Tumbleweed dreams: Best and Worst

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Best and Worst

In honor of my friend Max, whose life and writings should serve as an example to all whose keels sometimes roll sidewise, I am taking a page from his book, and pausing to ponder the best and worst things that comprise my life. Drumroll, please . . .

(Note to any and all - ok - probably any, because very few people ever read my gibberish - the followng list is likely to be under construction for some time, as I doubt I can honestly come up with 10 things in either category without a lot of thought.)

10 Best things about my life (in its present incarnation)

10. Sunshine
9. Languages
8. Travelling
7. My job(s)
6. The internet
5. Books
4. Living out of the US
3. Excellent food
2. Friends
1. Cynthia

10 Worst things about my life (in its current stage)

poking my shit with a stick every morning
Polish food
Polish students
Not having all the money I want
No scuba diving
Inability to speak Polish
Rejecting people
Making friends
No good wine
No sunshine

Gotta go - more later

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Currently Reading/ Just finished

Point Omega - Don DeLillo - Yup.
Homage to Catalonia - Orwell - Orwell is unquestionably one of the most plain-spoken and honest-minded writers it has been my pleasure to encounter. Here he takes us behind the lines in a battle for the hearts and minds and bodies of Spain. We see not only what the man on the front suffers, but how political jockeying resulted in the deaths of good people, and needless suffering. I value this book not just for what it reveals about Spanish culture, about pre-WWII European politics, about the nature of the communist party elite vs. that of its members, but really, for how it reveals what it was like to be a human caught up in a massive grist mill.
The Forever War - Filkins - We who share the internet and consume the news are used to large amounts of large numbers - how many millions of dollars per piece of equipment, how many soldiers on a base, how many "incidents" per month, which while informative, tends to divorce us from the personalized nature of each of those soldiers and incidents. Filkins book goes a long way toward remedying that lack. It's the details he includes that contribute to the overall impression I received from the book - that nasty things become unavoidable when you put people in difficult situations, and truly terrible things are inevitable when we divide into us/them dichotomies and permit aggression into the equation.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and other pieces - Basho - The one word that would best characterize this work is "reflective." Basho adopts a reflective attitude to everything around him as he makes numerous journeys back and forth across Japan, with his students in tow, stopping at famous shrines, visiting old students, and remembering famous teachers or writers, or historical events. It's a slow moving book, but one that really seems to capture the mood of the man who is writing it - he is an aged man of letters, making his way slowly around the country, wondering where his last days will occur. All in all, quite beautiful, and poignant.
The Master and Margarita - Bulgakov - Interlacing two stories, that of Christ's crucifixion and a modern-day visit by the Devil to early 20th Century Moscow, the author creates a beautiful (and fantastic - witches and devils and spirits and talking cats galore!) portrayal of life under the then-new communist regime. An excellent choice for anyone interested in the first few decades of communist rule in Russia, or satire, or just a ripping good read.
Confessions - Saint Augustine - An immensely boring book which despite being only 305 pages long took me in excess of 2 years to finish. Heavens, but some people have a gift for flogging a dead whore. His musings on the nature of time, though, were interesting, as were the observations on the nature of physical world. It was also interesting to note the manner in which one engaged in reasoning at the time.
The Coronation of Haile Selassie - Evelyn Waugh - This is an account of the coronation proceedings of Haile Selassie, with a pointedly irreverent wit being directed at all participants, but most sharply at the European diplomatic legations and the western press corps.
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi - A moving account of a childhood lost to the political machinations of men.
Iran - The Looming Crisis - Emanuele Ottolenghi - a bit dry, but ultimately compelling compilation of the extensive number and nature of Iran's violations of the non-proliferation agreement, and their prevarications regarding same. In the end argues for increased sanctions with real teeth. The publisher, a conservative American think-tank, must, of course, be taken into account.
