Reading Notebook

   (Note the month and year listed is when I completed the book, not when it was published.)

The Year in Review

I was able to read the entire "notebook" of 2001 on a train from DC to Raleigh just after the end of 2001.  Wow!  I had a pretty good year of reading.  So many things stand out that it is hard to pinpoint any one thing, and it seems there was an abundance of diversity, so it is hard to spot any trends.  But the highlights are:   John Adams; Walden (and actually being there a few months later); Why the Future doesn't Need us and the conversation my Dad and I had via email after that;  Great Books, and the long reading list I now have in front of me of the classics; and the Martian Chronicles.

Of course, no year in review for 2001 should not mention the events of September 11th.  I've already written briefly on that below, but I will say here that it certainly did affect my reading.  For a few months after that date, I had no desire to pick up any books.  Instead, I sunk myself in watching the news, reading newspapers, magazines, alternative papers, and Internet news sites instead.  I have slowly begun reading again, thankfully.

So, I am a bit torn about the whole thing.  Right after it happened, everyone was like "this is our generation's Pearl Harbor."  But now, a little over four months later, I don't think much has changed.  President Bush urged we Americans to "lead our lives," and that is what we have (mostly) done.  Things are not that much different now, at least for me and most people I am close to.  Yeah, I like to fly less than before, but I was never big on that anyway.  In some ways it is nice to get back to a "normal" routine, but in others ways, I really do wish things were different.

 

Forbes ASAP.  Big Issues:  The Examined Life in the Digital Age.   December of 2001.

This is a compilation of the 1st five years of the Big Issues.  See my review just below of big issue 6, which was published in October of this year.  I had read these from years 4 on, so I was quite excited to finally be able to read years 1 through 3.  Also, we decided to buy this book for both my Dad and Kelly's Dad for Christmas, since they both have enjoyed the magazines so much.

Looking at the book in front of me now, I have a ton of pages dog-eared.  But I don't think I will go into each thing that caught my eye enough for my to mark it.  Instead I will just say that both of Tom Wolfe's articles are fantastic;  reading Pat Conroy's article again, just after last year, was still a treat -- it is so well done -- and now after 9/11, it is more pertinent for me than it was last year; and finally Reynold Price's letter to his grandchild.  I wrote about this when I first read it, and I won't write again about it here as my feelings haven't changed much.  But I love the letter !

Ok, so I have to put in a couple of quotes and other thoughts in:

• Bill McKibben:  We live in the 1st moment when humans receive more of their information secondhand than 1st; instead of relying primarily on contact with nature and with each other, we rely primarily on the pre-chewed, on someone else's experience.   (Maybe that is why I like to go trail running, kayaking, etc. ?)
• Peggy Noonan:  We are too busy doing ... things to take time to see, feel, parse, and explain amazement.  (I hope I am always easily amazed and take the time to revel in it!)
• Peggy Noonan:  Her article was in big issue 3, on time, and therefore was published in 1997.   Towards the end of that article, she discusses terrorism and why the US is often considered "the Great Satan" to terrorists, and talks about something unthinkable happening in NY and DC.  Here is a quote:  "If someone does the big, terrible thing to New York or Washington, there will be a lot chaos and a lot of lines going down, a lot of damage, and a lot of things won't be working so well anymore..."  Amazing that she had 9/11 pegged about 4 years before it happened...
• Charles Van Doren:  The fear of time -- of time lost -- is a mortal disease.  It shortens life to an instant -- this instant -- which will be followed by other instants that are equally fleeting.  There can be no joy in moments that are carefully measured and doled out.  (But there is so much to do, that you have to be aware of time to fit it all in!  :-(  This is so sad, as I know Van Doren is right.   The best times, the most peaceful times, are when you can fully immerse yourself in something and not worry about the time and when you have to be somewhere else.)
• Charles Mann:   The more readily a piece of information can be found on the Net, the less one can be sure of its accuracy.  (Sad, but probably true.  But the idea behind google -- that the more links to a certain page, the more likely that page is considered to be "good," certainly seems to work on the Net!)
• Arthur Mille: .... One has to endlessly re-examine what one is absolutely sure is beyond possibility.  (Always keep questioning yourself and your beliefs, always keep reading to expand you horizons...)
•  

 

Desecration.  Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.  November 2001.

Book 8 in "the continuing drama of those Left Behind."  Well, perhaps these books hit me much differently based on how I feel when I read them.  (That is probably true of all books, but it may stand out in this case because there have been 8 so far in the series!)   This is the first book I've read since the terrorists attacks of 9/11.  Until now, I have not felt like reading any books -- just magazines and newspapers.  (Some of that is due to 9/11, and some is due to the business of moving from FL to NC, and then starting to prepare our land for building.)  When this was released, I figured I'd go ahead and try it, as these books have all been fast, easy reads.  This one was no different, but perhaps my mindset wasn't as it was for books 6 and 7.  This one seemed a step back to the redundancy of book 3, though perhaps not quite as bad.  Though not as repetitive in the same way as book 3, where just about half the book was a rehash of each characters' stories from 1 and 2, it was repetitive in a different way.   Prayers, statements characters made, conversations, etc. all had a repetitive feel to them.  Maybe that just happens in such a long series!  Or maybe it is just my mindset right now.

Quotes:  (from a couple of different magazines)

"The true art of memory is the art of attention."  -- Samuel Johnson

"This is an age of machinery and specialization, but I hope ... that the purely vocational aspect of university study will not be allowed to dominate.... Expert knowledge, however indispensable, is not substitute for a generous and comprehensive outlook upon the human story with all its sadness and with all its unquenchable hope."

Forbes ASAP Big Issue VI.  November, 2001.

Every year, Forbes ASAP publishes their "big issue," in which many people of various backgrounds, including writers, analysts, athletes, presidents, etc. all write about one subject.  This years subject was "The Pursuit of Happiness," which had been chosen before 9/11.  Some writers had finished their essays before that day, and some hadn't, and it is interesting to see the mix.  This year, after I was about three quarters done with the magazine, I decided I would write my own essay on the subject.  However, I have the advantage of having read all of the other essays in the magazine, so perhaps it is not fair.  At any rate, next year I will try to remember to write before I read!

Before I put my own thoughts down, I'll highlight a few of the essays that stood out to me:

Andrew Sullivan's "Who Authorized This?" article is simply fantastic.  He contrasts America's basis of "the pursuit of happiness," to current and past countries where the idea is very foreign.  In America, "no one can forcibly impose happiness on anyone else -- even if that means that some people are going to hell in a hand basket."   To other cultures, this is "a callous indifference to the fate of their souls, and even blasphemy and degeneracy."  And this is perhaps at the heart of the hatred of America prevalent in many current cultures.  I had never really thought of this before, and it was truly an eye opener.  Sullivan ends with:  "What power four little words -- the pursuit of happiness -- still have.  And what carnage they must endure to survive."   I've left out so much of this excellent article...  It is a must read.

Mark Helprin's "Vandevere's House," is a short story so I won't say much, as that would be a spoiler.  I can just say that the language is beautiful, the story well written, and the point strong.  Unfortunately (sadly?), it will most likely be missed by most that read it.  Perhaps not missed, but certainly ignored.  There are certain things in life and about life that are truly important and lasting, and many that are not.  You must take time to determine what the truly important things are, and then cherish them and culture them.

From the article "Five Dragons with Flashlight Parasol," I take away a desire to read more about Robert Louis Stevenson -- especially how he took Thoreau to task in the essay "Henry David Thoreau."   There's much more to the article, and the title of course makes no sense unless you read it.  The author, George Plimpton, does state that he feels "happiness is associated with being passionate about something."  But I'll leave this article here, for now!

