Ho‘ohana Aloha

Mar 26

neil-gaiman:

A statement I stand beside, and an image I think sums up so many of our childhoods and lives.
kjmichalak:

“[D]on’t ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that’s what they’re there for. Use your library). Don’t apologize to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend’s copy. What’s important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read… ” ― Neil Gaiman

I stand beside this for Managing with Aloha and my books too. Within the joys of my life, are those stories shared with me about how people arrive at MWA, and then make themselves at home with it. Hearing these things is extremely rewarding, and I feel quite blessed to have been a part of it, no matter how small the part, for something in that spirit-spilling way of Aloha plays out.

A statement I stand beside, and an image I think sums up so many of our childhoods and lives.

kjmichalak:

“[D]on’t ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that’s what they’re there for. Use your library). Don’t apologize to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend’s copy. What’s important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read… ”
― Neil Gaiman

I stand beside this for Managing with Aloha and my books too. Within the joys of my life, are those stories shared with me about how people arrive at MWA, and then make themselves at home with it. Hearing these things is extremely rewarding, and I feel quite blessed to have been a part of it, no matter how small the part, for something in that spirit-spilling way of Aloha plays out.

Mar 25

Goodreads Review: Self-Reliance by The Domino Project

Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

While I appreciate their effort to bring Emerson’s essay to more readers, I’m not a fan of this particular edition done by The Domino Project. There’s some irony here: The Domino Project has desensitized our ability to read this with self-reliant comprehension.

[Note: Selected this edition based on ISBN, and the cover is incorrect, see it here.]

I don’t feel there’s much added value in the pull quote comparisons the Domino Project has added in, and they feel somewhat gratuitous, as if done purely to stage their favored club of contemporaries, doing so at Emerson’s expense.

This may present better in hardcover, but I felt a bit robbed in my Kindle reading, denied of the opportunity to read Emerson’s essay purely, and on its own merit. The Domino Project distractions became increasingly annoying, and I resented the presumption despite admiring many of the individuals showcased: I wanted to highlight my own takeaways.

I did read a second time in the attempt to do so, but I suspect the return to try again was too soon, and I’ll have to tuck this away for awhile, returning to Emerson’s essay — and only his essay — during a quiet weekend sometime in the future.

View all my Goodreads reviews

Mar 15

Goodreads Review: An Everlasting Meal

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There’s a small club of books which, after I’ve read them, obliterate my need for any gift list the coming Christmas: I’ll simply buy the book by the case, and give it to everyone I care about. In this small club are First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, and Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders. There are a few others, but those come to mind most immediately.

An Everlasting Meal is newest to the club and I don’t think I’ll wait for Christmas with a good nine and a half months’ of birthdays lined up before then. Tamar Adler didn’t just write a book; she gave us all a gift.

I believe that the best books will change your habits in some way, and this one certainly has changed mine. For most of my life I’ve said, “I don’t cook.” and now, I am. I’ve been cooking throughout my reading of An Everlasting Meal, and I’m quite sure I’ll continue to. I’ve already experimented with a few variations of her recipes, approaching them with no fear. Amazing if you know of my history in the kitchen, just amazing.

View all my Goodreads reviews

Also on Talking Story: How to Fill Up By Spilling, another posting inspired by the book when about halfway through it.

Mar 9

Book Review: How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lehrer’s book is useful, and so I greatly appreciate that he has written it; to me, useful is what all non-fiction should be.

One of my favorite passages in the book was this one: [blogged a story related to it on Talking Story: We see what we want to see.]

“For too long, people have disparaged the emotional brain, blaming our feelings for all of our mistakes. The truth is far more interesting. If it weren’t for our emotions, reason wouldn’t exist at all… When we are cut off from our feelings, the most banal decisions became impossible. A brain that can’t feel can’t make up its mind.”

Intriguing stuff.

The book is full of case studies and explained experiments, and that can wear on me at times, but Lehrer pulled it off with just one or two exceptions; his pacing is generally good.

Near the end he writes,

“THINK ABOUT THINKING. If you’re going to take only one idea away from this book, take this one: Whenever you make a decision, be aware of the kind of decision you are making and the kind of thought process it requires. It doesn’t matter if you’re choosing between wide receivers or political candidates. You might be playing poker or assessing the results of a television focus group. The best way to make sure that you are using your brain properly is to study your brain at work, to listen to the argument inside your head.”

He was very successful in getting me to do so, and I’ll be practicing it going forward now that I have his coaching and helpful vocabulary in mind about the brain science of it all.

The success of this book is that Lehrer did tackle decision-making: If he’d only written “How We Think” it would have fallen short.

