Hey everybody! Another month ending means another wrap-up of what I've read. The tail end of this year is really flying by. It's crazy to think it's almost 2018. I managed to to read quite a bit during October. I've been finishing some series that I wanted to read as a kid and a lot of shorter books. That's allowed me to read tons more quantity wise this month. All in all, I read 26 books which puts me at 144 for the year. 6 of those were graphic novels, and 4 of those were audiobooks. Everything else was either a physical or e-books. Going forward with these wrap-up posts, I'll be putting my rating out of 5 stars in parentheses after the book title. Let's get into some of my favorites.
I finished probably one of my now favorite series, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I finished the second and third books, Hollow City (5/5) and Library of Souls (5/5). They were both so good. I loved all the main characters, and the adventures they go on. I also read Born A Crime (4/5) by Trevor Noah. I didn't know much about him, but his book is always highly recommended. It's a memoir about his life and being raised in South Africa. I thought it was quite interesting, and it had some funny parts. Some other good ones I read were So You've Been Publicly Shamed (4/5), We Should All Be Feminists (4/5), and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (5/5).
Getting onto some disappointments, I had to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2/5) for a class, and I thought it was pretty bad. I had such high expectations considering everyone loves it so much. It had some redeeming parts to it, mainly the character Marvin. I also had to read The Dispossessed (1/5) for that same class, and it was utterly terrible. I finally got around to reading The Man in the High Castle (2/5). I was hoping for more. The writing style wasn't the greatest, and a lot of the characters were annoying. I'm going to start the TV adaptation soon, so it'll be interesting to see how it compares to the book.
Graphic novel wise, I read Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1. I didn't even know this was a thing until I saw the cover on the app I read graphic novels on. It was great! It was easily one of the better superhero graphic novels I've read this year. I hope there are more coming out in the future. I'm also still working on reading The Walking Dead graphic novels. I finished Volumes 7 to 11 this month. They're not anything special to me, but I'd rather read them than watch the dumpster fire the TV show has turned into.
That about wraps it up for this post. I read a lot of other mediocre books this month, and I don't think they're worth talking about in detail at the moment. I'll probably do a post at the end of the year that has the whole list of everything I've read. I should get lots of reading done in November too, since I'll have a week off from school for Thanksgiving break. Thanks for looking!
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
My Issues With Recent Phone Trends
I think that most of us can agree that a cell phone is a pretty big part of our EDC. I know I've become increasingly dependent on my phone as I've gotten older. Our phones have become so much more than just a means to call or text people. They can do so much now that it's kinda crazy. Finding some of the perfect EDC gear is pretty easy for me, but I don't think I'll ever find the perfect phone. There's so many aspects to consider, and it simply isn't possible for a company's latest and greatest phone to align perfectly with my needs. I've had my phone, an iPhone 5S for several years now, and I know it's on its last legs. I really don't want to upgrade it, but at the same time, I do. Every year I wait to upgrade, I know I'm going to be more and more unhappy with what phones are out there. I wanted to talk about some of the recent phone trends that I don't necessarily agree with. These are all my personal preferences.
I absolutely hate how huge phones are getting. The majority of new phones out there have screens that are bigger than 5". That's incredibly ridiculous if you ask me. I do not need that big of a screen for a cell phone. For women especially, this big phone trend is horrible. First off, we simply don't have the pocket space for a phone this big. Of course, most women have purses to carry this huge brick of a phone in, but there's also the issue of hand size. Most women have smaller hands, so it's very hard to hold and be able to use a huge phone one-handed. As phones keep getting bigger and bigger, my question is when will they stop? I don't need a tablet sized cell phone. Sure I watch videos on my phone, but I don't find myself yearning for a huge screen to watch things on.
I also don't like the movement to make phones so thin. It's not necessary at all. I'd rather have a slightly "thick" phone than one with terrible battery life or no headphone jack. Why the heck does the headphone jack need to go away? Some of us out here do not want to switch to wireless headphones. With wireless headphones, that's one additional thing I need to charge. The headphone jack removal will not save that much space. We're talking about a matter of millimeters here. I will take a phone that's a few centimeters thicker overall if I can have headphone jack and a battery that lasts at least a week. The thinner phones get, the less there is hold and the higher chance of dropping it. I do not want a phone that's as thin as a piece of paper. I care about function over looks in pretty much everything I buy, so I wish more phone companies would stop focusing on making the most beautiful phones.
I absolutely hate Apple as a company now, so when my phone finally craps out, I know I'll definitely upgrade to some sort of Android. The Google Pixel was pretty appealing to me, but the Pixel 2 that was recently released has no headphone jack. Again, that's not something I want to give up. Some of the most important aspects I'd like in a phone are great camera, long battery life, compact size, front facing speakers, and a headphone jack. I don't think those demands are too unreasonable. I hope I can find my dream phone eventually, but I think I'll have to settle for something before that happens. Thanks for looking!
I absolutely hate how huge phones are getting. The majority of new phones out there have screens that are bigger than 5". That's incredibly ridiculous if you ask me. I do not need that big of a screen for a cell phone. For women especially, this big phone trend is horrible. First off, we simply don't have the pocket space for a phone this big. Of course, most women have purses to carry this huge brick of a phone in, but there's also the issue of hand size. Most women have smaller hands, so it's very hard to hold and be able to use a huge phone one-handed. As phones keep getting bigger and bigger, my question is when will they stop? I don't need a tablet sized cell phone. Sure I watch videos on my phone, but I don't find myself yearning for a huge screen to watch things on.
