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01/25/2008: "Sick Again"
I have not had this many health problems in my life. This has been my worst winter ever for sicknesses. I have stayed home from work four days this week, and it's been getting very frustrating.
Tuesday was the worst: I could barely get out of bed. I spent most of the day just rolling around on the floor trying to be comfortable. Katelyn was sick too, so it was tough trying to entertain her.
I've steadily gotten better as the days drug by, but I still have congestion, a nasty cold, and some wheezing.
If what I went through in November and December was not enough, this certainly has to top off my tank! So, I would ask for your prayers in healing.
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When I look at the short list of Hugo and Nebula award-winning books that I have not only read, but did not like, I can still see the craftmanship that went into creating the novel. the plot is solid, the characters are believeable. I understand why these are judged to be quality books, even though I did not care for it myself.
However, I just finished a book I did not like, Robert Silverberg's Across a Billion Years, and it did not appear on the Hugo or Nebula lists. This book is nothing like any of hte other books I read and did not like. I felt that the characters were juvenile, and I almost feel that the novel itself was written for a juvenile audience . . . except for the occasional physical references to the attractive female android on the mission. It just did not feel high quality. The book made some good points here and there about how man will someday deal with aliens and artificial life, and was very easy to read. Nevertheless, I felt it was more brain-candy with paper-thin villians than pulpy substance.
So, what's my lesson from this? I still need to focus upon novels from the lists you see to the left. They are the quality ones. Even though there is the occasional burn, the awards are right more often than they are wrong.