Parallel Worlds: Conquered!

So, I finally finished this mammoth book (not in size but content). Check out my review on goodreads.com. I'm so excited to be done with this one, it took way too long. What a mistake to try to read a physics book on my daily commute! I kept having to put it down and just try and digest what I'd read over the din of irritating school kids and babies crying, evangelists and all that makes the NYC transit system so unique. I just decided when I got home today to hunker down and finish the last 50 pages. I had an idea that the second half of the book would be far more interesting than the first, which goes over a lot of what I already learned in school and read in other books, like Einstein's Relativity. I took a lot of good notes, and even got a burst of ideas for possible future stories. Kaku-san throws out a lot of sci-fi ideas, like consciousness independent of physical forms, beings existing in multiple states simultaneously, a universal song, etc. He also notes a lot of science fiction novels and authors, many of whom I'm not ashamed to say I'd never heard of before. He spends a good deal of time explaining some of the stories relevant to his topics, and while I wouldn't run out and buy every title he mentions, it certainly gave me some fodder to work with. As I've mentioned before, I'm very new to the sci-fi literary genre, so getting some tips on potential authors is always a bonus. It also gives me an idea of what's already been done.

In other news, I spent my vacation two weeks ago hunkered down and writing in Education of Gareth. I got three and a half chapters completed, a personal accomplishment. Since then, I've been on a sort of extended siesta. Perhaps it's the lack of focus on writing and increased focus on gaming and movie-watching. A friend of mine lent me the Alternative Realities Star Trek Fan Collective and I think I finished it in the span of three days, with the exception of the Enterprise episodes, which I will never watch. Not the best use of time, perhaps, but it's been hard to concentrate after working so hard! I need to get back my focus though; this book isn't going to write itself!