I live in Istanbul and the number of cats here is staggering. There are about 3 parks within a 5 minute walk of my apartment where you can sit down, and within a few minutes you will have at least 5 kittens on your lap. It's great, except at night when the female cats are in heat. It's pretty loud.

On an unrelated note, the person that runs the cat refuge in Cihangir, Hilary Sable, is my coworker! We work together at an English school here in Istanbul. Small world!

The Mars Trilogy (I just consider them as one super long book) are my favorite books of all time. I honestly felt like a change man after finishing them.

I finished Dune a while back, but I just started reading Dune Messiah. I'm about 2 or 3 chapters in... should I stop now?

1. Red Mars Trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson

2. Hyperion, Dan Simmons

3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

4. Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds

5. Dune, Frank Herbert

6. Randezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

7. The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson

8.. A Scanner Darkly, Phillip K. Dick

9. Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keys

10. Can't believe I almost forgot this one, TITAN by John Varley