Samarkand - Amin Maalouf - A novel giving an account of Persia, through the lens of Khayyam's Rubaiyat. Beginning with Khayyam himself, the book traces the political sea changes in Persia through to the Russian interference that would bring to power Reza Shah.
The Art of War - Sun Tzu - I started this 20 years ago, and put it down. It now, however, seems full of rather cogent observations which are easily applied to many areas, with a minimum of analysis. A good read, and a case where it is clear the reasons why the book has endured the ages to become a classic.
Social Contract - Rousseau - rather like celery - Interesting, but unnecessarily chewy, an effort for which one feels in the end somewhat under-recompensed. This is a case where I would recommend reading a summary, as his wording adds nothing and detracts somewhat.
Mary - Nabokov - his first novel, and a fine one - better than his second, perhaps - nevertheless, it still lacks the deft touch of the mastery that would come.
When Nietzsche Wept - Irvin Yalom - a good book, a fun book - I am glad it had a postscript that explained the degree to which it coincided with history, because I was quite curious. What it didn't explain, and what I remain curious about, is how accurate the portrayal of Nietzsche's philosophical views might be.
King, Queen, Knave - Nabokov - this is his second novel, and a decent one, but all the more fun because you can see the amazing genius that is evident, but not yet come to fruition.
The Assassins - Bernard Lewis - I love reading him. Did you know the assassins tried twice to assassinate Saladin? Fun fact!
Freedom - Jonathan Franzen - an excellent, beautiful book showing insight into life and love.
The Wide Sargasson Sea - Jean Rhys - meh. Ok, meh +.
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga - a good book, not great, but a good story of the education and emergence of class-consciousness in the mind of an Indian peasant boy. Damn fun, fast read.
The Poetry of Tu Fu - Translation by David Hinton - Tu Fu is supposed to be the premier poet of the golden age of culture in China. Honestly, this is one of those cases where I know that my lack of response has nothing to do with the poems. I see, and at times feel, the richness of the poetry, but, perhaps because of where I and my mind find ourselves at this juncture, it seems largely to bounce off of me. I will keep this book, and will visit it again in one year and one month, God willing.
Animal Farm - George Orwell - it was an enjoyable re-read, and richly rewarding. You notice more and more meaning in it every time.
The Gambler - Dostoevsky - A compelling tale of compulsion, addiction, and general base desperate grasping. And - oddly enough - it seems to me that the editor missed a couple of plot points that could have been wrapped up. According to accounts, though - the story was written in a great hurry, as all Dostevsky's royalties were wagered on it.
After Dark - Haruki Murakami - Good, but I could have used some resolution on a few points. Still - I guess that is what makes it postmodern! Yay!
Pale Fire - Nabokov - A novel which consists of a poem, 999 lines, and commentary thereupon, written by the next door neighbor of the murdered poet. An unexpectedly funny book, though not Nabokov's best.
The Unfettered Mind - Takuan Soho - A zen master's letters to a sword master. What I could understand was very good. What I couldn't understand, understandably less so.
The Soccer War - Ryszard Kapusczinski - Bits and pieces of a war correspondent's life, which captures the sweaty, boring, dull, hungry, wait-around aspects of the job, as well as the brief, "Holy Mother, I am going to be executed today by three laughing teenagers" aspects of the job. Incidentally, covers the war between Honduras and El Salvador, which was set off over a soccer match.
Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham - Perhaps the truest portrait I have seen of what it means to struggle with being human, and the ends toward which one should live, and the impediments that hold us back. A BRILLIANT book.
The World According to Garp - John Iriving - A gorgeous tale of a single life, from the conditions that led to conception to the ramifications on the children after. Really a great book.
The Snake Stone - Jason Goodwin - a fun mystery read set in 1830's Istanbul.
The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector - A book that is redeemed by the style in which it is told - simple prose of an ugly girl from the poor parts of Brazil who is amazed at life, and wants nothing for herself.
The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu - Kind of boring and repetitive as a modern story, but a very interesting insight into the culture of medeival Japan.
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing - If this book has 5 movements and a coda, movement number 4 needs to be ditched. It could have been, (may be) great, but needs to tighten up its game and drop some of the favorite terminology (naming.)