"Dear President Jefferson," by Owen Edwards.   This is an excellent article, especially in light of having read "John Adams" in the past few months.  It is a letter from Edwards to TJ, whom Edwards deeply admires in many ways.  ("... I could never doubt your motives.  You and your fellow Founders form a constellation of stars the likes of which this country has never seen again, nor had any other country ever seen before."  -- very true and much like my own sentiments after reading JA.)   The premise of the article -- that Jefferson changed Lock's "life, liberty, and property," to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" -- was a brilliant con!   "Happiness is a mirage, a chimera, no more catchable than a unicorn."    You must read the article to come up with your own conclusions about Jefferson's intentions, as well as Edwards.

Lance Armstrong even had an article this year, with the following quote:  "Pain is my way of exploring the human heart."  Also, "I become a happier man each time I suffer."

A quote within an article:  "Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness."  -- Chuang-tzu (369-286 BC)

So, where does that leave me?  Well, I would like to write a little something about the pursuit of happiness, even though I have the advantage of having read what many others wrote.  I think that happiness must first be defined before you can talk about the pursuit of it.  The quote above from Chuang-tzu is one definition - a Zen Koan type of definition, though, and leave a lot to be desired.  The notion is strong and in my opinion certainly a part of happiness.  There was another article in the magazine, in which a college student hung up a white sheet, and other students wrote thoughts on it that made them happy.  The diversity of the writings there shows that happiness is a very personal thing.  To take that further, happiness is itself defined by who you are as a person -- what your background was, what experiences you've had (and enjoyed or disliked), etc.   Yet another article discussed the brain, and chemical reactions of the brain, that can lead to states of happiness.  That of course leads to drugs, which can alter the brain in such a way as to feel happiness.  Yet such states are short-lived.  Of course, if we are talking about the pursuit of happiness, perhaps short-lived states of it are ok along the road.   Can you train your mind to always be in a state of happiness?  (There was even an article that discussed this!) 

I think that being content with where you are and what you have, and being grateful for life and all that it entails (every breath is a gift!), are a start to having lasting happiness.  But of course, reaching those states is highly dependent on who you are and what your background is.  So many people are discontent, and they will never have happiness until they become content.  Of course, overcoming that hurdle is the subject of many many books, and I don't have an answer for it.      Pursuing a state of "content-ness" and "gratefulness" is a lifetime journey.  The pursuit of happiness is one and the same.  And they are a part of the beauty of life. 

Beasts of Burden.  Godfrey Chesire.  An article from "The Independent."  November, 2001.

Chesire has had a couple of excellent articles recently -- see below.  In this one, he examines two Arabic cultural icons, Ibn Arabi and Averroes (Ibn Rushd).   The article examines the damage done by the West's separation from the culture of Islam.   Both Arabi and Averroes were spiritual philosophers who wrote prolifically.  These are two people I'd like to add to my reading list.  :-)   

One point that stood out:  their shared message of union and unity ...... underscores the split in the mind of the West between scientific knowledge and sacred understanding, control and compassion... our technical skill has so outrun our wisdom that we face the peril of imminent species suicide.

Ok, so the last fragment is much like Chesire's writing when he pulled heavily from Bill Joy's "Why the Future Doesn't need us."  (See below.)  But the first part is what interests me.  It seems like the subject/object duality that is so prevalent in the West (and covered so well by Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) is again coming to the fore. (Yes, this is worded differently, but evokes the same thoughts, at least for me.) For some reason, this idea keeps coming to me from many different sources.   Man is not different from what man does.  There should not be a duality between subject and object.   So many things stem from this.  Pirsig's idea of Quality.   Peace of Mind.  Being less scattered.  I need to think about this more.

Making History.  David Potorti.  An Article from "The Independent," a weekly newspaper of the Triangle Area.

A quote from Howard Zinn:   "If you don't know history, it's as if you were born yesterday.  And if you were born yesterday, anybody in authority can tell you anything, and you have no way of checking up on it."

So, the first part of the quote is true, but I would change the wording of the second.  "no way of checking up on it" is inaccurate at best.  But you must know history to have the context to come up with your own, non-biased (as much as 'non-bias' is possible!), view on any subject, idea, philosophy, event, etc.  And, in addition to history, it is best to be well-read, so that you have the benefit of the many people who have taken time to think about the issue and written down their thoughts.  There are truly amazing writers of the past who have written about nearly everything.  It is important to have read far and wide to have their insights at your disposal. 

Why the future doesn't need us.  Bill Joy.  (Originally from Wired, April 2000.)  Read November 2001.

In this article, Joy discusses the differences between Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) weapons, and the potential of Genetics, Nano-technology, and Robotics (GNR).   I think that the resources in terms of time, capital, and people, that are required to create NBC weapons of mass destruction do place certain limits on its uses.  For one, you gain a respect for the potential power, and the amount of resources that are required to limit those that can acquire it to only the most well-off nations.  In that sense, only rational, where rational is defined as those who have a species level aversion to cause extinction of their own species, have been able to acquire them thus far.  On the other hand, with GNR, the resources required may turn out to be much lower than with NBC.  In that sense, they are "knowledge-enabled" weapons, and non-rational (with the same definition as above) people are much more likely to acquire them.  

I suppose that there could always be one super insane person that would want to cause the extinction of our species, but my gut tells me that even our so-called "terrorists enemies" don't want that.  They may want to wipe all of "us" out, but they still want to survive themselves.  My gut tells me that even the suicide bombers are a rare breed and that most of the others do want to continue to live in this world.

However, even with all of that being said, I think that the potential for extinction is much greater via an accident with GNR than it was with NBC.  We are really pushing the envelope with these technologies for several reasons -- innovation is moving much faster than it has in the past, so we don't have time to understand the greater implications; capitalism at it's finest !! -- in terms of much of this research is in the private sector and the first to market wins, etc.  Science just for the sake of science may no longer be in our best interests.  Slowing down to think about the long term implications of certain technologies may be more pertinent now than ever, since the new technologies are more powerful than ever.  (I'm no Luddite, and I'm not advocating the destruction of knowledge or technology!  I'm just saying that perhaps we need to spend a little more time thinking about what we are working on!)

My Dad and I had a discussion over email on this, though I won't get into great detail with that.  But my Dad has a theory that God had His own version of "just in time management."  He provides humanity solutions to such problems just in time to save us from ourselves.   I have a sinking feeling that our potential for accidental or purposeful extinction is well ahead of our ability to solve it.  Hopefully God will come through again.   Space colonization may be our only hope -- diversification is mandatory, in my opinion.

Oh well, enough of that.  A few quotes from the article:

"The Dalai Lama further argues that we must understand what it is that makes people happy, and acknowledge the strong evidence that neither material progress nor the pursuit of the power of knowledge is the key -- that there are limits to what science and the scientific pursuit alone can do."

"Each of us has our precious things, and as we care for them we locate the essence of our humanity.  In the end, it is because of our great capacity for caring that I remain optimistic we will confront the dangerous issues now before us."

"Can we doubt that knowledge has become a weapon we wield against ourselves?" 

Two books mentioned in the article that I would like to read:  Ethics for a New Millennium by the Dalai Lama;  Millennium by Jacques Attali.

 

11/05/2001  - from an advertisement in Trail Running magazine:

"Not all those who wander are lost..."  From JRR Tolkien, one of my favorite authors.  And I think this quote suites me well.  I love to wander in a kayak or on a hiking trail.  :-)

     September 11th, 2001.

Well, it's actually November 8th now, which means I haven't written anything here in almost 2 months.  I have to admit that I just didn't find books interesting after 9/11.   I was hit somewhat personally by the tragic events, as Danny Lewin, my company's co-founder and CTO, was on board Americans Airline flight 11, the first to crash into the World Trade Center.  Danny was a truly amazing person -- he did more in 31 years than most people could do in ten lifetimes.  He was a true visionary and had the extremely rare gift of being both technically brilliant and having a great mind for the business.  I truly believe that the work he did to start Akamai and shape it's direction have revolutionized the Internet.  I consider it an honor and a privilege to have been able to work with him.

