Read in 2016

Reading. Yeah, I did some reading in 2016. Not nearly enough to meet my goal of 1,000 pages a month. But I did to a lot of it.

What am I most excited about reading? My own book, natch. Doleful Creatures is still not ready to be published, but beta reading it myself after setting it aside for several months has convinced me it’s still got legs.

The best book I read this year?

Probably L. Patrick Gray’s In Nixon’s Web. I love reading Nixon books, as you know. But I also love reading Nixon books that turn things on their heads and show me new facets to characters in the drama that I’d not seen before. Gray’s book deflowered Jack Anderson, Mark “Deep Throat” Felt, and Woodstein, among others. Now I’ll probably read a book later on that deflowers Gray – but that’s the beauty of the topic. Nobody comes out smelling all that good.

So here’s what I read this year, in alphabetical order:

Al Capone Does my Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko. 241 pages.

As You Wish; Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride, by Cary Elwes. 257 pages.

Aunt Pearl's Familly Reunion Book, Personal Pointers on How to 'Farley Up' Your Family Reunion, by James Arrington. 130 pages.

Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon, by Ted White. 374 pages.

Capone, by John Kobler. 416 pages.

Charlie Brown Christmas, A; The Making of A Tradition, by Lee Mendelson. 192 pages.

Curiosities of Medicine, by Berton Roueche. 254 pages.

Death of A President, The; November 23, 1963, by William Manchester. 710 pages.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Cabin Fever, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid, the Long Haul, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, by Jeff Kinney. 217 pages.

Doleful Creatures, by Brian Davidson. 380 pages (Beta read).

Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett. 182 pages.

Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett. 377 pages.

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance. 264 pages.
How I Got This Way, by Patrick F. McManus. 240 pages.

In Nixon's Web: A Year in the Crosshairs of Watergate, by L. Patrick Gray III. 320 pages.

Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchett; 295 pages.

Investigation, The; by Stainislaw Lem. 186 pages.

Le Ciel Lui Tombe sur la Tete, by Albert Uderzo. 47 pages.

Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett. 351 pages.

Myth-ing Persons, by Robert Asprin. 172 pages.

Never Sniff A Gift Fish, by Patrick F. McManus. 217 pages.

Overspent American, The; by Juliet Schor. 253 pages.

Snuff, by Terry Pratchett. 398 pages.

So, Anyway, by John Cleese; 392 pages.

Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett. 383 pages.

SpongeBob SquarePants Experience, The; A Deep Dive into the World of Bikini Bottom, by jerry Beck. 160 pages.

Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake. 396 pages.

Unseen Academicals, by Terry Pratchett. 400 pages.

What Would Machiavelli Do? The Ends Justify the Meanness, by Stanley Bing. 148 pages.

Ze page total: 9,004 pages.

Not yet added (because we haven’t finished it yet): The Old Testament, King James version. We’ve gone from Genesis through most of Jeremiah, leaving about one hundred-odd pages to read, but we’ve been interrupted. So that’ll count for next year.

Hillbilly Elegy, or, But for the Grace of God Go I

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"People sometimes ask whether I think there's anything we can do to 'solve' the problems of my community," writes J.D. Vance in Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of A family and Culture in Crisis. "I know what they're looking for: a magical public policy solution or an innovative government program. But these problems of family, faith, and culture, aren't like a Rubik's Cube, and I don't think that solutions (as most understand the term) really exist. A good friend, who worked for a time in the White House and cares deeply about the plight of the working class, once told me, 'The best way to look at this might be to recognize that you probably can't fix these things. They'll always be around. But maybe you can put your thumb on the scale a little for the people at the margins.'"

I think Vance hits on part of a solution: Empathy. He mentions in the book that he'd tried every kind of feeling from love to rage to hopelessness to fear with his own mother, a drug addict who never was able to form a stable relationship -- he tried them all but empathy. And I think that's what this nation as a whole lacks in solving any problem faced by any class of people. There's not enough empathy any more.

And I don't mean the Myrna Minkoff kind of empathy, where those "better off" descend on Appalachia or the inner city or wherever these crises occur and chant folk songs at people. It's combining public policy and education and faith in ways that address the principal challenges Vance and others have identified as being faced by any marginalized group. There are already plenty of outsiders willing to tell any group what they're doing wrong. And as is typical, those groups won't listen anyway. What they might need is people who'll actually listen and do little things to help.

There's the opposite side of the coin going on right now, with Donald Trump being the president-elect. The elites and even the haves -- compared to the have-nots -- are doing what Vance himself did: Fleeing from trouble, rather than facing it. Just as much as the right is feeding people bilge-oil on government being the problem, the left is offering the snake oil of upturned noses and platitudes and government programs that do more to deepen the problems of broken homes, drug addiction, and learned helplessness that Vance sees. No pure ideology is going to fix these problems.

