Weekend Wanderings 5.11.12
This weekend, Amanda is the busy one with a bridal shower and birthday celebration. But I've had a busy week, with something to do every night this week except tonight! In fact, I turned down going to the Arizona Diamondback game tonight because I just need a night to unwind a bit! I'm actually looking forward to a bit of a slower weekend. Laundry needs to be done as well as dusting the house, and some yard work. Groceries are needed to be purchased, particularly for lunches!
Also, I'm getting close to finishing the book Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. I've got under a hundred pages left, so I want to get that finished! It's a pretty decent novel regarded several characters in Britain, Germany, Russia, and the United States around the events that led up to and through World War I. Its interesting for sure, but not my favorite book. To me, he is almost making too much of the characters to have them present or aware of much of the happenings in world affairs at the time. For instance, the fact that none of the male characters sent to fight in World War I were killed (though 1 was wounded) is a bit unrealistic in my mind. But, I do get how keeping them all alive and on the different personal tracks within the larger events of the time does keep the story moving and interesting. By doing this we can see how Germany and Britain interacted and were drawn into the war, or how Russia had the revolutions begin while at war that brought about the Bolsheviks. Also, the stubbornness and insistence to win a "total war" by most of the nations led to mistakes that drew the US into the war (by Germany) or prevent peace efforts to be entertained (by Britain).
Being a bit of history fan, I've actually been intrigued with this time period since I read a book in high school called Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie. World War I is a unique time-period, signaling a drastic change in governments (monarchies lose power to parliaments), warfare tactics, technology, and foreign relations. To think that up until World War I we still had the general tactics of lining up and attacking the other side, just as had been done in the Revolutionary War, and even back to the times of swords and spears, is pretty crazy to think about. The invention of the machine gun and modern artillery brought about trench warfare and the absolutely horror that WWI was. We have come a long way since then, but yet we should not forget what we are capable of and lift up war to something other than an absolute last resort.
So, outside of finishing this book, on Saturday Amanda has a bridal shower to go to, so I'm inviting the guys from church to come hang out and chill at our house. Nothing big, just hang out by the pool, have a beverage of choice, listen to music, and play videos games or watch something. Whatever "chilling" means on Saturday. Its cheap, but also just a good time to hang out. The pool is warm enough to be able to hang out in, which amazingly makes a mid-90's temperature very endurable outside!
The final thing I'll try to do at some point is go watch The Avengers. Everyone is saying its really good and I'm in the mood for a good action movie. Without having TV at the house, we watch a lot more movies through our Roku and Amazon Instant Video service. It'd be nice to get out to the theater, especially since we already have a ticket paid for! Not sure if you can tell, but this weekend is one I'm not planning on spending a lot of money on! We're planning a vacation in June, so it's time to save up some over the weekends.
Being a bit of history fan, I've actually been intrigued with this time period since I read a book in high school called Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie. World War I is a unique time-period, signaling a drastic change in governments (monarchies lose power to parliaments), warfare tactics, technology, and foreign relations. To think that up until World War I we still had the general tactics of lining up and attacking the other side, just as had been done in the Revolutionary War, and even back to the times of swords and spears, is pretty crazy to think about. The invention of the machine gun and modern artillery brought about trench warfare and the absolutely horror that WWI was. We have come a long way since then, but yet we should not forget what we are capable of and lift up war to something other than an absolute last resort.
So, outside of finishing this book, on Saturday Amanda has a bridal shower to go to, so I'm inviting the guys from church to come hang out and chill at our house. Nothing big, just hang out by the pool, have a beverage of choice, listen to music, and play videos games or watch something. Whatever "chilling" means on Saturday. Its cheap, but also just a good time to hang out. The pool is warm enough to be able to hang out in, which amazingly makes a mid-90's temperature very endurable outside!
The final thing I'll try to do at some point is go watch The Avengers. Everyone is saying its really good and I'm in the mood for a good action movie. Without having TV at the house, we watch a lot more movies through our Roku and Amazon Instant Video service. It'd be nice to get out to the theater, especially since we already have a ticket paid for! Not sure if you can tell, but this weekend is one I'm not planning on spending a lot of money on! We're planning a vacation in June, so it's time to save up some over the weekends.
Comments
Post a Comment