After the attacks, I was busy reading news papers, web sites, etc. of both American mass media, American Alternative/Independent, and other countries news pages when I did feel like reading.  We were also in the process of moving from FL to NC, so both of those events together just meant I didn't read much of anything for quite some time.  Magazines started backing up, though I have finally begun to read some of those.

In the past (nearly) 2 months, I have often thought I should write something here but never did get around to it.  It would have been a great thing to look back at and see how my thoughts and feelings changed over time.   At this point, I won't try to catalogue them, though.  But, I do want to discuss one thing that has had my interest -- Noam Chomsky's description of "manufactured consent."  I would like to find his original writings on that, and perhaps when I do I will write a review here.  For now, I won't say much about it specifically other than that now, more than ever, I think it is extremely important to find sources of news other than American mass media.  Look for news from American Independents, other countries -- both our allies and "enemies," etc.  It's not that I think the sources are bad, but I do think that we need to see many sides of the story so that we are not biased when we form our own opinions.

So, with that thought in mind, I would like to put a couple of things here from "The Independent," a somewhat Independent weekly news paper from the Triangle area:

Reality Wars, Godfrey Cheshire:   

On the US government saying don't air more bin Laden tapes without editing:  "I saw no analysis on TV or in the major print outlets of this destruction of the illusion that American TV news operates independently of the government."  My thoughts are that I hope it was never the illusion he makes it out to be!  However, I am almost sure my hope is in vain.

"Vietnam was said to be the first television war.  If so, this is the first camcorder, Internet, e-mail, computer-virus, anthrax-in-your-face, Nightmare on Elm street war.  We have not yet begun to figure out what that means, but one thing seems certain:  The mostly dim, compromised or infantile forms of commentary we're being offered in the major news media will not be among our chief assets in trying to do so."   This is a bit harsh on American mass media -- there are some good reporters and newscasters.  However, I think Chesire is probably correct using "compromised."  This is just one more reason it is important to find alternative sources of the news.  But I do want to emphasize that I think they should be combined with mass media.  The more sources the better, if you really want to be able to wrap your thoughts around something from as many angles as possible.

Anthrax Nation, Godfrey Cheshire:

(he had a bunch of references to Bill Joy's "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" which I read -- see above.)

"Finally, a question concerning the place of religious modes of understanding in all of this.  As Bill Joy notes, Friedrich Nietzsche not only announced the 'death of God' but pointed to the dangers of investing in one's remaining faith in science.  'The truth that science seeks,' Joy concludes, 'can certainly be considered a dangerous substitute for God if it is likely to lead to our extinction.'  Is it, then, mere coincidence that the conflict we see being played out on the world's stage now so closely and dauntingly intertwines religion and technology, as if demanding that we finally seek a way to reconcile science and the sacred?"

Radical Islam vs. the technology of the West?  I really doubt it is just the technology.  I mean, they often use much of it themselves -- the Internet, satellite phones, etc.  My thought is that they dislike the "freedom enabling-ness" of the technology.  

The Mark.  Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.  August 2001.

The 8th book in the Left Behind series.  Again, I don't want to say too much about it as anything I would say would most likely be a spoiler.  However, I do have a related anecdote.  Ben was on a flight recently, and the person next to him was reading one of the books.  Ben asked what he thought about it all, and the guy said he was just reading it for entertainment value, that he had been raised Catholic, but wasn't really "practicing" at this point.  I wonder how many people pick up these books for entertainment value.  Over 40,000,000 have been sold in the series.  If some people start reading just for entertainment, hopefully what they read will either inspire them or pique their interest enough to do further reading on the subject.

 

The Indwelling.  Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.  August 2001.

This is the 7th book in the Left Behind series.  Book 8, the Mark is out now, and Book 9 will be available in October.  Last I heard there were going to be 10 books in all, but I also recall there were going to be 3, then 4, then 7, and now 10!  At any rate, the books have gotten better since book 3, which I think was the worst because of how much it repeated books 1 and 2.  I don't want to say too much here because it would be a "spoiler."   The one thing I will say is that they are at the point now where they are having to fictionalize things that perhaps were not fully prophesied in the Bible.  I think that they are doing a decent job at that, but it is also a bit presumptuous in some ways.  However, to make the fictional portion of the story decent, they have to do this.

 

Common Sense, Thomas Paine.   Thoughts on Goverment, John Adams.  August 2001.

After reading the biography of John Adams (see below), I wanted to read these two "short" works that were widely read.  Common Sense was written before the revolution and is often credited with turning the tide of the American public in favor of separation.  Thoughts on Government was written by Adams and used heavily in developing the governments of MA (if I recall correctly), and of the US government.  Paine's work seems somewhat poorly organized and it does ramble on quite a bit, in my opinion.  I have to admit that I skimmed the 2nd half because of this!  Adam's work is quite short, but does have a lot of ideas in it that were pulled to form our current government.  (Certainly not all of his ideas were pulled, and some were modified.)   

A couple ideas from Adam's work:

"the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man."

"Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially the lower class of people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant." 

 

The Prayer of Jabez.  Bruce Wilkinson.  August 2001.

In I Chronicles, in the middle of a long genealogy (all of the descendents of Judah) of nothing but names, all of a sudden are the following few verses:

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,

"Oh, that you would bless me indeed,

and enlarge my territory,

that your hand would be with me,

and that you would keep me from evil,

that I may not cause pain!"

So God granted him what he requested.

This little book goes through that prayer and examines how it has changed the lives of many people.  The prayer is a bit audacious to most on their first reading -- Jabez seems to be asking an awful lot for himself.  But the book discusses how Jabez is asking God to only do what God wants done in Jabez's life through his life.  He is not asking for material wealth or other such things, but instead asking God to come into his life and work through him to God's purpose.   One point that caught my eye:  If heaven is so great, why does God leave those who are close to him here?  And the answer is because God has work for those people here that is not complete.  

 

Franny and Zooey.  JD Salinger.  August 2001.

Kim gave this to me a long time ago, but I had never taken the time to read it.  I threw it in my bag on the way to London, as I figured I might finish John Adams on the trip and would need something more.  I really enjoyed Catcher in the Rye when I read it last year, so I was hoping this would be just as good.   The book was decent and a fast read -- I finished it on the flight from London to Atlanta.   There were a few good thoughts from it, such as "knowledge should lead to wisdom, and if it doesn't it's just a disgusting waste of time."  This was in terms to those people who go after knowledge as other people go after wealth, etc.  I won't go into detail on the story, except to mention the "Jesus Prayer."  ["Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."]  The prayer is said "incessantly," as the New Testament calls Christians to do.  It is similar in a sense to Indian chanting, or "om," etc.  By saying the prayer over an over, the practitioner can attain a "higher level" of consciousness or religious state.  I just found it interesting that a Christian prayer ("chant") could be likened to Eastern chants.  I guess I always find "syncretism" very interesting -- recall Foucault's Pendulum, which was the book in which syncretism was the main thread running throughout.

[Note from November 2001]:  There was a scientifically based article in Yoga International magazine that discussed mantra and how the brain, over time, given a mantra, re-enforces connections over and over, to the point that a mantra can evoke a certain state of (desirable) consciousness.  In other words, when you first start to recite a mantra, there isn't much to it.  But you do it as you try to reach a certain mental state, over many years, and eventually the brain can shut down everything else except the connections of the mantra.    In that way, no matter what else is going on, if you begin the mantra, you can change your mental state very rapidly.  All of this is similar to the "Jesus Prayer."

 

John Adams.   David McCullough.  August 2001.

My Dad sent me this book shortly after our BVI trip, on which he had read it and I had flipped through a few pages and shown some interest in reading it as well.  I never thought a biography could draw my interest so deeply, but McCullough writes this like a novel.  It is a fast read and well worth it to anyone who wants or needs a shot of patriotism.  