If you think you or your political party have "the" solution to these problems, read this book. Chances are if you're honest with yourself, you'll see the problems are bigger than any one party or government can fix, unless that party or that government wants to listen to those struggling, rather than launching edicts from the coasts or lying about the government being the problem.



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Rest in Peace, Richard Adams

I can’t say it any better than Richard Adams’ family says it on their website, announcing his death on 24 December 2016.

To me, there are four authors – all of them British – who did more than write novels. They built worlds. Adams is among them, and is likely the most obscure. But his worlds are no less complex, vibrant, and real than those created by JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Terry Pratchett.

More importantly, Adams combines his skill at world-building with the Dickensian gift of creating characters that the reader only adds to as he or she gets to know them, page by page.

And while “Watership Down” tends to get most of the love reserved for Adams, I find most of his other books even better. Particularly, the world of Shardik – and its heart-rending look at the power of religion perverted by the evil of men. Many a time as I’ve wandered Idaho’s Lost River Desert, I’ve created in my mind a vision of the hapless slaves led through the valley of the shadow by their cruel masters, bending a religion of peace. (Clearly, it’s been a while since I’ve read it. I should put it in my “to-read” pile.)

Two books of his I couldn’t read: Traveller, a horse-themed novel in which the horse character had an atrocious southern American accent, and Girl on A Swing, which just didn’t fit my preconceived Adams notions. Traveller especially taught me as a writer you can take a character’s accent much too far.

"Lights, Please."

Will This Day EVER End?

NOTE: Today is the last work day prior to curtailment – tradition at the Idaho National Laboratory says the “Site” is shut down for Taint, the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Typically for me, a technical writer, it’s a slow day. So I thought I’d keep a log, bowing, of course to the new Conduct of Operations training I took earlier in the week which says to record everything.

0722 – Today has the markings of a long day written all over it. Only a half dozen people on the bus this morning, and already things at work are quiet. I’m here for the whole day. We’ll see how it goes.

0723 – The tray my keyboard is on squeaks a lot. Not as noticeable when it’s noisier here. Maybe if I move it a little. Yeah, that’s better.

0726 – My Christmas pistachios are gone. Now what am I gonna do?

0730 – I have no idea what I’m going to do today. My paper clips are still sorted from the last time we had a slow day.

0743 – Returned from potty break. Overheard two former cow-punchers talk about punching cows – they really used that term – in severely below zero weather. Decided if I were a cow-puncher, I’d let the cows punch themselves if it were too cold.

0755 – Just had a visit from one of the shift supervisors with a form revision. Didn’t expect actual work to appear today.

0757 Good news: I am officially done with my BYU-Idaho classes. Though having papers to grade today might have been a good thing.

0808 – There’s still at least one member of upper management here (at least in the AM). Better put my pants back on.

0814 – More work coming in? What the hell is this, a full-time job or something? They’ll have to deal with the fact that I can start a document revision, but that with many people gone and the rest of them going mostly before noon today, it ain’t gonna be finished by close of business. Which’ll make coming back to work really interesting. Good thing I hadn’t planned on taking Jan. 2 off.

0827 – Although I was going to ask for it off. Guess I won’t now.

0859 – Futzing over a white paper for which I’m getting additions today. This was supposed to be a slack day.

0907 – And now ANOTHER “gotta have it now” procedure fix. Don’t these people look at their calendars? Ya just gotta laugh, clown, laugh.

1008 – This is at least helping the day go by faster.

1044 – Hit a small lull. Sent a document into town for some formatting assistance. Calm before the storm, I’m sure.

1045 – I suppose I could still catch an early bus . . . 

1110 – Still in a lull. Things are brewing; I can hear them. But as time ticks by, more and more people will be taking the early buses home. So, whatever is cooking out there won’t be done until the oven dings in January.

1128 – There goes my environmental reviewer. Abandon Hope All Ye Who Bring Emergency Document Revisions.

1133 – Waiting for our text processor in town to fix a formatting issue on aforementioned white paper. I’m sure she’s as shocked as I am that there’s work to be done today.

1159 – Day nearly halfway done. Potential reviewers fleeing. And it smells of ham and disinfectant in the cafeteria. For lunch: Ice and diet caffeine-free Coke, meaning I get the health detriments of diet soda but not the altertness-inducing caffeine.

1201 – One of the “emergency” document guys is on the phone apologizing to one of the bosses – who alerted him to the emergency and then scarpered – for calling him. I’d say CALL AWAY.

1211 – I think what’s happened is that it dawned on management that getting one document out earlier this week, which allowed one box of waste to be brought here, was only one part of the puzzle and many other things have to happen before that box can be opened. So they want to repeat the process. I’m a little hazy on the details. And maybe I’m wrong. I’m just a one-man rumor mill here.

