Monochromatic Outlook

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Steven M Scotten

Best books I read last year

The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America [https://splicer.com/book_review/opinions-shockingly-based-facts-and-analysis/], Kenneth Pollack A Deepness in the Sky [https://splicer.com/book_review/spiders-no-not-mars/] and A Fire Upon The Deep [https://splicer.com/book_review/what-sci-fi-oughtta-be/], Vernor Vinge Jarhead [https://splicer.com/2005/12/02/50bookchallenge-3050-jarhead-anthony-swofford/

Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll

In the past few days I’ve seen two mainstream films with very explicit sex scenes. By “mainstream” I don’t mean Hollywood, they are both definitely arthouse films with independent studios and distribution. But both want to be taken seriously as art and carry the NC-17 rating rather than

50bookchallenge #35/50: <u>Anna Karenina</u>, Leo Tolstoy

Such a fan as I am of the Russian authors, it’s surprising even to me that I waited so long to be acquainted with Tolstoy. Anna Karenina was a long and challenging read, but in the end very rewarding. As the opening lines indicate, this is a book about

50bookchallenge #34/50: <u>One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich</u>, A. Solzhenitsyn

This is a reread. It was the first of Solzhenitsyn’s work I ever read and it started me on a lifelong fanhood. I don’t know why I get so much out of reading about Soviet labor camps, but I do seem to have an obsession with oppressive regimes.

Well, this explains it

After calling SGI and asking what the last supported version of IRIX would be for an Indigo2 workstation, I spent an exorbitant amount of money for a secondhand set of CDs on ebay. OK, not exorbitant compared to the $600 retail price of IRIX, but still more than I’ve

I made a pictchur

So today at the Intensive Outpatient Program we had Art Therapy. We were supposed to draw something representing the theme “compassion.” Well, my art needs some therapy; I’ve been frustrated over my seeming complete inability to put pen and paper. I’ve been totally blocked and honestly terrified of

50bookchallenge #33/50: <u>Common Sense</u>, Thomas Paine

This was another short one, but the eighteenth-century language was a little difficult to wade through. With overcomplicated compound sentences, I got a little of an idea of what a chore it must be to read my writing. It was not as relevant a read as I expected. I guess