Reading Journal

For anyone who cares, I apologize for not updating the lit blog like I said I would.

I'm still reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (I feel very blessed to finally be able to spell that word correctly on only the second try.) I also started Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado. I intend to have Six Hours finished by May 31 so I can start on my 2010 issue of the Briar Cliff Review. Which I will be picking up on Saturday.

Things have kind of fizzled out with Zen and A of MM. Probably because I wanted more MM and less Zen. Six Hours is pretty good, as far as Christian literature goes. It's at least kept me interested through the whole book, even if I don't understand the organization of it. Both have provided me with some quotable passages over the past, erm, month. *sheepish grin* I've been busy, ok?

We'll start with Zen and Art of MM
p. 75
"A photograph can show a physical image in which time is static, and a mirror can show a physical image in which time is dynamic, but I think what he saw on the mountain was another kind of image altogether which was not physical and did not exist in time at all. It was an image nevertheless and that is why he felt recognition."
"He wanted to free himself from his own image. He wanted to destroy it because the ghost was what he was and he wanted to be free from the bondage of his own identity."
Who hasn't felt that?

p. 107
"...he is like someone or some creature that has found an exit from a cage he did not even know was around him, and is wildly roaming over the countryside visually devouring everything in sight."
I kinda wanna be like that.

p. 110
"People spend their entire lives at those lower altitudes without any awareness that this high country exists."

____________
Moving on to Six Hours...
The back cover holds a pretty good description of the book.
"No matter what the storm clouds bring, you can face your pain with courage and hope. For two thousand years ago--six hours, one Friday--Christ firmly planted in bedrock three solid anchor points that we all can cling to:
Our lives are not futile. Our failures are not fatal. Our deaths are not final.
For the heart scarred with futility, that Friday holds purpose. For the life blackened with failure, that Friday holds forgiveness. And for the soul looking into the tunnel of death, that Friday holds deliverance."
See why I wanted to read it?

I love his style and will share some excerpts now.

p. 21
"A witness could not help but ask: Jesus,...what holds you to the cross? Nails don't hold gods to trees. What makes you stay?"

p. 23
"The one who has the right to condemn you provided the way to acquit you. You make mistakes. God doesn't. And he made you."

"He only went in to prove he could come out."

I want to use chapter 3 in a lesson sometime. The whole chapter is good.

p. 40
Lucado recants the tale of the woman at the well. How she goes at midday to avoid the gossipy murmurings about her. Jesus is there, waiting, and tells her who He is. She then turns and runs into the city with the news.
"Did you notice what she forgot? She forgot her water jar. She left behind the jug that had caused the sag in her shoulders. She left behind the burdens she brought."
And where did she leave them, I ask? With the Messiah. What an insight!

p. 41
"For some of you the story of these two women is touching but distant. You belong. You are needed and you know it. You've got more friends than you can visit and more tasks than you can accomplish.
"Insignificance will not be chiseled on your tombstone.
"Be thankful.
"But others of you are different....
"You know what it's like to have no one sit by you at the cafeteria. You've wondered what it would be like to have one good friend. You've been in love and you wonder if it is worth the pain to do it again.
"And you, too, have wondered where in the world God is."

p. 52
Describing doubt, one of Satan's favorite tools.
"He'll pester you. He'll irritate you. He'll criticize your judgment. He'll kick the stool out from under you and refuse to help you up. He'll tell you not to believe in the invisible yet offer no answer for the inadequacy of the visible.
"He's a mealy-mouthed, two-faced liar who deals from the bottom of the deck. His aim is not to convince you but to confuse you. He doesn't offer solutions, he only raises questions.
"Don't let him fool you."

p. 56
"When a whip ripped his sides, he didn't turn and command the awaiting angels to stuff that whip down that soldier's throat."

p. 63
"Your complaints are not over teh lack of necessities but the abundance of benefits. You bellyache over the frills, not the basics; over benefits, not essentials. The source of your problems is your blessings."

p. 73
"I put a bumper sticker on my bicycle."

p. 100
Lucado speculation on some of what God may have been thinking during those Six Hours:
"Soldiers, you think you lead him? Ropes, you think you bind him? Men, you think myou sentence him? He heeds not your commands. He winces not at your lashes. It is my voice he obeys. It is my condemnation he dreads. And it is your souls he saves."

p. 108
I'm going to risk pilfering even more time and just tell the story in Lucado's words.
"My wife has a cousin named Rob. Rob is a great guy. His good heart and friendly smile endear him to everyone. He is the kind of fellow you call upon when you can't call on on anyone else.
"So when the Girl Scouts needed someone to dress up like the Cookie Monster at a fund-raiser, who did they call? You got it. Rob.
"There were a few problems. First, no one anticipated the day of the campaign would be so hot. Second, Rob didn't know that the costume would be so big. Third, who would have thought that Rob's glasses would fog up so badly he couldn't see? As he was sitting on the stage waiting his turn to speak, the heat inside the mask covered his glasses with fog. He couldn't wipe them off--his paws were too big to fit in the eyehole.
"He started to worry. Any minute he would be called upon to give a talk, and he couldn't even see where the podium was!
"He whispered for help. The costume was to thick; his cries went unheard.
"He began to wave his hands. What he heard in response were the squeals of delight from the kids. The thought he was waving at them!
"As I heard this story I chuckled...and then I sighed. It was too familiar. Cries for help muffled behind costumed faces? Fear hidden behind a painted smile? Signals of desperation thought to be signs of joy?
"Tell me that doesn't describe our world."

p. 113
"He [Christ] later stretched out his hands as open as he could. He forced his arms so wide apart that it hurt. And to prove that those arms would never fold and those hands would never close, he had them nailed open."

p. 123
"You only kill a king if he has a kingdom."

p. 141
"A man reaches a point where his desperation is a notch above his dignity. He shrugs his shoulders. 'What choice do I have?'"

