and see the nesting herons in the trees near stinson beach.

And in LA, climb Mount Baldy - you take a ski lift to the ridgeline in the saddle, then hike up the ridge to the top - 10,000 ft.

Also good - Isabelle Allende's Infinite Plan (set in both LA and San Francisco)

And City of Quartz by Mike Davis

I meant tortilla curtain, not canyon. it's set in topanga canyon. Also a great place to hike.

OOh Thomas Pychon. Read gravity's rainbow

Try Cadillac Desert. Great reading for while you're in CA! Can't remember the author, but its all about how CA manages its water issues. That probably doesn't sound exciting, but trust me, it really is!

Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis by Dave Eggers. Picked it up at airport bookstore on my first trip to San Francisco, it turned out to be a perfect California vacation match.

I don't have patience to read 166 posts, but Joel if you're still reading, try McPhee's _Control of Nature_

I read Twain's "Innocent's Abroad" while a college student travelling all over Europe and the Middle East...very appropriate and still a fav.

Enjoy my homestate. Flying from Bay Area to Orange County you can actually SEE the San Andreas fault (west of Bakersfield, I think). It stands out like a kid drew a line on a map...fantastic!

Memorial Day, May 30, 1914 proved to be more than memorable for those able to witness one of the last great eruptions of Lassen Peak, such as Bert McKensie of Chester, CA, who was looking right at is as it exploded into an active volcano. A new crater was formed approximately 40 feet wide and 150 feet long with deep fissures emanating out in all directions. Lava and ashes from 1-2 feet deep extended out for about 200 feet surrounding the crater. Plumes of smoke, steam, and sulphur fumes erupted from its center.

B.F. Loomis witnessed the spectacular eruptions of Lassen and took numerous photographs to chronicle these events. He climbed to the top of Lassen Peak six times and brought back eye-witness descriptions and amazing pictures to tell the tale of the series of eruptions that occurred during the summer of 1914 and into 1915. Some of these eruptions lasted only moments with puffs of smoke and ash while others lasted up to half an hour and included flying rocks weighing up to 100 pounds, hurled down the slopes. Lance Graham, one of a party of five explorers that climbed the mountain to see its new crater, was hit by one of these catapulted rocks which cut his shoulder and broke his collar bone when he and his party were caught in the eleventh of these eruptions.

B.F. Loomis, as well as documenting Lassen Peak's most recent eruption cycle, promoted the park's establishment. He photographed the eruptions, explored geologically, and developed an extensive museum collection. The Loomis Museum was closed in 1974 because it was located in a potentially hazardous area. Samples of the Loomis collection are displayed at the Manzanita Lake information station.

Also not to be missed:
The Chinese community of Locke in the Delta, Highway 49 (the 49er road) through many old Gold Rush towns, perhaps the Joss House in Weaverville, the old logger feedhouse/restaurant on the Samoa spit from Arcata, the little winery and the cave above it in Amador County, Fern Canyon if you can make it, Big Sur, Hearst's San Simeon, Death Valley (in winter), the "castle" at the base of Emerald Bay (Lake Tahoe), a tour of the Scotia paper mill (if they still offer it), and talking to my (maternal)aunt since she used to give Gene Roddenberry an occasional ride to Union Station in Los Angeles in the days when Roddenberry was a speech writer for LAPD.

Joel -

For books about Japan, it's hard to beat MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. As for Japanese authors, the classics are KOKORO by Soseke and SOUND OF WAVES by Mishima. For mdoern writers, I liked the early novels by Haruki Murakami, especially WILD SHEEP CHASE.

Wow, I leave work one hour early and I have to catch up on about 100 comments.

So, quickly.

I second the "American Gods" and "Neverwhere" nominations. You've gotta love Neil Gaiman. Though "Neverwhere" isn't really a California book. It's a good London book. You could follow Steinbeck with it, I didn't get thirsty at all while reading "Neverwhere."

