You seem like a receptive sort. Check out:

The Alphabet Vs. The Goddess by Leonard Shlain. It’s one of the most fascinating books I ever read. Much food for thought.

http://www.alphabetvsgoddess.com/

Continue to feed my laziness, if you please: what’s it about, and why is it fascinating?

It’s about the fact that prior to language moving to written form most of the world was more geared toward Goddess worship, Matrilineal families, and the honoring of the feminine. Shlain posits that shifting to written language rather than spoken rewired the human brain to a more masculine perspective due to the whole left/right brain deal. He believes that with the world moving back to more visual stimuli such as TV, movies, and whatnot society will eventually shift back to a more feminine bent, or at least become more balanced.

I bought this book in 2000, and I’m not sure if newer editions have any new content. It was really quite interesting if you’re someone interested in language development.

1. I know nothing of PC games – no help there.

2. I’m shopping some good summer reading material too. I may check out the one Julie posted above and I’m going to try and pick up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson – I’ve heard good things about it.

3. South America. I had the opportunity to travel to Chile and Bolivia several years ago and it was amazing. I would like to go back and see Peru, Argentina, and Paraguay someday. I very much like the capital of Chile, Santiago. The rest of the country I was not overly thrilled with – outside the capital the people were not that accommodating to tourists. But Bolivia – La Paz specifically and the surrounding areas, were beautiful. I would go back to Bolivia in a heartbeat. The Bolivian people were interesting and welcoming and that part of the trip was just…well…wonderful. The people were great, the culture was rich and tangible, and the American dollar exchanged well there.

I’m damn sure interested in goddess worship, so… nice, okay. Thanks!

@Kath:

Very cool.

Strange question: did you eat anything challenging in Bolivia? Any odd foods you’d never have eaten anywhere else?

– c.

#1. I simply cannot recommend anything. I don’t read much non-fiction that isn’t on the web.

#2. Canada. Specifically, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Edmonton. Ottawa is the capital of Canada and it is awesome. The museums, the land, the people, the cats. Yes…I said cats. Cats are protected, tagged, collared, and even allowed to roam the halls of the Capital. For the whole story head up there…or you could look it up on the web, I guess. Cheater.

#3. PC games? My language! Stay far away from MMO’s, Chuck. You don’t need that kind of distraction in your life. Here’s my list of awesomeness. Some are old…some are new…all have the Pauly D. stamp of approval.

* Fallout 2 – If you have never played this, you have denied yourself one of the best RPG’s of all time. It’s turn-based…but it’s phenomenal. My all-time favorite PC game.
* Neverwinter Nights 2 (and XPacs) – Great story, character customization, and based off the D&D rulesets.
* Star Wars: Empire at War – This underated RTS I still play when I’m bored. It’s really fun, addictive, and best of all: You can as the Empire. You can thwart the rebels at Yavin and prevent the destruction of the Death Star. You can capture Han Solo playing as Boba Fett. (Currently the Gold Edition is only $19.99 on Steam)
* Civilization 4 – This is an acquired taste. If you don’t like micro-management, then stay out. However if you do enjoy it, this RTS/Sim is the best ever. Play as the Americans and rise from your caveman roots to your nuclear glory. Or you can play as the Native Americans and kick those white men off your lands. You can even be the French, and change their military history forever. I love the hell out of this gem.
* Tropico 3 – Play as the dictator of a tropical paradise. Be the benevolent leader, creating a lush vacation paradise, or be the arrogant destroyer of land using your people to slave in an industrial society.

I’m not sure what you have/have not played in the past. I can recommend some awesome old-time gems, too. I’ll stop here, because if I don’t I could go on for hours. Let me know your favorite genres and I can suggest more drilling down to your taste.

1: Edmund Morris “Theodore Rex”

2: Much like Johnny Cash, I’ve been everywhere man. As for places you should go, leave the new world. Go to Europe, or Asia, or Africa. Go somewhere with history. (Also, shameless plug, you should use Salem Travel, which is the travel agency my folks own: http://salemtravel.com/ )

3: I haven’t had time to play anything lately, but I recently picked up the first Bioshock, but I know you’ve already played it. I’d say nab Torchlight, which is a ton of fun.

