Luggage and Literature

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

Friday Five 8-5-2016

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This is the thirteenth installment in my weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five random things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever. So without further ado, 8-5-2016’s Friday Five!

1–Poldark. I started watching this show on Amazon, and I love it. I reminds me a bit of Downton Abbey in its character interactions, but it’s also totally different. It’s set in the 1700s, so it’s a completely different time period than Downton Abbey. If you’re in a ‘show hole,’ it might be worth checking this one out. It’s on PBS, although I’ve been watching it on Amazon Video.

2–Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, so Mike pre-ordered this for my birthday. I just finished Act One last night (I’m trying not to binge read it), and I’m hooked. Some people have criticized it because it lacks the rich narrative and exposition of the other Harry Potter books. But, it’s also a script for a live stage show, so it would be silly to have all of that information. And I’ve read all of the previous books, several of the short stories on Pottersmore, visited the theme parks at Universal Studios (see my thoughts on them here, here, and here), and watched all of the movies, so I can picture all of this while I’m reading. So I can’t say that I feel like I’m missing out.

3–Other Magical Books. Once I finish Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I may be missing me some Harry Potter. Fortunately, I found this list, of 10 Books For Adults That Are Just As Magical as Harry Potter. So, hopefully that will help me from my withdrawals.

4–Ride with Larry. Larry’s wife Betty was one of my professors in college. And one summer, Larry and Betty led a trip to France for me and three other students, so they are dear people to me. Larry has Parkinson’s Disease, but it doesn’t affect him the same when he’s riding a bicycle. Consequently there was a team of bicyclists, including Larry and Betty, and a team of filmmakers who rode for Parkinson’s awareness. This documentary will be released on August 9, 2016. I’ve pre-ordered it, and I hope that you will as well.

5–Skydiving. I’m going to preface this by saying, I’m not interested in jumping out of an airplane. But a friend of mine just did it last weekend, and loved the experience. Then I stumbled across this article this week in Nebraska Rural Living. So, I won’t do it, but I’m fascinated by it, and wanted to pass along information to those who may be crazy willing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. 😉

Friday Five 7-1-2016

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IMG_20141112_090648599 (2)This is the tenth installment in my weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five random things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever. So without further ado, 7-1-2016’s Friday Five!

1–Ilvermorny. Do you love Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling as much as I do? If so, you’ll probably also love this short story over at Pottermore about a North American school of wizardry. So magical!

2–Undersea Cable. So, I knew that these existed, but reading about them is just fascinating to me. I have a hard time wrapping my head around a cable this long and just running under the sea.  Check it out here if you want to be amazed as well.

3–Audible. Mike and I have been listening to a few audiobooks lately, and are really liking Audible.  Picking out and purchasing audiobooks is really simple, and you can even add the audible version to a book that you already own. Right now anyone can get a free 30 day trial of Audible, but Prime subscribers can get a free 3 month trial with 2 books in the first month and 1 book in each of the following months (here)! And for those looking to compound the deal even more, Amazon Prime Day is July 12, with lots of super deals for Prime subscribers. You can sign up for a 30 day trial of Amazon Prime, and get the details at this link: Happy Amazon Prime Day July 12 – Exclusive Deals for Prime Members – Start Free 30-Day Trial.

4–Colliding Black Holes. So, I’m an astronomy nerd. I think I always have been. As a kid, I really wanted a telescope, and I even got one for a birthday once. But it didn’t work, so we returned it, and I ended up getting something else. In college, I even took an astronomy class for my science credits. And as an adult, I got a shiny, new, super cool telescope…with different lenses…and accessories. Like I said, astronomy nerd. I saw this post on black holes colliding, and was fascinated. It’s most amazing to me that Einstein’s predictions continue to be accurate, and are proven such after his death.

5–Cheryl Strayed and the Badlands. Being from the Black Hills, I’ve been to the Badlands several times. Reading Cheryl Strayed describe them though is like seeing them with brand new eyes. You can read about it at The New York Times.

Friday Five 4-1-2016

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I’m starting a new weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever.  So without further ado, 4-1-2016’s Friday Five!

1–The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. Check it out here! I regularly listen to Simon and Garfunkel’s classic version of this song, and love it. But this new take is breathtaking, and such a departure from Disturbed as I knew it. And wow, what a voice David Draiman has!

2–I know that this news story is from February, but I just stumbled across it. I’m a pretty big Harry Potter fan, as evidenced by having read all of the books twice, and having visited the theme parks (check out my tips for visiting the parks here, here, and here). So I’m obviously super pumped to find out about a new book! Yay!

3–Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Mike and I went to see it over the weekend, since he’s a huge superhero fan. I really liked it, despite some of the negative reviews. You can watch the trailer here.

4–Billion Dollar Wreck on History Channel. Mike and I have been watching this show since episode one. It’s pretty fascinating, as it follows the efforts to salvage the wreck of the RMS Republic in the Atlantic Ocean, the sinking of the Republic, as well as the manslaughter committed by Captain Martin Bayerle (the treasure hunter responsible for finding the Republic and endeavoring to salvage it). The information included about diving appears to be relatively accurate, although it is deep wreck commercial diving, as opposed to shallow water sport diving.

5–I’ve wanted to visit Iceland for quite some time, and have some definite ideas about what I want to do while there. Scuba diving between the tectonic plates is definitely on that list. It looks amazing! Just check out some of the photos and things to do in Iceland here, and tell me you’re not inspired too!

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