Actually, in that regard, the book is quite strange.  For the first third or so of the book, I felt a strong sense of patriotism, and was truly amazed at what the fathers of our country were able to accomplish.  They were in the unique position to define a new form of government, and literally change the course of history, and they did an amazing job.  They were tremendously well read and drew on the knowledge gained from that erudition to come up with a new form of government that had never existed before.  In fact, during that first third of the book, I was saddened by the quality of our current leaders, but then amazed that the government created a couple of hundred years ago has been able to withstand them!

However, in the second third of the book, when political parties (Republicans and Federalists) began to emerge, I saw that the same type of partisanship and backstabbing occurred then as it does now.  I did not recall from the history I learned in high school all that Hamilton did, and I'm a bit shocked that he is on our ten dollar bill!   I guess in some ways it was even worse then -- Aaron Burr killed Hamilton in a duel in 1804 because of such things!  And Adams himself and Thomas Jefferson, even though they had been such close friends for so many years, become political "enemies."

Finally, in the last third of the book or so, though, when Adams and Jefferson were retired from the political scene, they began again their friendship.  In those times, I began to feel better about the founding fathers again.  However, overall it is still sad that partisanship emerged so early in the life of this great country.  But then again, the fact that our government has been able to survive it all is truly amazing, and credit should go to the founding fathers after all.  Patriotism returned in full when I learned that Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4th, fifty years to the day after signing the Declaration of Independence!

Another amazing aspect of the book, or perhaps more of Adam's life, is the amount of surviving letters and diaries.  It makes a truly detailed biography in which you can see the inner thoughts of Adams and those around him possible.  Literally thousand of letters and diary pages still exist.  Some of Adam's thoughts in his diary sound eerily familiar to me:  "full of opinions ... but reluctant to express them..."  /  "Why have I not genius to start some new thought"   He was widely read, could talk on any subject, and berated himself for being to shy...

The letters also give us a glimpse into the relationship between John and his wife Abigail.  Abigail was an amazing women -- she was able to run the farm and home, often while John was away, yet still was able to keep current in all political and revolutionary things and even give John advice in those areas.  They really were separated quite a lot, whether John was in Philadelphia in the early days, France and other parts of Europe in the middle, and in New York and then later Washington towards the end, while she was often left back in MA.  She did travel with him to Europe and later NY, though they always kept their home in MA.  A quote from her on one of the many separations:  "It is not fit to wake the soul by tender strokes of art, or to ruminate upon happiness we might enjoy, that absences become intolerable."  And another:  "My dearest friend,  how much is comprised in that short sentence?  How fondly can I call you mine, bound by every tie which consecrates the most inviolable friendship, yet separated by a cruel destiny, I feel the pangs of absence sometimes too sensibly for my own repose."

Many books I read make me want to read some other book or books.  It is actually interesting to read back through these "reading notebooks" of mine and look at my "web" of reading.  For instance, "Zen and The Art ..." made me want to read "Walden,"  "The Story of the Whaleship Essex" made me want to read "Moby Dick," etc.  John Adams is no different.  Cicero stands out, as Adams read it throughout his life and often referred to it.  Also, I'd like to read Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," which was a pamphlet that helped turned the tide in the public's sentiment towards revolution.  I'd also like to read Adam's own "Thoughts on Government," because it seems that our government followed his ideas in that closely.  It was really striking to me how well read Adams and many of the other revolutionaries were, and it was lucky that I had just finished "Great Books," which at least touched on some of the books that helped form the revolutionary ideals.  

A couple of other quotes from Adams:  

"...how can any man judge unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading."

"Everything in life should be done with reflection."

"The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to know...  Do justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly.  This is enough."  

A few old quotes:

I started a reading notebook a long long time ago -- in fact, that is really what this "reading list" is.  It is my own reading notebook, I've just decided to put it online.  For one, that helps keep me a bit more "accountable" in keeping up with it!  Second, it allows me to save some space!  Maybe some day I'll copy most of what is in my written notebook here.  For now, I found a  few pages of quotes, and I will move those here so I can get rid of some paper as we begin the packing process to move.  I have no dates for when I wrote these down or from what source they may have come:

"...the world was before the creation and at an end before the beginning, and thus I was dead before I was alive...."  -- Sir Thomas Browne

{suggests a timeless eternity where all things past and present exist before and after their time, and the validity of prophecy, along with other things...}

"What then is time?  If no one asks me, I know what it is.  If I wish to explain it to he who asks me, I do not know."  St. Augustine.

"As long as possible live free and uncommitted."  Henry David Thoreau

"I went ... to learn ... and not, when I came to die, discover that I did not live."  HDT.  (note I copied this one again when I read Walden recently.)

Admire the courage, but question the wisdom.  ?

By a conscious effort of the mind we can stand aloof from actions and their consequences.  HDT

The philosphies of this world

Have all been thought of before

I can not think originally --

So I will not think anymore.  - SMB

 

And a Poem by HDT called "The Inward Morning:"

Packed in my mind lie all the clothes 

Which outward nature wears,

And in its fashion's hourly change

It all things else repairs.

 

In vain I look for change abroad,

And  can no difference find,

Till some new ray of peace uncalled

Illumes my inmost mind.

Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World.  David Denby.  July 2001.

Denby was a 48 year old movie critic for "New York Magazine," when he went back to Columbia University after 30 years (since his freshman year) to sit in on two courses that all students must take, Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization.   These are two "reading" classes, in which many of the classics of the Western world are read.  I really wanted to read Denby's book because I feel like I missed out on many of these books as I was growing up.  Junior High and High School certainly didn't have much required reading, and what little we did have I was able to get away without reading fully or using cliff notes.  And in college, I went straight into an engineering program so we never had to read much "Literature" at all.  So I figured this book was a way I could familiarize myself with many of the classics and then from there, I'd have an idea of which ones I wanted to read in full.

Denby states that these classes, and others like them at universities around the country, have come under increasing attack in recent years for being parochial and hegemonic -- in other words, they suppress minorities, feminists, etc. -- basically any "non-white male."  He argues this point throughout the book -- in fact, perhaps one of the main reasons he decided to take the class was because of this very argument and the fact that most people involved (including himself) on either side of the debate have not read or do not remember them all.  I did not read the book to understand that argument at all, though a few of the points he brings up are worth reading and thinking about.   But a quote from Denby himself perhaps sums up the way I feel about it:   "The writers are expressing in an unconscious way the disposition of their time as well as their own disposition.  They think differently from the way we do -- but that is precisely the value in reading the books.   That those who think so differently from us still have so much power is amazing."    And later when discussing Mill:  "The books embodied not imperishable truths, and certainly not a uniformity of approach, but a radical tradition of self-questioning.  In this tradition, one book challenges another, or is even at odds with itself... What books taught was not a stable of knowledge or even consistent 'values' but critical habits of mind that would never desert the student."

Besides learning about many of the authors and works that I had only briefly touched on earlier in my life (and there were some authors and works I don't remember at all), I was fascinated by the class discourses presented by Denby.  Seeing how different students react to different works, and in fact how Denby himself reacts, how the various teachers present the material and structure their classes, and the conversations that take place, is simply fascinating.  I guess I missed out on things like this with my lack of a demanding liberal arts background, and I am disappointed by that.

Is the book good?  Well, there were times when I was enthralled, and times when I was bored.  Sometimes that had to do with the author or work being discussed, and sometimes that had to do with the side arguments of hegemony.  I think that for people like me, who want to learn more about the "classics" and then go out and read many of them, it is worthwhile.  I wish more of the discourses were presented, because that is what I liked most about the book, but that was not Denby's main point.