1: Despite being a bit of a kook, Orson Scott Card wrote some good words on writing genre fiction called, simply, “How to write Science-Fiction and Fantasy” as well as penning the “Characters and Viewpoint” book for Elements of Style. Check ‘em out.

2: I want to go back to England. Really, really badly. There’s a crapton of history that’s not only fascinating but a wealth of inspiration for a creative soul. Naysayers may call it a ‘rainy land of rain’ but it doesn’t rain EVERY day. Just… most days.

3: For PC gaming, I have just one word for you:

Steam.

Paul mentioned it, but it’s probably the best way to legally get your hands on decent PC gaming. I’m tempted now to get Empire at War, but I also highly recommend Valve’s Orange Box if you’re into shooters, Torchlight if you like action RPG-lookalikes like Diablo, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines for some nostalgia and they’re adding new stuff all the time.

Orson Scott Card is a bit of a kook, but his Lost Boys scared the pants off me before I was even a parent.

Which has nothing to do with this post, but there it is anyway.

I actually prefer MMOs when I have a lot on my plate. Normal games make me want to sit down and binge on them so I can finish the storyline; MMOs are easier to put down, because really, the story isn’t as important as the experience. At lower levels there’s the “MUST LEVEL GRAAH” thing going on, but I must say Mass Effect messed with my sleep schedule more than WoW ever did.

The only PC game I can think of that isn’t readily available on the console and I would absolutely recommend is Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines. It’s very much a cult classic, though. It’s buggy as fuck unless you go out of your way to download the official patch, and it’s like 6 years old so it’s pretty fugly by today’s standards, but it’s amazing. The hotel level is one of the most legitimately terrifying gaming experiences I’ve ever had.

Oh, and ignore Josh. Recommending Steam is like recommending the Xbox, it doesn’t really mean anything. Have you played Portal? I assume you have, everyone has, but if you haven’t, it was recently free on Steam and I think it might still be.

1. I’ll have to ask the beastman later and get back to you on this. He’s huge on non-fiction and will have more suggestions than I do.

2. New Orleans. If only for the absinthe and the music. Even out of the French Quarter there’s a thriving joie de vive down there that’s intoxicating. I can’t wait to go back. But if nature’s more your thing, go hide in the forests of Maine. Gorgeous in the spring, and there’s nothing quite like sitting on the top of Cadillac Mountain and watching the waves. There’s a road to the top if you don’t like hiking, but some of the trails are easier than others.

3. Steam. You can get most anything worthwhile on steam. If you haven’t played Portal yet, you MUST. (I think it’s still being offered for free for the next few weeks).

As far as MMOs, check out Dungeons and Dragons Online. It is free save for some premium swag you don’t really need, and it’s less about grinding and more about dungeon crawling and questing. Something you can easily play for bite-sized chunks and come back to. Did I mention that it’s free?

I don’t do gaming anymore either on the PC. Half the time I can’t be arsed to play Mario Kart.

I will say, for a non-fiction book, it’s tragically (and I mean that truly, not hyperbolically) out of date, what with a dead author and 1 species described in the book has now officially gone extinct, but Douglas Adams’ endangered animal safari log, LAST CHANCE TO SEE, is a good one.

1.) Night of the Gun, David Carr. Fun, messed up, dark. Gave it to Fred Hicks as a gift a while back, and I suggest it to you now. Definitely a good read.

2.) Mexico was fun, but really? The place I’d want to visit again? I’d say either New York City, which currently tops the place I’d want to live if I made a lot more than I do (culture, food, Broadway, Central Park, days and says of walking around and not putting a dent in the city) or California (The sole reason I’d go back is to drive the Pacific Coast Highway again. That is the sole reason I’d advise anyone go. Rent a convertable, get a bazillion hours of music, and take your time. Stop everywhere. Really, take your time.)