I received a Barnes and Noble e-mail that informed me that Gaiman's new book ("Ananzi Boys," I think) is coming out mid-September. It's great how that store keeps track of you. "Since you recently purchased a Neil Gaiman book. . ." I didn't even buy it online. I bought it at the store.

And lastly, I like the idea of haunting other WaPost areas.

I once saw jarmuschguy in the film chat. Using my Achenfan handle, I said, "Hi jarmuschguy!" and they actually posted my comment (that's always the challenge, isn't it?) Not sure if I'd get away with it again, but I could try. Maybe next time I'll say hi to kurosawaguy. Or Nani.

grtc,

Actually it wasn't a typo. I am an excellent speller except when it comes to the word weird. I'll spell it one way then the other and it always looks strange. And I can never remember ei not ie. It's like some mental block preventing me from remembering something so simple. So as it turns out, without a spell checker, I've got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right. I usually just avoid using the word. And lastly, I didn't take it as nasty but humorous. At first I didn't even know what you were talking about. Then when I got it I had to laugh. Good way to start the day. Thanks

og

You know, sometimes on those chats they like you to identify yourself by city and state. We might have to use city names such as Porchville, Achentown, Boodleborough, etc.

omnigood:
An omnigood way to remember how to spell "weird" is this mantra: We are weird.

My state would be Alabama. As in ment, Al. Hahaha

Thanks Tom fan, I think that might be just the mnemonic trick I need.

On amazon.com, a reviewer by the name of C.S. Sand has a list of 16 books under the group title of Californiana. They include:

a book on Alcatraz;

a biography of Ishi, the last wild native in North America (do you know this story?);

H.W. Brands' (good Oregonian that he is) book on the Gold Rush;

a history of the old gold mining town of Bodie;

the secret 1577-80 voyage of Sir Francis Drake (my distant great-grandfather Rev. Thomas Hooker had connections with the Drake family);

a book that examines the life of friar Junipero Serra (founder of the missions);

a W.W. Robinson work titled, "Land in California: The Story of Mission Lands, Ranchos, Squatters, Mining Claims, Railroad Grants Landscript, Homesteads (Chronicles of California);

Kurzman's book on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire;

22 of John Muir's greatest adventures by Muir himself;

a book on Yosemite, its wonders and its people;

(this one tempts me) by Ward Winslow, titled, "The Making of Silicon Valley: A One Hundred Year Renaissance";

"Chaplin: His Life and Art";

"Yosemite and the High Sierra";

a book about the design and construction of the Golden Gate Bridge;

a book with a unique title, "Bottled Poetry," about the history of Napa winemaking from Prohibition to the modern era;

and Ambrose's book about the building of the transcontinental railroad.

Steinbeck's Cannery Row (as suggested above), followed immediately by its sequel, Sweet Thursday. Enjoy.

I just want to point out that Cubedweller and I both recommended Simon Winchester books at exactly 1pm yesterday. How's that for a coincidence?

If the California book thread is still open, consider satirist Evelyn Waugh's short novel "The Loved One" (1946?) about the British expatriate community in Hollywood, pet cemeteries, and much more. More seriously, on Pacific earthquakes and religion, see the new book by David B. Hart, the Eastern Orthodox theologian. "The Doors of the Sea" (Eerdmans, 2005) discusses old and new writings on the "problem of evil" (including works by Voltaire and Dostoevsky) in the wake of last December's tsunami.

Indeed, jw. I think I've reached the point where I'm no longer surprised by coincidences. I've come to expect them as a normal characteristic of the fabric of reality. (I do continue to be amazed by the many different ways in which they make themselves known, though.)

Steinbeck was my mother's favorite author. She had a collection of everything he wrote when she passed away in 1958. She spoke of him often, almost as if she knew him. I had read The Red Pony at an age too young to cope with the tragedy of the death of the pony and refused to read any of his other books. To my young mind, Steinbeck had the power to let the pony live, but chose to let him die. I was heartbroken. However, when Mom passed,I picked up Grapes of Wrath. It was comforting to read the words she'd read and to experience the emotions she might have felt. On impulse, I wrote John Steinbeck a letter and enclosed a snapshot of my young pretty mother. To my absolute surprise, he responded with a handwritten letter, hwich I've framed and keep in my treasure chest. I've now read all his works and highly recommend anything by Steinbeck for JOel's California reading.