So, after saying all that, I will also present some of the things that struck me most.  I actually dog-eared many passages, but I will only put a few here:

On the ring of Gyges (p.73):  The ring allows the wearer to be invisible and do whatever they wish.  "You must be tempted or you can not be good.  You must sense what it is to wear the Ring..., or else your rejection of it means nothing.  Children must hear of wickedness, or they could not choose virtue."  To me, this is inherent in the world, and I don't think good can exist without evil.  I suppose the Bible says this came about when fruit from the Tree of Knowledge was eaten.

p.  82   ".... I was punished for my early non-existence with a hole where memory should be, and I grieved over it."  This is how I feel about my lack of reading the classics earlier in life.

p. 116  On Oedipus:  "At the very act of succeeding at anything, you must cut yourself off from some vital part of yourself.  And that part could destroy you."   and  "Oedipus is a hero because he longs to know the truth even after he suspects it will finish him.  That is a tragic fate inherent in the struggles of ambitious people everywhere.  Not only are we in control of our lives, our very drive for control can undermine us."

p. 164  On the Old Testament:  About Moses talking to God:  "You do not ask God his name, though it turns out He has one, YHWH, or Yahweh, which He uses in reference to Himself (in the Hebrew text) immediately after.  Yahweh, which the King James version scholars translated simply as "Lord," means (literally) "he lets be."  I AM THAT I AM -- perhaps the most awesome sentence in any language -- is God's annunciation of the principle of being.  He is existence itself.

p. 170 on Job:   "If you read closely you discover that the overall sense of Job is that faith may be rewarded but that the good will not necessarily triumph..... .... 'There is no safety.' ....  Believer or not, you had to be strong enough to live with the knowledge [that] in the end, the Book of Job is not an appeal to fear but courage."   (Whether you believe in God or not, bad things may happen, but you must have courage to live your life with that knowledge.)

p. 192 on Augustine:  "[God's] ways were mysterious, and this ... was exactly right, for if every person who embraced God and acted decently were quickly rewarded on earth, then sinners would believe in God and embrace goodness simply for the payoff.  There would be no struggle, no faith."  (This is the same reason Pascal's wager fails -- people would chose the religion that offers the biggest rewards!)

p. 231 on Professor Taylor:  "you shrink by not stretching yourself enough to read a work that lies outside your expectations.  In effect, you're reading yourself.  O Narcissus! The book becomes your reflecting pool."

p. 313 on Hegel... This reminds me of ideas from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," but when I flipped through that to find the references, it was not Hegel but Kierkgard...  Hmm, strange.  "A dynamic whole was contained in consciousness:  Man was both subject and object, both self and other, the two things locked in an unending struggle, for each element contained its contrary, and the the two elements clashed and merged, producing a new element, which was the synthesis of both, at which time the struggle began all over again as the synthesis developed its own contrary, and so on."

p. 349 on Marx, and further on what he said the outcome of capitalism would be:  "...capitalism was eager to sell anything, that it was entirely amoral; and that capitalism itself, in its normal, healthy, creative rampage through our cities ... had produced some of the social disruption -- the weakening of family ties, the replacement of reading with mass culture -- that led to nihilism, violence, and 'depravity.'  ... Capitalism itself ... bears part of the responsibility for low morals..."

p. 457  a quote from Vladimir Nabokov:  "Curiously enough, one can not read a book; one can only reread it."

Well, that is a lot, and not all the ones I found worth rereading and spending some time in thought on, but enough for here.  Finally, the list of authors or books that Denby has made me want to read:

Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Cicero, Machiavelli, Locke, Hobbes, Dante, Boccaccio, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Milton, Cervantes, Austen, Woolf, Marx, Hegel, Kant, Nietzsche, Sappho.

Guess I'll be busy for a while!  ;-)

"Invictus" vs. "My Captain", July 2001.

"Invictus" had a recent rush of popularity when Timothy McVeigh quoted from it just before his execution.  I read it then and found it a bit dark but interesting in other ways none-the-less.   Then, just a few weeks ago, Pastor Charlie Martin had his former pastor, Sam Sheppard, stand in for him.  Sam compared "Invictus" to "My Captain," which is a Christian response to Henley's humanistic poem.   I found seeing them side by side quite striking.

 

Invictus William Ernest Henley

My Captain Dorothea Day

Out of the night that covers me,  Black as the Pit from pole to pole,  I thank whatever gods may be  For my unconquerable soul.  In the fell clutch of circumstance  I have not winced nor cried aloud.  Under the bludgeonings of chance  My head is bloody, but unbowed.  Beyond this place of wrath and tears  Looms but the Horror of the shade,  And yet the menace of the years  Finds and shall find me unafraid.  It matters not how strait the gate,  How charged with punishments the scroll,  I am the master of my fate;  I am the captain of my soul.

Out of the night that dazzles me,  Bright as the sun from pole to pole,  I thank the God I know to be  For Christ the conqueror of my soul.  Since His the sway of circumstance,  I would not wince nor cry aloud.  Under that rule which men call chance  My head with joy is humbly bowed.  Beyond this place of sin and tears  That life with Him! And His the aid,  Despite the menace of the years,  Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.  I have no fear, though strait the gate,  He cleared from punishment the scroll.  Christ is the Master of my fate,  Christ is the Captain of my soul.

Six Tales of Mystery and Imagination.  Edgar Allan Poe.  July 2001.

This is a book I remember my Mom giving me a long time ago -- perhaps as many as 15 years or more!  Recently, when I read The Martian Chronicles, I decided I wanted to read Poe's Story "The Fall of the House of Usher," because of the story "Usher II" in Bardbury's book.   Six Tales is a collection of six Poe stories, including The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Gold Bug, The Oblong Box, and The Mystery of Marie Roget.   I mostly remember The Gold Bug from when I read this many years ago, but on this reading The Pit and the Pendulum stands out the most.  What dark and intense writing!  

In all of these books, I liked this quote from The Mystery of Marie Roget the best:

 In my own heart there dwells  no faith in preter-nature.  That nature and its God are two, no man who thinks will deny.  That the latter, creating the former, can, at will, control or modify it, is also unquestionable.  I say 'at will'; for the question is of will, and not, as the insanity of logic has assumed, of power.  It is not that the Diety cannot modify his laws, but that we insult Him in imagining a possible necessity for modification.  In their origin these laws were fashioned to embrace all contingencies which could lie in the Future.  With God all is Now.

Walden.  Henry David Thoreau.  June 2001.

[ Note:  I was able to go to the real Walden Pond in late October of 2001, so I added the pictures for that trip after the original write-up.]

I've wanted to read Walden for quite some time, and when I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance last year, I was reminded of that.  In that book, Phaedrus reads to his young son (about 9 or 10 years old) from Walden on their hikes.  He'll read a sentence or two, and then let his son ask questions over and over until he has a grasp of what Thoreau is saying.  I'm not sure a child of that age could understand everything Thoreau has to say in Walden, but I'm sure there is still a lot of value to such an exercise.  Thoreau has true moments of brilliance in this book, in my opinion.  There are of course sections that don't deserve such a strong accolade, but there are others that do.  His botanical knowledge is amazing, which is fitting since he was a naturalist!  In addition to that, his insight on life, philosophy, etc., is outstanding.

First, let me get some quotes out of the way:

"To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge."  p. 14  (Actually a Confucius quote.  Thoreau was tremendously well read on Eastern philosophy, especially Indian philosophy.

"We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate."  p.49  I wonder what he would say in this age of the Internet?  Perhaps he was right and that is why we have seen the bubble burst!  ;-)  Just kidding, of course.

"This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it..."  p. 50   Perhaps you should find a job you love?

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."  p.82  That is what life is all about!  Live it to its fullest....

"Time is  but the stream I go a-fishing in." p. 88

"To read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any exercise which the customs of the day esteem.  It requires a training such as the athletes underwent, the steady intention almost of the whole life to this object.  Books must be read deliberately and reservedly as they were written."  p. 91  I love to read but wish I could dedicate more time to it.  If I could retire, I would workout, read, travel, and cook.  Not necessarily in that order.

