Lurking: How a Person Became a User by Joanne McNeil

While this book contains a lot of negative feedback toward our current state of internet and social pedia, McNeil also gets pretty sentimental about the earlier days of the internet. I felt more than a little sappy when she compared being on Myspace to having been at Woodstock.

If you're at all interested in how our social nature has changed while diving into a ton of extra information on the websites that invented the habits that are now second nature, then I would recommend Lurking. It was a fascinating, though sometimes depressing read.

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

I'm not entirely sure where Zen comes into this book, as Bradbury fills every page with passion and excitement for writing. This collection of essays tells much of Bradbury's own story with much practical advice to those who write stories.

I found it very inspiring and encouraging. If you wish you wrote more, like me, I suggest this one.

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun

Miles from Nowhere tells the story of a teenage immigrant runaway in the Bronx, in the 1980s. Who wouldn't want to read it? Who doesn't try to imagine a young life of independence at the cost of all safety? I definitely fantasized about it, with how boring and regimented my adolescent years were. This story does get pretty dark, as our hero Joon has to overcome some terrible stuff. The world can be pretty dangerous.

Anthony's Pizza of Deland Florida

Anthonys Pizza has two locations on the same road in the same town, but this one, the newer one, is said to be better. Cleaner. Like most small Florida chains, Anthony's gives us the taste of New York, or something like it. Their pizza has a ratio of 1cr/1ce/1ch*. That's right. It's that paper thin, easy to eat stuff we all love.

Their crust gets a 4 out of 5. The charred bottom took away most of its sweetness, but that's to be expected. It was crispy, but still foldable. Their sauce gets a 3 out of 5, from what I could tell. There wasn't much of it, and the waitress wouldn't give us a side of pizza sauce, only their chunkier marinara, which was fine. It didn't taste like spaghettii sauce. From what I could tell from what was on the pizza itself, the sauce was too runny. But otherwise there wasn't anything disagreeable about it.

For style, I'll give Anthony's a 3 out of 5. There was nothing special or unique about the pizza itself. In the future, I'd love to try one of their strombolis. The interior was pretty clean, with no frills or gimmicks. Their large pizza wasn't much of a deal, considering how easy it would be to consume the whole thing.

Anthony's gets a 4 out of 5 for overall quality. I had no complains, but I also wasn't overly impressed. With a final score of 70%, I don't see myself coming back here much except to try their stromboli.

* There is a scale for thickness of crust. 1 is paper thin, usually new york style. 5 is a sicilian or thickly crusted deep dish. Papa John's would get a 3. Pizza Hut pan pizza would get a 4.

There is a scale for the volume of sauce. 1 is a very thin spread. Not enough to make a 1 crust become soggy. 1 sauce with any other type of crust will make the pizza seem like cheesy bread. A 5 for sauce would be a lake between a curved bowl of crust and cheese. Papa John's would get a 3. Pizza Hut would typically get a 2.

There is a scale for the volume of cheese. 1 is a dusting of a finely shredded cheese. The sauce will be visible and there may be holes in the coverage. 5 is a piling that spills across your pan (or box) when a slice is pulled away. Papa John's would get a 3. Pizza Hut would get a 4.

To make it simple, I write these ratios for mass and volume in code. CR means crust. CE means sauce. CH means cheese. And the final reading will look like 2cr/2ce/2ch. Got it?

Hearburn by Nora Ephron

I really liked the movie Heartburn, starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. So the book intrigued me, noting Ephron's other credentials, like the script for Sleepless in Seattle.

The vibe of the book is entirely different. Instead you get Ephron's chatty narrative with many recipes thrown in. The type of intimacy is much different in the book, as you get to know a lot more about the narrator's opinions and general take, instead of just taking in the visuals of her story.

So I would highly recommend this one, along with the film. If you're not having fun with reading, Heartburn will cure that and really suck you in.

The Hour of the Oxrun Dread by Charles L. Grant

In the town of Oxrun, there's a myster and a thrill for a brave, widowed librarian. It's exactly the kind of story you'd expect to see in a low-budget 80s tv thriller. It works without gore and special effects. But since there are no budgets for scenes in lirature, why not throw in something specatular? Realism. Perhaps I'm burnt out on it.

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

In this classic pirate story, you follow the unjust fall and honorable rise of Captain Peter Blood. He may be the reason generic pirates have an irish accent. It's the kind of cunning hero tale that inspires us all to follow the call to adventure.

update for my dear readers

You might have been wondering, 'When is PJ coing to resume posts on his blog?' The answer is now. For those of you who don't know, in August I moved to Deland Florida, where I'm living with Justine's parents. Since then I've spent a month in Seattle and started another dishwashing job.

My best excuse is during the past three months I've been in 'guest mode', which doesn't afford one much privacy and free-scheduling for practices of the purely creative nature. As you may have noticed, I haven't even watched many Nicolas Cage films lately. But I have been reading a lot, and I'm far behind in my book reports.

So expect a lot of short book reports, by way of catching up. There are also many pizza joints around that I haven't tried, which may have influenced my choice to relocate. Let's hope I have found some sort of new groove and regular postings will resume.

Song of Sorcery by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

This is a quest fantasy with a 'rugged' female protagonist and a few hints of romance. It didn't excite me a ton, though I like stories about musicians and benevolent witches.