Hi Nani!

Hi Achenfan! Perhaps I'll e-see you at Desson's later. I so miss Rita Kempley, Miss Edie the Egg Lady and ErasErhEadGuy.

I'll be there, Nani. Maybe just lurking (saving my creative energy for the A-blog), but maybe not.
Can't really comment on Rita Kempley et al. -- a bit before my time (i.e., before I discovered chats, blogs, etc.)

omnigood, I feel your pain. My "bete noire" is the word broccoli. (I just checked in Sherlock to make sure I spelled it correctly here.)

Linda Loomis--Omigosh! I spent the summer & fall of 1989 working at the AFRC Chiemsee. Although it's not as exciting as the Goethe Language Institute. I did learn to speak German a little more fluently because there are a lot of Germans who worked there along with Americans, Australians, New Zealaders, British, and Irish. (I also learned to speak cockney and that's definitely a different language!)

I love the beauty of Bavaria, especially Chiemsee and can't wait to go back. Now I've got a hankerin' for some good German bread and cheese.

Is today the first official day of blog darkness?

I was wondering the same thing, Sara. But I'm sure Joel would leave us one last Kit, say goodbye, go out with a bang.
But maybe not. Maybe today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Or, as melvin/a would say, "Like is the first day of the rest of your life."

Has the blackout started? Where are the other areas we're supposed to gather? Chat rooms scare me, especially from work, so I'll probably just lurk and laugh.

Achenfan, could I use Boodleborough? So PA-like. Not that I'll be posting...so if someone else wants to take it, that's fine...

We are weird...Oh, that reminds me, I was going to recommend Eats Shoots and Leaves to Joel (I love how she wants to dismember people who misuse apostrophes). But apparently it's too late...

Yes, mostlylurking, please feel free to use Boodleborough. In fact, I strongly urge you to use it. I'd just love to see that used in a chat. (Not that I have much time for chats these days, being an Achenaddict. But next week I'll probably find I suddenly have all this free time on my hands, so I might drop by.)

I thought the black out wasn't starting till next, but it seems that JA has left us already.....

This isn't helping my abandonment issues any.

How do we find the chats? I've never really checked them out before.

I just submitted a question to Hax:
Carolyn, someone who used to keep me entertained all day at work is going on vacation for a week. Granted, I'll probably get a lot more work done, but is it wrong for me to feel angry about him abandoning me like this? And he didn't even say goodbye! I feel a little guilty about being mad, but really I thought we were better friends than this.

Sara:
Each day's chats are listed under "Live Online" in the bottom right-hand corner of the Washington Post home page. But really, they are a poor substitution for the Achenblog. (Sorry Chatwoman.)

Thanks, Achenfan. Good to know.

jw:
If Carolyn doesn't get to your question today, you could submit it to Amy Joyce -- I think it would work well in that chat, too. But here's hoping Hax takes it.

The forums can be accessed at http://forums.washingtonpost.com/wpforums/start but, they lack the frivolty and irreverence of the Boodlesphere. But, we may be able to change things...

I think the forums are where all those people who flocked here for the Rovestorm usually hang out. CowTown's right, I would say there's zero frivolity over there.

Good news: I just saw a comment from Boodleborough, PA, in Desson Thomson's chat. Good work!

Yes, I was going to tell you! It looked like the most likely chat, and I could actually think up a sort of relevant question...nothing to do with Joel or the missing blog, sorry jw. I was checking out the real estate chat, too.

I'm sure if we abuse this, we'll get into trouble. But it was fun!

Now back to work... :(

I'm starting to notice that Hax takes a long time to answer questions. The obvious reason would be that she's thinking of very thoughtful answers. But everyone always asks the same stuff, so she should really have boilerplate responses by now. So what's she really doing?

