Sunday Early Edition

Spring is here!
At least it is for me.
As in Spring Break, starting on Friday.
Boy, it's about time.
I mean I like work and all, but this time out will be much welcomed.
Special plans I have for one of those days.
Maybe.
So anyways, what to do with all that free time?
Well, I've sort of been letting my brain atrophy.
All that Law & Order don't you know.
Yesterday I was over at the still in business Borders so I picked up something to read:



I got a few books on physics, but this one looked good.
For five bucks.
The other book I had, I sort of put down when I got to the laws of thermal dynamics, this one seems easier to relate to.
Maybe.
This book/reading thing started up again, for at the school library, I found something that is an interesting read:



Blogging America, The New Public Sphere by Aaron Barlow talks about blogging as a new type of media.
I've never thought much about why I do this, or the impact it may have, so this has opened up a new avenue of thought.
It also talks a bit about how the internetswebz has changed peoples perceptions of words.
According the Barlow, when oral communication became literate/written communication, that was the first shift.
Today, it's literate to what he calls neterate, another shift in the paradigm and how folks perceive things.
It was written in 2008, so some stuff is dated, but overall it presents some interesting concepts.
One thing he talks about is the ownership of words or phrases.
Back in the olden page turning days, words or phrases were held in higher esteem than the words today.
The value of the word as someones personal property has diminished, since it is all so accessible and disposable thanks to the internets.
Okay, it's a bit more complicated than that, but if you're interested, check out the book.
I'm about a third through, more when I'm done.
Also found at the library, gotta love that school library! was a book on imperialism, American imperialism, a subject we're going over in US History:



Empire for Liberty by Richard H. Immerman talks about certain individuals who were influential in America's foreign policy.
Something I'm sort of interested in.
Biggest surprise so far is Benjamin Franklin and how much of a Royalist he was! He didn't really support the idea of independence until it became inevitable.
Although born in the colonies, ole Ben was a British supporter all the way.
Until the end that is.
The book takes you all the way to Iraq and what happened over there.
Or here.
Or someplace.
Okay, I got some stuff to read in the coming weeks, hopefully exercising my brain and making it stronger.
As long it's not about thermal dynamics, that stuff almost made my head explode!
Hopefully I won't get much reading done today, as it seems the clouds are parting and some sun is shining.
Yesterday, it was pretty wet.
Still, the rain makes some things here kinda nice.
When it rain in the mountains, the waterfalls appear:





Hopefully, no waterfalls today.