the way you changed my life
We're battening down the hatches for another snowstorm tonight, and I was talking to a co-worker who complained that the NYC public schools have been really reluctant to close this year for weather, and I was like, man, when I was a kid, they NEVER closed. Like, okay, the blizzard of '77, yeah, and Hurricane Gloria in '85, but other than that, I don't remember many snow days. I mean, I didn't go to public school, but back in the day, the Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens did what the city did, and most often, the city stayed open. I remember being in high school during snowstorms and half the class would be absent. I don't know how different it is now, but when I was in high school, we didn't have no yellow school buses to come and get us. I took NYC public transportation to get to school - 4 buses from Ozone Park to Fresh Meadows (Q8-Q11-Q88-Q17A), on the days when Marg or Dom didn't drive me. And sometimes in nice weather you could skip the 17A and walk (we usually skipped it going home and walked to the Q88 stop at 73rd Ave & Francis Lewis Blvd). In college, they also never closed, but I took the subway, which was much less subject to issues, even though where I lived, the A was an elevated, not underground.
Anyway, they are calling this a 20 year winter and I believe it. I remember 1994, the year of 17 snowstorms. I believe I made it into work for every single one, too (when they didn't close the office). I think 1996 was also a terrible year - I just remember how my neighborhood wasn't plowed for DAYS after a blizzard and the cab driver cursed out the mayor on the whole drive to LGA. I had to fly to Florida on standby for a board meeting because my flight the day before had been cancelled.
Now I feel really old. Sigh.
***
What I'm reading Wednesday!
What I've just finished
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre, which I highly recommend, because it is the hilarious and true story of Eddie Chapman, a career criminal who while in prison offered to spy for the Germans if they'd let him out, and then as soon as he finally made it back to the UK, went to MI5 and offered to spy for the British. It does sag a little in the late middle, but overall it's a highly entertaining read and if you enjoy spyjinks - and who doesn't!? - it's definitely worth reading.
What I'm reading now
So I realized, as I was reading all these books about WII-era spies and Bletchley Park codebreakers etc. that my knowledge of WWII was sketchy - I mean, I know about the big events, but I don't know much about what happened between the fall of Paris and Pearl Harbor, when the US entered the war, I don't know much about the Pacific campaign, and I don't know anything beyond the siege of Leningrad about the Eastern Front. And I kind of felt that ignorance when reading about Ultra and spies etc. So I got Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings out of the library, and I feel like I have learned a lot and I'm barely a third of the way through (it is a long book, which is fitting, because it was a long war).
It's a military history, which is probably not to everyone's taste, but it gives a good overview of what was happening where and when and how (and sometimes why), which makes sense because apparently the author was a journalist for a long time. And he's English, so there's not a lot of US-centric jingoism. Everyone comes in for their share of criticism of their terrible decision-making and poor performance in the field. I also really like how it uses letters and diaries and primary sources to give you a sense for how people were actually feeling.
While I was reading one of the books about Bletchley Park,
amberlynne said to me that those codebreakers are a main reason the Allies won the war, and she's not wrong, though according to this book, the tremendous sacrifice of the Russian people and the Red Army was the other main reason. And the fact that Stalin decided to learn from his mistakes and finally appoint actually competent military commanders, while Hitler still insisted on doing a lot of commanding on his own with poor results, and also the Germans did not have the industrial capacity that the US did to produce weapons and vehicles and ships as the war went on. Obviously I am simplifying, but there's a shit-ton of stuff in this book that I never even heard of, let alone learned in school, and a lot of things I never learned about beyond the names (Guadalcanal, Midway, etc.).
It also makes me feel my complete lack of knowledge about WWI, so I've got Hastings' book on that on hold at the library, as well as a couple others (and a couple others on WWII as well).
What I'm reading next
Probably Operation Mincemeat also by Ben Macintyre, since I have it out from the library and it has to be back in like a week.
