The Best, The Worst

I had a pretty big list of books that I read for 2013, and so decided, for those interested in reading, or wanting to know what the best books were . . . I am going to present the top ten books that I read this year, (which was actually a challenge to whittle it down to only five). I also will give you the worst ten books I read this year. So here you go:

BEST BOOKS OF 2013 (not in any particular order)

1. A Short Stay in Hell, by Steven L. Peck

2. Ethics, by Benedict de Spinoza

3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowlings

6. Looking for Alaska, by John Green

7. The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons

8. The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus

9. Selected Poems, by William Carlos Williams

10. Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates, by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein

WORST BOOKS OF 2013 (not in any particular order)

1. The Blithdale Romance, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

2. The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper

3. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

4. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

5. Family Happiness, by Leo Tolstoy

6. Deaf in America, by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries

7. Dissemination, by Jacques Derrida

8. The Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West

9. Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper

10. Short Stories, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Some books I want to read/finish:

1. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

2. Time Reborn by Lee Smolin

3. Fear and Trembling, by Soren Kierkegaard

4. A Sickness Unto Death, by Soren Kierkegaard

5. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

The Books of 2013

This year I read a lot. A lot, because of school and stuff being required, but also, there was a lot I read just for fun. And so, here is the list of books I read, in order, this year. Not sure if I'll be reading as much in 2014, but who knows. As of right now, I don't know which I would say are the best. There were a lot of really good books, and a lot of really horrible books. Maybe I'll come up with those lists and post them with some New Years resolutions. But for now, the list of books read in 2013.


01. A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck
02. The Essential Writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson
03. The Republic by Plato
04. Poetics by Aristotle
05. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
06. The Guide for the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides
07. Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes
08. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
09. New Science by Giambattista Vico
10. The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson Edited by Thomas H. Johnson
11. Short Stories by Hawthorne
12. Course in General Linguistics by Saussure
13. Ethics by Benedict De Spinoza
14. The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne
15. Discourse on Metaphysics by Leibniz
16. Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville
17. Banito Cereno by Herman Melville
18. Dracula by Bram Stoker
19. Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
20. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
21. Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley
22. Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass by Fredrick Douglass
23. Deaf In America by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries
24. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
25. Dissemination by Jacques Derrida
26. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
27. Dune by Frank Herbert
28. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J. K. Rowling
29. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
31. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
32. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
33. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
34. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
35. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
36. The Giver by Lois Lowry
37. Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
38. Thou Art That by Joseph Campbell
39. Gateway by Fredrick Pohl
40. Time Enough For Love by Robert A. Heinlein
41. When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson
42. A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck (again)
43. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
44. Forever by Judy Blume
45. Over Sea Under Stone by Susan Cooper
46. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
47. Selected Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
48. Family Happiness by Tolstoy
49. The Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
50. Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson
51. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Tolstoy
52. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
53. Coraline by Neil Gainman
54. Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones
55. Hadji Murad by Tolstoy
56. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
57. 100 Selected Poems by E. E. Cummings
58. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
59. Looking for Alaska by John Green
60. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
61. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
62. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus
63. Philosophy Bites Back by David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton
64. Selected Poems by William Carlos Williams
65. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Squaw Peak

Since being sick I have not been able to go on any major rides. I lost a lot of the muscle I'd gained over the last 2 years of biking and have slowly been working back up to where I was, (which probably will take all the way through next summer). But there is definite progress. 

This last Saturday I was able to ride with Foster, Lorin and Jared, (the group that rode in Salt to Saint except we didn't have Jaron) up Squaw Peak. It was incredible to really see the difference that being sick had made. I've ridden Squaw Peak about ten times and could make it up in about 30-35 minutes. Now I was hitting 45 or 50 minutes. Not only that, but I was EXHAUSTED. I could barely make it up the last (steep) hill. But I did, which I'm pretty happy about. I plan on riding it at least once more before winter hits. 