As I Lay Dying - Faulkner - I have never understood or appreciated Faulkner's genius until now. I take back all I said about him before. I stand amazed.
An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser - Good – excellent description of the insecurities and trivial motivations that can compete within us and drive us to life-changing actions.
Out of Place - Edward Said - the story of how the noted writer and academic grew up in Egypt of the 40's and 50's.
The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner - in the end, I liked it very much – but it was a pain to work through – though worth the pain, in the end.
Flatland - Amazing book from the 1800's, about life in only 1 or 2 dimensions, as well as a social satire piece.
The Shack - um, not lit, but had some spiritual concepts well-explained.
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison - Brilliant brilliant genius. Has amazing rythm and story.
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller - Hated it at first, loved it by the end. A verbal work of genius lacking a plot.
Bend Sinister - Nabokov - Good. V. good. Not Lolita, but good.
Death Comes for the Archbiship - Willa Cather - Pure American style. Great awareness of the land. Needed more of an overarching theme, I think.
Putin and the Rise of Russia - Micheal Stuermer - informative and concise. Needs a better editor.
Masnavi, book I - Rumi - honestly, maybe it is the fault of the translator, but I can only hope such trite paff did not orginate with Rumi.
Fear and Trembling - Kierkegaard - good, dense, difficult to follow. I may have found the limit of my philosophical comprehension.
Go Tell It on the Mountain - James Baldwin - Biblical in tone, good, but not as good as Giovanni's Room
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - Depressing, but . . . ok/good.
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - gorgeous writing in parts, great coherence of movement that exemplifies a work of art
Shalimar the Clown - Salman Rushdie - Magic, magic, magic.
Memories of my Melancholy Whores - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Very, very, very good.
A bunch of Artemis Fowl books - they are all fun - kinda like Harry Potter.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson - compelling, but sickening.
Jumpers - Tom Stoppard - good, but could be better.
Pygmy - Pahlaniuk - not very good at all.
Possession - A.S. Bayatt - Well done-a great story.
Absalom, Absalom - Faulkner - Like Faulkner: a slog culminating in amazement.
Snuff - Chuck Pahlaniuk - I'm getting kinda tired of Pahlaniuk.
Confessions - Jean Jaques Rousseau - tedious, but interesting. You have to wonder how much was his own paranoia.
The Tao - translation by Arthur Waley - Every day, every page, it get's better every time.
Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion - Interesting, if patchy.
The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway - Good.
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie - If you read no other damn book in your life, read this one. AMAZING.
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - disturbing, and well-written.
What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell - you know Gladwell: interesting, but that's about it.
Happy At Last - Richard O'Conner - I'm not much on self-help books, but this one was totally worth the time.
Monkey - A journey to the west - Wu Ch'eng-en - An AWESOME tale of monkey's quest for enlightentment. Written down in the 1500's, it seems ready-made for MTV.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce - Brilliant writing, and great work showing the changes in Stephen's mental state as he ages.
Light in August - William Faulkner - Good writing, but his misogyny stinks to the heavens.
My Antonia - Willa Cather - a beautiful story, and a great example of truly American literature.
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow - A great book, intertwining the lives of many characters in the early 20th centruy.
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinksi - Torture porn. How this got passed off as literature is a sad story of shambolic shaming.
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - A good read.
On the Road - Jack Kerouac - Utter drivel with teensy flashes of brilliance. A waste of time.
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf - difficult to get into, at first. Middle section is AMAZING. By the end I was sorry it was over.
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh - Does a good job depicting the casual nature of decisions which will lead one to ruin. The author seems to have become bored with his story at the midpoint, and decided to go in two new, random directions. It is more like 3 stories stitched together than one.
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster - Brilliant job of depicting people's self-deception, and the laziness of the intellect necessary to justify colonizer's behavior. Gorgeous wordings througout.
