Hunger Reading

No, I don't mean The Hunger Games (though I'll probably reread that this summer, too). For the DC trip in May, I will be taking an accompanying class, with assignments due through the summer, and content tied in to our activities and events in DC. We have to read two books (A Place at the Table and Nickel and Dimed), and another assignment is a book review, for which we were given a another selection of a few books to choose from. Well, I ordered all of the books. All the books! I'm looking forward to reading them through the summer. Also, I guess now's as good a time as any to announce that for my concentration year internship I will be with the Texas Hunger Initiative! Yep, I've been a graduate research assistant for them through this semester, and I'm very excited to continue my work with them in an additional capacity, working at the Waco Regional Office. So, I'm going to be starting to think about and plan what my research project for next year might look like, and these books, and this trip, will be a good start to get me pumped.

Here are the books I will be starting off with. I will be reading A Place at the Table first, as it accompanies the documentary and will be a good starting point for the trip. I will write reviews and post them here, in case anyone is interested/ to organize my thoughts.

don't mind my rug that needs to be vacuumed

A Place at the Table: The Crisis of 49 Million Hungry Americans and How to Solve It
Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient, and Rewarding for all
All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty

- From the desk of Mrs. M

About a Book

Day 7: Recommend a book for us to read. Why do you think it's important?

My pick: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. 

I read this book in September 2008, and it changed my life. Well, it contributed to changing it, at least. Kyle had previously read and highly recommended this book (and I'm sure it contributed to him being a history and philosophy of science major), and I was finally reading it during my first semester of sophomore year at American University. It is the kind of book that makes you think, makes you want to think. I couldn't help but fill it with sticky notes and tabs (pictured, haha), fill pages in a notebook with my rambling thoughts and questions. One Saturday in particular, I had the closest to what I imagine an epiphany would feel like. I was going between reading this book, and working on things for my cross cultural communications and psychology courses. They were courses to satisfy general education requirements, as I was at the time majoring in Business.  I'm not sure how or what happened, but the combination of the philosophy, anthropology and psychology all floating around in my head just hit me all at once. It was all connected, and it was all more important than anything else I could think of. Business isn't what I wanted and needed to be learning, it was people. I think I knew that all along, but I hadn't really known about or explored all these majors I didn't know existed. I just wanted to think about and learn about people; what could be more important? I ended up switching majors and switching schools. It is certainly one of the, if the the most memorable, books I have read. Even if I forget a lot about it (I have a terrible long-term memory for things I've read), I always remember the weight of it and how it made me think. 

I didn't want to spend too much time telling you actually what the book is about; it is a philosophical adventure, it is haunting and unforgettable.  It can get heavy at times, but it forces you to take it slowly, stop and think about your own life and humanity. I'm really getting an urge to read it again, actually! Here is some info courtesy of Wikipedia (but it is best to just read it):

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (ZAMM) is a 1974 philosophical novel, the first of Robert M. Pirsig's texts in which he explores his Metaphysics of Quality.

The book describes, in first person, a 17-day journey on his motorcycle from Minnesota to California by the author (though he is not identified in the book) and his son Chris, joined for the first nine days by close friends John and Sylvia Sutherland. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, ethical emotivism and the philosophy of science.

In ZAMM, Pirsig explores the meaning and concept of quality, a term he deems to be undefinable. Pirsig's thesis is that to truly experience quality one must both embrace and apply it as best fits the requirements of the situation. According to Pirsig, such an approach would avoid a great deal of frustration and dissatisfaction common to modern life."

Other honorable mentions:

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

anything by Bill Bryson

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Theogony by Hesiod

-Mrs. M

Hunger Games and Blueberry Muffins

During our grocery shopping trip on Sunday I picked up The Hunger Games. I'm definitely late to the party; I don't think I had even heard of it before I first saw a trailer for the movie a month ago. But the premise is very interesting to me, and I enjoy a good, quick read (especially good for passing time at the laundromat). By the end of the day Sunday I was over 3/4 of the way finished, and read the rest this morning. I don't yet know if I think it's especially good or if the story is just so far from an imaginable reality that it is captivating everyone (myself included).  Either way I might have to go out and get the next two tonight after Kyle gets home (and wait a long while before seeing the movie). I did pause from reading for dinner yesterday, and to make some blueberry muffins. A worthwhile break!

PS- I've recently entered into the blogger button swap world, so if you'd like to swap buttons, and maybe have a little introduction post later in April, please let me know! :)

Read All About It

My favorite author is Bill Bryson. I first discovered him during my Obsessed with Australia phase in high school, when I found his book "In A Sunburned Country" on one of the Barnes & Noble travel shelves. Now I've got a whole shelf dedicated to his books (plus LOTR and a little Hemingway; keeping good company), and even two copies of one. In 11th grade English class I led a lesson about him and his writing. Bryson writes about travel, science, language, and his own childhood. He is hilarious, especially his traveling stories. He has a new book called "At Home" that I'm going to order, perhaps on husband's kindle.

My three favorites:

I have read this one several times. He went a lot places I did on Euro Tour (Parts I and II), and I brought it along and read about the places I'd soon be visiting. He even went to a place in Finland called Muonio, way way up in Lapland, where I also visited!

I suggest you make a cup of tea and settle in to read one of these.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Balloons on the Brain

I've had balloons on the brain for a little while now. Hot air, helium, water, animal, 99 luftballoons, all kinds! And all because I saw this cute necklace:

I went up in a hot air balloon once during a trip in Canada, with my sister, uncle and his brother (plus a nice group of strangers), and it was the best. We landed diagonally about some bushes. I'd love to do it again. Also, where I spent ages 4-13 (Tracy, CA), every 4th of July at 6am we went out to the park by the library for the hot air balloon launch (about ten balloons) and Lion's Club pancake breakfast. Probably my favorite holiday tradition.

Did anyone else read The Twenty-One Balloons when you were young? I remember it being a fun book that I really liked. Now I'm wondering if it's still on a bookshelf at home because I want to read it again.

"William Waterman Sherman, the protagonist of the Newbery Medal book The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois, has been teaching arithmetic to boys for forty years in San Francisco: “Forty years of spitballs. Forty years of glue on my seat.” So at the age of sixty-six, he retires, builds a hot-air balloon, and sets off to sail around the world. But as he soon discovers, being airborne produces other problems besides spitballs. Seagulls start to eat on his balloon and create a huge hole. After he plummets into the sea, he finds shelter on an island beach. This is not just any island, but the remarkable island of Krakatoa, built on the wealth of massive diamond mines. The island seems like paradise: the residences have constructed amazing homes, each one organized around the architecture of a different county, and filled them with conveniences. Their beds, for instance, have sheets that mechanically change every day and get washed, dried, and pressed. After a life of service, the professor might well have lived a life of luxury. But as is always true, timing is everything—because he has landed three days before a volcano erupts on the island of Krakatoa. Science, invention, fantasy, science fiction, and action all come together in a book that moves from one amazing plot detail to another."

                                - Summary from childrensbookalmanac.com 

My Wednesday Wedding post tomorrow also features balloons (lots of 'em), so stay tuned for that. It's a fun one! Here's a preview...

- From the desk of Mrs. Sarah McPherson