I also don't like the movement to make phones so thin. It's not necessary at all. I'd rather have a slightly "thick" phone than one with terrible battery life or no headphone jack. Why the heck does the headphone jack need to go away? Some of us out here do not want to switch to wireless headphones. With wireless headphones, that's one additional thing I need to charge. The headphone jack removal will not save that much space. We're talking about a matter of millimeters here. I will take a phone that's a few centimeters thicker overall if I can have headphone jack and a battery that lasts at least a week. The thinner phones get, the less there is hold and the higher chance of dropping it. I do not want a phone that's as thin as a piece of paper. I care about function over looks in pretty much everything I buy, so I wish more phone companies would stop focusing on making the most beautiful phones.
I absolutely hate Apple as a company now, so when my phone finally craps out, I know I'll definitely upgrade to some sort of Android. The Google Pixel was pretty appealing to me, but the Pixel 2 that was recently released has no headphone jack. Again, that's not something I want to give up. Some of the most important aspects I'd like in a phone are great camera, long battery life, compact size, front facing speakers, and a headphone jack. I don't think those demands are too unreasonable. I hope I can find my dream phone eventually, but I think I'll have to settle for something before that happens. Thanks for looking!
Thursday, October 19, 2017
What Gear I've Been Using Lately
Hey everybody! Super sorry that there hasn't been any posts here in the past month or so. I just haven't gotten around to getting posts together. Here's a quick update on what gear I've been using lately. It's not much, but it's a lot of gear that I didn't expect to use as much as I have.
Since I'm living off campus this year, I've been making all of my own food. The kitchen knives I have are crap, so I figured I'd give some of my own knives a shot at food prep. I've been using the Victorinox Alox Bantam to cut vegetables, and it's been working out wonderfully. I figured I'd use some sort of Victorinox, since the blades are so thin and sharp. I was worried that the blade might close on me, but I've had no issues whatsoever. I will definitely continue using it for food prep going forward. I've also been using the Victorinox Pioneer's can opener. I've never used a multitool can opener to open cans before, so I was intrigued to see how it would work out. It could not have been easier, so I think I'll continue using the Pioneer for my can opening needs.
Another category of gear I've been using a lot lately is lights. My headlamp and flashlights are getting a lot of use. I use the headlamp at night when I'm reading a book. The flashlights get a lot of usage for those times when I don't need my main lights on, but I need enough light to see something for a second. I'm pretty cheap, so if I don't have to use the main lights in my apartment, then that's a win for me. I'm getting more use out of my flashlights than ever before, so I'll take it.
The last things I'll mention are what knives I've been using. Honestly, I have not reached for many of my blades lately. I use the Victorinox Classic almost daily, but that's about as far as my knife usage has gone. I have been carrying the Benchmade 705 that I've got on loan from my friend Laura. That goes in the waistband and makes me want to carry more of my knives that way. I always seem to go through phases where I really want to carry a knife in the waistband and then I don't feel the need to at all. I need to get more usage out of my knives, so I might get a rotation set up to motivate me to do so.
That's about all the gear I've gotten use out of the past couple months. It's not a lot, but I am happy that I'm broadening the tasks I use my EDC gear for. I never would've imagined using my knives for food prep, so it's always cool to see how my EDC and usage changes over time. Stay tuned for more posts soon! Thanks for looking!
Since I'm living off campus this year, I've been making all of my own food. The kitchen knives I have are crap, so I figured I'd give some of my own knives a shot at food prep. I've been using the Victorinox Alox Bantam to cut vegetables, and it's been working out wonderfully. I figured I'd use some sort of Victorinox, since the blades are so thin and sharp. I was worried that the blade might close on me, but I've had no issues whatsoever. I will definitely continue using it for food prep going forward. I've also been using the Victorinox Pioneer's can opener. I've never used a multitool can opener to open cans before, so I was intrigued to see how it would work out. It could not have been easier, so I think I'll continue using the Pioneer for my can opening needs.
Another category of gear I've been using a lot lately is lights. My headlamp and flashlights are getting a lot of use. I use the headlamp at night when I'm reading a book. The flashlights get a lot of usage for those times when I don't need my main lights on, but I need enough light to see something for a second. I'm pretty cheap, so if I don't have to use the main lights in my apartment, then that's a win for me. I'm getting more use out of my flashlights than ever before, so I'll take it.
The last things I'll mention are what knives I've been using. Honestly, I have not reached for many of my blades lately. I use the Victorinox Classic almost daily, but that's about as far as my knife usage has gone. I have been carrying the Benchmade 705 that I've got on loan from my friend Laura. That goes in the waistband and makes me want to carry more of my knives that way. I always seem to go through phases where I really want to carry a knife in the waistband and then I don't feel the need to at all. I need to get more usage out of my knives, so I might get a rotation set up to motivate me to do so.
That's about all the gear I've gotten use out of the past couple months. It's not a lot, but I am happy that I'm broadening the tasks I use my EDC gear for. I never would've imagined using my knives for food prep, so it's always cool to see how my EDC and usage changes over time. Stay tuned for more posts soon! Thanks for looking!
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