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf - Does a great job weaving the character's thoughts into the narrative, and thus revealing their desperate need to believe that their lives have importance, and meaning.
Fair Warning - Robert Olen Butler - Anything by this author is guaranteed to be fabulous. No other male author can so convincingly write the female mind.
Ecce Homo - Nietsczhe - a flaming turd of a book. Nietsczhe should have been forced to eat his books rather than publish them.
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell - a fun, entertaining and informative read. So fun and informative, it is kind of hard to take seriously. But it definitely provides grist for the old mill.
Arabian Nights and Days - Naguib Mahfouz - He is to Egyptian writing what Orhan Pamuk is to Turkish writing, but better. He defines the national conciousness, and raises the bar for all novelists.
From Babel to Dragomans - Bernard Lewis - a collection of essays and submitted papers from what may be the foremost scholar on the middle east - anything by him is a fantastic read.
Atonement - Ian McEwan - The best novel I have read in a long time
Another Day of Life - Ryszard Kapuscinski - First-hand account of revolution in Angola.
Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett - the typically funny and fun Pratchett fare.
Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - an entertaining story of love in colonial and modern India.
Palestine, Peace, not Apartheid - Jimmy Carter - A very clear, (albeit dry) look at the agreements of the past 50 years, and the reasons for their failures.
Agent Zigzag - Ben Macintyre - An awesomely entertaining true story of espionage in WWII.
The Ottoman Empire, The structure of Power - Colin Imber - Dry, but good. A book written for researchers.
The Fall of Constantinople - Nicolle and Turnbull - Interesting reading.
Coraline - Neil Gaiman - Awesomely creepy tale for kids (?!)
The Absolute Sandman 1 - Neil Gaiman - A massive compendium of the first third of the comic.
The Fall - Albert Camus - The kind of book that makes you think, and want to write, and do research, and talk with a dear friend, and have a cigarette all at the same time. Brilliant.
The Jaguar Smile - Salman Rushdie - I will have to read another of his books to find out why he is considered a great writer.
Guns Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond - Awesome book.
Leadership secret of Attila the Hun - Wes Roberts - If I were alone on a desert island with nothing but this book to read, I would use it for firestarter.
I, Robot - Asimov - A bit dated.
Travels With Herodotus - Ryszard Kapuscinski - Anything by Kapuscinski is so fabulous everyone MUST read it.
The First World War - John Keegan - Exhaustive overview of every campaign on every front of the great war.
The Trumpeter of Krakow - Eric P. Kelly - The kind of book that makes me want to watch more television.
The White Tower - Orhan Pamuk - Well done.
Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman - Incredible. Disturbing. Incredibly disturbing.
The Bastard of Istanbul - Elif Shafak - Unexceptional
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire - Awesome book - a different take on Oz
Shah of Shahs - Ryszard Kapuscinski - Want to know why Iran had a revolution and has become the biggest market for ez-burn US flags? Read this book.
The Whipping Boy - Sid Fleischman - Newberry Award winning (kids) book
Foundation's Edge - Asimov
Imperium - Ryszard Kapuscinski - A must read for anyone interested in world politics seen from the bottom up
Foundation and Empire - Asimov
Stardust - Neil Gaiman - not as good as his later one, but still a fun fable
Second Foundation - Asimov
Foundation and Empire - Asimov
The High Window - Raymond Chandler - Detective Noir
Foundation - Isaac Asimov - Great if you like SF
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling - Fun, sorry to see it end
The Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster - pretty good
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers - Fantastic, touching, incredible book
Piratica - Tabitha Lee - Kids lit
The Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman - READ THIS BOOK
Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk (of Fight Club fame) - fantastic book
The Historian - Updated Dracula hunt - was very fun
The Acid House - Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting author ) - was a crap book
American Gods - Neil Gaiman - Best author I've read in ages.
Mao - The unknown story, by Jung Chang
Wild Ducks Flying Backwards - Tom Robbins' short works
The Ring - frightening Japanese novel
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
A Secret Life - NATO's best Spy in the Soviet bloc
The Places In Between - A walk across Afghanistan
Wild Swans - Story of 3 generations of Chinese women
Freakonomics - a new look at the dismal science

