November

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I always hated November and December in Northwestern Pennsylvania, because it was so dark, cold, and nasty.  Here, we get some of the first hints of pleasant weather – although the sunlight can be scorching.  I might even be able to glimpse some clear night skies soon! 

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In readings I’ve recently finished The Crook Factory (1999) by Dan Simmons.  I will read anything he writes.  This one was not in his often mixed genres of horror, science fiction and/or fantasy.  It was historical fiction based on Ernest Hemingway’s actual antics during World War II when he lived in Cuba and tried to organize a small anti-Nazi spy group of submarine-chasers there.  Most of the people and major events are true, some of it released from FBI files on Hemingway at the time.  Simmons weaves a story around this, and it was very good. 

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I also read my first novel by Neal Stephenson, who has won Prometheus Awards and whose novels I’ve been collecting for some time.  I picked an early cyberpunk novel of his to read:  Snow Crash (1992).  It was good, and I will be reading more of his stuff some day. 

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My weight-training routine with dumbbells has been stalled for over a month now.  No excuse but laziness!  My one regular exercise routine is my marches out on the neighborhood sidewalks.  It is a natural movement rhythm, and I rarely get injured doing it – just intensely overheated and dehydrated.  
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The treadmill tends to cause me minor injuries, due to its rather artificial gait.  I need to fine-tune my use of its speed and elevation settings; and I need to resist the temptation to go all-out full-tilt.  The beauty of the treadmill is that I can read books or Kindle on it with my adapted rig.  I pick books with larger print for it, and the time goes by unbelievably fast. 

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-Zenwind. 

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