Booked Solid

I've recently come into quite a few new books. I've also started reading some of them (what an Idea!). But I find myself mostly overwhelmed with how much I want to read - a good place to find yourself I suppose. Unfortunately, here's the long list of books I've only recently gotten from good ole Paperbackswap and have yet to read (this isn't even all of them):

• Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer
• The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball by Michael Mandelbaum
• On Becoming Baby Wise by Bucknam and Ezzo
• Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest by Beck Weathers
• Does God Have a Future?: A Debate on Divine Providence by John Sanders
• Cold Mountain by Charles Fraizer
• Jihad vs. McWorld: How Tribalism and Globalism Reshaping the World by Benjamin Barber
• Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 by Garrison Keilor
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
• Nickle and Dimed: On (not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

On top of that, here are a few I've picked up myself or been gifted:

• Dreams of My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (started reading last night)
  
• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (I have read half of this one)

Other books I am currently reading, picked up and read the intro to, have picked through:

• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
  
• The God Who Risks: A Theology of Providence by John Sanders
• Simply Christian by N.T. Wright

I have gotten better at finish ones I start. Here are my most recents:

• Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
• A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright
• The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash by Dave Urbanski
• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

Is it possible to have too much access to books and information? I'm not sure. All of these, plus I have three magazine subscriptions (Paste, Relevant, and National Geographic). Add on reading I do for and at work. Then consider all the music I buy and listen to, the podcasts subscriptions I have (eight at last count).

Really, this is a lot of media and information. Too much?

Different Economies - What's a Bargain?

I hate the idea that all McDonald's soft drinks are now $1.
I hate that the cheap food is the worst food for you.

I've been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma lately, talking about food industries (Fast Food Nation for all foods). And it's had me thinking about a lot of things.

Most people will go to McDonald's and think, "Well, I might as well get a bigger drink if it's all the same price - it's a bargain to get more for less. Why get a small for a dollar when you can get a Supersized for a dollar too." It's all part of the capitalist plan to increase what has historically been an inelastic demand source - the human appetite. We can all only eat so much. (But, like dogs given an ulimitied supply of food, we'll eat beyond our needs simply because it's there).

Since we don't want to look like gluttons, instead of only having one size of fries, have multiple sizes because people will get a Supersized, but no one wants to order two mediums. So, people end up getting more soda or fries than they need or even want (and therefore spending more money). From a distance, when thinking of what restaurant to go to, or when a craving for soda kicks in, people will be drawn to the Golden Arches because of the "bargain" for mass quantities of cheap soda. It's a cycle - dare I say, it's an addiction. The bargain has a cost, and I'm sure you understand the logic I'm looking at.

I don't drink coke (soda). I haven't had one in ten years - but the mentality is prevalent in other foods. It's ridiculous to look at a foot-long sub from Subway and think, "I'm going to put the whole thing in my body right now, over the next 10 minutes." Subway is probably healthy in moderation, but the mentalitiy of a "bargain" is here too. "The footlong is only $5 so I might as well get the whole thing." The fact that the original coke bottle was 6.5oz. goes to show the massive problem Americans have with food. Now they come in a standard 21oz. bottle. Some people get it two quarts at a time, the Super Big Gulp - 64oz - also known as a Two Liter. We have a disease and it is overeating/drinking.

Marketing doesn't help. Serving sizes afforded to us don't help. Convenience doesn't help. Busy, hectic lifestyles don't help. The interstate system doesn't help (that's a tangent waiting to happen there - thanks Ike).

Finally - from Omnivore's, one last observation.

You can go to the grocery store and for one dollar easily buy 1500 calories of potato chips. For the same dollar, you can only get 250 calories of carrots.

Do the comparisons. Think about the "bargains." Figure out the real costs, not just in dollars and sense, but in lifestyle, in being a slave to cravings and portion sizes, the cost take out of the environment and national (and personal) health.

Website Recommendations

I recently had a conversation about the routine of checking "regular websites." Most of us probably have a routine we go through - checking email, facebook, blogs, certain websites. I thought I'd share a list of websites I check pretty regularly.


