You must read this book

06. November 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: advertising, america, climate, climate change, culture, daily life, environment, good things, green, health, hope, politics, reading, science, slowing down, smiles, struggles, thoughts

Only in rare instances, have I read a book cover to cover in less than 24 hours.  These instances are usually marked by three things: having a lot of time on my hands, having few distractions in my immediate environment, and having a book that I find absolutely compelling.  This was the case with Mindfully Green by Stephanie Kaza.  I’ve been meaning to read it since I saw it in the hands of one of the teenage lifeguards at our pool over the summer.  I picked it up from the store on Wednesday of this week but did not being reading it until about 1:00 PM yesterday.  (I’m sure of the time because I was waiting in a courtroom for a case to be heard.  I was dismissed as a witness in the case thankfully and won’t be needing to go back.)

I read a lot on issues related to the environment.  On average, I’d estimate that a good 70% of what I read either in print or on-line has to do with the environment.  Much of the current “green” hype is just that, manic greenwashing in an attempt to catch part of the wave that Al Gore unleashed with his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth.  Sometimes though you find a real gem.  Dr. Kaza’s book is one of those gems.

The book approaches environmental activism from a Buddhist perspective of following a green path, rather than simply making small yet important changes.  The intention is to move the reader from the current vogue of green to a more holistic approach to caring for the environment.  The discussion is split into three parts:  Seeking Green Principles, Following the Green Path, and Acting on Green Values.

While I am not well schooled in Buddhist traditions, I found this book to be fascinating on a number of levels.  First it challenged some of my assumptions about life.  For example, in a discussion of systems thinking, Dr. Kaza introduced the concept that human beings are part of a larger system and also a system of systems themselves.  As such, the Western notion of free will becomes questionable.  The argument is not that individuals do not make their own decisions, but that by virtue of the fact that we are part of a larger interconnected system we are influenced by external forces that have impact on our decisions.

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One Square Inch of Silence: A Review of Sorts

05. November 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: america, daily life, environment, incongruities, listening, noise, reading, silence, thoughts

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I started reading the book One Square Inch of Silence, by Gordon Hempton about a month and a half ago, finishing it last night. The book tracks his travels across the United States from Washington State to Washington, DC. The book is well written in largely a conversational tone and is for the most part a pleasant read.

Hempton is obsessed with the concept of natural silence. He defines natural silence roughly as the periods between human made noise (such as leaf blowers, cars, trucks, trains, and planes). The book makes the case for the need to preserve natural silence as a national treasure. Hempton believes that there are no places left in the continental US east of the Mississippi river where natural silence exists. I tend to agree with him on this point.

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It is better to be lucky, but I would rather be exact

06. October 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: daily life, entertainment, listening, media, reading, sidetracks, thoughts, writing

Have you ever felt like a writer was speaking directly to you when you’re reading their work?

Ok, in my case, I’m listening to The Old Man and the Sea on the iPod on the way to work.  I must admit that in my long career as a reader I’ve read very little of Hemingway’s work.  I see now that this is a problem.  A void that must be filled.  I’m resolving to fix that problem, right here and right now.

I am a perfectionist, even though I’m far from perfect.  I am constantly striving to be exact and firmly believe that luck is merely that – a chance.   So, when I heard, “It is better to be lucky, but I would rather be exact” it struck a chord with me.  I immediately started committing it to memory.  (Since I’m not reading the book I can’t bookmark it or underline it — one of the many drawbacks to listening to a book rather than reading it.)

Contextually, the sentence is interesting in its own right — the old fisherman who hasn’t caught a fish in over 80 days, is thinking about the fact that his protégé is fishing with a luckier boat.  But there’s more here.

I’ve always been fascinated by how sounds fit together to become words, and words fit together to become sentences, and sentences…well, you get the picture.  Some writers (probably myself included) simply manage to put together a good sentence.  And maybe, if we’re lucky, we put together a few good sentences and have a good paragraph.

The Old Man and the Sea is not full of good sentences — it is full of great sentences.  Every one of them seems to be perfectly timed, measured, and exact.  It’s as if Hemingway is telling the reader that he’d rather be exact in his writing that be lucky (his previous writings had not enjoyed the commercial or critical success that this story would).

For me personally, the sentence is interesting because I’d rather be exact than be lucky.

Challenge Your Assumptions

10. September 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: america, daily life, entertainment, good things, reading, sidetracks

Sometimes its important to take a step back and re-think your assumptions.

For many years I’ve held the attitude that audio books are of little value. It’s a prejudice that stems from my education, which was strongly rooted in a liberal arts background and valued reading, writing and rhetoric. The assumption was that if you listened to a book being read, you were not actively engaged in the reading of the book and for that reason, the act of listening to the book was somehow diluting the value the book itself.

I’ve got a long commute (generally over an hour). Over the years, several people have suggested to me that I try audio books to help pass the time. I have always dismissed this, preferring to listen to the radio or the ipod, including a wide variety of music and some NPR.

I have a great deal of respect for NPR, however, I have been having a really difficult time with the news over the past year and a half. I want to stay informed, but the news is really bogging me down. That being said, I get bored with music on radio and my ipod on a frequent basis. Sometimes I’ve ridden to work in silence.

Yesterday, I finally broke down and purchased an audio book for the car ride. For a variety of reasons I chose On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. First and foremost, I’ve never been able to read the book in it’s entirety. I find the style a little bit difficult to read. The sentences are short. Choppy. Or, they are long and rambling in a manner that makes it difficult to remember the subject when you finally get to the verb; let alone the all the conjunctions and interjections that appear throughout them. In short, the book is written in a manner that many find appealing, but I find hard to read.

Upon listening to the first five chapters on the way to work today, I noticed something interesting. The book is a conversation – albeit in the narrator’s head. Listening to the reader’s voice, I was finally able to identify the reasons for the strange gate of many of the sentences, and quite frankly, it was a thrilling listen.

I’m sure not all books lend themselves to nicely to the audiobook format, but for certain, there are books that are meant to be read aloud. On the Road is one of them.

Been a while

23. February 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, family, fatherhood, frank, mr. grey, reading, struggles, time

It’s been a while since I last wrote.  We’ve been really busy, it seems like every weekend is jam packed with something.  It’s been a while since I had a weekend with nothing going on.  Sure could use one like that.  One where I might sit back and read a bit, or go for a bike ride (it’s been a long while since I did that) or work in the yard.  It’s a little too cold still for good old yard work, but I got a lawn full of creeping bent grass that I’d like to get rid of.  Been thinking of raking the whole damn thing with a thatch rake and getting some of the garbage grass out.  Or I might just till it up.  Neighbors will like that I’m sure.  

We had a long weekend two weekends ago (over presidents day).  We went up to PA to visit with some friends from England.  It was a great time.  This past weekend was kind of a blur.  Where does the time go?  Mr. Grey and I spent a lot of good ole quality time together this past weekend, which was great.

We saw Frank and the fam as well as a childhood friend.

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