Me, at the top of Squaw Peak.

 I'm very grateful for all of the riders I've gotten to know and ridden with that have been nothing but encouraging. I'm sure they've all seen or heard my frustrations at slowly getting back to where I once was but they've really helped me along and kept me motivated. I made it to the top of squaw peak last of everyone but still felt accomplished at doing it and am glad I had some awesome riders pushing me and encouraging me the whole way up.

All of us. Me, Jared, Lorin and Foster.

Salt to Saint

This year, Jaron, Foster, and two others I had not met until the race, Jared and Lorin did the Salt to Saint 24 hour relay race. The race is from Salt Lake City all the way down to St. George. It is 422 miles long. Because of being sick all summer I was unable to ride in the race, however I did volunteer to drive for them as well as act as tech, (which involved only minor repairs, loading and unloading the bikes from the rack and basically making sure all four were set to go before and during each leg of the race). It was a lot of fun, although I was a bit bummed about not being able to ride. Next year, though, I'll definitely be riding. 

Here are some pictures of the race.

Jaron testing out my bike and getting use to it at the start of the race

Lorin climbing the north side of Suncrest -- Goes over the point of the mountain.

Jaron on his first leg, (the 5th leg) leaving Goshen and heading towards Nephi. 

The hand-off of the GPS. Jaron to Jared who then went up the canyon past Nephi.

Jared, climbing the canyon hills at 20+ mph. 

Lorin waiting for Jared to come out of the canyon. His leg,
(and the following one done by foster) were the windies 

Foster, cruising through another canyon during the night. 

Foster and Jaron crashed early in the morning after a long night.

Foster taking off after Lorin hands off the GPS just inside of Arizona.

Me, after driving for about 22 hours straight with 2 more to go.

Foster finishing the last (and one of the hardest) legs; coming through the finish.

The whole team at the finish
(Jaron, Jared, Lorin, Foster)

All of us home again.
(Lorin, Jared, Me(Chris), Jaron, Foster)

 The whole thing was a ton of fun, even after driving for 24+ hours. We will all be doing it next year and I can't wait. It'll be great to be able to bike the thing with these guys. 

Book List

So, this semester is going to be even more taxing when it comes to the sheer amount of books that I am going to have to read. Not sure how I am going to do it . . . a lot of reading in all of my spare and listening to books on tape. (I did get a Kindle for convenience which is exciting). Anyway, here is the list of books for this semester, most coming from Adolescent Literature and Modern American Literature:

01. As I Lay Dying -- William Faulkner
02. The Short Stories -- Ernest Hemmingway
03. Thirteen Stories --  Eudora Welty
04. Miss Lonely Hearts & The Day of the Locust -- Nathanael West
05. Collected Poems -- T.S. Eliot
06. Selected Poems -- William Carlos Williams
07. The Poetry of Robert Frost -- Robert Frost
08. 100 Selected Poems -- E.E. Cummings
09. Plays -- Susan Glaspell
10. The Giver -- Lois Lowry
11. Forever -- Judy Blume
12. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Edward Irving Wortis
13. Bud, Not Buddy -- Christopher Paul Curtis
14. Middle School:  The Worst Years of My Life --  James Patterson
15. Hunger Games -- Suzanne Collins
16. Unwind -- Neal Shusterman
17. American Born Chinese -- Gene Lang
18. Stop Pretending -- Sonya Sones
19. Thirteen Reasons Why -- Jay Asher
20. Deadline -- Chris Crutcher
21. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie -- Jordan Sonnenblick
22. Rules of the Road -- Joan Bauer
23. Boys, Wolves, and Other Things that Might Kill Me -- Kristen Chandler

There are more, but I haven't gotten those lists yet.

I also need to read 1,500 pages worth of other young adult books, and reread The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman for my final paper. I am not very familiar with young adult fiction and so, if anybody knows of some good books that will help me fill the extra 1,500 pages of reading I need I would greatly appreciate it.