I feel like this non-fiction WWII kick will probably end abruptly when something else catches my interest (the way my string of non-fiction food books ended abruptly), but who knows? I could go back to fiction soon. I just like not being overly invested in characters right now (which isn't to say I haven't felt horror every time Hastings lists numbers of casualties from various battles, because I have, but the scope is so huge that it's not overwhelming). I'm saving all my feels for Steve and Bucky (I was writing yesterday and BAM out of nowhere, ALL STEVE'S BUCKY FEELS. I had to close the document and rest for a while. I'm not even joking. Bucky's not even appeared in the story yet, either! Just. Steve. {FEELINGS INTENSIFY})
***
Other things I am having feelings about: it's only a month until the Veronica Mars movie! Here's the EW first look. I AM EXCITE.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/639086.html.
people have commented there.
Anyway, they are calling this a 20 year winter and I believe it. I remember 1994, the year of 17 snowstorms. I believe I made it into work for every single one, too (when they didn't close the office). I think 1996 was also a terrible year - I just remember how my neighborhood wasn't plowed for DAYS after a blizzard and the cab driver cursed out the mayor on the whole drive to LGA. I had to fly to Florida on standby for a board meeting because my flight the day before had been cancelled.
Now I feel really old. Sigh.
***
What I'm reading Wednesday!
What I've just finished
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre, which I highly recommend, because it is the hilarious and true story of Eddie Chapman, a career criminal who while in prison offered to spy for the Germans if they'd let him out, and then as soon as he finally made it back to the UK, went to MI5 and offered to spy for the British. It does sag a little in the late middle, but overall it's a highly entertaining read and if you enjoy spyjinks - and who doesn't!? - it's definitely worth reading.
What I'm reading now
So I realized, as I was reading all these books about WII-era spies and Bletchley Park codebreakers etc. that my knowledge of WWII was sketchy - I mean, I know about the big events, but I don't know much about what happened between the fall of Paris and Pearl Harbor, when the US entered the war, I don't know much about the Pacific campaign, and I don't know anything beyond the siege of Leningrad about the Eastern Front. And I kind of felt that ignorance when reading about Ultra and spies etc. So I got Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings out of the library, and I feel like I have learned a lot and I'm barely a third of the way through (it is a long book, which is fitting, because it was a long war).
It's a military history, which is probably not to everyone's taste, but it gives a good overview of what was happening where and when and how (and sometimes why), which makes sense because apparently the author was a journalist for a long time. And he's English, so there's not a lot of US-centric jingoism. Everyone comes in for their share of criticism of their terrible decision-making and poor performance in the field. I also really like how it uses letters and diaries and primary sources to give you a sense for how people were actually feeling.
While I was reading one of the books about Bletchley Park,
amberlynne said to me that those codebreakers are a main reason the Allies won the war, and she's not wrong, though according to this book, the tremendous sacrifice of the Russian people and the Red Army was the other main reason. And the fact that Stalin decided to learn from his mistakes and finally appoint actually competent military commanders, while Hitler still insisted on doing a lot of commanding on his own with poor results, and also the Germans did not have the industrial capacity that the US did to produce weapons and vehicles and ships as the war went on. Obviously I am simplifying, but there's a shit-ton of stuff in this book that I never even heard of, let alone learned in school, and a lot of things I never learned about beyond the names (Guadalcanal, Midway, etc.).
It also makes me feel my complete lack of knowledge about WWI, so I've got Hastings' book on that on hold at the library, as well as a couple others (and a couple others on WWII as well).
What I'm reading next
Probably Operation Mincemeat also by Ben Macintyre, since I have it out from the library and it has to be back in like a week.
I feel like this non-fiction WWII kick will probably end abruptly when something else catches my interest (the way my string of non-fiction food books ended abruptly), but who knows? I could go back to fiction soon. I just like not being overly invested in characters right now (which isn't to say I haven't felt horror every time Hastings lists numbers of casualties from various battles, because I have, but the scope is so huge that it's not overwhelming). I'm saving all my feels for Steve and Bucky (I was writing yesterday and BAM out of nowhere, ALL STEVE'S BUCKY FEELS. I had to close the document and rest for a while. I'm not even joking. Bucky's not even appeared in the story yet, either! Just. Steve. {FEELINGS INTENSIFY})
***
Other things I am having feelings about: it's only a month until the Veronica Mars movie! Here's the EW first look. I AM EXCITE.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/639086.html.
people have commented there.