Sunday, February 6, 2011

Today...reading, not writing


Ironically, somewhere in my quest towards writing, I've become totally engulfed in reading.  I've gone so far as to invest $15 in a subscription to national geographic and got a membership to the laramie library.Today I'm experiencing a total post-superbowl food-coma writing block.  I have much bigger and better plans for tomorrow's post.  For now, I just want to read, not write.  Here's what I've had my nose in...

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell..."What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus."

Where Men Win Glory by John Krakauer..."Earlier times may not have understood it any better than we do, but they weren't as embarrassed to name it: the life force or spark thought close to divine. It is not. Instead, it's something that makes those who have it fully human, and those who don't look like sleep walkers...It isn't enough to make someone heroic, but without it any hero will be forgotten. Rousseau called it force of soul; Arendt called it love of the world. It's the foundation of Eros; you may call it charisma. Is it a gift of the gods, or something that has to be earned? Watching such people, you will sense that it's both: given like perfect pitch, or grace, that no one can deserve or strive for, and captured like the greatest of prizes it is. Having it makes people think more, see more, feel more. More intensely, more keenly, more loudly if you like; but not more in the way of the gods. On the contrary, next to heroes like Odysseus and Penelope, the gods seem oddly flat. They are bigger, of course, and they live forever, but their presence seems diminished...The gods of The Odyssey  aren't alive, just immortal; and with immortality most of the qualities we cherish become pointless. With nothing to risk, thegods need no courage." Quote by Susan Neiman-Moral Clarity

Three Feet From Gold by Greg Reid and Susan Lechter..."Remember that your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but by what you are" Quote by Napoleon Hill

and finally...

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold..."The problem, then, is how to bring about a striving for harmony with land among a people many of whom have forgotten there is any such thing as land, among whom education and culture have become almost synonymous with landlessness. This is the problem of conservation education."

I know that its a bit of an eclectic blend, but I generally don't make book reccommendations lightly, so when I say you should check these out, I promise that there's purpose. 

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