Reading Journal

I finished Catcher in the Rye as well as a juvenile lit book on Thomas Edison. I learned a bit from both of them. Edison had a pretty interesting life as an inventor and I think a lot can be learned from him about how to, and how not to, achieve success in life.

The first time I read Catcher in the Rye was my sophomore of high school. Voluntarily, nonetheless. I had a friend a year ahead of me who needed a copy to read for his English class. (I ended up taking a different English class my junior year, so I didn't take the regular one.) I borrowed one from my Communications Arts teacher and read it either before or after I loaned it to him.
I got more out of it this time. Mainly, I finally came to my own understanding as to why it's titled the way it is. I mean, I had read the line towards the end where he says that he wants to be that person in the song "if a body catch a body coming through the rye" (or something like that; I'm too lazy to look for the exact reference). He talks, essentially, about how he wants to save kids from going over the edge. I'll probably have to read it again before I can explain what I mean.

Another thing that was shared with me was that the band Explosions in the Sky got a lot of inspiration for their 5th studio album from the book. Sure enough, it's true. At least, that's my assessment from reading the book and wiki article that said so.


A couple of days ago, I started Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. And it's pretty good so far. I'm not very far into it, but I already like the author. Not sure where the book plans on going, but that's okay. I find myself really identifying with the author, so I think I might end up with a new best friend after this book! On a superficial level, Robert M. Pirsig "writ[es] and edit[es] technical manuals...for a living." (p. 24)

Every so often, I meet someone and I know pretty early on that we're going to be bosom buddies. Sometimes that happens with books, too. It happened with this one.
Page 3 (first page of text)
"I'm happy to be riding back in this country. It is a kind of nowhere, famous for nothing at all and has an appeal because of just that."
Page 4.
"We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with emphasis on 'good' rather than 'time' and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes."
That same page includes why he likes riding so much, and a lot of it applies to why I like riding my bicycle so much. Which makes me interested to read the rest of the book.

And his drunken discourse delivered in delirium from pages 28-32 on ghosts and Isaac Newton certainly was a nice distraction while I was giving blood.

I really recommend this book to everyone who doesn't mind getting beyond the superficial every once in a while. Seriously, I'm only on page 32 and I'm already trying to decide who to loan it to first! Years from now, I may end up having to get another copy because I've read it so much. I just hope it doesn't disappoint me and fizzle out towards the end.

Reading Journal

Lunatic Express, by Carl Hoffman

A great book for me to add on my next cycle. And with my tax refund, I may even be able to purchase it, should it not be at the library. I'll check, anyway, though.

From what I can tell, it's about a guy who travels on the worst-rated airlines, buses and trains around the world for safety.

I'll be able to tell you more about it after I listen to Michael Feldmen's Whaddya Know? show!! (I love that show mostly because of the website's address. Haven't been to it in years, but it's www.notmuch.com)

I read a few lines of Catcher in the Rye today. I've had a couple of busy and stressful weeks, not leaving me with much time or mental capacity for reading. My book on Edison isn't getting read as much as I'd like it to, either. Figured out why it's so easy and enjoyable to read, though: it's classified as juvenile literature. haha....maybe I can finish it this week and see if my little sister wants to read it. (She's 10 but likes to learn. In a cool way; she's also very social. I kinda wanna be her.)

Here's the list
Old: Catcher in the Rye
New: Edison
Random: plan is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
True: Six Hours One Friday
Old: something by Thomas Hardy, preferably from my Book of Great Books
New: Lunatic Express

Writing Journal

Assume what you'd like to about this one. Just remember what assuming does to the both of us.

Making Light
I've heard him breathe,
I've seen him cry.
I found out
He's afraid of goodbye.

I've seen him dance,
I've heard him sing.
I found out
He's afraid of a ring.

If I'm the best thing
To happen in years,
It's far past time
For him to face his fears.

Writing Journal

Well, then...I guess I should let you know that I'm not failing at writing 40 poems in 40 days. There are two reasons I'm not posting all of them. One being that some of them reveal information too personal for me to share with my known public. At least at this point in time. Maybe by the time I feel the poem is finally finished, whatever is holding me back from posting it will be less cumbersome. Or I'll be more detached and therefore more comfortable sharing those feelings from a distance.

The other reason is that they're being held hostage in various notebooks. Last year, I had a pretty regular schedule, so I could at least keep them in the same notebook and post them at about the same time each day. This year, not so much. So far. Maybe this will change, too.

That all being said...I was glancing through some of the poems and noticed that one I wrote towards the beginning of this challenge (and therefore have forgotten about) has a line (the last one) that carried itself over into the theme of the one today. I'll share the first one with you, but today's is rather too personal. (I hope anyone reading understands and suggests a title.)

untitled
I've taken risks before
Now I'll take a risk again.
I'll calculate the cons,
And pray the pros are real,
Not another pipe dream.

It was a pleasure coming here,
And it won't be easy easing out.
I need to refresh, restart, renew,
Just like you advise me to do.

I'll change my life
And change my ways,
Then leave this place behind.

Don't worry about losing me,
You lost me long ago.

I wish I was going to miss you more.