Review of Prey, by Michael Crichton

My favorite book I read this year is Prey by Michael Crichton. Published in 2002, the novel details the nano-robotic industry’s business transactions that destroy the relationship between protagonist Jack Forman and his wife Julia. After being hired by Xymos, a big nano-bot company, Jack is hired to restrain and destroy a destructive and quickly evolving swarm of black nano-particles that systematically and swiftly suffocates and consumes the flesh of the animals and of the workers of the Xymos fabrication plant at which the particles are made. The plot is filled with many surprises and is relatively unpredictable. This was one of the books that I just could not stop thinking about. The strongest aspect of this novel is Crichton’s fast-paced and suspenseful writing style, which strongly appealed to me because Crichton always left me wondering what would happen next. Characterization was not extremely important, but the plot is extremely well developed, and it definitely involves a number of exciting cliffhangers, violent deaths, and explosions. The biological and technological aspects of the evolution of a learning swarm are thoroughly and carefully explained and applied so that I, the reader, was interested but not overwhelmed by the scientific information. In fact, I think Crichton made a very bold move by including all the scientific data; by explaining the reasons behind the swarm’s evolution, the general plot of the novel became more interesting and more coherent. On account of its thrilling plot and interesting scientific information, Prey has definitely earned its spot as my favorite book this year.

Yes, I am a Genius

It's 11:50PM on Thursday, May 26.

I really wanted some oatmeal as a late-night pick-me-up sugar booster, so I opened the pantry and pulled out a packet of oatmeal from the assorted oatmeal box.

It was Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts variety. I had one of those the other day, so I put the packet aside and withdrew a new one. It was also Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts.

Slightly annoyed, I pulled out a couple more packets and realized that they were all Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts.

Peeved, I wondered what company or what employee would be so cruel to put only Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts in a variety pack of oatmeal. After all, am I not supposed to receive different varieties of oatmeal in a variety pack?

Then I realized that the box only had Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts, and that the box is, in fact, not a variety pack of oatmeal.

Yes, I am a genius.

On the bright side, I now have a cup of Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts oatmeal next to me. I even added extra raisins.

Have a nice day.

Music Monday Whatever Day It Is

Alright guys, thanks for hanging with me through my period of blogging inactivity. I'm pretty sure I will be able to post a little more often as we approach the end of May, but for now I have songs I want to sing you.

Good old classics from a very talented family.

First off is Mr. Frank Sinatra with Fly Me to the Moon



Next is Mrs. Nancy Sinatra (Mr. Sinatra's daughter) with Bang Bang [sorry about the poor video quality, but I think part of the "experience" is the way these artists compose themselves, and I think Nancy really holds the "sleek" aspect of her time]



Have a nice day.

Weird Dream

Hi all.

Haven't posted in 2 weeks.

The number of posts I'm making nowadays is appalling.

But I just wanted to post very quickly about my dream I had last night.

Basically, I was inside an outdoor pool, and on the wall of the pool were these hairy gray caterpillars...about the length of a pencil and the width of a loosely rolled up playing card. Swarms and swarms of them were breaking off the side of the pool.

I was freaked out so I pushed off the wall and headed toward the center of the pool when I noticed these gray jellyfish like blobs floating all around me in the water.

I usually don't remember how I feel in my dreams, but I remember being very very freaked out.

Anyway, here's to more blog posts.
Cheers.