This blog is really showing those chat hosts up, eh jw?

I can't read all 202 comments. All I have to say is Von Voyage!

Hax is really one of us under a nickname. She spends her time here, as the Achensphere is completely addicting. No one is immune to it.

I might just take a week long vacation with Joel. The chance that something I ask might get posted isn't that exciting for me. And I don't really have any Hax-worthy problems at the moment nor do I have any interesting questions regarding films, except maybe where to find listings of times/places of independent movies. I could hit up the baseball chats, but I don't have the get-up-and-go to do that right now. It's another "less than" day. Did anyone elses week start about 4.5 years ago?

Mentally add your own apostrophe in my last question.

New Kit. Tom. Joel gone. Tom fan very upset. Lost ablitiy to splel.

Er... Tom fan, are you celebrating the weekend a little early?

Wait a second. How could Tom fan see the new kit before I could see the new Kit?

Do editors become editors because they like to correct people? And if so is it really wrong to hate them?

I wish, jw. But no, what you're seeing is not the effects of alcohol, but withdrawal symptoms. I might have to get myself a detox poncho from the J. Peterman catalog.

It's probably a symptom of my malaise, but I'm getting hooked on the Day In Photos section. I'll just stare at pictures until Joel gets back. We all have our own ways of coping.

jw:
You hate editors? That's harsh.

mostly lurking: I just found the Boodleborough in the chat and I was surprised because I had to laugh out loud. I didn't know it would strike me as that funny until I saw it. Good job - I still have a smile on my face!

When I saw that comment from Boodleborough, I posted the comment, "Hi Boodleborough! See you back at the porch!" Oddly enough, my comment didn't get posted during the chat. Maybe because it didn't have anything to do with movies. I hope the ability to stay on topic is something they cover in that 12-step Achenrehab program.

Glad I could brighten the Achenblog-less day. Thanks to Achenfan for the idea and the town name. It was suprisingly easy - guess they don't verify that places exist. I'm usually so truthful online about things like that - it's kind of thrilling to lie blatantly.

Off to a life of dishonesty and crime - thanks!

OK, you think this is an utter waste of time (did I really say that?), but I Googled "humor blogs" and got a mess of listings. Of course, Dave Barry's blog came up (it's alright, a little silly); there's a blog called FARK that's just dumb; but "The Dullest Blog in the World" was a hoot http://www.wibsite.com/wiblog/dull/

These are cheesy alternatives should you feel the need to boodle in your spare time.

CowTown, I think I could get addicted to that dullest blog in the world. I'm not even going to go there -- I might never be able to tear myself away.

I just checked out Dave Barry's blog. He doesn't get nearly as many comments as Joel does.

I think I'd noted here previously that Barry and Weingarten must be jealous of the Kaboodle.

On the other hand, Barry's blog seems to mainly consist of links to other sites, rather than some well-thought-out original content.

bc

CowTown, I checked ou the Dullest Blog on Earth. I especially liked the little piece about moving an object on a table.

Oops. SCC alert. "Ou" means nothing. "Out" would make much more sense.

Can someone tell me why the blog is the Kit and the comments are the Kaboodle? I missed that (must have been before I got addicted).

I've been reading some of the earlier Kaboodles...memories...

Oh, and way back, I misspelled "surprising" - I am scum.

mostlylurking! That's what I used to say. "I am scum." I'm glad to call you a Kaboodle Friend.

For mostlylurking:
The idea of a Kit and a Kaboodle came about in Joel's blog entry of July 11, called "Difference Between Blog and Chat Room." Here is an exerpt:

"The other day when Tom was blogging, Bostonreader asked for someone to explain the diff twixt a blog and a chat. Bostonreader wrote:
'I have a relative who hangs out in a lot of chat rooms, and in the past I always kind of thought she should go out and make some real friends. Now I find myself hanging out on this blog for hours at a time. The real question is whether or not I still have a right to feel superior to my chat-room loving relative.'