I love this one on the pond itself.  It shows his mastery of writing, and his love of the pond, in one.  "Nations come and go without defiling it.  It is a mirror which no stone can crack, whose quicksilver will never wear off, whose gilding Nature continually repairs;  no storm, no dust, can dim its surface fresh; -- a mirror in which all impurity presented to it sinks, swept and dusted by the sun's lazy brush, -- this the light dust-cloth, -- which retains no breath that is breathed on it, but sends its own to float as clouds high above its surface, and be reflected in its bosom still."  Wow!

 

Once when he got caught in a lightening storm:  "The gods must be proud, thought I, with such forked flashes to route a poor unarmed fisherman."

I was a bit amazed at how the book finished:  "Thus my first year's life in the woods completed; and the second year was similar to it.  I left Walden September 6th, 1847."  He spent so much time discussing details of his life there, that to leave the 2nd year so un-glorified seems a bit odd.  But perhaps when you are in nature that long, in a state such as he was (always amazed and interested in things around him), perhaps that is all that needs to be said.  I wonder if any of the stories he discussed actually took place in the 2nd year?

"The universe is wider than our views of it."  p.280

Well, I guess that is certainly enough on the quotes!  But those are ones that jumped out at me for one reason or another.  There is of course so much more in the book that really makes you think about a lot of different things.  A few here to touch on:

At one point he mocks expeditions such as the person who tried to find the Northwest passage, or a certain South Sea exploration.  Instead, he says "... be the Lewis and Clarke ... of your own higher latitudes."  He goes on to discuss that more time should be sent exploring your inner self than traveling the world.  I would tend to not take such a strong stand as that.  Traveling helps you to discover more of yourself, by learning more about the world and who has been in it and done various things at places you have not been.

He touched on various points of the Bhagvat Geeta, the ancient Indian book of philosophy.  At some point, I'd like to spend some time with that myself.

Well, I think that is probably enough.  :-)  Walden is a fantastic book that takes time and diligence to read and understand.  It is the type of book you would probably gain new insight and understanding from each time you read it.  Highly recommended.

 

The Saboteur and His Son.  Thomas French.  June 2001.

I don't know how long this will be available on the web at http://www.sptimes.com/News/webspecials/saboteur/index.shtml, but I'm going to include the link anyway.   This was a 3 part series that ran in the St. Pete Times, each day consisting of 4 full news paper pages (incuding photo's, art, layout, etc.)   Thomas opens up 5 generations of his family history, all through the tale of a gold pocket watch that was passed from father to son on each son's 21st birthday, except his own.  In his case, he didn't receive it until he was 36, and it opened up an "investigation" into his family's past to try to understand the history of the watch and, more importantly, something about each person that played a role in that history.   Through the investigation Thomas is able to greatly improve the relationship he has with his father, as the history allows him his first chance to understand what makes his Dad tick.  The first part of the story ran on Father's Day.

Mother Earth Mother Board.  Neal Stephenson.

Ok, so I didn't just read this.  I admit that I was going through old paper work and I found it.  But I have read this twice.  This is simply the best magazine article I have ever read!  I read it in Wired when I used to subscribe back in the mid 90's.  Then, I kind of forgot about it for a while.  And then a few years later, my Dad sent me a book, Cryptonomicon, that I thought was outstanding.  About half way through it, the author's name kept coming back to me, and I somehow remembered this article.  So I went out to Wired magazine's on-line site, found the link, printed it out, and re-read it.  It is worth the read for anyone that has an interest in the history and current state of the telecommunications network, especially with regards to undersea cable runs.  Available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html.

 

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.  Henry David Thoreau.  June 2001.

I am reading Walden now, and thought I'd throw in a bit of other reading about Thoreau and this essay.   Look for an entry on Walden soon.  As for this book, Thoreau spent a night in prison during his Walden sojourn for not paying a "poll" tax.  In essence, he had not paid taxes in some time because he did not want to associate with the State, especially with respect to slavery and an imperialistic war being waged with Mexico.   A key quote here is "If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate to choose." 

Thoreau starts the essay with "I heartily accept the motto, 'That government is best which governs least.."  and would like to see that carried out to its logical end 'That government is best which governs not at all.'  Thoreau is a remarkable writer to me, not so much in this essay as in Walden, but it still comes out here.  His choice of words and analogies, as well as grammatical structures, are all quite unique.

The final few sentences are worth quoting:

I please myself with imagining a State at last which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it or embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow men.  A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which I have also imagined, but not yet anywhere seen. 

Overall, a great essay that is still relevant today -- perhaps more so during various periods of the 20th century than when it is written.  Not on the level as Walden, in my opinion, in terms of literary excellence, but still worth the read.

 

The Martian Chronicles.   Ray Bradbury.  May 2001.

When I read Fahrenheit 451 last year, I remembered that Ray Bradbury had written this book.  I had never read it, but I remember one particular part of the movie that has always stuck with me quite vividly.  So, I decided I should read the book.   The format of the book is several short stories, some related, some not, that are interwoven into a type of novel.  This creates quite an interesting flow as you read through them all.   The story from the movie that has stuck with me all these years is "The Third Expedition," and it's just as eerie to me now after reading it.  I don't want to go into details because that would be a spoiler, so I'll just leave it at that.

The short "--And the Moon Be Still as Bright" had the following quote which I like:  "They [the Martians] quit trying too hard to destroy everything, to humble everything.  They blended religion and art and science because, at base, science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle.  They never let science crush the aesthetic and the beautiful...."  This is surprisingly similar to the idea brought forth in "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," where Pirsig tries to tie those three institutions together into one with Quality.   I wonder if Pirsig got his ideas from Bradbury, or if they are really more from his studies on Zen???  The premise of this short story is that Man is going to destroy Mars eventually, and Spencer (the lead) does not want that to happen.

I really liked "Usher II," which is a play on the "Fall of the House of Usher," by Poe.  Here, a man builds a house just like the House of Usher.  I can't go into more details without spoiling it, so I won't.  I do recall that my mom gave me a book of 6 or 8 Poe stories a long time ago, and this short story has made me want to go read them all again.  So, I went through my "library," and that book is now on my stack to read!

I also really enjoyed "The Martian," which reminds me so much of something, but I can't quite put my finger on it.  In some ways like the movie "The Changling," but in other ways, they are not even similar.  Perhaps just some intangible quality is linking them in my mind, or perhaps not.  But something is striking to me about this story.

CCIE Professional Development:  Routing TCP/IP Volume I.  Doyle, Jeff (CCIE #1919).  May 2001.

I had to take some time off from more "enjoyable" reading material, to study for my CCIE recertification.  So I pushed my way through this massive tome, as well as many web pages, to take the test.  I was lucky and passed with 77/100 (65 is passing), so now I can return to something a bit more fun.

This book is really great for those who want to learn TCP/IP routing.  It pretty much covers everything except BGP.  For the CCIE IP Recertification test, you'll need to study BGP as well as three other topics not covered in this one:  NAT, HSRP, and multi-cast.  This book is great for a review of RIP, IGRP, EIGRP, RIPv2, OSPF, IS-IS, route-maps, route redistribution, etc., as well as a great book for those new to the topics.  There is a ton of detail, it is well written, there are configuration examples as well as trouble shooting scenarios, etc.  And what is most incredible is that I did not find one single mistake.  Normally in a book like this, especially a 1st edition, there are mistakes in the examples or grammatical mistakes.  I admit that since I was just reviewing for my test, I did not go through all configuration examples with a fine tooth comb, but I'm still surprised I didn't see any mistakes.

Now, back to Walden and The Martian Chronicles.  :-)

Two Magazines:  April 2001.

Ok, so I normally don't list all of the magazines I read (which include Yoga Journal, Digital Photography, Information Week, Forbes, and a couple of others), but in the case of these two, I figure it's worthwhile.

