HALF WAY!!!

On the last day of the 6th month of the year I finished mt 25th book. The Penguin Atlas of Food: Who Eats What, Where, and Why, a fascinating book, with a completely fascination-less title. The book is 42 Maps with an in-depth essay accompanying each describing a wide range of food related topics such as; under-nutrition, over-nutrition, mad cow disease, trade disputes, and fast food trends. If you have been following my blog you may have noticed that I have been reading quite a bit about poverty and food (especially the industrial food complex.) This was a great look at both topics in written as well as graphic form. The maps were great as well as the charts and data provided. I still can't quite comprehend the fact that we have more than enough food to feed the world but people are still going hungry, or that there are 30 food additives approved for use in foods worldwide that may cause unknown health risks. Or, that we add corn to foods just to use up the corn we have grown, thereby driving down the price of corn, forcing farmers to grow more corn to pay the bills, but I'm no world leader. But I am a reader, half way done!

24 books down and liking the United States more book by book!

Sarah Vowell is a contributing editor to the Public Radio International program This American Life which is probably my favorite program in any genre of media. I've always felt like I kind of identified with her on some level. I mean like anyone we have some things in common and some things very much mot in common, but I feel like we process and think about the world in similar ways. So I put all of her books on paperback swap, and to my delight I received Partly Cloudy Patriot the other day. This is a collection of short writings for magazines, radio presentations, and letters to other individuals. They range in topics from A letter to Bill Clinton about what, and what not to do with his presidential library, to essays on the inauguration of George Bush, The Pitfalls of living in New York City vs. Montana, and a few thoughts on Patriotism. I've never really thought of myself as much of a Patriot, other than the "dissidence-is-the-most-genuine-form-of-patriotism" kid of patriot. But I am starting to realize that there is more to me than that. I don't figure I'll ever be a flag waiver, or a "this is the greatest country God has graced our planet with," kind of patriot. But I can see that this is a great country, and there are things to be grateful for. Freedom is good, democracy is good, diversity of population is great, the ability to dissent is fundamental to society. I will never be a jingoist, or a patriot in the close the border, apple pie inhaling, America is my religion way, but I can embrace the nation God determined I would live in, I can call it home, I can love it's people as long as I love all people, and I can be American. If it was good enough for Lincoln, it's good enough for me.

Not sure how to review this?

My twenty-third book of the year was McSweeney's Issue no. 14. The hard part about this for me is that there were several great short stories in this issue. But, as with any collection of material, there were a few that didn't really resonate with me. I wouldn't consider my self an intellectual reader of fiction, but I see a great value in stretching one's self in these areas. I don't really intend on becoming a great lover of contemporary fiction, that's just not me. There is, however, a great deal of appreciation on my part for anyone willing to push the boundaries of there field. When I was young I spent a pretty large amount of time in art galleries. At least compared to most children my age, and I can recall an overwhelming sense of "I don't get it." I often would tell my dad, "I could have done that." and he would without fail reply, "but you didn't." As you can imagine this was very frustrating as a 10 year old trying to make sense of Rothko, or Pollock. But Robert Rauschenberg seemed the most strange to me. I can remember thinking "all he did was collage some other peoples photos together and screen print them. But now I get it, having done some screen printing I can begin to see the inspiration behind the work. It is much like the writing in-between the covers of McSweeney's no. 14. I could have done it. But I didn't

How to Be an Explorer of the World

Some people may contend that I shouldn't count this in my books because it is such a light read, and not necessarily intellectually stimulating. But, some people like White Chicks. That's not the point, however. This book was really inspiring. It consists of 59 challenges to take to the streets. They are activities designed to increase you imagination, problem solving, story telling abilities, and overall hipster appeal. If you know me, you probably know that I do not hold to the "do not judge a book by its cover" non-sense. I'm a designer, so I always judge a book by its cover. That's not to say that I haven't read some great books that are lacking in the aesthetic appeal department, but I generally reach for the books that grab my attention. This book, however, I judged on its reverse instead of the obverse. It contained two statements that beckoned me to read it. One, a statement that I try to live out on a daily basis and impart to anyone that will listen. And the other a warning to those who may refuse to hear it. They are as follows and sum up the mission of this book:

Everyone is an artist.
- Joseph Beuys

Warning: To whoever has just picked up this book. If you find that you are unable to use your imagination, you should put this book back immediately. It is not for you. In this book you will be repeatedly asked to...suspend your disbelief, complete tasks that make you feel a bit strange, look at the world in ways that make you think differently, conduct experiments on a regular basis, and see inanimate objects as alive.

