You REALLY should be reading D.M. Cornish's "The Foundling's Tale" series

Foundling by D.M. Cornish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore D.M. Cornish's The Foundling's Tale (formerly known as Monster's Blood Tattoo) series, which includes the books Foundling, Lamplighter and Factotum. It has oft-been described as Dickens-like tale of an orphan's through through an 18th-century-like, biopunk world...with monsters.

Biopunk? Think steampunk. But instead of gears, steam, and blimps...technology based on plants, vat-grown tissue, surgical enhancements, and potions.

There is so much I loved about these books. And much is hard to put into words. One thing was it's texture. And by that, I not only mean the objects, surfaces in this world, but the institutions, culture, language, and tech. It just feels, sounds, and looks good in my mind. Though the plot is great, for me, it's really the world that Cornish has created that enchanted me. It is so thick with potential that I hope he either writes a hundred books, or finds a way to expand it to other writers and creative platforms, as has been done with Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, etc.

This book is perfect if you like....

TECH: If you like clockpunk, steampunk, or cyber punk. Tech is tech.

MINUTIAE: If you like reading all the little text in a Chris Ware graphic novel or a Dave Eggars' early McSweeney's issues. His books include a massive, mostly-for-fun glossary and gorgeous, detailed illustrations...by the author!

MADE UP WORDS: Did you enjoy all the whimsical names J.K. Rowling invented for her Potter universe? These books have a TON!

DESIGN: These books just look and feel wonderful. The size and proportion of a 19th-century novel. Beautiful covers with sublime color palettes and delicious paper stock.

18TH & 19TH CENTURIES: Like I said, think Dickens. Also, the movies Amadeus, Immortal Beloved, and Glory. Or the books Bartleby the Scrivener and Frankenstein. Lots of bookkeeping done in ledgers. Powdered wigs, tricornered hats, muskets and pale-faced bureaucrats.

MONSTERS: Of course.


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Finally back on the bike

I made great strides last year, with both my physical and mental health, when I started biking before work. And due to it being so warm in Florida during Summer and Autumn, early morning was also an ideal time because it was still cool.

But when the Florida winter hit, and it dropped to the 40s and sometimes 30s early in the morning, my bike riding waned. My healthy eating waned as well. So, between when I stopped riding in October and now, I put back on 20 of the pounds I lost.

But, now I'm back on track. Finally warm enough at the wee hours...and I got my chain and rear gear replaced.

And I picked a great day to start. The weather was great (even though it rained just a bit at the beginning of the ride.) I headed down to Venice beach and had a bit of breakfast. Then I biked down to Maxine Barrit park to do a little bit of journaling and morning pages for my novel.

Deaf Painting, Vultures and La Croix Selzer

Biked down to Venice in the morning. Stopped at the Venice Market and bought an Emotional Balance inhaler from Kokokahn. Smells strongly of rose. Then headed down to the Jetty. Nice cool wind blowing. Read a chapter of "Summerland."

Then headed down to Caspersen. Just stopped for a minute. Noticed a woman painting what I assumed was a landscape painting.

As I biked toward her, I asked, "Can I take a look?" She totally ignored me. I asked her again. No luck at first. Then she pointed at her ears. I assumed she had headphones in. Then I learned she was deaf. So I motioned that I wanted to see her painting. She motioned to go ahead. She hadn't been at it long, but it looked pretty good. So I signed the letters "N-I-C-E." She then said what I gathered to mean she didn't think it was much, or she hadn't been at it long, or something to that effect.

On the way back, I realized that I had started the ride too late to go to the jetty. It was getting really warm. I hoped I wouldn't get burned. When I got back, the pool was cool and refreshing. Read some more "Summerland."

And, oh yeah. I'm down to 248 pounds. AWESOME!

During the day, I picked up the Druid Animal Oracle, got some Chinese food, worked on an admin interface for a client, watched some of Tim Workman's videos, and saw a ton of vultures handing out in the ditch at the end of Olympia.

And after dinner, had La Croix Cran-Raspberry selzer for the first time. Almost tastes like sweetened soda! Going to be drinking this a lot.

Saw a Great Blue Heron at Caspersen Beach this morning

I assume it was a Great Blue Heron. I wanted to get a really up close photo or video of it. But darned smartphones are always so wide screen. I got as close as I possibly dared. Then sat on a rock. He (or she) mostly sat there. Then he pointed at the water with his beak. I started filming. Then we walked in front of me, over to a nearby fisherman. I thought he was going to steal some fish from the fisherman's bait buckets. But it seems he was just going to wait behind the fisherman, hoping he'd share some of a catch. I was wondering if the bird was going to bet so close to the fisherman that the fisherman would turn around and jump at how close the bird was. But he didn't. 

Picked up some great book deals at the South Venice Goodwill Bookstore

I love going to the Goodwill Bookstore in South Venice. Perfect place stop in and spend just a bit of money, but get so much for it. Just about all the hardback books are $2.99, and the newer hardbacks usually $7.99

The End of Sorrow is a three-volume series of commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by the late Eknath Easwaran. I used to own all three copies. I may have given them to my mother. So I was happy to pick up a cheap copy of volume 1.

I got David Sedaris' Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim because I decided I must own every one of his books. BTW, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming movie C.O.G, which was inspired by one of his essays...

I got the two This I Believe books because I am a fan of the NPR segment, and I liked the blurb on the back by the late Daniel Schorr that said "...this forward-thinking compilation serves as a wonderful antidote to the cynicism of the age." I am a fan of anything that fights cynicism.

And I got the book The New Oxford Book of English Verse because I love old books. I love poetry books. And I especially love old poetry books. (And it was only a dollar.)

Just Loving My Morning Bike Ride

I've been biking since this second week of August. And between the biking and eating better, I've lost 17.8 lbs over a month. And honestly, I don't I could have done without biking and without being in Florida. 

I have always hated to exercise. So boring. Walking was boring. Running painful. And walking or running on a treadmill even more boring. I've always found biking to be a lot more enjoyable. Covering a lot more ground. And if you want, you can take it easy. But you're still moving.

But back in Pittsburgh, my neighborhood wasn't conducive to biking. Very hilly. And the closest flat trails necessitated a decent drive. Plus, since I commuted, I had less time to do so.

But Florida has been a blessing. One, I'm working from home. So that's almost two hours I gain. Plus, my neighborhood, and the whole area for that matter, is very, very flat. Plus, there is a major bike trail just a few blocks away. And the best part of the trail, and area, is you can bike by very beautiful areas. The bike trail goes all the way along an inland waterway. And another part of my 17-mile daily route goes along some gorgeous gulf beaches. 

I will have to mention my diet has worked as well. I've kinda been following the Virgin Diet, where you stop eating the top 7 intolerant foods (soy, egg, wheat/gluten, corn, sugar, dairy, peanuts) for three weeks, then try one at a time to see which ones you are intolerant of. I myself am just avoiding the above (only cheating once in a while with a pat of margerine). I really miss ice cream and stuff made out of flour. But it has really really helped. Not only with weight loss, but general well-being, both mental and physical.

By the way, you can check out my daily route below:

Beautiful Steampunk Art and Video

Courtesy of Natania Barron, authoress of the the book and blog The Aldersgate Cycle, I discovered the winning entries to a steampunk art and video contest held by the CGSociety, entitled Steampunk Myths & Legends

It is truly full of some beautiful stuff, steampunk or otherwise. Here is one of the entries that piqued my interest. It is called "Odysseus' Departure."