Goodreads
A great website for sharing what you are reading, what you've read, and what you want to read. Great for seeing what others are in to, as well as for reviews and recommendations.

Paperbackswap
I know I've raved about this site for a while, but it never gets old. You post books you are willing to get rid of. You get credits. You request books that other people have requested. Books are mailed, and that's all you ever pay - the shipping. I've gotten 20 or so books, at a fraction of the price. There's no excuse not to do it.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich
(note: the goal is not necessarily to "get rich quick") A ridiculous title, but a great/informative read. This guy is a Stanford grad and has a great take on personal finance and whatnot. You should start by reading some of his most popular articles and I'm confident you'll be hooked. He has great things to say about money, mostly because he talks like he is one of us, not one of them [insiders].

Improv Everywhere
A great group based in NY: not a flash mob, but instead they "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places," in a way that is seemingly random, but tend to be orchestrated and wonderful. Missions are carried out in publicly anonymous ways. Example: hundreds of people dressing in a blue polo and khaki pants, then standing in the aisle of Best Buy, waiting to be asked questions as if they were actually employees. Hysterical-ness ensues.

Stereo Subversion
A great, locally based, Rob Alan-designed website that covers music. It's a great way to get to know new bands, read reviews of albums new and old.

Burnside Writers Collective
I came to this particular site through Donald Miller. It's a less-than prolific repository for thoughtful, or at least thought provoking articles on anything from sports to social justice to communion bread. I think I like it because I [secretly] want to be a writer and the idea of a "writers' collective" is alluring.

Relevant Magazine
I usually only go here for the Daily Slices - current event bits and random news stories of interest. They also have a more prolific repository for thoughtful, or at least though provoking, articles on mostly faith related things.

Online Settlers of Katan
I hate this game in real life, but the online version (called "Explorers" here) is moderately-to-dangerously addictive. It's free - they have random boards and you don't have to play real people, but you can. It makes me a bit of a nerd, but oh well.

Stock.xchng
I love looking at photography and this a great place to find free stock photography, for whatever your needs might be. The picture at the top of this blog came from there. There are thousands of pictures, sortable by category. It's wonderful if you need it.

Exploding Dog
Not nearly as traumatic as it sounds, this website is based on a very simple premise: People email sayings, phrases, or just a word or two and this guy draws a picture based on only that. At times, they are pure genius. Other times, they are childish and neurotic. Other than the fact it is hard to navigate between each days pictures, this site can hold your anticipatory attention for hours if you'll just let it.

Books and Pictures

I wrote down a list of books from elementary and middle school - books that I really enjoyed then and books I wouldn't mind reading again. Here's the list (did I miss any?):

• Where the Wild Things Are
• Mercer Mayer books
• Miss Nelson is Missing!
  
• Indian in the Cupboard
• The Chocolate Touch
• Where the Red Fern Grows
• The Red Badge of Courage
• The Secret Garden
• Hatchet
• Island of the Blue Dolphins
• The Bunnicula series
• Charlotte's Web
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• How to Eat Fried Worms
• The House of Dies Drear
• Sarah Plain and Tall
• The Giver
• Shiloh

______________________

And I picked up my camera as I took the dog for a walk tonight. Here are a few that where on there from months ago and a few from todays flooding (I always love seeing flooded rivers...not that I like devastation and damage and loss of life, just to nature overcoming its normal boundries - I really enjoy nature, that's all)

Perspective

I've started reading a book, A Shorty History of Progress, by Ronald Wright. And I've got a variety of thoughts/reactions/questions. For now, I'll connect it to a recent train of thought I had.

We find ourselves in a unique time in human history. And by "we" I naturally mean Americans. I could further narrow the scope of what "we" means, but I want to leave it broad on purpose. Here in the last, oh, 200 years have found ourselves in varying states of being able to decide the course of our living. Terms like "social mobility" and "self-made man" have become certain realities, to an extent. For thousands of years, "what I want to be when I grow up" was a question not pondered. Where should I live, what should I eat...these were not choices but facts, largely unalterable details of lives shaped by technological, financial, even religious limitations.