"As for the diff twixt blogs and chats, Tomfan offered Bostonreader this explanation:
'A blog without the comments function enabled is merely a blog. The "blog" part is the collection of observations, etc., by the blog's host/owner, in this case Joel. The collection of comments under each blog entry could be thought of as a kind of chat room, I suppose. People wander in any time they want and talk to each other. Sometimes Joel wanders in too, but not always. So: It's time to face the fact that you're a chat room junkie.'

"FYI, I think the whole kit and kaboodle is the blog -- the kit being my blather, and the kaboodle being the realm of the 15 and the auxillary commenters."

(And the rest is history. Note that somewhere along the way we felt the need to show due reverance by capitalizing the K's in "Kit" and "Kaboodle." Also, "Kaboodle" can be used as both a noun and a verb.)

Sara, I know - that's why I said that.

OK, I found the answer to my question in the July 11 blog - where Bostonreader and Tom fan were quoted (how cool!) - Joel said:
FYI, I think the whole kit and kaboodle is the blog -- the kit being my blather, and the kaboodle being the realm of the 15 and the auxillary commenters.

I missed this because it was a Monday when I'm not at work, and I was on vacation the following week. So, I can go back and read the blogs I missed while the blog is dark. Maybe Joel will take a longer vacation...and I'll change my name to "auxillary commenter"...

Tom fan, thanks so much. Very impressive that Joel quoted you two - I'm in awe. I'm also in awe of your grammar correction ability and knowledge. I come from a family of "correctors" - and I think it is a somewhat innate ability, since I don't really work at it - I can just pick out the errors easily. What do you think?

We are weird.

Who is the official "Kaboodle Archivist and Historian"? I nominate Tom fan.

Wow, bostonreader. What an honor. I don't know whether I'm up for it -- I might have to work on learning how to spell "excerpt" first.
And for mostlylurking: Thanks so much for the compliment on my grammar correction ability. Your question about whether it's an innate ability ties in with jw's question about why people become editors. I like to think it's because we're observant. Or, to use bc's terminology, Observant.

Tom fan - Truly, you deserve the title. You're always right there with the actual transcript when folks ask these historical questions.

Yesterday I had a terrible shock for a few minutes. I tried to get to the kits and got a "Website Under Repairs - So Sorry" message. I was fearful that the Kit and Kaboodle really was going to literally DARK all week. Phew - what a relief when later on I was able to pull it up. There was nothing new, but just looking at it calmed me.

Too right, bostonreader. The blog is a bit like a night light in that respect.
As for my being right there with the transcript when people ask historical questions, you could say that's a sign I need some serious help. Nevertheless, if you really think my services as Kaboodle Archivist and Historian are required, then yes, I would be honored to accept the position.

Tom fan, we may have to have the editor discussion sometime (I missed it - I have a lot of catching up to do, it seems). I finally figured out that I am a good editor - and terrible at filling a blank page. Never understood till a few years ago that the skills required for editing can interfere with the writing process - I really have to work at just getting something out there.

I second your nomination as Kaboodle Archivist and Historian.

mostlylurking:
Think of the Kaboodle as your blank page. And take solace in the fact that even THE Tom, a good editor AND writer, sometimes has trouble filling a blank page. Here's what he wrote when he filled in for Joel a few weeks back:

"Sydney tells me that if I don't do at least two posts I'm cheaping out, letting the team down. Which is fine, except for certain non-Joel-like individuals, blogging isn't exactly as natural as breathing. Even for that pathetic little post this morning, I was up at 3 a.m. worrying about it. I went into this long thing about a conversation Joel and I once had about the nature of coincidence and was going to work it into a Tom's Dumb Question, but then I thought it was too dumb even for Tom. (Then I watched the rain come down and worried about whether I needed to get the sump pump pumping, which devolved into me worrying that I might not even have a sump pump, or possibly even know what one was. Home maintenance, apparently, joins the list of things that don't necessarily come naturally to me, right under blogging.)"

[proudly pats self on back for completing first official task as KA&H]

Well done, Tom fan.

You deserve the title.

bc