View all my GoodReads reviews

Mar 3

I am reading: How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer

As of this writing, it’s only $2.99 on Kindle, and your experiences are like the blade of a comprehension slicing pair of scissors (more on that within the blog post this points to).

I decided to post this earlier than I usually do (as full book review), just in case you want to read along with me: The price is certainly right! (You don’t need the Kindle device itself; you can download it from the Kindle page to your computer.)

I’m just 15% through it, about to start Chapter 3, Fooled by a Feeling, and so far am liking it quite a bit. Lehrer has a very easy-to-read writing style.

Rosa’s Highlights (so far…)

Feb 25

The American Scholar: Armchair Adventures - Michael Dirda

Why is it that I so seldom want to read what everyone else wants to read?…

My first thought: Another reason reading remains more private for me than social (compared to what Steven Johnson describes). My interests seem to run a different track.

My second thought: Bookmarking this for the reading lists he included, for this sounds so compelling:

I find that nowadays I gravitate increasingly to older books and particularly to tales of romance and derring-do from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the period that the critic Roger Lancelyn Green dubbed “the age of the storytellers.”

To my delight, the class proved immensely popular. Students said that it reminded them of why they had majored in English: not because they could hardly wait to read the latest in literary theory, but because they loved stories.

scribnerbooks:

annadevries:

pantheonbooks:

Book Video of the Day: For a limited time only, you can watch “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” the animated short film that’s up for an Oscar this Sunday.

This is so great.

WATCH THIS.

February 27 update: It won the Oscar :) And The Oscar for Best Short Film goes to… an iPad App

Feb 22

Lessons I Learned Reading Over 200 Books

Love what Julien Smith has done here, for it serves as a personal, jacket-illustrated catalog of his reading and learning.

I recently realized that I’d been reading a book every week now for about 5 years straight.

It kind of made me wonder: what did I really learn? Am I smarter than I used to be?

He’s captured the thesis of each book in 140 characters (so I assume as he tweeted them), similar to how others will do so with index cards; imagine how retrievable they become as his resource library.

File this one in your ‘Ike loa index - the value of lifelong learning, curated for supreme usefulness!

Also, if you missed it earlier: Read to Lead: How to Digest Books Above Your “Level”

Feb 20

tatteredcover:

A Voluminous Dream Unfolding in Denver and South Park: Calling all booklovers in the Rocky Mountain West! Got empty rooms? Adopt a Library and help a voluminous dream come true! Read today’s Denver Post.

Oh my! As a book lover, this story has me dreaming wildly, both to help support them, and in imagining what a Sense of Place book haven could be here in Hawai‘i.

Upstairs, the situation seems almost under control. But in the basement, the stacks are floor-to-rafters. Leaning. Forming walls. Framing the furnace and water heater. Filling the stairwell. Each book is a beautiful brick of paper and knowledge bound together and asking to be held.

Each book, however chaotic its placement in the basement, has a handwritten 3-by-5 index card devoted to it. These books are loved.

But a library that exists as piles, or in boxes, is not a proper library…

Read more: Couple needs new home for 30,000-volume Rocky Mountain Land Library - The Denver Post

What would you do, if you could reimagine your personal library?

Footnote: Sense of Place is MWA Key 8.

February 21 Update:

News Flash! Couple who are moving 30,000 books from their basement to temporary housing have a website. And a beautiful blog. And a facebook page, and most important of all, a ranch, (one of the oldest in Colorado) with a 99 year lease (pending), which will be the future home of this amazing “living library” with the help of bookfriends, investors, and architects willing to donate a little time and effort and some much needed funds to make the dream come true.

Feb 19

This Will Make You Smarter: 151 Big Thinkers Each Pick a Concept to Enhance Your Cognitive Toolkit - Maria Popova via Brain Pickings

stoweboyd:

Popova reviews ‘This Will Make You Smarter’, where various smart people pick a single idea to help you understand the world a bit better…

This sounds like a great pick for my Book List, and a good follow-up to Brain Rules (reading now)

Tumblr usefulness for Rosa Say which you’re welcome to get in on: Finds I’m reading, learning, and weaving into an ‘Imi ola life. For less: Follow @rosasay on Twitter. For more: Visit my blog continuing the conversations of Managing with Aloha Subscribe to Ho‛ohana Aloha by Email

Tumblr usefulness for Rosa Say which you’re welcome to get in on: Finds I’m reading, learning, and weaving into an ‘Imi ola life.
For less: Follow @rosasay on Twitter. For more: Visit my blog continuing the conversations of Managing with Aloha

Subscribe to Ho‛ohana Aloha by Email