What I’m reading

I am currently reading Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese.

 

Keeping calm

What am I doing to keep sane and calm during wedding planning craziness? Well, it’s not always easy, but here is what works for me. Keep close to your family and friends. Listen to their advice, their love will keep you stable.

I also read poetry and prose to keep me sane. This is always a good strategy, not just for rough times. Here is a passage I read today that calmed me down and reminded me to enjoy life as a precious gift. The passage is from Walden or Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau.
“We must learn to reawaken and to keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.”
What a beautiful way to look at the world!

What I’m reading

I am about halfway through The Tiger’s Wife: A Novel, by Tea Obreht on my kindle. So far I am really enjoying it. I have also picked up a collection of short stories by Lorrie Moore called Birds of America. I like her erratic writing style. For poetry I am reading Collected Poems by Robert Bly. He is definitely one of my new favorites!
Here is a link to one of his more recent poems on The Writer’s Almanac:
The Blind Old Man

Reading Poetry

I always read the Writer’s Almanac. I subscribe to the free daily e-newsletter so it comes straight to my email. I am usually impressed with the daily poems. It also provides a good way for me to branch out and read contemporary poets I have never read before. They do a mix of contemporary and older poets which is nice.

I really enjoyed this poem by Robert Bly: What Did We See Today? You can find it on the Feb. 18, 2011 newsletter, or follow this link:
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2011/02/18

Quote of the day

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. ~Albert Einstein

Reading Update

The dry spell is over and I have read quite a few books since I last posted. Including, “Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem” by Wendy Bishop, and “On Wings of Song: Poems about Birds” an Everyman’s Library Pocket Poet book.

Poet of the Month

Lately, I have not been able to finish a book. I have never had this problem before and I am not sure of the cause. So I have decided to give myself some challenges. I haven’t been able to read fiction or even nonfiction, but I don’t have a problem reading poetry. So I will have a new poet every month to read and study. This past month was T.S. Eliot.

Last month 12/09:
-“The Wasteland”, by T.S. Eliot

Quote for the holidays

“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.” – Charlie Chaplin

This quote reminds me that life provides us with all kinds of challenges, but nothing we can’t overcome.
The world doesn’t care that you have problems. It keeps spinning and spinning, oblivious to our daily troubles. When I think of the enormity of the universe my troubles don’t seem so bad.

Quote for the Day

“Art is alive if it tells us the truth”
-Picasso

Ballard Locks

100 books in one year!

I wanted to see how many books I read in a year. So I decided to challenge myself to read at least 100 books this year. Here is a list of the books I have read so far starting this month:

B is for Beer, by Tom Robbins