1248 – White paper draft is back to the customers. There’s a little whooping and hollering from the corner where the other potential emergency is. Who knows what brews there?

1309 – Pee break.

1318 – From the corner, much discussion. Sounds like Monday, Jan. 2, is shaping up to be hellish. And today, maybe a prelude to hell.

1323 -- I REALLY should have taken the day off. Or not. Because getting blindsided with a rush on the first day back would be pretty stinky.

1354 – Naughty words emanating from the corner.

1414 – “It’s a buncha bulls**t today,” from the corner. “It’s supposed to be an easy day.” Amen, brother.

1420 – Reading this.

1427 – Just got called to the corner. Yeah, emergency’s likely off for today, due to lack of time and reviewers. But Jan. 2 is gonna be fun.

1454 – Things are getting quiet. And that’s okay with me. I’m ready for a break.

1520 – Now have a hot document in hand, building the review form for it. Monday’s gonna be great, I can tell already.

1539 – Review for emergency document was out . . .  for about thirty seconds. Heard “F-word” from the corner, then a request to kill the review. There were other babblings as to a reason why, but I was too far away to hear. Anyhoo, that’s how things work here sometimes, even when the platypus who was controlling me is no longer underneath the table.

1552 – And it’s out for review again, on a different review form. Panic evaded.

1553 – Only just over an hour to go. I may go lock myself in the Records Storage closet.

1601 – One. Hour. To. Go.

1604 – Error: Desire to Go On for Another Hour Not Found.

1621 – First email from a reviewer on curtailment. Surprisingly, not an angry one.

1630 – Half. Hour. To. Go. But my bag is packed with the stuff I brought to keep myself busy while I had a slack day. Didn’t use any of it.

1637 – Folding up this log. Wondering whether I should clean my desk off. I’m partial to no.

What Part of the Problem Are You?

Meet Daryl Davis.

He’s a blues musician from Chicago.

He’s pretty damn good.

He’s seen his fair share of racism.

He has plenty of reasons to hate Whitey.

Instead, he talks to them. And not just them – but “them.” The Nazis. The KKK.

He has every reason to hate them.

He talks to them instead. And he listens. Even to the vilest things they say about his race:

The most important thing I learned is that when you are actively learning about someone else you are passively teaching them about yourself. So if you have an adversary with an opposing point of view, give that person a platform. Allow them to air that point of view, regardless of how extreme it may be. And believe me, I've heard things so extreme at these rallies they'll cut you to the bone.

Give them a platform.

You challenge them. But you don't challenge them rudely or violently. You do it politely and intelligently. And when you do things that way chances are they will reciprocate and give you a platform. So he and I would sit down and listen to one another over a period of time. And the cement that held his ideas together began to get cracks in it. And then it began to crumble. And then it fell apart.

He has no illusions about those who voted for Donald Trump, he tells the Mail:

What you are seeing is those people who were dormant racists, being given a new lease on life by the sentiments of our new President-Elect.

They celebrate his election. But, let me be clear here. Every racist I know, and I know a lot of them, voted for Trump. However, that does not mean that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist. I know a lot of people who voted for him who are not racist.

Racist or not, I’m sure he talks with Trump voters. He gives them a platform – a platform not his to give, because everyone has a platform, regardless of who might wish to take it away from them.

I did not vote for Trump. I have a great many concerns about the things he says and the things he stands for.

But I’ll talk. I’ll listen. I won’t look at a Trump supporter, or someone who didn’t support him, but is not “actively” – whatever that means – working against him, and say, “You are part of the problem.” Because that kind of talk never works. Never.

Do you change a racist’s mind by calling him or her a really racist racist? No. They dig their heels in and remain racist.

Do you change a liberal’s mind by calling him or her a hippiest hippie? No. They dig their heels in and remain the hippiest of hippies.

When you talk in terms of us vs them, it’s always going to remain us vs them. Always. To insist we can remain in our own comfort zones and hurl wads of truth at others is to be part of the problem. Truly, when it’s an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, everyone ends up blind and toothless.

I’ll let Daryl Davis say it again:

The most important thing I learned is that when you are actively learning about someone else you are passively teaching them about yourself. So if you have an adversary with an opposing point of view, give that person a platform. Allow them to air that point of view, regardless of how extreme it may be. And believe me, I've heard things so extreme at these rallies they'll cut you to the bone.

Give them a platform.

You challenge them. But you don't challenge them rudely or violently. You do it politely and intelligently. And when you do things that way chances are they will reciprocate and give you a platform. So he and I would sit down and listen to one another over a period of time. And the cement that held his ideas together began to get cracks in it. And then it began to crumble. And then it fell apart.

You change ideas by listening to them, by challenging them intelligently, rationally, politely. And you share your ideas. And then that cement begins to crumble. Some of that cement just might be your own.