Gold poisoning and doomdarts

Tuesday night I watched the new episode of House, which I just love. I hide my face behind a book when things get too gory, but House is such an intriguing character I can't turn myself away from him. At the end of the episode, House, of course, discovers that the wife has been poisoning her husband with gold. Last night during my Bible reading I read the portion of Exodus about the golden calf. When Moses came down from the mountain, he melted down the calf to ashes, mixed it with water, and forced the Israelites to drink it. Shortly after the people were struck down by an unnamed plague. I couldn't help but think back to the House episode of the night before. The husband couldn't breathe, scratched uncontrollably, and was in excruciating pain before the source of the poison was discovered. I wonder if this was the sort of plague that struck down the rebels. What an awful irony that what they had worshiped over the Lord was destroying them from the inside out. Gold can do that to us. The love for it isn't just because of what we see, it's how we allow it to make us feel powerful.

Time Magazine published an article a couple of weeks ago about new geekspeek words, one of which is doomdart. I don't normally pick up on new words quickly, but this is one I find using almost daily. A doomdart is defined as: the internal distraction of a forgotten task that pops into your mind when you are doing something else. This is why I can't sleep! As soon as I lie down, doomdarts start circling the room. Sleep did not come this morning until after 5 am.

Two book reviews today. First up Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King. If you haven't read the other books in the Holmes/Russell series, don't pick this one up first! Start with The Beekeeper's Apprentice and work your way forward. This series is definitely worth the time. This book is the best by far in the series. It allows us to enter the dark corners of Russell's mind for the first time and truly get to know her as a character. This duo has fought a mad Maharajah and a female Moriarty, but it's not until facing Russell's past do things really start to heat up. King includes bits and pieces of history in every one of her books making the worlds come alive in a way that few authors can. Peopled with colorful characters and deftly constructed plots, King is a terrific mystery writer. I can't wait for more!

My second review is The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activits, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President - And Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time by Byron York. Ok, so the title is more than a mouthful! I really enjoyed reading this book. It's written as fairly straight forward journalism, and in the sometimes hysterical world of conservative books, it's refreshing. Reading this book is a bit like watching the nightly news. You know that there is a slight liberal slant to the news, but if you're listening for it, you can hear it and take it with a grain of salt. The same goes with this book. Yes, this is a slight right slant, but if you're keeping an eye out for it, you don't have to be swayed by it. This book has some excellent points about how politics have changed since the institution of 527 groups, and I will be watching the November elections and the upcoming 2008 presidential race with these thoughts in mind. York makes an excellent point in his book. Liberals think that conservatives control everything and can make several points to prove it. Conservatives think exactly the same way. The truth lies in that the country is more evenly split with a few hardcore believers on either side. Very well written, very interesting reading.