Althouse: I'm back.

August 24, 2005

I'm back.

Once again, I drove 1000 miles in one day and lived to tell the tale. Sorry I didn't manage to stay on vacation longer. I'm not a workaholic or anything. It's not even the death in the (sort of) family. I just wasn't in the mood and had the means to dart home and did.

What audiobooks did I listen to? Driving out: Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation." Driving back: George Carlin's "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?"

17 comments:

ploopusgirl said...: So, let me get this straight. You live in Wisconsin and you went on a vacation in the Rocky Mountains. You drove there and back, in single day drives... and you only stayed for two days?? Why??; 8/24/05, 12:08 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Three days. Various troubles... not bloggable.; 8/24/05, 12:12 AM
Beth said...: 1000 miles is a "dart back"? Ok. I'm glad to hear you made it safe and sound.

We listened to "Assassination Vacation" on a recent trek to Texas; I loved it, but I couldn't keep from seeing Violet (The Incredibles) in my head as Vowell narrated. Still, it left me feeling a deep love for our country, and its resiliance to assaults from within.; 8/24/05, 12:27 AM
Ron said...: Ann: Did you like the Vowell book?; 8/24/05, 12:56 AM
Finn Alexander Kristiansen said...: Welcome back.; 8/24/05, 1:49 AM
vbspurs said...: So let me get this straight, Ploopusgirl -- the first words out of your mouth when a person (in mourning, mind you) returns home after a no-doubt exhausting journey, is a cold inquisition about her motives for travel?

Dayum.

Get a heart, girl.

Maybe you'll find others will treat you better if you're not always being so bitter.

Cheers,
Victoria; 8/24/05, 6:40 AM
vbspurs said...: Welcome back, Ann. *g*

As for the Sarah Vowell book, it was delightfully quirky -- I thought it highly enjoyable too.

I say this, however, with a caveat. If you're a Republican, and a bit on the touchy side, stay away from the book.

It's like listening to Michael Moore, where you never know when a Dubya/Republican slam will smack you in the face -- you just KNOW it's coming.

Another book I can recommend (sadly topical today, due to fresh doping allegations, which I read in Le Monde, surprise, surprise...), is the new Lance Armstrong book.

I am not a bike fanatic. Nor do I particularly like Lance, and the tone of the book is a bit like Six Feet Under (conversationally informal, even crude), but it's an excellent read.

So far so good for my self-imposed 10 books per week target this summer. Lots of rubbish out there though...

P.S.: Carlin, Vowell. You'll be reading Garrison Keillor next!

Cheers,
Victoria; 8/24/05, 6:48 AM
bill said...: Welcome back!

Victoria, as a huge cycling fan, I’m happy to hear that about the Armstrong book. I’ve been meaining to pick it up. Just in case anyone else is interested, a handful of Armstrong books were published this summer and the one Victoria mentions is by Daniel Coyle. Aside from Tim Cahill, Coyle is probably my favorite writer to appear in Outside magazine.

Here’s two Coyle articles I always recommend.

Better Environmentalism Through Killing - a truly rockin’ ride with Ted Nugent.

The Captain Went Down with the Ship successfully presents Hazelwood - of Exxon Valdex fame - in a sympathetic light.; 8/24/05, 7:24 AM
goesh said...: -no speeding tickets?; 8/24/05, 7:29 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I've never gotten a speeding ticket in my life. On the whole trip, I saw perhaps two people getting tickets (with nearly everyone on the Interstate going over 80).

I liked both books. Will front-page post about them later. Both books have some anti-Bush/anti-war material.; 8/24/05, 7:58 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Glad you had a good trip. Next time, hopefully, you can spend a bit more time here.

I do 700-800 miles at one shot coming back to CO from PHX a fair amount, and 1,000 is a bit more. That was a drive. Glad you made it safely.

I guess my question is whether or not there are any cops between CO and WI?

p.s. How was the TT?; 8/24/05, 8:08 AM
Joaquin said...: Good to see you back safe and sound.
Just for kicks, check this out.

http://www.germancarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/spyphotoid/6041005.001/audi/1.html; 8/24/05, 8:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Roaring Tiger: You're right. I had no traffic and saw no law enforcement.; 8/24/05, 9:27 AM
ploopusgirl said...: Victoria: What part of that was bitter or cold? I was genuinely curious. Also, I never asked for your psychoanalysis of why people don't treat me better. I really don't care about how they treat me.; 8/24/05, 10:56 AM
Simon Kenton said...: Ploopy let your hair down, girl
Let it hang down on me.
...
Ploopy, I don't care what your daddy do
"Cause Ploopy girl, you know I'm in love with you....; 8/24/05, 1:49 PM
vbspurs said...: Aside from Tim Cahill, Coyle is probably my favorite writer to appear in Outside magazine.

Gosh, Bill, thanks for those links.

I like good writing. No matter what the topic, a good writer can overcome the paper-thin thesis of some books.

(Conversely, Dan Brown BARELY gets a leg over with his repetitious books, and only does so because his plots are so intriguing they carry his lack of writing skill)

What attracted me to the Lance book by Coyle was precisely that.

Contrast that to the NYT Bestseller "Three Nights in August" by Biff Bissinger (who won the Pulitzer for Friday Night Lights, after all), and you'll see what I mean.

That book was THE worst baseball book I've ever read -- with Michael Lewis' Moneyball being one of the more recent ones which I can highly recommend if you like the genre of sports writing (as I do).

Something tells me the sport of bicycling attracts a certain type of person -- what Daniel Coyle calls "those overqualified bike shop attendants", who speak 4 languages, and spent many summers trekking all over world.

That's precisely what makes a good raconteur, a good writer, IMHO.

Cheers,
Victoria; 8/25/05, 1:20 AM
bill said...: Hope this isn't too gauche, but my followup response to Victoria grew a bit long and really wasn't on topic, so I put it here.

thanks.; 8/25/05, 10:36 AM