Spatter

Thou Shalt Not Whine

Now that the weather has turned and I have more inside time, I decided to let Lisa know I was ready to do another book review.  There were a few interesting looking titles on her list...I chose the one that promised to be light reading: Thou Shalt Not Whine by January Jones.  I looked forward to getting a dose of wit and and few laughs. 

Written in the genre of books like Don't Sweat The Small Stuff, the book is a quick read...too quick.  There was little in it that I found useful, and worse, there was little in it that I found funny.   For example, when  she addresses whines having to do with the cost of living, she is good enough to inform us that it's a particularly perilous situation for seniors since they live on a fixed income.  Her tip: spend less.  I'm serious.  Duh! 

Perhaps it's me...remarkably, twelve other reviewers at Amazon.com gave it rave reviews...but I won't recommend it. 



Rating Scale
5 Stars = Loved It /Raves
4 Stars = Very Good
3 Stars = OK - Enjoyed But Nothing Special
2 Stars = Struggled To Finish
1 Star =  Awful, Don't Bother

The Four Agreements

One of my favorite books is a simple little volume: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  It's an easy read. Actually, I'm not fond of its style. But its content is worth the the simplistic writing: Toltec wisdom.  Its message is that by following this code of conduct, our lives will be happier and more fulfilled.

The agreements teach concepts that are not too far from what I was taught by mother or learned in college Psychology 101...but of course here they have a metaphysical flair to them. Here are the agreements in a nutshell:

1. Be impeccable with your word:

• Speak with integrity.
• Say only what you mean.
• Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.
• Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2.  Don't take anything personally:

• Nothing others do is because of you.
• What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.
• When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3.  Don't make assumptions:

• Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.
• Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama.

4.  Always do your best:

• Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.
• Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self abuse, and regret.

You'd think I'd have mastered them by now...I can't say I have...though I do tend to get through the crises faster by remembering them.

Book Review - The Secret Scroll

If you're looking for a page turner, you need look no further. The Secret Scroll is definitely a quick and compelling read.   

Its story is a cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Adventures Of Indiana Jones. It begins on a remote road near Jerusalem, where archaeologist Josh Cohen is taking a sabbatical from his "day job". A vision of sorts soon draws him to a very specific cave where he unearths a...yes, you guessed it...scroll that appears to have been penned by Jesus of Nazareth. It's a tad far fetched, but not to the point where you can't buy into it. 

It doesn't take long for things to get moving from there, and before you know it, just about every character in the book is suspect of being the antagonist in the tug of war for possession of this potentially valuable document. There are definitely a lot of twists and turns and you're never more than a page or two away from action. The fast moving plot is mostly plausible. It has a few head scratching moments, but they're easy to get through.

Most of the book is dialog. There's very little character development or anything else that diverts the storyline from moving along. Cutler does interject a few history, theology, and civic lessons, but not to the point of breaking the story's rhythm. The information was no doubt put in to be useful to the reader. The commentary though, was a pretty blatant tactic to make sure the reader didn't miss the moral message he wanted to convey.  It's not the most artful literary style, but it works here.

I guess where the book started to lose me was in its closing chapters.  It started to feel forced...perhaps, a bit trite.  And I have to say I got a bit turned off by the final "lesson" we are left with. Unlike the rest of the book where Cutler espoused a message that can (and should) be universally embraced, this one takes on a more messianic tone which will no doubt leave some non Christian readers feeling uncomfortable.

All in all I enjoyed this book. It's nothing special though...if you never get to it, no great loss.

 

Rating Scale
5 Stars = Loved It /Raves
4 Stars = Very Good
3 Stars = OK - Enjoyed But Nothing Special
2 Stars = Struggled To Finish
1 Star =  Awful, Don't Bother

 

Captured Moments

As noted in a previous post, I've been going through old photographs to get them into Adobe Lightroom. As I do, lots of memories perk to the surface...yet at the same time...I look upon these captured moments quizzically as if they were a dream.

Old photos reveal
a time that was then 'today'.
Shadows of our lives.

A post by Becca cited an excerpt from Anne Morrow Lindbergh's  "A Gift Fom The Sea" as a source of reflection about finding balance in our lives.  But down further in the text itself she quoted another line from the book that resonated with me...one of the all time musers about life and its form. It is:  "...the things that filter our experience of the world and make it real." 