Abrupt Recollection in Passing

This is a poem I wrote at work after someone walked by me and I smelt their perfume, or soap or something and it immediately brought up memories of hills during my childhood and then just as quickly they faded away. I think it is interesting how smell can instill such a deeply ingrained memory within us to call up images and feelings instantly just in passing. 

Green hills that seem to fade as fast as they come
I can see them, however
clear, precise, from the smell --
They are real, or apart of who I am
I am only but a memory, or maybe many.

Races and SWAG

Jaron and I at the start of the Tough Mudder. It was not a warm day.

My brother Jaron and I love races. We've ran in quite a few together, and (as soon as I am able) will probably run in many more. But our reasons aren't really your typical reasons. Honestly, neither of us enjoy running very much, (and if I had been better this year we probably would have done more bike races than running, but neither worked out). But what we do enjoy is race swag, (which, turns out it stands for Stuff We All Get--I learned this on Sunday and was very excited). 

Stack of shirts from races.

Best part of the Tough Mudder -- the muddy mile.

At the end of my first 10K, ran with Jaron, my dad and Aunt Melanie.

Sure, there is that great feeling of accomplishment and feeling good that we've ran a race. And in pretty much every race we actually do race each other for the last 20 meters, for pride reasons, or something. But really, we like the T-shirts we always get, and stickers that we can put on our computers, or something.

I plan on doing many more races next summer after getting back into the swing of things.  Should be fun, as they all, for some reason, are.


Here are some more pics of us at races:

McKay, Me and Jaron at the Turkey Tri

Me and Jaron at the Zombie Run and our Zombie Apocolypse Rescue Team Shirts.

The Boys

 Maddox and Asher have been growing up so much this summer I can hardly believe it. It's amazing to see them change and grow. A few days ago I was going through some old pictures of when Maddox was Asher's age and Asher was just a little newborn. It was incredible to think that so much time has past and to see how only they both are now. So here's just an update on them.

Maddox has started asking tons of questions. He is very interested in the body. Especially about bones. If you ask him he can tell you what is inside of them, why they are hard, or what makes them hard. He can name a bunch of different bones and how they connect and draws pictures of the skeleton and will explain it to you. He asks about how they move, (muscles, etc.) and also loves seeing pictures of bones, muscles, and organs. The other day he spent 30 minutes or an hour looking though pictures of the "Bodies Exhibit". He is absolutely fascinated by the body.

He is also becoming more and more independent. He is able to do a lot of things on his own, like cleaning his room, setting the table and making up all sorts of games to play with Asher, (who loves the games), doing chores without being asked, making lunches for himself and Asher, (while Asher takes his nap), along with lots of other things. But this new independence has also made him very opinionated and he lets you know when he doesn't agree with something.

We are also going to try and get him back into gymnastics. He has so much natural ability it is ridiculous. He is already able to do a headstand for about 5 seconds. He can do a lot of tumbling and swinging from the bar also. And, one of his favorite positions to watch TV is on his head, practicing his headstands on the couch.

Maddox is also a huge sweetheart. When anyone is hurt or sad, (and I experienced this a lot while sick) he will sit with them, hug them and tell them it's going to be OK. He'll also hold your hand or rub your back when you need a little boost. He's very aware of others feelings.

Asher is growing up too fast. He wants to be just like his big brother and it shows in how he acts. He will pick up things so incredibly fast, I can hardly believe it. He has been talking since well before he was one, and I can probably attribute that to Maddox. And since then he hasn't stopped talking. He actually is very good at picking up on words and phrases. For being 2 1/2, the way in which he can talk to you astounds me. He is very thoughtful and clear with what he says. One of my favorite things is when he says, "Every time he wakes me up". He will say this when Maddox is being talkative at night. I am just always impressed that I am able to hold very real conversations with Asher at only 2 1/2.