3.) Pick up Dawn of War, Winter Assault, and Dark Crusade. You can probably get all for $20-$30. The best RTS ever made, colorful, violent, and just dripping with style.

If the RTS is not your bag, then get Galactic Civilizations II + Dread Lords Add On. Ignore the campaign. Do the tutorial, then do a custom game, largest map they have, most stars, most races, hit play, be blown away. Civilization always annoyed me because it was almost great, but often just kind of good with a stunning lack of competition. Galactic Civilizations is the reason I don’t even care Civ 5 is coming out.

4.) That’s, like, your opinion, man.

A couple NF books for you:

INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Autobiography of a woman raised in Somali. Follows her rebellion against Islam and her mysoginistic upbringing and her eventual new life in Europe.

THE HISTORY OF WARFARE by Keegan (I think – something like that, maybe John Keegan? That one’s in the basement bookshelves somewhere. You said questions. You didn’t say I had to get up, walk downstairs, and look shit up.) Self explanatory, but fascinating.

PC game: Huh? Only game I play on the computer is chess. When I’m not kicking John Hornor Jacob’s ass at Scrabble.

Travel – Hoping to get to that someday. I go to Wichita to see my son. You want travel tips for Wichita, let me know.

Travelling is all too often about getting away from where I am instead of going to someplace else. Prague is good for Kafkaness, you can actually taste the bureaucracy in the air. Or is that the metallic tang of burned tanks? Also sports a fine Sex and Communism Museum. Museums. Plural. Ahem.

As for books, with you on the non-fiction front. Currently deep into Boswell: The Ominous Years, but that’s a personal prediliction that probably doesn’t travel well. Very keen on Raymond Chandler’s collected letters – sure you’ll dig that. Also Heinlein’s Expanded Universe is an old fave, by turns boot-stampingly annoying and head-slappingly joyous.

Cool questions. Ask again in a month when I’ve had more coffee.

PS, LAST CHANCE TO SEE was a good call. Another personal fave. Recently rebooted by Douglas’s friend Stephen Fry. Can’t go wrong there.

Non Fiction Book:
A MONK SWIMMING, by Malachy McCourt (THE Malachy McCourt, one of three brothers of Frank McCourt, who wrote ANGELA’S ASHES and ‘TIS).

I read this book when I was a teenager, having nothing better to do and already eaten my way through the entire fiction section of every library within walking and/or wheedling distance. I expected to be idly amused (or at least waste time). Instead, I was hooked.

Malachy — being a true blue Irishman — has a wry wit and sense of humor that is so matter-of-fact, it had me in stitches. The book details his journey to America from Ireland, the (dis)connect of his four brothers (case in point: the fact that he cheerfully abandoned his little brother in Canada because he lost his passport factors only a footnote, despite the fact that the man ended up being stuck there for years), and his passions. As an Irishman, they range rather strongly from the darker to the light-hearted.

This book is where I learned this here bit from some poet or another:

The great Gaels of Ireland
Are men that God made mad;
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.

I can’t recommend it enough. I haven’t read it in years, and it’s stuck with me. Even the title, when I think about it, has me giggling hysterically. This book really touched me; not in that “so obvious, here, let me jam my fingers in your heart and make you dance, puppet, dance!” way, but with the sheer simplicity of his telling. Good things happened, bad things happened, and he simply… tells you, the reader, and leaves you to roll it around in your head for a while.

The four brothers were separated for years, too, and I still kick myself over missing the big event of their reunion. It was televised, back before the days when reality shows took over everything and soured moments like those.

As for games, I’m a diehard PC gamer, so I’m afraid I don’t have much to share in that regard. I prefer them to consoles, even when it’s available in consoles, so that makes me less than useless to compare. I know, I know.

Get off my lawn, etc.

While I can see Danielle’s argument about MMO’s, I do not share her opinion on Steam. It’s the only PC platform that offers a true DRM substitute. You can also back up any game you buy to CD/DVD and get the license code. If that wasn’t enough…if you want to load your game on multiple systems, you only need to download Steam again…and then download your game. There are no limits on how many times you can load a game.

