May

May is here and finals are OVER!!! For those keeping score, I am now 1/4 doctor and I owe the government more money than Roger Clemens will be owing his fifteen year old mistress. Over the next eight weeks, I will be tutoring incoming medical students and working in the plastic surgery lab. My research project literally consists of burning rats and then giving them different medications. Apparently that will lead to major advances in boob jobs and botox.

Jimmy suggested I choose the book for the month, and since no one responded to my requests for a vote on suggested books, I choose...

"My Name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok

...It's 350 pages, but it is an easy read. I also think the fact that it's fiction will make it easier for people to get into. I'm not taking a jab at the political and economical books of the last two months, I just think they are sometimes harder to sit down and plow through in a few short weeks. Most of you have read "The Chosen" by Potok. "Asher" is similar in that it is also set in Brooklyn among a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood.

If for whatever reason people REALLY don't want to read this, please suggest something else. I am happy to comply. But if this works, be sure to get through this book! The message is powerful and I think it applies to all of us. I look forward to being able to discuss it with you all.

Congrats to those who have also finished and are now 1/2 doctor, 1/3 lawyer, 3/4 Google/New York playboy, or 7/8 Jimmy's byotch. I love you all!

Next book dudes

hey is this group over just because every book we have chosen has been finished by one or two people only? Lets do this, a nice and easy book. Who hasn't chosen one but has been reading? I say Nick chooses one? Thanks

Life Updates Through Photos

Spring. Finally.

Me and Cal

Saturday Afternoon.

I'm slackin' on the book. But I did see an awesome documentary today, "Man On Wire." It's about the tightrope walker who broke into the World Trade Centers and tightrope walked between them in 1974. Amazing film. Not sure if it will ever go wide release, but maybe a Netflix movie by the end of the year.

Prayer

I'm not sure how many of you have heard this news or not, but I thought I would share it with you all. Heidi took her oldest little boy Jake (4 years old) to the doctor Saturday with a fever. The doctor took some blood, realized he was septic, and rushed him up to Primary Childrens Hospital. We were all worried it was bacterial meningitis, but after more tests, it turned out he has cancer. Jake was diagnosed with ALL--Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The good news is that if you HAD to choose a cancer, this would be the one. It is very treatable, meaning 85-90% of those diagnosed are still alive after 5 years, and many of those actually go into complete remission and are totally cured. He is still in the hospital, and they have started him on chemotherapy treatments, which will continue for the next 3 years. Heidi seems to be handling things pretty well, but her husband Jeff is having a hard time. It's been a pretty rough few days for our family. Hillary and Isabelle flew out yesterday to do what they could, but I have to stay here for finals. It would mean a lot if you all could keep them in your thoughts and prayers. If not for me, then do it for Heidi, for whom many of you have a "soft spot" in your hearts! If anything else, I thought it important to keep you all updated.

Next book?

Hey who is going to choose the next book? Whoever does, I say we do a smaller one so we can all catch up?

Hiatus

I'm going to have to respectfully bow out of the reading this month. Finals are comming up and I'm about to have absolutely no time. In fact, I'm about to retreat into a fortress of solitude that shall be the epicenter of my exam preparation. For the next month my world shall flatly be confined to American legal theory and practice and I shall do so under the banner of ... forget it. I'll be done in early to mid May. Smurf, I know we spoke earlier but as you roll through town I should be free to help you move if you need it. Anyway, I have purchased the book and am planning on reading it but I wont be able to join you in so doing this particular month. I think you guys will understand, after all it's not like I'm merely refusing to read it because I disagree with its author's ideology. Eh Cam? Mr. I'm-not-going-to-read-a-book-by-a-religious-nut-so-I'll-just-read-one-that-criticizes-religious-nuts-because-I'm-only-quasi-open-minded. Just kidding buddy. I'm just bitter that I suffered through the thing while you went to Spain or something related to your awesome job in your awesome city with your sweet clothes and your rock-n-roll moves. Respeck.

The Re-up on the Rebutt

Luckily for Krakauer readers, he's all about full disclosure. He includes Turley's response in its entirety at the end of the book's latest edition, followed by corrections and defenses of his own.

As Frank points out, there is bias on both sides, each trying to support an argument. However, I highly doubt that most of Krakauer's conclusions are as "hasty" as Turley claims. Would love to hear any comments on his rebuttal.

cc