First is the December issue of Discovery Magazine.  Every year, Discovery has a year-end issue that covers the year in science.  I used to subscribe to Discovery, but I just can't keep up anymore, so I read this year-end issue every year.   This year, of course, the big story was the humane genome, which may go down as one of the biggest events in all of human history.  Is the plow still the greatest invention ever?  Probably, considering it allowed humans to move from hunter-gatherers to an agricultural society, which meant more time for intellectual pursuits (arts, invention, etc.).  The 'Net may prove to be one of the top ones too -- it allows a "hive mind" to develop, so everyone anywhere anytime can contribute to thought, creativity, etc.  We'll just have to see if more good than garbage comes from it over time!  ;-)  So, the genome was finally fully mapped, and more insight into our evolutionary history, disease, etc., and all of the good and bad things that come with that are now in front of us ready to explore, exploit, and who knows what else.  Can we now play God with humanity, eliminating disease before it starts?   Will those that are genetically predisposed to certain illnesses be denied insurance?   Ok, enough on that here....

Second is Forbes ASAP BIG ISSUE V.   Every year, the editors at Forbes ASAP pick a subject, and ask visionaries, writers, every day people, etc., to write about that subject.  Last year was on "convergence," and had several outstanding articles.  This year was "What is True? [ in a digital age]"   There were many many articles that were good, a few that were bad, and a couple that were outstanding.  Here is the short list of what I thought were outstanding (well written and thought provoking):

"My Heart's Content."  Pat Conroy.  Thirty years ago, Pat Conroy was a draft dodger of the Vietnam war.   Now, he is writing a book about his college years as a basket ball player for the Citadel.  He has interviewed many of his former teammates and coaches, and one with Al Kroboth stands out to him.  Al was not a draft dodger, and went to Vietnam, was shot down in an air mission, became a POW, and suffered tremendously.   Pat did not turn out to be the man he thought he would -- the one that America could look at and say "There.  That's the guy.  That's the one who got it right.  The whole package.  The one I can depend on."  Who can say whether Vietnam was the right thing for our country to do -- there are so many strong opinions on the matter.  But Pat does come to what is in my mind the proper conclusion:  America is good enough to die for even when she is wrong.

Random quote:  "What is truth," asked 'jesting' Pilate of the one man who might have given him the answer, but .... did not stay for an answer.

"The Tried and the Treowe."   John Updike.  The subtitle is "despite our maneuverings to the contrary, we will always be more animal than robot."  I won't go into much detail on this article, I will just say that the writing is fantastic.  I'll also include a couple of quotes that are worthwhile:

"Amid so much electronic clutter and chatter in this disheveled, over supplied, desperately commercial world, the human organism compels us to remain faithful to truth or else fall into health and spiritual discordancy."

"To be human is to be in the tense condition of a death-foreseeing consciously libidinous animal.  No other earthly creature suffers such a great capacity for thought, such a complexity of envisioned but frustrated possibilities, such a troubling ability to question the tribal and biological imperatives."

"Dear Harper." Reynolds Price.   This is a letter Reynolds has written to his godchild about god.  The child is still an infant, and won't be able to read this for several years, and understanding is even further out.  What is fascinating to me is how similar his views are to mine on so many things regarding his beliefs and how he came to have them.  For instance, he writes "one of the characteristics of faith that can seem so repellent is the apparent necessity that faith be given help from God."   Is it right to ask God, to need God, to have a stronger faith?  Also, "in any day's news, half of the world's human wrongs are done in God's name."   And many others.  The article is long, and at some points it seems to be more of a biography of Reynolds than a letter to his Godchild, but then again, perhaps that is the point.  Reynolds is 67 and may not be around to share his life with the child.

The Dalai Lama writes an articled entitled "infinite compassion."  Although this article does not necessarily stand out, everything the Dalai Lama writes is worth spending time with.   It's amazing to me that a child can be chosen so young, spend all of his early years studying and training, and turn out so incredibly well.   For their religion, the child is a reincarnation of his predecessor, and thus a reincarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, so it makes perfect sense to them.  But to a Westerner, or at least to me, it's still baffling. 

20 Most Frequently Asked Questions about the Amish and Mennonites.  Merle and Phyllis Good.  April, 2001.

Kelly and I spent Easter weekend in Ohio with her grandparents, and on Saturday we drove through Amish country.  It was really interesting to see all of the houses without electricity, horse carriages, etc.  We were all amazed at how modernized their houses are now -- Kelly's grandparents haven't been there in a while and there has been a big change in this area.  We stopped by a few stores, such as Ashly's Bulk food store, and a cheese factory (yummy!), as well as a furniture store with outstanding quality furniture (all hand built to order).  We may have found our future dining room set, and they also carried a love-seat recliner by Lazy Boy that I really liked.   We picked up this book to learn more about the history of the Amish and Mennonites and it was quite interesting.  It helped me understand a lot about what we were seeing, though it may be a bit outdated now.  

YOGA:  101 Essential Tips.  April, 2001.

This is from the same series as "Wine: 101 Essential Tips," put out by DK publishing, that I read last month.  I saw this while in Minneapolis for the IETF and picked it up because I was getting low on reading materials.  The yoga tips in this book are from the Sivananda Yoga Vendant Center, which is not really the type of yoga I do, though there are of course some similarities.  (I usually do Power Yoga and Bikram Yoga.)   I can't recommend this book for a beginner yoga student, there is not nearly enough detail in the descriptions of the asanas, but it is ok as a review.   I also have the Sivananda Yoga Companion, which is a much more detailed book, and Yoga Mind and Body, which is also put out by DK and encompasses the Sivanand style.  

Leave No Trace.   Will Harmon.  A Falcon Guide.   April, 2001.

This is from the same "Falcon Guide" series as "Wilderness Survival," that I read a few months back.  This one basically teaches you how to hike, camp, etc., in the wild while leaving the wild as it was before you got there.  Much of it is common sense, so I won't really go into any examples or details here.  It is worth reading (it only takes an hour or so) if you are out in the wild a lot.

Telecosm:  How Infinite Bandwidth will Revolutionize Our World.  George Gilder.   March 2001.

I was first introduced to George Gilder in the Fall of 1996, in a "futures" class for my M.S. in Telecommunications from RIT.  In fact, you can read my paper "Clearing the Hurdles of Space and Time with Infinite Bandwidth," that I wrote after reading a series of articles Gilder had written.  Those articles would become the basis of the book Telecosm, though the book includes many that were written after 1996.  When I was first introduced to Gilder I thought he was fantastic, but my views have slowly shifted over time as I have learned more and more about the industry.   He gets so excited over the technology that a reader that is not familiar with the topic may be overcome and get excited along with George!   

One of the problems is that Gilder writes a technology investment report, and you may have heard of the Gilder effect.   Once a particular company makes Gilder's list, the stock price often takes off.  (Well, at least it did before we entered the current 'bear' market.)  Gilder states he may or may not own shares in the companies he touts, so he can financially benefit when he picks a given company.  Also, Gilder is often looking out 10 or 20 years.  Some of the technology he says will change the world are really at least that far away from taking over.  And in this industry, things change so rapidly that that is several lifetimes!   (Note that many of the articles from the technology report are the basis of the book.)

So, on to the book.  I have to admit that the 1st section made me realize why I liked Gilder so much when I was first introduced to him.  He covers the basis of physics that makes the technologies possible.  Gilder is full of hyperbole as well, which means you have to read through his excitement to get to the base.   He tries to set the readers straight on this early:  "Futurists falter because they belittle the power of religious paradigms, deeming them either too literal or too fantastic.  Yet futures are apprehended only in the prophetic mode of the inspired historian."   He sees himself as the inspired historian and prophet of future technologies.