Steam has come a very long way.

It’s like thinking with portals.

p.s. Found it! Even if it is just on VHS: http://www.amazon.com/McCourts-Limerick-VHS-Alphie-McCourt/dp/0767012577

If you decide to sink into A MONK SWIMMING, I’d love to know what you think; good or bad!

TMeeps:

Hot damn. I take an hour or two to clean the office (orifice, heh), you people step the eff up.

Some initial thoughts on PC Gaming:

a) STEAM: I adore Steam. It is one of the few good things about PC gaming. If I can buy it through Steam, I damn sure will.

b) I am a monster Civilization geek. I eagerly await the next incarnation, but if Galactic Civilizations is good stuff — that may be an early purchase.

c) I am actually a fan of all those types of games you don’t normally see on consoles — Sims, Spore, creative RTSes, etc.

d) DAWN OF WAR — @Morgan — how intense an RTS is this? I love RTSes, but basically suck at playing them. The turn-based system of Civilization is more my speed, because… well, I’m slow. And dumb. And slow. And repetitious. And repetitious.

e) Anybody play TEAM FORTRESS 2 on PC?

– c.

I’m going to suggest The Fight by Norman Mailer as a non-fiction book. Cracking writing about an amazing event.

Places – just about every city in Europe comes to mind, but I reckon Berlin and Paris would keep your blood flowing.

Games. Who knows?

n

re: TF2 — The mancandy does. He has a great time with it, and my life is now one great big Team Fortress quotes-fest, but it’s all shooter stuff. I suck at them — I lack a certain je ne se quois, that–you know…. that twitch factor, that…

I lack aim.

Still, he shoots, he dies, he kills people, he snipes, he turns into a mechanic, he turns into a spy, he swears a lot. Seems fun!

Okiedokie. Some TRAVEL thoughts:

a) Definitely dying to go to Eastern Europe. Prague in particular.

b) I loved me up some of the British Isles.

c) I know I’ll be in SAN FRAN in the fall (for BOUCHERCON), but think I then might take a side-trip from SF and head back to Hawaii. Anybody ever been? I have to recommend Hawaii like you wouldn’t fucking believe. Most beautiful place on Earth. So far, the war is between Kauai and Maui.

d) @Danielle — New Orleans is awesome. I’ve not been since Katrina and, well, the BP buttrape of our oceans.

e) @Shawn — your parents own that agency? Very, very cool. So have you done a lot of traveling? How does using an agency fare with a DIY vacation/trip?

f) Dude, so, so, so want to see Asia. Thailand, Bali, Malaysia, Vietnam. Japan, too. China, not so much.

– c.

And now, some NON-FICTION thoughts…

@Nigel — THE FIGHT — wuzzit about? (I’m lazy. I could Google. But I so prefer Human Google!)

@Karina — Diggit. Heard good things about that in the past, and will put it on the list. Rock.

@Peter, The Godchecker — Dude. Chandler letters? Count me in. I love Joyce’s letters.

@Morgan — I think Fred suggested NIGHT OF THE GUN. Or maybe it was you. Or maybe I’m making it up. Either way, awesome. It’s on the list. (It’s actually bargain-priced at Amazon right now.)

@Shawn — Theodore Rex. Wuzzit? Why would I diggit? (See earlier, re: I’m lazy, human Google, yay)

@Dan — History of Warfare is on my shelf. Dry read, but very useful. Infidel is noted. Oresome.

And anything by Orson Scott Card — I think he’s a good writer, but he’s a vile enough dude in public now that I hesitate giving him money. I’ll still read his stuff, but will look for second hand books, then.

To reiterate: you TMeeps are farkin’ excellent.

– c.

After spending time with the Homicide unit The only place to go is The Corner.

Circus Parade by Jim Tully and the new reissue of Willeford’s memoir

@Brian:

I’ve heard THE CORNER is heartbreaking.

