A few random updates

No, I’ve not died, nor has System 13 been thrown onto the mass grave of abandoned blogs. The past few days I just haven’t really had any decent ideas to write about. Rather than force myself into writing and most likely producing crap, I’ve opted to just ride out the silence. I’m sure it will pass shortly. A few random updates which don’t really warrant their own entry:

• I’m nearly finished with One Dharma by Joseph Goldstein. I ended up choosing it for my third book for 52 Books in 52 Weeks. I’ve really enjoyed it. It takes a look at a lot of the different Buddhist traditions (Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, etc.), and tries to find their similarities. Ultimately what you get is a boiled down essence of Buddhism. I’ll write more on this once I finish the book up.
• The Asteroid Belt has not disappeared. The past couple of weeks, I just haven’t been surfing the web much, which has left me with a dearth of material to post about. Rather than posting a pathetic one or two links, I’ve opted to just skip TAB for a couple of weeks.
• Apparently, winter did not receive my letter. We have had no snow at all, and it continues to rain nearly daily. The ground has become an amazingly icky mud swamp. Ironically, the only time it gets better is when it drops below freezing, at which point the ground freezes. Of course, when that happens, the precipitation disappears to insure that we don’t get snow. Winter, you suck.
• A friend of mine (hey, Marcel!) emailed me asking if I was sure about the tankhunters using bicycles with panzerfausts attached to the front. Yep, I am. The panzerfausts weren’t attached facing forward to fire; they were strapped upright, one on each side of the front wheel, solely for transport. When a tank was found, the tankhunter would get off the bike and remove one of the panzerfausts. Here’s a picture. Yes, that’s a picture of a toy replica; I couldn’t find a decent one of the real thing. Pity; there was a few excellent ones in the book.