I'm BACK!

WOW! I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted. I have been reading as much as I can but my work load and personal load seemed to collide to make the perfect storm of exhaustion. But I am re-focused, re-energized and ready to share my literary insights, opinions, and plain ole musings of a passionate reader. I have some posts back logged that I will get out soon and am currently finishing a great book that I am excited to talk about. Thanks for hanging with me and check back often to see all the new updates and stories I have to tell. Hope everyone had a great holiday season!


HAPPY READING.

"It's better to ask for forgiveness, than for permission."

If one quote can sum up the complex, brilliant, shockingly real person that is Paul Farmer it would be "We want to be on the winning team, but at the risk of turning our backs on the losers, no it's not worth it." Tracy Kidder becomes Paul Farmer's companion and witnesses an incredible human being with a super human ability to multi task, completely disregard bureaucracy, and be a champion for social justice.

In Mountains Beyond Mountains Kidder tells the story of hot shot doctor Paul Farmer. If there ever is a person that who will leave you with a sense of awe for just what one human being is capable of, it is Farmer. Farmer is a Harvard educated diagnostician who chooses to spend at least 6 physical months of his year in Haiti building a sustainable, self sufficient health faculty. At the same time he finds himself as a professor, diagnostician, clinical researcher, writer, key not speaker, husband, and father, etc etc. Paul Farmer created the international organization Partners in Health which provides health care services in Haiti and several other parts of the world. What I find most impressive about this achievement on Farmer's long list of them is that there is only 5% administrative costs and he has hired many local people in the successful attempt to make them feel invested and better there own lives.

From the very beginning of Kidder's dialogue about Paul Farmer's story you realize that Farmer himself is a man who does what he does from a point of social justice. He doesn't see a reason why the Haitian people should suffer or have worse health care then the members of his family. People are people in his world and they all deserve the same treatment. With that being said, Farmer is no Mother Theresa. He can be cocky, obnoxious and full of himself but these attributes are far overshadowed by the genius and passion he carries through out this world.

This book tells Farmer's life story through the lens of his current person. You see why him creating a science club in the third grade is important to the person he has become, or how his interactions with this parents created the intense personal drive that has led him on his path.

If you want to know about real people doing real good for this world I strongly encourage you to read this book. You will be amazed at how much difference one truly passionate person can make.

New Project; Attempt #1

I've already written one post about how much I love Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess so it occur ed to me to start there for the new phase of my creative outlet project. I painted this one in the spirit of Suess and think it went pretty well. His style is just so whimsical and enchanting and in that spirit this is how the painting came out. I'm obviously not any kind of amazing talent but art in general is not an exclusive club so I'm going to keep doing it and trying new thigns until I don't enjoy it any more.

Witht that said, I really enjoyed the process of reading a book and "feeling" it enough to then create something from the inspiration of the story. Books really do bring joy and I hope everyone can find a book, or three that can have a great impact on their life.

Keep looking for more paintings and more reviews. I have several in the works. HAPPY SUNDAY AND HAPPY READING!

New project!

Hey everyone. I've been reading a lot so look for some new reviews soon. I've got a new project in mind. I obviously have a passion for literature but really my passion is the arts in general; theater, music, films, all of those things really make me happy and give me something to think about. So I've decided I'm going to merge two of my favorite things; literature and painting.

When I was 5 if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would have told you with supreme confidence and total certitude that I was going to be either a Power Ranger or an artist. I later realized Power Rangers are not real and then I found out that I outgrew any true artistic talent at around age 10. But painting makes me happy and is a great outlet for me so I'm starting again. It doesn't matter to me anymore that the work itself is not great, it's original and it's mine and that's enough for me. My happiness will no longer be defined by others approval, it will be self- made, self preserved, and throughly enjoyed.

So, as part of a self improvement/ creative outlet, I am going to start painting literature related pieces. Not sure what will come out of this little experiment but it's bound to be fun. I've done one already based on Dr. Suess "Oh, the places you'll go" and really enjoyed the whole process. I will post a picture soon. With the painting I write a little blurb about the book that inspired it and what about the book specifically the painting represents.

So keep checking back for new reviews and paintings! They will be coming in mass in the next couple of weeks. When I get on a roll I really fly. Who knows, if they have any merit and anyone likes them I could take requests; Christmas is only 82 days away. Ha! But, let's not get ahead of ourselves or my talent :)

Happy reading everyone!