Asher is also someone who is content with just hanging out with you. He loves sitting and reading,  playing IPad and watching videos with 'FashaPa', and takes his time with stuff. I love in the morning getting up with him and just making breakfast and hanging out with him. We'd sit and eat, (and drink tea... he loves tea) and just talk. Talk about what he wants to do that day, what he likes or things is fun, he'll ask me how I slept, or how I am feeling, (he'd ask that when I was sick). He is just so fun to hang out with.

Asher is also one of the best eaters I've ever known. I mean this in the sense that he will eat or try anything. There are so few things he doesn't like it amazes me. I call him the garbage-disposal, but Lesa really doesn't like that nickname. I'm not saying he gorges, or is eating constantly, but he just loves food. He'll snack on plane lettuce or cabbage, doesn't matter. It's impressive. The only thing I can think of that he will not eat is hummus, (which is unfortunate).


Both boys love to bike. Maddox has a Trek bike that he says is faster than my Felt (brand) and loves to remind me of it. He is constantly reminding me of this when we talk about bikes. Asher has a tricycle, but he says it's a Trek also. They all think my bike is slow. Both also love our garden, (and their Nana's garden). They go out every morning and pick strawberries to eat, doing the same (with strawberries and raspberries) at my moms (Nana's) house. Both love books and reading, and being read to. When I'm reading on the couch, a lot of the time Asher will grab a book and sit with me and read.

They also both love playing "Super Hero's", "Cars" (in which they run around in a circle and stop to make Lesa or me change their tires), Jumping from everything, sword fighting, (which always ends in tears), reading, along with tons of other things.

 Both boys are growing and changing so much, I can't hardly believe it. Hopefully, though, this has given you an idea of how fun they are and you've enjoyed this update as much as I did writing it.

My Summer

This was in the Provo hospital waiting to get
my blood clot removed.

I had some big plans this summer. In fact, all last summer, and through the winter I trained hard on the bike, running and swimming to ready myself for several big races I was determined to participate in. I think I was in the best shape of my life at the beginning of this year, in fact. Could swim a mile, run at least a 10K, and bike 100 miles . I felt good. I had planned on racing in the Utah Half Triathlon, and even signed up and paid for the Salt to Saint, 24 hour biking relay race. It was going to be a great summer.

But then I got sick. In March I started showing some vague signs of my Ulcerative Colitis (UC) returning. Nothing too drastic, I was still able to run in the Dirty Dash, and bike often, having no pain and little discomfort. However, I wanted get the problem taken care of, and having not have a flare-up in about four years, decided I should find a GI doctor to evaluate me and mainly just make aware that I was showing UC symptoms. I had all the meds I needed, but still thought it a good idea.

The doctor, (Dr. Schmidt) thought it a good idea to give me a colonoscopy to confirm that I did indeed have Ulcerative Colitis, and not something different like Crones, etc. Although, at the time I figured the procedure couldn't hurt I also knew it was completely unnecessary as I'd already been diagnosed, and have an accompanying disease called Pyoderma Gangrenosum, that only  appears if a person has UC. But, anyway, I got the colonoscopy, confirming I had UC and showing where the flareup was.

They upped my meds to help fight it, however, because of my already compromised immune system the colonoscopy caused me to get a very bad Clostridium difficile infection (C dif).

At Provo hospital, in the ICU after the blood clot proceedure

Two days after the colonoscopy I began to have sever stomach pain and began passing large amounts of blood in my stool. It wasn't until a week later that I was able to get a lab order from Dr. Schmidt to try and see what was going on, which indicated the C dif infection.

Because of the constant pain I was in, and not to mention the effects of the antibiotics I then had to take I was bed ridden--couldn't work at all.

I feel here is where things, for me started to really weigh down. We went through our humble savings quickly at this point, needing to get meds and go to doctors, etc. and not being able to move through most of the day, and not being at work both Lesa and I felt the stress and burden of not only the illness, but financial worries. I spent a lot of the day in agony over what we were going to do, but thanks to some very wonderful people, (and my family, especially), we were not left stranded and without a way to pay bills and feed our kids.

