December in Books

~ Veselin ~ 5 Comments

I read 7 books this month, mostly from the Black Friday harvest 🙂

I feel like I had some excellent hits with 5 great books and only one truly bad, which I read anyway because it was Lee Child.

Best books

  1. We Are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor – an easy to read Martian style book. Loved it and it will be in the top 5 for the year.
  2. Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey – a Star Trek-like story with a million different species but no Kobolds. One of the main characters is a teenage rabbit with exceptionally long ears.
  3. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer – imagines what’s next with intelligent robots.

Worst books:

  1. In Too Deep by Lee Child – it’s time for Jack Reacher to retire. He’s turning into Steven Seagal.

Infinity Gate by M. Carey

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Infinity Gate by M. Carey would be the last book I read in 2024.

There’s a way to travel between alternative versions of Earth. Infinitely many alternative Earths. The stars are too far but the other Earths are near. You run out of resources? Next Earth has them and you may not be the only one reaching that conclusion.

Something in the storytelling makes this book exceptional. It sucks you in that world of endless variations. Like a horizontal Star Trek.

I was close to tossing it away in the beginning because it didn’t start well. Happy that I gave it a chance.

5/5.

My own sports team

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Daily writing prompt
If you started a sports team, what would the colors and mascot be?
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Given my current limited interest in sports, I would do a hiking club. White and green.

My grandmother was a founding member of the tourist club Sarnena Gora, Stara Zagora (in the mid-50s) and remained a member until she passed. I associate these colors with her former club. I was also a member but lost my membership card several decades ago. Of course, there’s no point in establishing a club like that – tourist clubs already exist and carry over 100 years of tradition.

A year in steps

~ Veselin ~ 17 Comments

I started building a walking habit about 2 years ago. I had this crazy annual goal to average over 10K steps per day for the whole of 2024. Happy to share that I could make it with room to spare.

Life is much easier if you don’t need to count your steps every day. It takes time and is often unpleasant. I tried all sorts of tricks, from waking early to spinning the treadmill in the evening. It was all inconvenient. Was it worth it – probably yes. Walking is like mild gym plus mindfulness combined. It unlocked hiking not just for me but also for my family. Helped me with the blog as well – lots of cool things and cats are just hanging out, waiting to be spotted.

My fitness goal for 2025 will be more complex.

  • I’ll try to climb Vihren (2 failed attempts in 2024)
  • I’ll try to keep an average of 10k/day for 2025 as well but increase the difficulty by doing more hiking and less city
  • I’ll try to add 1h/week of gym time, starting with body weight exercises like push-ups and plank. The 1h comes from the 7-minute-workout, 7×7 is 49, or roughly 1h. The idea is to build a habit this year rather than achieve any weight loss or body composition change.

Wish me luck.

The Perfect Space for Reading

~ Veselin ~ 7 Comments
Daily writing prompt
You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?
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The perfect space for reading for me is my bed. I can read some and fall asleep. Most books make me sleepy, and the ones that keep me awake make me happy. It’s a win-win.

As for writing, I’m not sure. Last time I wrote a book was before Internet was a thing. I’ve tried writing some short stories after but, let’s say, I couldn’t figure out the right space. Maybe I need something appropriate, like a medieval castle with a Rapunzel tower.

Currently reading Infinity Gate, an unusual sci-fi that has good and bad moments. I hope it gets a separate blog post.