On my mind : words.
[ photo taken in Charlotte, North Carolina, part of an installation called The Writer's Desk : words from Rolfe Neill, publisher and writer of The Charlotte Observer October 1975-January 1998 ]
I am a reader. I always have been and most likely always will be.
At many times in my life reading has been my refuge. It has given me knowledge, comforted me, inspired me and challenged me.
As many of you know I truly believe in the positive power of words to make a difference in our lives. To make connections. To enchant. To heal wounds. To celebrate life.
Here's a look at some recent things with words that touched me in some way, making me want to share:
1. Kelly Rae's thoughts on becoming.
2. Amanda's ten things list. I think I will do one of these this week (would also make a great scrapbook page or minibook).
3. Kate's journey on sweet | salty.
4. Leo's Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness + Productivity.
5. I am planning to re-read My Antonia by Willa Cather (the words from this book still live with me even 15 years after reading it the first time). Thinking about it makes me miss my literature classes in high school and college. I miss the discussion and the dialog and the prompting. I miss sharing the story with others. I miss the level of understanding that comes from deconstruction and conversation. Sounds like I need to take a class or join a bookclub.
6. The thought provoking words and unanswered questions in the movie Lions for Lambs.
7. Time's What The World Eats. A collection of photos from around the world showing what a family eats (and their cost per week).
8. An interesting essay about blogging from The New York Times Magazine (by Emily Gould).
9. Recently I have been reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. I have actually been reading it for at least a couple months now (I can't remember the last book I took this long to read + that I stuck with even in the parts that were not as interesting to me).
In the beginning I lovingly referred to as the "corn book" because of
the in-depth information about how much corn (and corn derivatives) is
in the foods we eat. It is one of those books where some days I will
read a whole bunch and then on other nights read just a few pages before bed. I am captivated
by this book about where our food comes from. It's educational and
instructional and pretty much like a really, really long magazine
article.
10. Information on the history of Memorial Day. And Andy Rooney on Memorial Day (from 60 Minutes).
And the questions on my mind lately: What is my response to a recent call to action? What am I afraid of? How is my value alignment? Am I doing enough? What am I doing with" my one wild and precious life"?
[ Coming this week: Three Things, Q & A regarding album organization, and more. ]
Just thought that I would share my inspirational reading list because I love when readers share their list with me!
Hugs, Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends)
House of the Spirits, Isabelle Allende
Walden, Thoreau
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
and...I will stop at five
Pablo Neruda's poetry
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Love the poem that Susan submitted above, looking forward to checking out the links in your post, and lingering on your final thoughts. (I dwell a bit on the notion of Am I doing enough?) Meanwhile, if you want to follow up your current book with some gentle reading, I would recommend:
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
I love to read (and am a painfully slow, detail-visualizing reader) and last year had the goal of reading only books recommended to me by others. This summer I am planning to re-read my favorites, including My Antonia, which is already on my dresser.
Thanks for reminding me I'm not alone with all my questions.
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Thank you for sharing, Ali! Now I will share one with you. I have been following the inspirational journey of Angie and her family for a little while now. Kate's journey reminded me of Angie's. You will want to start from the beginning with this one and make sure you have a box of tissues handy. Even if you don't have time to look over the whole thing now, bookmark it for later. It is worth the time.
http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/01/beginning-of-story.html
Peace,
Steph
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I really like the 10 things idea. I'm going to give that one a shot. Speaking of shots... following your lead I've been taking a lot of "looking up" photos. I even did a scrapbook page with some of them. That led to me asking my husband to bring me my camera when I was up on the roof, (of a 2 story house), so that I could take some "bird's eye view" photos. Obviously you have me looking at my surroundings in a different way. Thanks!
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I'm just now reading Virginia Woolf for the first time, and it's blowing me away. Willa Cather is another writer I haven't yet read, so I'm now adding My Antonia to my list--thanks!
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Thanks for the links. Did you hear Michael Pollan on Fresh air with Terri Gross? His The Omnivore's Dilemma sounds fabulous. I've been reading labels for corn diigently this past year. It is weird to think of how much it affects our economy especially now that it is used for fuel. I'm rading Al Gore's The Assault On Reason and it is just making me so mad. I think i'll take a break from it and return later.
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If you are interested in learning more about CORN in everything, you will want to see the documentary King Corn about two college guys who move to Iowa, plant an acre of corn and follow the entire process from beginning to end. It goes into how it is in everything and even had their hair tested and it showed up there.
We raise beef on no grain, only grass and hay. The entire grassfed industry has grown tremendously since Michael Pollan's book came out.
If you can't find information on King Corn, I would be happy to email it to you.
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love finding new sources and links through others. thanks for sharing.
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Your class at Windy City is already full(and I just learned of it while reading your blog today, unfortunately!). I'm told there are several names on the waiting list - any chance you'll add another session? Would love that!
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thanks for sharing all of this Ali! excellent post.....
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thanks Ali... I'm honoured, and totally blown away by your creativity.
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