After being on antibiotics for a week and a half, and not getting any better, but really feeling worse and worse I went into the hospital, under Dr. Schmidts direction. I had to go up to the Riverton, Alta View hospital, which made things more difficult as it was a ways for anyone to travel.

Maddox one day made a stack of my pills. After the
blood clot the amount doubled.

The doctor confirmed that the C dif infection was gone, and that we now were only dealing with UC. I felt relieved, and saw an end in sight. I hoped they could put me on better medicine to treat the UC, as I was still in a lot of pain, and bleeding quite a bit--the meds I was on did not seem to be working. However, after two days and minimal visits from the doctor, I was still taking what I had been taking at home and the doctor still refused to make any changes to how I was being treated. After four days and a lot of frustration in the lack of support being given, I asked to be released. 

I really can't express how frustrating this was. I sat in the hospital taking the same meds in the same way that I had done at home with no difference except for where I was. I would talk to my doctor every day about getting on something different, however, he would not consent to doing something more effective (which, the treatment I wanted to be on, as it turns out is now standard). I would constantly tell him that this has been going on since March, but it would fall on deaf ears and he continued to say this treatment is all he was willing to do. 

First hospital visit.

And so, after four days of a worthless hospital stay I insisted on going home, not feeling any better than before. Before leaving, he ordered an X-ray, (the first test done since I'd arrived) which showed the UC had not gotten any better from the time I was admitted. It was a week later, still being bed ridden and very sick that I met with my doctor again to try an discus getting on the meds that I knew would help. He finally consented, but, I first needed to go through a series of tests to make sure I was healthy enough to be on the meds. (The medicine was an IV treatment that would greatly effect my immune system and so I needed to be sure I didn't have TB, or any STD's as well as test for C dif). The results came back -- I still had C dif.

I called my doctor, frustrated and angry that this infection was still here, (and probably never really went away) asking to be put on a more potent medicine, Vancomycin, explaining that I had not worked for 3 1/2 weeks and really needed to get this taken care of. He refused to change my meds, putting me back on Flagyl. After a week of still more severe pain, stress over work and money and near immobility, the meds having no effect on any of the symptoms I showed I woke up at 5AM with severe pain in my left leg. Lesa and I both thought it was a charley-horse, or something like that and so I laid in bed, ate a banana and hoped the pain would leave. But it didn't, in fact it continually grew worse. 

At 7AM I stumbled out of the bedroom in immense pain to see Lesa staring at my leg in shock. I looked down and my calf had turned purple and was extremely swollen. It felt as though every muscle in my body had flexed and I could barely touch it. She rushed me to the car, along with the kids all while calling my mom to meet us at the emergency room. I still am not sure how I made it into the car, or especially into the emergency room. My Mom, (and eventually, Dad) stayed with my in the ER while Lesa took care of the kids. I cannot describe the pain that I was in at this point and after four 4mL doses of Dilaudid, (a very potent pain killer), my body finally stopped shaking from the shock and pain. The did an ultra-sound on my leg and found that I had a deep vein thombosis, (DVT)--or blood clot in my calf. 

Still in a great amount of pain, the put me in an ambulance and took me to the Provo hospital. The plan, (as far as I understood it) was to go in from behind my knee and break the thing apart, or blast it, or something. Once that was done they would put me on blood thinners. Apparently, this proceedure was a bit risky, but because of my good heath, (current conditions not counting) because of biking, etc., this operation should work. The standard treatment, (I guess) is just massive blood thinners with some other meds to slowly break it apart. So, needless to say, I was glad they could go in and get rid of the thing quickly. 

I stayed in the ICU for another two days after. This was because, after breaking up/removing/blasting the clot, I needed to be on blood thinners. This was especially risky because of the UC and C dif that caused me to already bleed quite a bit. Here, I got a team of doctors, (vascular, GI, infectious disease, and the hospitalist) who began to work with me and ALL of my conditions. Getting me on new medicine for the C dif, creating a plan to deal with the blood thinners, and clot, and preparing me to get on the IV treatment (once the C dif was gone) for Ulcerative Colitis. 

I needed iron.

After five days in the hospital I was released, already feeling slightly better and much more positive than I had felt in five weeks of being sick. 

The Sunday after, (I was released on a Wednesday) I stopped passing blood. The following week was a bigger turnaround than I thought possible. I was able to get out of bed and walk (hobble with a cane) around. The pain began to lessen significantly, and a week after getting released I began physical therapy on my bike (mounted on a trainer). I felt great and planned to go to work the following week. I went to multiple doctors appointments, (dropping Dr. Schmidt completely), and with each one was reassured that they knew what they were doing. 

I still am working on getting to be 100% better. I've lost over 30 lbs during this whole thing and have very little strength, but I'm determined to train and work hard again for the rest of summer and over the winter to be back to where I was at the beginning of the summer. 

I also cannot express how grateful I am to all of the people that helped us along the way, emotionally, physically, financially, etc. (you know who you are and I will never be able to thank you enough). The emotional strain that all of the worry I had would have been so much worse without all of your help. 

Also, I cannot thank Lesa enough. I wish I could just write about all that she did to take care of me while I was sick. Seriously, it is unbelievable. She set up appointments, made countless calls for info and help with treatment, took me to all my appointments and labs, dealt with many unsavory people (that's for another post), supported and dealt with me and my multiple breakdowns and struggles and shortcomings and frustrations. Kept me uplifted and positive through much of it, took care of the boys, got my meds and the list goes on and on. She truly is amazing.  

All in all, this took place over 8 weeks, 6 of which I could not work. It was a long hard road, but now, it seems that things are getting much better.

My Favorite Science Fiction Books

I feel like this is going to be a hard list to do. There are so many good ones out there. But I will try to reduce the list to the top 15, (in my opinion) best science fiction (or speculative fiction, if you will) books. Here we go:

1. Anathem by Neal Stephenson

2. Hyperion (Cantos) by Dan Simmons (4 books)

3. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

4. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

5. Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmons (2 books)

6. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

7. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

8. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

9. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

10. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

11. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

12. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

13. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

14. The Road by Cormack McCarthy

15. Dune by Frank Herbert

There you go. The best sci-fi, in my opinion. There are so many more good ones, but I feel like these, (as far as I can remember) are the best. (I feel like I'm missing some, but I'm going this at work, so this is what I can remember. Please, give me your list. I'm interested in what I may be missing.

Books of the Summer

So, I changed my mind on the books I'll be reading this summer. I have such great memories of sitting in work, listening to books, and then biking home, still listening. Being engaged. I want to do that again. I may be reading the books in the previous post on my own, but I want a good list of Science Fiction books to listen to while biking over the summer. So here is what (I think) I'll be listening to.

1. DUNE

2. THE MOTE IN GODS EYE

3. SOLARIS

4. WORLD WAR Z

5. CAT'S CRADLE

The Books of This Semester

This was a long semester. Lots of reading and writing of papers. (I think I wrote about 20 papers). But I thought I'd post the list of books read for my classes this semester. It's a pretty impressive list. Took a lot of time to get through, but I'm glad I got through each book. 

The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Republic by Plato

Poetics by Aristotle

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

The Guide for the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides

Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

New Science by Giambattista Vico

The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson Edited by Thomas H. Johnson

Short Stories by Hawthorne

Course in General Linguistics by Saussure

Ethics by Benedict De Spinoza

The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Discourse on Metaphysics by Leibniz

Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville

Banito Cereno by Herman Melville

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke

Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley

Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass by Fredrick Douglass

Deaf In America by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

Dissemination by Jacques Derrida

Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant

That is a total of 25 books. Lots and lots of reading. Next semester will probably be even more. But for now, during the summer, I'm going to take it easy. Less books and books I want to read. Should be good. I'm starting with my dads book, again, because I want to actually write a paper dealing with the Hell he describes and freewill. Should be good. 