What, if I may ask, is CIRCUS PARADE?

– c.

@Paul:

So, Empire At War is good?

Also: Tropico. Always wondered about that series. Nice.

– c.

I love Empire at War. LOVE. Not only can you play a campaign, but you can set up skirmishes in space where you take your fleet against the computer’s. The AI is actually pretty impressive, too.

Tropico is really fun if you like the CIV games.

Both are available via STEAM.

Non-fiction book: THE GREAT BRIDGE, by David McCullough. Tells the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. tt could have been an award-winning novel it not true.

Travel: Took a car trip with the Sole Heir two years ago from Maryland to Debnver, then came home through Wyoming (Yellowstone), Montana (Little Big Horn), Wyoming again (Devils Tower), South Dakota (Deadwood and the Badlands) and Minnesota (Spam museum.) 5100 miles in 15 days, including five days with my brother’s family outside Denver. Never a cross word, and not one thing we did was a disappointment.

1) Non-fiction book recommendations usually trend towards the historical, biographical, or sentimental. I offer two alternatives that buck the trend.

The first is for the writer in you: “The Ode Less Travelled,” by Stephen Fry. Fry harbors a deep love of poetry and he wants you to share in his love. Written in Fry’s engagingly filigreed and polite style, it’s essentially an introductory poetry workbook. Fry intends that the reader both read about poetic forms and write them. If you’ve got any sort of training in poetry, most of it will probably be old hat. But if you’ve ever wanted an entertaining survey of the technical guts of poetry, then this is your book. Were I teaching a high school class on poetry, this is the book I would use.

The second is for the scientist: A Short History of Nearly Everything” is Bill Bryson’s survey of science history. You’ve got to be a fan of Bryson’s light touch with words (a cousin of Fry’s style, I suppose) but, if you are, “Short History” is a pleasant trip through the history of science. Bryson finds engaging ways to present a broad range of basic scientific knowledge. If I were instead teaching a high school class on science, I’d be sorely tempted to make this book into extra credit.

2) I’ve traveled quite a bit, so I’ll just highlight one location: the park in Sceaux, France, a suburb of Paris. My dad’s cousin married a French woman forty years ago and they settled in Sceaux, about 100 meters from a side entrance to the park. The park was the former estate of Colbert, finance minister (or something like that) to Louis XIV and surely-disavowed ancestor of Stephen. The park is essentially what Colbert used to call his “backyard.”

What delights me about French gardens is their geometry. Formal French gardens sculpt trees, bushes, shrubs, and flower beds into lovely squares, rectangles, and other right-angled shapes. The park is substantial, crisscrossed with gravel footpaths and chock-full of hidden sub-gardens, fountains, and statues. I visited in early August, when all of Paris decamps for rural France for summer holidays. The park was mostly empty and allowed me to imagine that it was my private estate. If you’re every in Paris, the park is a great, convenient alternative to Versailles and not mobbed by tourists.

3) Team Fortress 2 is, as you say, the tits. It’s the purest expression of the FPS yet produced by Man. It sports great gameplay coupled with a surprising amount of backstory and mythology, if you care to find it. Each of the classes has a unique form of gameplay that rewards dedicated practice. The TF2 team has a great sense of humor and fun which shines in the game. I’m a Mac owner and it’s been quite a while since I played TF2 on the PC. As soon as TF2 is available on Steam for Mac, I will once again prowl the servers as a Spy.

Only one book? How about two?

Unbelievable by Stacy Horn. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0061116904/echonewyorkcitysA

It’s a history of the Duke Parapsychology lab and its founder, JB Rhine. If you’re at all interested in the subject it’s a fascinating look at the people involved.

The Origin of Consciousness In The Breakdown of The Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes

Alternately dry and over the top, it’s crazy, weird and clearly this guy’s Official Pet Theory. Every PhD has one. His idea is that consciousness appeared as part of societal (as well as, but not necessarily physical) evolution. The short of it: Humanity used to be a bunch of schizophrenics who heard voices coming from different sides of their brain that they ascribed to the Gods.