However, he does dig down into some fundamental changes in economy with regards to supply and demand.  Basically, prior to the microcosm and telecosm, as supply went up, eventually demand dwindled.  But that is no longer the case -- as CPU power went up, software applications demanded more and more.  The same is true of bandwidth.  Also, He includes the following quote from Japanese Futurist Taichi Sakaiya:  "Survival dictates that human beings ... develop an ethics and aesthetics that favor exploiting fully those resources that exist in abundance, and economizing on items that are in short supply."  Telecosm is all about how bandwidth will soon be the abundant resource, and those companies that treat it so will flourish.  Traditional telco's that see bandwidth as scarce and try to save as much as they can with their network architectures are doomed to failure.  

A few more notes:  Gilder is big on trickle down economics:  "The rich provide the investment and the rest reap the rewards."  The quote "telecommunications is wreaking a diluvian deliverance from time and distance..." is strikingly similar to the topic of my paper -- I probably got the idea from Gilder when I wrote it, but the quote comes from a chapter that certainly was not written in '96.  He even mentions Leonard Cohen at one point -- "the sepulchral murmur of a Leonard Chohen meditation."  Most of people I know don't care for Cohen, especially Kelly ( ;-) ), but he's my favorite lyricist ever!  

Oh well, I've rambled on enough though I haven't really said too much!  The book is in some ways worth reading if you are a technology investor or want to know more about the technology that is making the net what it is.  But realize Gilder is full of hyperbole and often gets quite excited about what he's writing, and that he may have a financial interest in some of the companies he describes, so take it all with a grain of salt!

Forbes Magazine always has as its last page a bunch of quotes.  Here is one from the 1/22/01 issue that I liked:

"I happen to think that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic."

I think I can argue a given topic from a number of different view points, but probably nowhere near what my Dad likes to do!  ;-)

The WORST-CASE SCENARIO Survival Handbook.  Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht.  

I started reading this several months ago and somehow got side tracked on other things and lost site of it.   The book may seem like a joke in many places, but it is quite serious -- though you will still get a good laugh out of it here and there.  On the front cover is a sticker that has "HOW TO:  Escape from Quicksand; Wrestle an Alligator; Break Down a Door; Land a Plane."   Inside are sections like how to escape from killer bees and how to win a sword fight.  The two authors consulted experts in each area to write the short 1 or 2 page instructions on what to do in all of these survival scenarios.  As an example of a sentence that will make you laugh, in the section on how to wrestle an alligator, step 4 reads:  "If its jaws are closed on something you want to remove (a limb, for example), tap or punch it on the snout. "   There are many such examples, but there is a lot of decent information in here that you may find useful someday.  The biggest piece of advice in any situation:  DON'T PANIC. 

Assassins:  Assignment Jerusalem, Target Antichrist.  Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins.  March 2001.

Book 6 in the Left Behind series.  These are quick reads and are worth reading no matter what you think of prophecy...  Book 3 was a drag to read -- repeated everything in Books 1 and 2, but they've gotten better since then.   The series is up to book 8 with no end in sight!  (Just kidding...)

 

Wine:  101 Essential Tips.  March 2001

We spent a weekend in the Sonoma/Napa area for Jessica (my cousin) and Matt's wedding.  We were lucky to be along the Russian River Road area during barrel tasting weekend, so we got to enjoy several wineries and tasting rooms, including Kendall Jackson, Martinelli, etc.  At Sebastiani's, we picked up this short DK book, and I read it on the plane from SFO to Atlanta.  It has 101 short tips about wine -- a lot of information stuffed into a very short book, but well worth the read.  

Moby Dick.  Herman Melville.  July 1999 - January 2001.

Wow, finally done!  The dates listed above are correct -- it took me about 7 months to finish this book.  (Of course, I did read many others in that time!)  I decided I really wanted to read this after reading "In the Heart of the Sea," which is a true story of a whale ramming a ship and causing it to sink (and likely Melville's inspiration for Moby Dick).  I had to read a few chapters of this back in high school, but I don't remember much of it anyway, and if I did do much back then, it was probably with Cliff Notes.  The book is definitely worth the read -- I'm not sure there is anything else quite like it.  It is certainly not an "easy read," though, and that is why it took me so long.  I often put it down for a month or more at a time.   There is so much detail on so many things -- often chapters of several pages devoted to something as simple as a rope, or more complicated as the whole study of whales as known to Melville in his time.  But often these chapters are filled with symbolism of humanity, life, religion, etc.  Again, worth the read, though it's not easy.

 

A Walk in the Woods.  Bill Bryson.  January 2000.

This book starts out great, but has a disappointing middle and end - at least to me.  The book is funny and satirical throughout, as well as informative.  It is the story of walking the Appalachian Trail.  However, about half way through the book, Bryson decides to not walk the full trail, and begins driving to various places to do day hikes.  This is after having spenT many weeks walking every inch of the trail.  Towards the end, he starts to walk the 100 mile wilderness in Maine, but also bows out of that.  Believe me, what he accomplished -- how much he did walk -- is still impressive, but I was still disappointed in the book because of this.   Oh well.  It is certainly worth the read, and because it is so informative you can learn a lot about the history and current state of the AT, as well as many other things he thinks of along the way.

Wilderness Survival.  Susan Swedo.  A Falcon Guide.  January 2000.

This is a short little Falcon guide I saw in an outdoor store and grabbed for a few bucks.  There are some interesting survival ideas, and I did see a couple of more things to add to my normal equipment I try to bring when hiking, camping, etc., one of which is 20 gauge wire.  Also, I will add a couple of more thick trash bags to my list, which have more uses than I ever figured!  I'll probably get some fire starter, which lights in any condition and can often get wet material to burn.  When searching for water, look to the north facing side of mountains first, as they get more rain and less light.  Some of the water myths were interesting:  don't waste time and energy cutting through a cactus for water -- the skin is tough and well protected, so you would need a machete, and once inside, there isn't much water, but instead a string moist material that is unpalatable;  urine can not be used for hydration;  eating snow doesn't hydrate you either -- you actually burn more energy melting it that is worthwhile and the water in the snow is not in a form your body can use.  Don't save iodine tablets from one year to the next....  A couple of the food myths were also interesting:  it is NOT safe to eat anything you observe animals eating;  do not eat a tiny amount of a food to see if it is safe -- some plants are so poisonous that tiny amount can be fatal. It also listed edible plants, but that is too long to list here.  All in all, some pretty interesting stuff.

Apollyon:  The Destoryer is Unleashed.  Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins.  January 2000.

This is the 5th book in the "Left Behind" series, and it had been a couple of years since I read the 4th book.  However, it was easy to pick up where I had left off, and only once or twice did I not remember a name or incident.  This book did much better than book 3 in terms of letting you recall for yourself the prior books.  Book 3 went a little crazy and just about repeated books 1 and 2 in certain sections.  There are 3 more books out now in this series.  Will it ever end?  Originally it was supposed to be a trilogy, and then 7 books, and I have no idea what it is up to now!  I only know book 9 should be released in fall of 2001. 

It's Not About the Bike.  Lance Armstrong with Salley Jenkins.  January 2000.

This was an unexpected Christmas gift from my mother, and I read it quickly.  It is a very fast read, written almost in a conversational style.  What Lance went through with cancer (not diagnosed until a very advanced stage), and then his incredible comeback to win the Tour de France is simply amazing.  The damage done to his body via chemo therapy must have been tremendous, yet he came back a stronger rider.  (Partially because of the lost muscle mass in his upper body -- that made him a lighter rider in the mountains!)  The speed at which the 1st treatment steps occurred after the initial diagnosis were amazing -- just a matter of days for testicular surgery and the 1st session of chemo to begin.  What was also amazing was the chapter on  the in vitro fertilization process Lance and his wife went through to conceive their son, Luke.  Definitely worth the read just to learn more about cancer and IVF, even if you are not a big cycling fan.

"Make every obstacle and opportunity."  (Lance's Mom often told him that as he was growing up.)

Prior Year's lists:

2000