So, in light of this, I find it logical that so many of "us" struggle with what our role in this world is. "How, now, shall we live?" Call it post-modern if you like, the fact is that (again, to an extent) the growing tolerance, flexibility, and sense of entitlement places us in a situation of firsts. We have decision to make that our ancestors perhaps could not even imagine.

But, as I read this book, I come to realize that, perhaps, the themes are the same, just with different scenery and names. The book posits that as a race, humans continue on a path of ever-increasing progress. With each step of progress, another set of challenges open up. With each new step of progress, the rate of change and progress increases. And at certain points, our technological progress surpasses our moral progress, leaving us in a "progress trap." For example:

Go back thousands of years: when the hunter-gatherers improved their ability to make stone weapons, as well as improved their hunting capabilities, their populations grew because of increased, more consistent food, but their prey shrank - their technology altered their reality. They were forced to either A) keep hunting at the current rate and then starve and die or C) develop farming. They chose C. (that's incredibly simplified, too much in fact, but hopefully you get the point).

All this to say, we are over-consuming. Our technological advantages over nature (both bodily and earthly) give us "ease," but our moral understanding of life has not adapted or effected our decision making. Sure, its great to have eat tomatoes or peaches year-round. But at what cost? Taking a Caribbean cruise is undoubtedly relaxing and beautiful. But at what cost? Shop where prices are gracefully low, and where they promise to help us live "better lives," but you have to ask: At what cost?

If you've made it this far, I'm impressed. Thanks for reading my ramblings. All I'm saying is that I'm putting more thought into so much more of my life. I suspect that it is far more valuable to grow my moral stance and world view, and in result living according to those conscious choices rather than blind assumptions and cultural predispositions.


I'm not even sure what I just said. If anything.

Smattering of This-and-That

This evening I'm venturing back into the world of hanging - out - with - guys - and - books - and - talking - about - things - that - are - deep - and - relevant. This is something I could get used to.

We're going to be reading/discussing the book "Simply Christian" by N.T. Wright.

I've never read one of his books, but have heard good things. And in doing a little research into who he is and all, I came across some things that I'd forgotten about. Here (along with links) are a few of those things:

The Jesus Seminar - The basic idea is that 200 "leading scholars" get together and debate every sentence and sentiment in the Bible related to Jesus and decide its authenticity. Here's there voting system:

The Fellows used a "bead system" to vote on the authenticity of about 500 statements and events. The color of the bead represented how sure the Fellow was that a saying or act was or was not authentic.

• Red beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did say the passage quoted, or something very much like the passage. (3 Points)
• Pink beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus probably said something like the passage. (2 Points)
• Grey beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage, but it contains Jesus' ideas. (1 Point)
• Black beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage—it comes from later admirers or a different tradition. (0 Points)

They do averages, and weigh things. It turns out that they are 70% sure Jesus told the parable of Prodigal Son. All-in-all, about 18% of his sayings were "likely to be uttered" and authentic, according to this group. I'm just reminded of how absurd this all seems.


Church and State - I forget that the separation in the U.S. is not the way it always is and was. It turns out that N.T. Wright is the Bishop of Durham, one of the highest ranking bishoprics in the Church of England. What I failed to realize was that this means he is a member of the House of Lords, the British Parliament. How bazaar it is, to think what our country would look like if certain religious appointments came with a political office (I will admit that I don't wholly understand British politics and so therefore have no idea what effect his being in the House is in reality). Imagine just for a second Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, even Rob Bell or Joel Osteen being in Congress (I have an entire post on Osteen, just waiting in the wings). An interesting exercise in "What if."


Finally, the mysterious possibility of document Q.

Not all that interesting to most people, but in short it is "a postulated lost textual source for the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke." It reminded me that when I went to college, it was for "educational ministries." I took classes in New Testament, Discipleship, epistemology, eschatology, and others. We used to have 2 a.m. conversations in our boxers about these sorts of things. And at times, I miss it.

Maybe tonight can help with that.



p.s. Don't judge me for linking to Wikipedia. I'll defend if I have to.