From the amazing brain of Mark Twain, I

"A classic is a book which people praise and don't read."

On thoughts, Barnes & Noble, and John Steinbeck

If anyone were to ask me at any given time what goes on in my head, I can't tell them. I've tried many times to ask myself what is going on in my head, but to no avail. There's too much going on at one time, and all the thoughts sort of like combine and stuff--it's really weird. They only make sense in my head, but once I try to make a sentence out of them and say "I'm thinking this," my thoughts make no sense whatsoever. So, if the next paragraph or two don't make sense, I'm sorry.

This week I decided to go for a bike ride. Now, back in High School, I was in amazing shape, but ever since then I have been in the exact opposite. My legs keep trying to go at the same speed when I run or bike, but my heart and lungs can't keep up anymore. Then, I had the brilliant idea (happens to me all the time) to go to Barnes & Noble, which is about five miles away. I love that store, but between there and here there are many, MANY hills. So, when I got to BN, I was a hot tired mess, but I was happy. I spent quite some time there, and to my dismay, when I finished checking out the three books I bought the skies were dark with the sun already set. Not only did I have to make the journey back all tired from the trip there, but I was in the dark, with my backpack and three brand-new books. Not fun.

But it was all worth it. I bought a book containing six short novels from John Steinbeck, Huckleberry Finn, and another John Steinbeck book called East of Eden. I've already read two of the six John Steinbeck novels and Huck Finn, but all the others will be a brand new read. I started with East of Eden and so far I am in love. John Steinbeck seems to be keeping his place as my favorite author.

There have been so many quotable quotes in the first sixty pages alone, and it just keeps getting better. Many of my thoughts have to do with this book, but as I am writing this I know that if I try to make sense of these thoughts I will fail miserably. So. . . just read the book. You would love it. =D

Shellshocked (or, Random Rant II)

In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars, by Kevin Sites. Finished, 11.23.11, 11:48 AM.

I really don't know what to feel. I don't know what to think, really. This book will haunt me for a long time, and will end up in my library once I get money to buy it since the copy I have is borrowed. Mr. Sites' experiences really did fuel my want to go out there into the real world (which is found right out my front door) and see it all, stop being so whiny about trifles. Here I am, Thanksgiving eve, with all the feast almost ready. Am I really going to enjoy this gluttonous holiday? I don't know. I'm not sure I want to eat until not one more bit fits when there are many out there who do not have anything. If anything I learned from In the Hot Zone is that really I live in a "wealth of information and a poverty of knowledge." After I see that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo one military life is lost to sixty-two civilian lives. Like Kevin says, "War poses as combat but is really collateral damage." Thanksgiving, that I don't have an idea of what problems are. Maybe this Thanksgiving I won't be so gluttonous; maybe I'll be more thankful.

In the Hot Zone

After cereal, the next (material) thing I love most are books. However, I am very picky in my book selections, bypassing any that look that won't give me much brain food. My favorite non-Christian book of all time is The Grapes of Wrath--it's probably the book I have most enjoyed out of all the books I have read more than three times.

I am currently reading Ellen G. White's Patriarchs and Prophets, Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution, and Kevin Sites' In the Hot Zone.
It is Kevin Sites who has captured my full attention right now. As a journalism major and an international rescue and relief minor who aspires to be a photojournalist/essayist in the manner of Gordon Parks, this book speaks directly to me. The book is a narrative of a year in Kevin's life as a solo journalist (SoJo) who goes to all the hot zones in the planet. (Hot zones are war and disaster areas.) Reaching out to my humanist and idealist mind and to my adventurous body, he tells the story of capturing controversial clips of a certain Marine's behavior in Iraq and also being in the Indian Ocean for the 2004 Tsunami a few months after, where he not only reported but helped bring relief to others as well.
Every time I pick up this book I can't put it down. I will try to put updates on how this book is going as I advance.