The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Calvin suggested I read this book because I was complaining about what a tough time I was having getting through "Crime and Punishment". It was the perfect "palette cleanser" of a book in between some heavy reads. It is light and quick and poetic. The book was authored by a man completely paralyzed who had learned to communicate by blinking his eye. He wrote the memoir with assistance by blinking each letter to form each word and sentence.

One of the strangest things about the copy of the book I have is that it is second hand and full of pencil notes in the margins. The notes are banal and inane. After a paragraph describing how torturous Sundays are to him in the hospital, she writes "Sun- no one comes to read him books." The scribbler writes down the most obvious insights. The scribbler also censored three words. The sentence "She bit nurses, seized male orderlies by their genitals" had the last three words furiously penciled out.

Loved the book.

The Arbinger Institute

So my friend Jessee told me about the Arbinger Institute (a consulting firm) and I was so impressed with this video that I found on their website:



So on Saturday morning I went to the library and checked out their book "Leadership and Self Deception". It was so insightful and I can't think of another book I would recommend more right now.

Reading Goal 01/2012

I finished the Quiet American

and The Great Divorce

Enjoyed both books. Both were very quick and easy reads but have deep messages that require reflection. I liked Greene's ability to show the complexity of war, the complexity of the human experience. I liked Lewis' allegory for the after life.

Reading Goal List for 2012

There are a lot of classics I haven't even touched so my list is going to lean heavily in that department. Please feel free to leave recommendations:

1. The Book of Negroes
2. Crime and Punishment
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. Great Expectations
5. Madame Bovary (in French)
6. Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi
7. Something by Chabon...either The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or the Yiddish Policemen's Union
8. The Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
9. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (2011's Giller prize winner)
10. The Quiet American by Graham Greene
11. Of Mice and Men
12. The Grapes of Wrath
13. War and Peace
14. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich or Hitler's Scientists
15. The English Patient
16. Far From the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy

It's going to be a heavy year in reading!!

Books read in 2011

Here's my list...wish it was longer!

1. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
2. Kids are Worth It by Barbara Coloroso
3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
4. The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
7. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
8. The Entitlement Trap by Linda and Richard Eyre
9. The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
10. Sula by Toni Morrison
11. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
12. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
13. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
14. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
15. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
16. hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

I think there may be more but I didn't keep very good track, will update if need be. The Russians were by far my favorite. And the Italian was amazing as usual.

IDEAS...Say no to Happiness?

Is an excellent radio program on the CBC. I subscribe to the podcast and have been obsessed with many an episode. Calvin was a little worried after I listened to a series that inspired me to wear pants to church. But perhaps more on that later. This particular episode seemed appropriate to post because Gretchen Rubin, the author of the Happiness project (which I enjoyed btw) is interviewed. Even though the theme of the show is exploring why her project may not be the best pursuit, she still comes across very well, thoughtful and compelling. I was interested in the idea that life is about more than just being happy. The idea of happiness is a mysterious one. What does it mean to be happy and if "men are that the might have joy"...what do we make of a life that has more sorrowful and blue periods than sunshiney ones. Surely a life devoid of happiness isn't useless, is it? But as Rubin talks about in her book, isn't choosing happiness more challenging than being heavy and depressed at times? I thought this was a very thought provoking show..take a listen at:

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2011/06/20/say-no-to-happiness/

Silver Road/ CANCON

Today my dear friend Jess reminded me of our mutual love of Sarah Harmer. She is so quintessentially Canadian to me. and I just love Canada! And I miss jess so much. Wish we could drive around blasting cancon music (Jann Arden! and maybe include some Bette Midler) together.

here is a list of memories associated with Sarah Harmer:

1. Listening to Basement Apartment when Jess and I lived in a basement apartment in Calgary near the University



2. Driving somewhere in Vancouver when Jess and I were roommates in North Van. I was bawling my eyes out because of one of the songs...why can't I remember which song it was now?? Oh yeah.."Don't get your back up over this"



haha love the comments underneath about all the radio time it got in Southern Ontario

3. Going to Emily Solsberg's wedding in Nanaimo and was there not a live performance of "Open Window (The Wedding Song)? Here is a Feist cover of the song:



and the Calvin and I had the original in our wedding video.



4. Moving back to Toronto after 18 months in Vancouver and missing Vancouver so so much. I listened to this song over and over:



5. Driving around east Toronto in my mom's black Honda Civic listening to this: