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Reading/research
Jan. 7th, 2011 05:16 pmIt got above freezing today!!! The weather report never read above 27 (measured at the poky airport), but in town on asphalt, the thermometers were reading 36! I even shoveled out part of the mailbox.
Still reading this book for writers. The problem is that I keep wanting to try things out on my own manuscript, which is great for my book, but bad for finishing up reading. The other book I'm reading is a biography on Nikola Tesla. Son 2 has to do a book report on an American biography this month, and since he's had this Tesla fascination for years, it sounded like a good topic. But since his fascination was the inspiration for my own book, it's proving good reading for me as well. Tesla was fascinating!! He was OCD and it sounds like he had some kind of differently-wired sensory system as well. And he was brilliant. Thanks to him, your electricity flows efficiently and safely. He invented AC current. Also, a host of other things, some of them seemingly impossible--and yet, he figured out how to do them. He was the quintessential mad scientist. And despite his many inventions, people never talk about him. There is the particularly horrible story of when he worked for Edison, and Edison asked him to redevelop some aspect of the electrical system. Edison promised him $50,000 if he would do it. So he did, very efficiently and effectively. And then he came back for his $50,000. And Edison pretended he'd only been joking. The book is really interesting, and the more I learn of the kinds of things he invented, the sadder I am that nobody even knows who he was. I'm starting to see why Son 2 holds the guy in such regard. (Um, also I'm noticing the similarities between the two...photographic memories, peculiar fixations on food and clothing, dreaminess in school and dislike of writing assignments out, even while knowing waaaaaay more than the proposed assignment asks them to learn... Yeah. Luckily, Son 2 is more socially adjusted. :)
I also really liked that he credited his inventiveness to his mother. That she was an inventor, too (without the same educational opportunities in the wilds of Croatia--but even so, she invented many useful things for her daily life), and that he got his photographic memory from her. His father was good at his job--but it was his mom who was the genius.
Anyway. Must make dinner to feed the masses and also get back to reading. I hope that you are enjoying whatever you may be reading/researching!
Still reading this book for writers. The problem is that I keep wanting to try things out on my own manuscript, which is great for my book, but bad for finishing up reading. The other book I'm reading is a biography on Nikola Tesla. Son 2 has to do a book report on an American biography this month, and since he's had this Tesla fascination for years, it sounded like a good topic. But since his fascination was the inspiration for my own book, it's proving good reading for me as well. Tesla was fascinating!! He was OCD and it sounds like he had some kind of differently-wired sensory system as well. And he was brilliant. Thanks to him, your electricity flows efficiently and safely. He invented AC current. Also, a host of other things, some of them seemingly impossible--and yet, he figured out how to do them. He was the quintessential mad scientist. And despite his many inventions, people never talk about him. There is the particularly horrible story of when he worked for Edison, and Edison asked him to redevelop some aspect of the electrical system. Edison promised him $50,000 if he would do it. So he did, very efficiently and effectively. And then he came back for his $50,000. And Edison pretended he'd only been joking. The book is really interesting, and the more I learn of the kinds of things he invented, the sadder I am that nobody even knows who he was. I'm starting to see why Son 2 holds the guy in such regard. (Um, also I'm noticing the similarities between the two...photographic memories, peculiar fixations on food and clothing, dreaminess in school and dislike of writing assignments out, even while knowing waaaaaay more than the proposed assignment asks them to learn... Yeah. Luckily, Son 2 is more socially adjusted. :)
I also really liked that he credited his inventiveness to his mother. That she was an inventor, too (without the same educational opportunities in the wilds of Croatia--but even so, she invented many useful things for her daily life), and that he got his photographic memory from her. His father was good at his job--but it was his mom who was the genius.
Anyway. Must make dinner to feed the masses and also get back to reading. I hope that you are enjoying whatever you may be reading/researching!