This is going to be fun!

Pleasantly Surprised!

I'll start by saying that I know nothing about Karen Armstrong other than what you find here. I can say that I definitely disagree with her theology but enjoyed here factual presentation of a faith that I am ashamed to say I have little understanding of. This book was recommended to me by a friend, Eric Huxley. Who if you have a chance to talk to, you should. He is in Guatemala right now but seriously you should talk to this guy. Anyway, he recommended this book as a nice introduction to Islam.
The thing that I appreciated about this book was that it was written with a western sensibility. It was not a textbook by any means and was written with a Euro-American audience in mind. This is by no means an assault on the writer. I felt that the book portrayed the followers of Islam fairly and in fact spoke highly of the adherents of the faith. It is hard in "the West" to filter through a "Fox News" presentation of a group of people that most of us have little contact with. I felt this short history did a good, but succinct job of catching the reader up on the last 1,400'ish years. I by no means feel I am a scholar, but I don't have to pretend I know the differences between Shi'ites and Sunnis. I now know what a Sufi is and ultimately I can better understand my faith. I come from a Judeo-Christian culture, a and a Christian family, but it would be ignorant in this day and age, or any for that matter, to pretend that the role of Islam in the world does not impact my life on a near daily basis. If knowledge is power then I desire to be powerful in my understanding of God, and I feel like this read encouraged that.

I didn't get the idea for the art show from this book

Have you ever wondered what evolutionary biologists think about music? I haven't, but it turns out to be pretty interesting. I'm not on the evolution wagon, but I don't have a problem listening to opposing points of view,especially when they cover a topic I haven't put much thought into.
In The World in Six Songs by Daniel J. Levitin we get to take a glimpse into the mind of a brilliant scientist as he tries to explain (via Darwinian evolution)not only where our music came from, but why, and why it was able to survive through the genetic landslide that is "survival of the fittest." Levitin looks at many of our current day "tribal" peoples for a glimpse into their use of music for communication. Levitin theorizes that music was originally a system used for warning, threatening, and generally communicating before the development of written language. Then due to the fact that the people who could warn each other of danger managed to live longer those genetic predispositions were passed on and that thousands of years later we are watching The Killers on Laye Night with Jimmy Fallon. This is all a stretch for me, but what I really enjoyed were the "Six Songs." I assumed he would discuss six specific songs that summed up the world succinctly. Not quite, instead Levitin discusses six topics that essentially all of the worlds lyric music falls into. Friendship, self explanatory...think "I believe that we are gonna be friends." by the White Stripes. These are songs of peace and cooperation or as the author says, War (what is it good for?) Next is Joy, along the lines of Jeremiah was a Bullfrog. People like joy, that should be no surprise, so as a result we sing about it. Comfort, we all know the its okay that that guy broke your heart song, it's a universal theme of music. Knowledge, many of the earliest songs that we know of are songs teaching people which plants were safe to eat, where the local cannibals lived, which animals would prefer to eat you. This continues today, we have songs to learn the capitols, to tie our shoes, and the books of the Bible. The last 2 topics go without saying, Religion and Love. Anyone who has spent any time in an organized religion knows that music is a critical part of worship and a sense of unity for the followers of said religion. One easy to feel connected to a group of people is to share a common vocabulary of songs. Finally, Love, most songs on the radio (at least FM) are songs of expressions of love, songs of unrequited love, or torch songs (thank you Phil Collins.) Music would cease to exist if we couldn't sing about love.
So in closing, I don't care how music got to where it is today, I personally believe we serve a creative God that put it in us to create music for him. But whatever you believe I think we can all agree, music is good, and this planet would be a drag without it.