Life is like the air around us, isn't it...we can't see it save for those times when dust particles reveal it through a shaft of light. The moments in time I've been looking at the past few days...my experiences...are my dust...my filter.

The Assault On Reason

Al Gore's book - The Assault On Reason is a book that should be read.  It brings to light the forces that work on our minds and play havoc with reason, and by so doing, goes a long way in answering the question "what has happened to our country?"

"Faith in the power of reason - the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence available, instead of raw power - was and remains the central premise of American democracy.  This premise is now under assault."

Assaulted by...

The one-way nature of the public conversation on television and the distortion of journalism by entertainment values. Just look at the endless coverage of celebrity mishaps and missing children for evidence of this.  Information we need to understand complex issues is absent.

Assaulted by...

The manipulation of fear. There have always been leaders willing to fan public anxiety in order to present themselves as protectors, but what's different today is the intensity and constancy of fear. We are  bombarded  with news and images that keep us in a fearful state. And where fear is present, reason falters.

Assaulted by...

The blinding of the faithful.  "Fear can disrupt the balance between reason and faith...and when fear crowds out reason, many people feel a greater need for the comforting security of absolute faith...and they become more vulnerable to...simplistic explanations portraying all problems as manifestations of the struggle between good and evil."

And assaulted by...

The politics of wealth. We are becoming more and more isolated from one another, and in that separation, lose having a common goal.

In the final chapters of the book, Gore begins to address what we can do to save us from ourselves.  It's less easily summarized, but it relies on our diligence in becoming a "well informed citizenry."  We have to seek the facts, as difficult as it might be for us to do it.  Our democracy depends on our doing so.

The Starting Place

It's always good to start at the beginning...

Start at the beginning. Yes, but what is the beginning?  Where does the beginning begin?  I suppose it's wherever the heck you want it to...for all stories real and not.

I'm always fascinated by an author's choice for a beginning.  How did he/she come to decide  where to start the story?  When I read fiction, I become intrigued by this dilemma.

It seems to me that finding a beginning place with just the right words to hook in the reader has got to be a more difficult task than finding an ending.  The ending, by definition is the end.  It's got the story leading to it.  There might be several possible outcomes, but I suspect only a few that are plausible to choose from.  The beginning, on the other hand, can be anything and anywhere. 

So what was the tipping point to create the specific picture in the author's mind?  Why here and not there?  It gets to the very heart of writing.

Misty-Eyed

I just checked out my latest read: Misty of Chincoteague from the library. Yes, it's the children's book...and no, I've never read it.

I'm reading it now in preparation of my upcoming trip to Chincoteague Island in October. It'll be my first time there, and I'll be there as part of an Elder Hostel service program.  The group of us will be tending to handicapped paths, building boxes for birds & fox squirrels, and mending pony fences. Of course, there'll be time for photo taking and seeing the town too. 

I'm excited at the thought of spending the week contributing - giving something to the ponies and the place - and having the experience become a part of my history.

 

The Faith Club

I just finished reading The Faith Club.  It's an easy read, if you're interested...more like a journal that alternates between the perspective of each of the three women involved.  It gave me what I was looking for: hope.

My next book: Water For Elephants . In a nutshell, it's a romantic novel set in a traveling circus in the 1930s.  Judy has read it already and says it's very good. 

"The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case"

I'm in the middle of reading a book about the Ethel & Julius Rosenberg espionage incident...drawing on interviews with Ethel's brother, David.  He and his wife were also involved in the whole business, but from what I've gathered, they escaped the worst of it by cooperating with the prosecutors. I wouldn't say it's a great book, so I'm not really recommending it...but has provoked thought.

What struck me was how innocently it all began.  Here were children of first generation Jewish immigrants... ordinary people...trying to survive in the "land of plenty".  Communism for them was not evil, but an ideal to embrace and as a way to overcome economic inequities and discrimination.  Additionally, the Soviet Union was, for a time, our ally... right there fighting against fascism. 

How quickly our allies turn to enemies! Over and over again we chum up to despots, etc. only to then move them into the other column when it suits us.  I suppose I can view this behavior in the context of the respective time and place, but given time, this pragmatism seems to have a price.

There is a documentary out there that is worth seeing. It's made by the Rosenberg's granddaughter, Ivy Meeropol: "Heir To An Execution".  Very well done.