"Read in order to live." - Gustave Flaubert

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

Al.che.mist; a person who studies alchemy

Al.che.my; a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life 



The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is the kind of book that comes along seldom in a reader's lifetime. It is one that will touch your soul and stay with you long after you have turned that last page. Inspirational does not even begin to describe it; If you highlighted every quote that taught you a lesson or made you think deeply the entire book would glow fluorescent orange.

The Alchemist is a story about Santiago, a young shepherd boy who travels from Spain to Egypt looking for a treasure buried in the ancient pyramids. The story is more about his journey then the end destination just as all ours lives are. Through the young Andalusian shepherd boy we learn things about ourselves we really never knew existed. This book is more then just bound pages it is a push toward your second chance.

A book like this rings so true for everyone but especially a person like me who is at the crossroads of deciding what, who, and why things are important. With so many directions to choose from life can seem to get twisted and convoluted. It takes a clear head and a strong sense of self to make it through and it also takes books like this. Sometimes it takes a stranger who has a gift with words to reaffirm to ourselves who we are and why we believe what we believe.

Do yourselves a favor and take some time to read this book. And then do your friends a favor and pass it on. It will become an instant favorite. It will give you hope, inspiration, courage, and affirmation. It will make you remember your dreams are and the fight you have inside you to achieve them.



"Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure."


The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
167 pages

I still don't understand Cricket

Sarah Lyall in The Anglo Files has written a great semi biographical piece about her transition from America to England. She married a writer and moved to central London to pursue a new life and to continue her career as a journalist. She produces a witty, funny and faced paced account of how different she found the cultures and the unexpected difficulties she faced while trying to adopt a new culture.

She talks about the overall social conscious of the English people in there lack of belief in therapy, their acceptance of drunken playboy behavior from their Parliament members and Royal family, and their absolute fascination with cricket, which I still do not understand. She talks about how children's education systems are dramatically different, socio-economic status still matters, and how they eat baked beans for breakfast and enjoy not having lights on. She sees a culture still heavily influenced by WWII, most notably the ration system that taught them to live with the bare minimum...and be thankful for it. They truly enjoy sunshine because they hardly see it, dampness doesn't bother them, and umbrella's are every day necessities.

She finds that most of the harmless stereotypes about the Brits are fairly true. They enjoy beer immensely, they love soccer (excuse me, football), have a perverse aversion to being praised, find being embarrassed to be the worst thing that can ever happen to them, and hold hundred year old traditions very close. Lyall also sees just how different American English is from the Queen's English. The difference in semantics and verbal style can almost be chalked up a language barrier. She found it most times to be amusing but on more then one occasion hindering and annoying.

This is just a great easy read that will keep you entertained and teach you a thing or two about our neighbors across the pond. It's a small island with big culture and this first person insight from a person who knows how to convey it makes for a great post summer read.

The UN; Friend or Foe?

As an individual who is very socially conscious and believes in humanitarian efforts, I just naturally saw the United Nations as a benevolent body that did good work through out the world. I was intrigued by the title of this book alone; Tower of Babble; How the United Nations has Fueled Global Chaos.

Author Dore Gold looks into ways that the United Nations has failed to live up to the goals of the institution which is to have an overall governing body for peace through out the world. He highlights the lack of response during the Rwandan genocide and the massacre in Srebrenica. The institution itself is a lofty ideal which came about after the atrocities of WWII. After Hitler rampaged his way through Europe conducting mass casualties along the way the Allies came together and formed the United Nations in an effort to prevent anything like what the world just witnessed  from happening again.

The idea that the nations of the world, all with their different governments and ideals can be overseen by a single institution is grounded in difficulties and bound to cause failures in its applications. Every nation has there objectives and is willing to do what it takes to see them through. What is in the best interest of the U.S. is not the same as for Great Britain. You would think however that the idea of global peace would be pretty universal, but don't forget that the UN is, after all, a government agency and nothing in government is clear cut.

In theory the United Nations is a great institution. It promotes world peace and stability while holding all the governments involved accountable for their actions. In practice however there are some severe flaws that have lead to inaction on the part of the institution and if you agree with Dore Gold, the worsening of world conflicts.

Keep in mind that one authors opinion is not fact and the United Nations is much more complicated then one book can describe. Read objectively and research the matter fully to come to your own conclusions. It is good to read multiple sources on matters of facts and this is just one source.


Tower of Babble; How the United Nations has fueled global Chaos
By: Dore Gold
238 pages