I took a look at Andy Erickson's blog the other day and noticed his Now Reading section.  I thought that was pretty cool and started looking around to see how I could add such a widget to my BlogEngine.NET implementation.  

There doesn't appear to be a BlogEngine.NET widget for a bookshelf, but I did see in some of the CodePlex comments that folks were recommending Shelfari.com.  So, I hopped over there and gave it a try.  Previously, I had played around with LibraryThing.com, but there seemed to be some limitations with the free account--plus, do they have a widget you can drop on your site?  

At any rate, Shelfari seems to have the features I'm interested in, so I'm now pleased to present...Brad's Bookshelf!

For easy access, I've added a link to my bookshelf page on the top menu bar.  I've not added many books quite yet, nor made any comments or recommendations, but more of that should come in time.  I look forward to hearing your recommendations as well!

You know what they say...you never forget your first.  Well, today, I bent my first nail!  A Grip Rite, hot dipped galvanized, 6" 60d nail from Home Depot--also known as a 60 penny nail.  It wasn't pretty, not like this guy, but I did it none the less.  

I've lifted weights off and on for about 20 years now.  I used to set goals for myself: one of my first was the 100% Club.  The athletic department at my high school had created it (as I'm sure every other high school, too): the membership requirement was that you benchpress your body weight 10 times in a row (1 set, 10 reps).  My personal goal was to meet that metric by the end of high school and I achieved it literally on the last day.

I've set other training goals for myself, too, but lately I've just been going through the motions.  Getting one or two workouts in a week was a good week.  Getting a run or two in was even better.  About two months ago, I picked up John Brookfield's book The Grip Master's Manual.  Wow, what a book!  John walks through a whole litany of exercises to turn your grip into a potent weapon.  I found the workout regimen he describes very inspiring and decided to adopt it for myself (at least, most of the less insane exercises--where am I going to find a big boulder to pick up over my head, anyway?).  

So, about two months later, I achieved my first goal.  This has been a big confidence booster for me.  Naturally, I'm now going to work hard to clean up my technique and probably try different variations (I did this bend with a double overhand grip), but I'm also eager to look forward to the next goal.  Maybe it's time to invest in IronMind.com's Bag of Nails?  I don't know--I still can't see spending $65 on nails when my 5lbs box of 60 penny nails cost $12.  Guess I'll have to think about it some more.

 

There are many other things I enjoy besides technology and genealogy: I love books, am forever frustrated by politics, am totally addicted to podcasts, oh...and there's that parenting challenge, too.  So, with this space, as time permits, I intend to brain dump other topics on my mind that don't fit nicely in the other sections of this blog.