My Massive List: Cool shit I shall do. (I mean, really, you got a better idea?)

See La Sagrada Famila - 1/2
See the terracotta army
See Angkor Wat - Done
See Stonehenge
See Auschwitz - Done
See Abu Simbel - Done
See the Paris catacombs - Done
See the Acropolis
See Easter Island
See the Tower of London - Done
See Big Ben - Done
See Westminster Abbey - Done
See the Hagia Sophia - Done
See the Kremlin
See the Leaning Tower of Pisa
See the Cathedral of Notre Dame - Done
See the Eiffel Tower - Done
See the Colloseseum - 1/2 done?
See Macchu Pichu
See Petra - Done
See the Great Wall of China
See the Statue of Liberty - Done
See the Sydney Opera House - Done
Do 25 pullups - Done
Do 200 situps
Do 100 pushups
Act in a play
Build my dream house
See a volcano in eruption
Memorize approx. 10 awesome poems
Learn how to cook a wide range of shizzle: a bread, a few desserts, some mains, some starters, some baked goods.
Get a Doctorate. Got a masters. Maybe I should get a second masters first?
Lean the major constellations
Learn how to juggle
Learn some Yoga
Learn to play piano or guitar
Learn to fence
Go skydiving. DONE. A few times. Don't really feel the need to do it again.
Do a nude shoot with a professional model - DONE (or 3)
Learn to ski
Learn to surf
Get my PADI instructor's dive license - go from divemaster to instructor - this summer? UPDATE: I had the good misfortune to meet an instructor who basically talked me out of it. Unless I am going to start working in it, it would be expensive to maintain, and unless maintained, is lost. So - maybe when I am ready to retire?
Dive 20 of the world's top 100 dives: Done so far: Great Barrier Reef, The Red Sea (the blue hole, at Dahab,) The Zenobia, Gordon's Rock
Go cage-diving with great whites. Was sooooo close, but the damn sharks wouldn't hang around after we put the cage in. Still have to do this one.
Dive with sharks, (done) hammerheads (done) and dolphins
See a large ocotopus in the wild - Done
See a whale
See penguins in the wild. DONE
See a polar bear in the wild
See Komodo Dragons in the wild
See Elephants in the wild - Done
See the migration of animals on the Serengeti
See the Taj Mahal
See the Louvre - Done
See The Alhambra - Done
See the pyramids of Egypt. DONE. Don't suppose I will go there again - can't say I really liked the place.
See the Sistine Chapel - Done
See Michaelangelo's David - Done
Have a photo published in a magazine
Own an AK-47. DONE.
Write a novel. - Started. But I've started lots of times, and it may well be drivel.
Have a couple of ring fights, just for the experience. This may happen in the summer of 2011. -- UPDATE: my coach disappeared - problems with the law, or some such. I am still training but, it seems far, far away.
Achieve a black belt, or instructor's level in a martial art - actively working on this one. - UPDATE: I am now teaching Krav Maga part time, and while I do not feel ready, I have technically achived this goal.
Be so well read it literally scares lit professors: Well, you can check the list to the left of this one, or read the blog entry about it.
Visit all 7 continents - I know, it's a cheesy weak goal. Technically I have been in N. America, Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, but . . . I really need to see more of Africa and Asia.
Learn 4 languages - so: Spanish, and now working on Turkish. If I can get the Turkish wrapped up, only two more to go!

Tumbleweed dreams

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Best and Worst

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Currently Reading/ Just finished

The hanging houses

My Massive List: Cool shit I shall do. (I mean, really, you got a better idea?)

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