As the separation between hemispheres became more pronounced the auditory hallucinations telling people what to do faded into one internal voice.

Shoddy, insane, but tasty and full of fascinating triggers for fiction. Think Snow Crash done as a doctoral thesis.

PC Games: I can’t do consoles. I want a keyboard in front of me. I want to know that I can squeeze every last pixel out of my machine with the latest Uber-Bitchin’-Nvidia-ATI-Rape-Your-Ass-For-Cash-’Cause-You Know-You-Want-It video card. Even if I don’t upgrade, I at least have the option.

Give me a dark room, a 24 inch monitor three inches from my face and a pair of headphones and I will rock Left 4 Dead (and 2) for the next 12 hours.

If it’s not on Steam, I’m probably not playing it.

A side note about Valve. No one is doing narrative in gaming like they are. They don’t force it, they don’t take the player out of the story. The story comes first. The game mechanics are there to serve the story, not the other way around.

The fact that they can make a good, cinematic, multi-player game with an engaging story, strong characterization and a straight-forward but interesting plot out of what is essentially a grindhouse movie says worlds about them.

Travel:

Woefully lacking in this arena. I have mixed feelings about Hawaii. My dad’s side is Hawaiian (and everything else). Went to Kauai one time because I knew no one I was related to there. Come to find that the tour bus driver and I were cousins.

I swear, the place is like the fucking Appalachians.

1. The Ghost Map, by Stephen Johnson — all about figuring out how cholera spread, together with some fascinating stuff about 19th Century London and why they had such problems figuring it all out.

2. I spent a semester in Japan in college, and visited some of the oldest sites there. Lotta stories from that trip, but one that sticks in my head was the hike up a mountain overlooking Kyoto. Beautiful view. The trail had been walked by so many people that it had eroded a gully in the earth 10 feet deep in some places. Nobunaga led an army up that trail to burn down the temple at the top of the mountain. We just had lunch there.

3. Huh. Instead of recommending any one game, I’m just going to suggest having a peek at Play This Thing a fun little site with a lot of indie games, mostly free, with a nice recommendation mechanism. There’s some wacky shit on that site, and some really good stuff, too.
Speaking of games, did I ever point you to Dwarf Fortress? I’m not sure I recommend playing it exactly, but the community around it and the stories they tell about it can be mind-blowing.

1. Non-fiction: UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN rocked my world; it’s an in-depth look at the violent, early Mormon faith and how it’s changed, focusing on the faith-based murderers Ron and Dan Lafferty. Reading it will make you scared of Utah. It has a pretty graphic murder confession that makes the audiobook nightmarish, so I recommend it in print.

Anything by David Sedaris. One of the most candid comedians I’ve had the pleasure of reading, his readings of his own work are part of the reason I’m an audiobook advocate. A lot of his stuff is available for free via Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life.

2. Northern California: The two largest species of tree in the world in one place; you want to see nature flipping the bird to skyscrapers, then walk ten minutes to an empty beach clean of debris, people and warmth? You can’t go wrong. Unless you want to swim without testicular frostbite. Seriously, though; these trees are older than Smaug. They’re awesome. Almost surreal.

3. Audiosurf: A musical puzzle-racing hyrbid. It’s difficult to explain without giving it a shot, but the basic gist revolves around you using your own MP3′s to generate the track and speed of said track.

Beat Hazard: Similar to Audiosurf in that it uses your music as a source of power, but this is an old-timey Asteroids/SHMUP clone.

These titles are $10ea on Steam.

I’m a pretty hardcore sampler of MMOs, adoring the betas and free trials they offer before rapidly shuffling off the next, new thing. There are dozens out there, and some are genuinely exciting revolutions of gameplay, but unless you’ve got friends dying for you to join their weekly raids, I can’t see much sense in indulging the pay-for elements for very long.

That said, I’ve shamefully played World of Warcraft for almost five years. It stops feeling like a game after a while, and simply becomes part of your weekly thing, because of the obligation you develop to what friends you manage to forge (from disembodied internet voices). Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s work, but you will never lament time lost to a game as much as you will wholeheartedly playing an MMO.

As soon as TF2 goes on sale again (hopefully with the upcoming Engie update), you bet your sweet beard I’m buying it on Steam. The Xbox version, while fun, just isn’t quite what I’m looking for.

@Josh:

The whole Orange Box for PC is on sale this weekend –

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/469/

– c.

Book: Secrets of the Sideshows http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Sideshows-Joe-Nickell/dp/0813123585

PC Game: Killing Floor. A nice 1st person shooter fighting off zombies. Based on the Counterstrike engine. It’s a great way to blow off steam. Filthy, filthy undead.

Jim Tully was a hobo in the early part of the 20th century. He was also a vagabond, roustabout, professional boxer; eventual journalist, press agent for Charlie Chaplin and Hollywood’s first columnist and most important of all, a writer. He was one of the most popular, both critically and commercially, writers in his day. Today, no one has even heard of him but then, man, everyone was reading Tully.

From a crime fiction perspective he is arguably the founder of the American hardboiled style of writing. Huh, wait, what?! Yeah, you heard me right. Probably the one thing that prevents him being more well known for this was that a lot of what he wrote was non-fiction. But what makes this argument most compelling is his popularity. The core argument revolves around his writing style; his ear for dialog; his coverage of and compassion for those on the low end of the social scale and those on the fringe. His characters are something else.

His work can be hit or miss but I would feel VERY comfortable recommending his “Underworld Edition” for which he was most well known and was his most popular works. They are a five-volume set of memoirs and life and travels.

Beggars of Life
Circus Parade
Shanty Irish
Beggars Abroad
Blood on the Moon

One of the other hallmarks of Tully’s work, which also would influence the early crime writers, was his unflinching presentation of dark things. Circus Parade (the one I just finished reading) for example features a mauling, a suicide, a gang fight/brawl, a robbery, two animals fighting to the death and, still shocking 80+ years later, a callous gang bang of a 14 year old black girl.

As far as non-fiction books go… I highly recommend COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen. Compelling, disturbing and just a great read

Oh…I play TF2, still. My Steam email is danomolis1@gmail.com if anyone wants to add me.

1: Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman. It’s my current read, and I’m in love. It’s the first approach to the economic crisis that I’ve found more informative than things on the internet, and certainly the most engaging and positive. I’m not angry after reading.

2: I’ve traveled lots. Dana Point California is my favoritest. But travel talk is for later.

3: Have you toyed with Sleep is Death yet? It’s about 8 bit, but it’s PC exclusive, and it’s probably the closest thing to a real storytelling game we’re going to see for at least a decade.

For the non-fiction: “I was Vermeer” by Frank Wynne – the life story of Hans van Meegeren, one of the best forgers of the 20th century; for the travel spot – wander around Ireland and look at the history coming at you from the Earth or go to Berlin, Paris, London or Madrid and see a new culture developing before you; for the PC game: Dwarf Fortress. Dwarf Fortress is in-development, unintuitive, hard-to-learn, hard-to-master, needlessly complex and extremely hard. It also has no win condition.

Oh, and it’s the most fun thing since Legos.

It exemplifies the reason why PC gaming will always be better than console gaming: hardcore creativity. Console games are either silly casuals or sleek triple A titles, designed by cunning minds who conform their vision to marketability. Dwarf Fortress is a one-man, community driven labour of love. Even though the creator says it’s still in alpha, it has more mind-boggling features than anything else I have seen.

I’ve heartily enjoyed all of Richard Preston’s books, but especially ‘The Hot Zone’ and ‘Demon in the Freezer.’ He writes about viral pathogens and epidemiology.

Nonfiction must read if you like food history: Spice: A History of Temptation.

Basically it details the history, lure and lore of spices such as pepper, cinnamon, cloves – what drove the Silk Road and also the exploration of the oceans, etc.

