"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought"

I will have more to say about this one later...

Fahrenheit 451

Unlike so many students today, I didn't have the pleasure of being "required" to read this book. However, it's always been one that I've wanted to pick up. Unfortunately, that stack of books on the floor of my room never seems to get lower, and a slue of titles I want to read are curiously absent.

A couple years ago, I started to get into audiobooks. Granted, I can't seem to ever listen to one unless I'm driving. If I'm walking, my mind wanders (although I have mastered the walk-and-read-a-book-while-listening-to-my-iPod routine). If I'm painting, hours slip away and I find I haven't a clue as to what just happened in the book. Either way, while I drive, sure my mind wanders a bit but it's easier to focus on the book. Even when I miss a few sentences (or a chapter) I can usually pull it back together.

Granted, some are much more enjoyable to listen to than others. Some readers are engaging and have the type of voice you can listen to for hours (which is a good thing when a book can be 8-18 hours long). I figured this would be a good way to dive into some of these books I want to read but can't seem to find the time to open them.

Fahrenheit 451 is what I'm currently listening to. I will probably go back and actually read this title one day, because right now I find it so engaging. It's uncomfortable to recognize that such a dystopian future can be realized in such small steps until one hardly realized it's happened.

I'm only about halfway through, but so far this paragraph sticks out to me. I'm drawn to the last line at the end too, for more than one reason.

The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are. They're Caesar's praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, 'Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal.' Most of us can't rush around, talk to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we haven't time, money or that many friends. The things you're looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book. Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore.

I'm thinking that is probably overall good advice for lots of things.

Moth's Wings

Whose side are you on?
What side is this anyway?

"Please keep in sight what makes you care...

...you have it always."

That is my current challenge. It shouldn't be that difficult, huh? Balls. I don't know why I invest so much of myself into things.

This does make me feel a bit better:

April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four. - Mark Twain

Maybe that's the excuse. I'm just a foo'.

"Spinning and spinning..." We're all gonna be dizzy. "Dancing in plastic, shake-up snow." Still dizzy.

I have the itch to fly.

The Ides...

You haven't appreciated the simple things until you've witnessed the pure bliss on a dog's face while she devours a peanut-butter frosty paws. (The whole thing this time... a birthday treat!) How on earth she bends her nose like that I'll never know.

Here's to my magpie.

"We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us."

–Maurice Maeterlinck

Puppy love

"Dogs play more like children play, totally in the moment, barely able to contain their happiness. 'A ball?! You have a ball?! Oh oh oh, that's wonderful, miraculous, exquisite! Will you throw it? Oh please please, please throw it! Oh boy! You threw it! I get to run after it, pick it up, and bring it back!'"

-Patricia McDonnell
For the Love of a Dog

The Graveyard Book

I read this novel by Neil Gaiman (finally) on the snow day on Monday. It was awesome. I'm not going to try and write a book review, but it's sort of like The Jungle Book with dead people. Kinda. Anyway, it's a fast read and an interesting story and would receive a 2 thumbs up from the mikaroni school of book reviews. What I did want to share is a lullaby from the story, which I thought was pretty cool and something I would think of singing to my children one day (when no one was listening). [The character who sings it can't remember the last lines until the end of the story. When she finally sings it, her son is talking to her which adds a little more emotional emphasis not present here.]

"Sleep my little baby-oh
Sleep until you waken
When you wake you'll see the world
If I'm not mistaken

Kiss a lover
Dance a measure
Find your name
And buried treasure

Face your life
Its pain, its pleasure
Leave no path untaken"

I wonder if he's right..

"Be yourself. Life is precious as it is. All the elements for your happiness are already here. There is no need to run, strive, search or struggle. Just Be."

-Thich Nhat Hanh.