Book droolage...

I have to dedicate an entire post to this book. That's how much I liked it.

"The Devil in the White City" is comprised of two different historical events that are intertwined: the Worlds' Fair in Chicago, 1893...and the serial killer, H.H.Holmes.

True to his other books, Mr. Larson mixes historical fact with personal accounts (gleaned from letters and circa 1890 newspapers), recreating 1890s Chicago so vividly that you can almost smell the coal smoke and the Union Stock Yards. If you are like me, and completely oblivious, besides the name, of the Worlds' Fair - I highly encourage you to read this book. This Fair was beyond anything the world had ever seen at this point and how they accomplished it on such a short timeframe and in such grand scale...it completely boggles my mind. They built an entire city in 2.5 years time that by the end of the fair (it was open for 6 months), nearly 1/2 of America's population had visited ::jaw drop::

A couple of interesting trivia points from this book:

Elias Disney, Walt Disney's father, was a carpenter who worked on the Worlds' Fair buildings and his stories of the park, it's beauty and magical feel, inspired Walt...hmm, wonder what Walt went on to build? :)

The Ferris wheel was created to "out Eiffel Eiffel". In 1889, Paris hosted the Exposition Universelle, and it was for that Exposition that the Eiffel Tower was built. America needed to create something to rival France's tower...and thus, the Ferris wheel was invented.

Shredded Wheat and Cracker Jack were introduced at the Fair.

The whole point of the fair was to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage. And prompted the President to create Columbus Day, October 12th.

I think one of the reviewers on the back cover states it best " So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this already".

Phenomenal book.

Books

Here are some books I have recently read:

1) Issac's Storm by Erik Larson

This is a non-fiction book about the huge hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. Excellently written - it reads like fiction, not non-fiction. It was weird reading this book and knowing exactly the area that was being described, having been on those beaches and walked those streets (I live about 30 miles from Galveston). And having experienced the aftermath of a hurricane (thankfully not as deadly as the 1900 storm) made the book more personal. As the storm gets closer and closer to Galveston, the intensity and suspense in book grows, I found myself reading faster and faster :). I was almost shouting out loud at some of the characters as they made life and death decisions and was astounded by how far meteorology has come since those times. Mr. Larson manages to jam-pack his works (I'm currently reading his "The Devil in the White City" right now - about the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and can't wait to read his new one "The Garden of Beasts - Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" that recently came out) not only with historical trivia, but with personal accounts from those who lived in that time. It doesn't read like a history book. Love this author!

2) Radical - Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream - by David Platt

I think every Christian should read this book. It was a big lightbulb moment book for me, challenging and convicting in several ways. I don't think I can do this book justice in a review, but the long and short of it is a challenge to look at your faith from what the Bible tells us to do and not manipulate it to fit what our culture tells us to do. Convicting.

3) Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Easily the weirdest book I have ever read. It was disgusting. It was fascinating. Mary Roach gives the detailed history of cadavers and their use in research - from the early days of grave robbing and apothecary uses, to modern time anatomy lab, car crash and land mine research, and she does it, like several other reviews have noted, in a humorous and yet respectful way (I especially appreciated her chapter on organ donation). Her writing style, like Erik Larson, reads like fiction, rather than a dusty old history book. She mixes in run of mill historical facts with some sensational trivia about cadavers. If you have a sensitive stomach, I wouldn't recommend this book - there were definitely some "ewww" factors to this book. But if you are looking for an interesting, outside-of-box, gross-your-friends-out-with-some-morbid-factoids, gaining an appreciation for all of those scientists and doctors out there who work with cadavers to make our lives better book, then you should read this book.

4) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I read this on the flight back from Moscow. This book was well written, I like Sara Gruen's style. The story is told in past and present - an old man reflecting on his experiences in the circus. The chapters that take place in the present were heart-wrenching (I got teary) as the main character, Jacob, candidly expresses his opinions of aging and assisted living and I enjoyed learning about circus life, the lingo and the social hierarchy that exists. Some of the harsher scenes in the book (sensual and animal abuse) were a bit much for me though and I found my skimming (and at times skipping!) some parts. I'm glad I read this book for the historical perspective it provides on circus life, but I found the main plot to be pretty run-of-the-mill and "been there, done that".

Last day...

Today I worked my last super short (3.5 hours :) ) shift, watched Endeavour undock and flyaround the ISS, and then headed back to the hotel, where I met up with Erin and we headed out to take the Moscow River Boat ride. It had been 6 years since I last did the boat ride here, and Erin never had, so we figured it was a good excursion. After just a little difficulty finding the "kacca" (ticket booth), we bought our tickets and boarded the boat

Excited for our boat ride!