Family and Stuff

I love this picture of Lesa and the boys. Just thought I'd share. (Photo taken by my Aunt, the photographer, Melanie).

I also took this today of Maddox who helped me clean my bike. He loves working on my bike with me, and even has his own tools. We washed both of my bikes and his bike. I was going to take a pic of him with all of them, but once his was clean he was off riding it around, so that didn't happen. He loves to say, "Dad, my bike is fast because it's a Trek, and yours is a slow Felt." Makes me laugh.

Maddox and Asher were in the backroom the other day where I keep my bike stuff and workout stuff and wanted to wear some of my stuff, so, I put it on them. Maddox has my swim cap on, and his goggles, and Asher has my Tough Mudder head band on.

Maddox drew this with dry erase markers. I love it and don't think we could ever erase it.

Reading List for the Summer

Well, I must say that I've read more than I thought I could over this last semester. Lots and lots of books. But this summer I'm going to get to some reading that I've wanted to do for some time and haven't gotten around to it. Here's my list, probably in the order I'll read them in (they may over lap):

1. Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

2. The Brother's Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

3. Spiritual Writings, by Soren Kierkegaard

4. Thou Art That, by Joseph Campbell

Any other suggestions? I need a bigger book list so please let me know what you will be reading this summer!!

My Poetry and Publications

So, I just had a poem published at Wilderness Interface Zone. I'm pretty excited about it. This year so far I've had three publications. One at Tales of the Zombie War, a site devoted to zombie stories, I had a paper published, and presented at the UVU Philosophy Conference, and now this poem has been published. I must say. It's a good start to the year. I have a few more things (two sci-fi stories) that have been submitted for about 2 months. I'm not hopeful (but really never am), but still, no rejection letter is better than getting one 5 days after submitting it.

Anyways, feel free to read the poem or story, and for anyone interested, here are the notes I used for my philosophy paper presentation as the paper is longer and more tedious.

ZENO'S PARADOX ON MOTION : THE ARROW

UVU PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE

So. Zeno's metaphysical paradox on how there is no motion. I mean, you take an arrow--shoot it and if you imagine it at some given instance of time it is frozen in that place. So, obviously, there is no motion. Got it? OK.

But really, What do these ideas do to our perception of reality? Is it altered at all? I mean, how important is having actual motion, really? We’ve gotten by this long with not moving . . . or moving, (who knows) and seem to be fine--sort of. The way I see it, though, is that these questions, maybe seemingly simple help define the human condition. They are important to out being and how we interact within the world.

So back to the arrow.

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Again, just to make this clear Zeno gave the example of an arrow being shot. He has us imagine the arrow in flight then we consider it frozen at a single point in time. He then says that the arrow, at that point is stationary, and so, in all other instances of time the arrow must also be stationary.

Basically, what we have in stead of motion is a string of individual moments in time lined up to give us the illusion of motion.

The official argument is as follows: (1) when the arrow is in a place just its own size, it's at rest. (2) at every moment of its flight, the arrow is in a place just its own size. (3) therefore, at every moment of its flight, the arrow is at rest.

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Little did Zeno know when contemplating the nature of reality that thousands of years later, what he said would show up in quantum mechanics. The QUANTUM ZENO EFFECT. This shows that an object moving through time, in quantum states, does not in fact move, but shifts between each collapsing wave function.

The best way to illustrate this is with a movie reel. The eye can only process so many frames per second from a reel, and when we watch a file we see motion as the reel is played at a certain speed. But really, what we are seeing are hundreds, or thousands of individual frames. What the naked eye sees does not prove or indicate what is actually, physically taking place.

