Acres and acres of books to read!

Oh, to have more hours in the day! I just counted my book wish lists. Amazon.ca - 104. Chapters.ca - 65. Internet sites - 87. That comes to a grand total of 256 books that I don't own right now, but would like to read. My personal library has at least that many that I either haven't read or would like to re-read (can you imagine having the time to re-read a book?!!)

One book that I must read ASAP and finally got the motivation to do it is The Shack by William P. Young. I actually have this book in audio form on my ipod and today I purpose to start listening the next time I'm doing an hour on the treadmill. Which will be soon, I hope. So many people have recommended I perservere deeper into this book than I've been able to so far. So that's my short term goal - maybe next weeks book of the 52 week challenge?

Feeling fulfilled?

I refuse to be intimidated by Susan Wise Bauer and the fact that, not only has she finished her book for this week, but she's also written a long and detailed critique of the book on her blog. She's an academic; I'm not. She's a writer; I'm not. So I continue to work my way through "Outliers" and glean nuggets of insight. Maybe by the time I finish I will be able to condense some thoughts into a critique; we'll see.

The quote from the book that I just had to write down today I wish I could send to all my children. But that would be nagging. Or interfering. Or at least perceived as that. So it will remain with me, but if it can ever naturally come up in conversation with any of them, you can be sure I'll be ready.

Outliers page 148 "When Borgenicht came home at night to his children, he may have been tired and poor and overwhelmed, but he was alive. He was his own boss. He was responsible for his own decisions and direction. His work was complex: it engaged his mind and imagination. And in his work, there was a relationship between effort and reward: the longer he and Regina stayed up at night sewing aprons, the more money they made the next day on the streets. These three things - autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward - are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It is not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It's whether our work fulfills us."

This quote is so true. What I like most about it is that it takes success in life out of the "it's how much money you make" mindset. This is the impression I had been getting from the book and indeed, that may be what his premise is. But this quote elevates the definition to a higher level than merely material possessions and hopefully the rest of the book will continue in this vein.

Some winter scenes from my home to yours

Book of the week?

One of my favorite people in the whole world is Susan Wise Bauer. She is smart, witty and so down-to-earth, in spite of being a well-known author. I was totally in awe of her accomplishments (well, I guess I still am), but after I actually saw her in person she became such a ....mom, just like me. She just has that certain something that has allowed her to be very productive and successful in spite of having some similar responsibilities as me (such as numerous children, homeschooling them, household stuff to do etc.)

Which leads me to her challenge for 2009. She's joined a group which plans to try and read one book a week for 52 weeks. For her that means unwork-related books, because she reads a number of research books as week. (And writes her own books at the same time - you see why I want to be this woman)

My nature is to jump on this bandwagon. One book a week...easy-peasy. I used to be able to pull this off no problem. Until I took up knitting. Add a crazy obsession with manipulating sticks and string for hours on end to an already full schedule of schooling, children's ministry and homemaking and there isn't a lot of free time left over for reading numbers of books a week. That's why I've taken up listening to audio books.

So I'm not offically saying that I'm going to read 52 books in 52 weeks. But....here's book number one.

OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell

This book is so exciting! If you have read any of his other books (The Tipping Point, Blink) and enjoyed them, you'll like this one as well. He is a man who can see patterns (another personality characteristic that I covet, but don't have). In Outliers he examines success to see what factors make a person successful. As the book proceeds he shatters many accepted ideas of what these factors might be by researching successful people and trying to find some common ground. I hesitate to say too much because it was just fascinating for me to read it for myself and I don't want to take away that pleasure from anyone.

One that I will divulge is the 10,000 hours theory. It appears that on average, to become a master or world-expert at something you don't necessarily have to have high IQ or an exceptional skill at it. You must just put in at least 10,000 hours doing it. Which roughs out to about 10 years. I have to admit that I got excited thinking about that 10,000 hours concept. Hmmm....manageable? Till he added the 10 years part. A bit mind boggling to think in those terms when you've already passed the half century mark. All the people that he used to determine his figures began their journeys when they were young and unattached and able to devote almost 24/7 to their passions.

Nevertheless, it is something to think about. It's more about the time that you put into a passion than the innate ability you have to do it that determines where you will go with it.

The chapter that will be of special interest to parents deals with the factors that mean the difference between success and failure even when starting with the same baseline of intelligence. It comes down to family interaction and involvement, people. Of course, we all know that. But maybe having it down in black and white will provide the discipline needed to be intentional about following through.

Continuing to read through my blog roll

Reading through my blog roll is like a trip through memory lane. So many wonderful treasures to be found there. I really need to have things "in my face" to remember them. How to come up with a way to visit these blogs on a more regular basis? Oh, I know .... add about 5 hours to my day! That should do it.

The holidays are over. This week "real life" begins again. In the meantime, I will read through blogs and pretend that I have no responsibilities.

For at least 15 minutes a day.

Check out the innovative art work on this site. http://www.judaicajournal.blogspot.com/

This menorah is one of my favorites.

Conquering computer clutter

In keeping with the new year theme, the time has come to go through the files on my computer and delete everything that's not needed any more.


Starting with my blog roll.


I collect blog addresses like I collect recipes. Click, click, click. Save, save, save. But then I rarely have time to check them all. So that has been the first mountain to climb on this organizing journey.


I've managed to about half the number by removing those no longer relevant, useful or interesting. Much more manageable.


One that will remain is ffoz.org. And now they have a video teaching segment that promises to add much to my spiritual diet.


Check it out.


http://ffoz.org/blogs/2008/12/mishlei_musings_-_balancing_lo.html

Just when I thought I had the nutrition thing figured out...

...along comes Dr. Weston Price.

On my last trip into the public library, I picked up an intriguing magazine entitled "Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts". There were subtitles all around the edge of the cover such as "a campaign for real milk", "pasture-fed livestock", "life-giving water", nutrient-dense food" and on and on. Right up my alley. I actually had to go onto the website to find out that Dr. Price was a dentist, who, in the early 1930's, traveled to isolated parts of the world to study their dental health practices. He came up with the characteristics of a traditional diet which he maintains is the best way for us to eat. From that list he developed dietary guidelines for modern people to use. The most striking place his list differs from "common knowledge" of our day is in his recommendation to eat high saturated fat food. He maintains that traditional high-fat diets have sustained people for thousands of years, and it's only in the more modernized society that health problems have arisen and that this is caused not by the fats, but by refining of sugars and fats.

This is not a light-reading magazine. In fact, it's almost like a scientific journal. But along with the numerous articles it also contains practical, start-right-now recipes, menu plans and time-saving meal prep ideas (in this issue at least - Spring 07). This fits in nicely with one of my New Year's resolutions, so that article will be one I spend some time on.

I hope I don't find out that he belongs to some weird religious cult.