Some sights along the way - Red October Candy Factory


Christ our Savior Church


The Kremlin - river view


One of the Seven Sister Stalin buildings

After some miscommunication between us and the boat captain (well, no communication really, just gesturing...we thought we had paid for a round trip ride). Apparently, we did not pay for the round trip boat ride, so we got off the boat and started walking back in the direction of Red Square. The nice thing about Moscow, is that as long as you know where the nearest metro is, or can see one of the many familiar landmarks, you are never lost. We found a place to eat lunch and then attempted to find Gorky Park. Alas, the only metro stop that I knew of to get to Gorky Park was closed. We could have attempted another stop, but that had the makings of wandering around for a good hour until we stumbled upon the park, so we decided to head to Arbat street to finish some last minute shopping. Arbat had some new things to show us. Such as this:

Texas Chicken. We think it's actually Church's Chicken. Maybe "Church's" wouldn't draw Muscovites and "Texas" does? Interesting.

And this:

I am saddened that Moscow understands the necessity of having a Dunkin' Donuts within its boundaries and Houston does not (okay, I think there is ONE on the waaay north side of town).

We then headed back to the hotel in time to meet the rest of our coworkers for a big meal celebrating the end of the mission (salad, borsch, and creme brulee, YUM). It's been a good trip.

Tsaritsyno (Царицыно) Palace

After work today, I went with two of my coworkers to Tsaritsyno Palace. This was my first time there, so it was fun to see something new! The gardens were beautiful...it is tulip season here... we walked around for a good hour and a half I think, snapping pictures, gasping in pain (awe, wonder) as Muscovite women navigated the garden paths in 5-inch stiletto heels, watching brides have their pictures taken...

This is what you see when you first walk in the gates...up on the hill, hidden behind the trees is the palace, which was built for Catherine the Great


Pink tulips!


Yellow and dark maroon tulips


See the palace towers peeking over those trees?


Tsaritsyno Palace


Bread Gate


These guys were the architects...giving them a high five for a job well done


Church of St. Nicholas


I call this "the wedding cake building with lots of white stuff on it". Technical architectural verbiage Melissa-style.


Big bridge

There were a ton of paths through this park and I saw two gals running through it...I would LOVE to grab my running shoes and have a nice run through this park...but not sure if that will happen on this trip...that whole work thing gets in the way sometimes ;-).

Russian bread...sorta

If it's made in Russia out of an American mix, does that count? I find it kinda funny that I have to travel almost 6000 miles to finally tackle the gluten-free baking projects I've been wanting to test out, but better late than never.

So maybe pictures of making bread in my hotel/apartment room aren't exactly what you think I'd post when in Moscow, but hey, I get by with what I have :)

No measuring cups. So I used a 16oz waterbottle to see where the 2 cups of liquid measured out in a coffee pot (no real coffee here either, filters are very difficult to find, so I just do instant). The recipe called for 2 eggs, some oil, and then add water to make 2 cups of liquid...hence needing to know where the 2 cup line was on the coffee pot


The recipe also said to use a breadmaker or a standmixer. I interpreted that to say "stick your hand in the bowl and "hand-mix" for 3 minutes".


All mixed (yup, another fabulous Pamela's product)



Here, the dough is resting


Oh yeah, totally squealed excitedly when I walked into the kitchen and the dough had actually risen!


It said to bake in an oven. I suppose the toaster oven will suffice (sidenote: I was deathly afraid the bread would suddenly burst into flames so I kept checking it every 2 minutes...at least it felt like it).


Voila! Gluten free sandwich bread. And this stuff is downright tasty. And it's keeping really well in the refrigerator...no funky gluten free grainy texture yet...

Out and about...finally!

I switch to the morning shift today and was feeling pretty wide-awake after work, so I decided to mosy on down to the metro (subway) and hit up a few of the usual sites. I was excited to see that I could still navigate the Moscow metro, after all, it has been two years since I used it last :)

Love how they captured the Russian flag with these pansies. Appropriately patriotic for being just outside the wall of the Kremlin


This is always a mandatory picture - St. Basil's Cathedral


As is this...except for the fact that the guy didn't frame it right ::sigh::


St. Basil's, Lenin's tomb, the clock tower, and part of the Kremlin wall- money shot :)



The Bolshoi Theater - alas, they are all sold out for ballet tickets for the month of May. I checked.


Still my favorite - the old KGB building.

Working in the HSR in Moscow Mission Control

HSR stands for Houston Support Room. This room is staffed with NASA folks from the Houston Support Group (HSG) 365 days of the year (or pretty close to that). During mated missions (when the Shuttle is attached to the Space Station), my group sends two people over to help out. This is because mated missions can be extremely complicated and tricky from an attitude control perspective and from a paperwork exchanged between my group and our Russian counterparts perspective. We found it to be necessary to send two people out (working a shift apiece) to be able to interact face-to-face with our Russian counterparts and explain issues that come up, answer any questions, and do some of the digging around for information that the on-console team would normally take care of, but have their hands full with Shuttle stuff. We are basically an extra pair of hands (and maybe part of a brain :) ) for the on-console team.

The afternoon shift getting ready to head out...this was Sunday, which is jeans day...normally we are dressed in our professional best :)


Erin and I during shift handover


Doing some plan reviews