Quantum mechanics gives us the illusion that there is motion when really there is none.

*Example of 64 bit game*

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However, there are other methods of looking at Zeno’s metaphysical claims of motion scientifically. For instance, it would seem that there must be more than just instances that somehow correspond with one another. William Poundstone asks, “There must be some information attached to a moving arrow that identifies it. Otherwise, how does it “know” to jerk forward in the next instance?” How would we be able to tell that the arrow was “moving” or would continue to move?

The motion, (or at least perceived motion) of an object brings about results. One of those is kinetic energy. An expression of the fact that an object in motion can bring about work on anything it hits or comes in contact with. It limits the amount of work an object could do as a result of that objects motion.

And what’s more this kinetic energy can be measured. For instance, the output of an arrow traveling at 90 meters per second would be 33.45 joules. This is a direct result of the arrows motion.

*Story of William Tell*

There is a measurable force that would need to interact with each object in order for such a result to come about. What caused that force or energy? It would seem that it was motion.

However, the main purpose of the paper is not to examine the differences or arguments but rather to redefine our notion of . . . motion.

The great Aristotle said that time is the measure of motion. Or rather, ANY change is motion. *Leibniz* In this light, movement can be defined as an object change through time. And since we are aware of time, it must, on some level exist, if not only a construct of our minds.

Therefore, I argue that movement can be categorized as an objects experience through time.

For instance – If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to SEE it, does it still have motion? – YES. There was an experience even if not conscious that took place.

Furthermore, in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, the rate of a clock as well as material changed is lowered within a fast moving system. The closer the object moves to the speed of light, the slower time moves. Motion effects time. In fact, time is merely a by-product of motion. Essentially clocks “clock up” motion, not time. Time is simply how we understand that motion.

And so, when incorporating just these two different idea's about motion it seems that we must then reevaluate not how we perceive motion, but what we perceive as motion. Motion cannot be defined as an objects physically moving through space consecutively–even at a quantum level, for we can see that there can be illusions in this, like the movie reel—but that it must be defined by the results that we see come from an object moving through space or space-time.

I feel that redefining our view of motion all together must be the most conclusive resolution. When science can no longer, (so far) give an answer to a question seemingly so simple, maybe it is time to redefine the original problem—motion.

Motion = our experience through time.

Me and My Bike

About two years ago I decided that I needed to start biking everywhere I went. Bike to work, to school, as well as go on various rides. Since then I have not looked back. I've traveled over 7,200 miles since that time. 

This is at the top of a short hill that had an ave. grade of about 10% but got to points of 30% grade.

I made the hard decision last year to also bike through the winter. It was easy last year as the coldest I biked in was about 6*F, and there was very little snow. This year was a lot different. I biked in -4* and went through weeks and weeks of bitter, wet, hellish snow.

Biking home at 1:30 AM from work in the snow.

 I am also going to be starting a charity program that gives bikes to students who need them, for free. It's nothing big, but if you're interested or want to help let me know. I'll be buying cheap bikes over the summer, (or trying to find some for free), and will fix them up to give away (on campus) at the beginning of the fall semester.

The boys love helping me clean and tune up my bikes whenever they can.

Last summer I set up some goals to bike certain routes and trails and completed many of them. And this year I'll be doing even more, and with a group of great guys who will be racing with me, (on team Cycling Cyclopaths) in the Salt to Saint race. Which I'm very excited for.

At the top of Dry Canyon Rd. -- A great climb.

Near the top of the Alpine Loop Rd. (Sundance Side), near the end of the three peaks challenge, (Squaw Peak, South Fork and Alpine Loop in one ride).

So, this year--Summer--should be pretty fun. No more cold riding, or snow. I'll try to do better at keeping this blog updated with the different rides I go on with plenty of pictures. 

Top of Rock Canyon - Road on the gravel for some time. Fun but cold (at the time) ride.