Another good read along similar lines is Salt: A World History.

I like my spices, what can I say? But both of these are very well written and readable.

For non-fiction, I love Jared Diamond. “Guns, Germs, and Steel” is his magnum opus. It is a magnificent study of the factors that led to the European dominance of most of the globe. If you want to do realistic world-building, it’s a must-read. His “Collapse” is also a great read, that covers what caused six specific civilizations to fall. (Hint: Don’t cut down all your trees when you live on an island.)

I also love 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. The author’s style is very similar to Diamond’s. In this case, though, he covers a lot of pre-history of the Americas before the Europeans showed up. The Aztec and Incan empires would make awesome fodder for world-building as well.

I also recommend James Gleick’s “Chaos.” It is an excellent treatment of just what chaos theory is. If nothing else, it will help you use it as part of techno-babble without sounding like a moron. (Unlike, say, Crichton.)

Non-fiction books:

If you still haven’t read it, Under and Alone, by William Queen – guy goes undercover with the Mongels for decades. A movie version is currently in production, not sure why they are bothering since the book was so good, there’s not much likelihood the movie will be better. Especially given Mel Gibson’s supposed to be in it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_and_Alone

Leaving Dirty Jersey by James Salant – the kid grows up in Princeton and becomes a drug addict. Goes to rehab in Cali, comes out and becomes a worse drug addict.
http://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2007/05/23/interview-james-salant-recovering-meth-addictmemoirist/

Yeah, I’m a day late. You were speaking my language, though.

I’m a die hard PC gamer. Fuck consoles.

Definitely play Portal. Also, I’m in Team Fortress 2 about an hour or so each night. It’s the go-to game for me and the hubster.

Also, Plants vs. Zombies is an excellent tower defense game by PopCap for those wanting a lighter game to play.

I <3 Steam. Not ashamed to admit I'm a Valve fangirl.

Add me up: MichelleTX

I’m not a huge PC gamer either (I think there’s just as much cool shit going on in consoles and downloadable titles as there are on the PC, and I like to be able to sit with a controller and lose myself in the game), but I live on Steam and GOG.com when I do play on the PC. My current favorites:

1. Torchlight: Diablo-style grinding that’s great for 15 minutes of killing time at a stretch.
2. Lucasfilm Adventure Games: They’re about $5 a pop on Steam, and most (like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis) really hold up well.
3. Portal’s still free, I believe, and a good way to kill a few hours.

1. All the non-fiction books I have around me right now are books about voodoo, history or writing, so I really have nothing to add at this moment.

2. I have not done a lot of traveling, but what I have done I’ve enjoyed. I’m looking forward to this year and adding another place I’ve been to the list.

I love Las Vegas (you can find me at the crap tables, I think it’s the gamer in me, I love rolling dice). I’ve been a few times, and there is always something new to see when I go, even on a tight budget.

Tortilla Flats out here in sunny AZ, along with a host of other places that are still on my todo list like the Bio-Sphere projects, the various castles, Sedona, Tombstone, the London Bridge at Lake Havasu and the Grand Canyon just for starters.

Back in my home state, the Oregon coast will always call to me, as will Twin Lakes, Mirror Lake and Crater Lake.

Seattle, ‘nough said.

I loved New York. I’ve been twice, and want to go back several more times.

I am very much looking forward to New Orleans this year, I can’t wait for it.

3) The games currently on my computer that I still play are: Morrowind Elder Scrolls, Sims 3, Spore, MtG Online, Medieval Total War, Pharaoh/Cleopatra (city building game, old but one I still play). I’ve also gotten back into MUSHing which is always cheap entertainment. I’m on an oWoD game at the moment.

4) I’d love to see more about how you’ve branched out into different genres like film. A friend of mine just finished filming his first full length movie, and my step-brother’s short film was either in the running for Sundance or was in Sundance. I’ve become very interested in the film industry, screen writing, voice acting, acting, etc because of both of them.

More foodie stuffs too.