Time to think outside of the box

So i am currently reading 1491, which was highly recommended by Josh Clark of SYSK podcast. Well it was recommended many episodes ago and i have finally gotten around to read it. So Mann the author is discussing the Native Indian tribes of the america's Pre-Columbus. Well thinking about this deeper, how quickly we believe things, how often information is passed as truth and can be completely false. We seem to believe things are only as we perceive them as if nothing exist below the surface. Another book that might help me rethink a little of our history is Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong” by James W. Loewen which was also recommended.

But i really think it goes beyond what in history do we believe that is not really correct. What do we believe about ourselves, and the things around us that are fully true? Say are current government situation, if "We The people" "in order to form a more perfect union " would actually examine what we truly believe in(if we actually know what we believe) we might be able to form a more perfect union... If we would examine ourselves and get rid of the junk in us that doesn't fully match our character. I think it would lead to better marriages, better relationships, better friends, better employees, oh yeah and a more perfect union!

Enough of a ramble...

Best Reads of 2011

1) Anthony Horowitz - The House of Silk: This is a Sherlock Holmes Mystery. I am a big Sherlock fan and was curious to see how Horowitz did at capturing the classic characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's imagination. Horowitz nailed it in my opinion. This story is a story Watson had left out intentionally. He is telling it from the nursing home where he is living. Watson was unable to tell the story during the lifetime of most of the BAD GUYS, do to the power they held. This has all the classic characteristics of a Sherlock mystery. Sherlock sees things that most over look, well while on this case Watson is forced to take the lead while Sherlock is in jail. Over all this was a great read.

2)Preston and Child - Riptide: This is a story about Oak Island, the main Character Malin Hatch's father was the last person to own Oak island and went broke trying to find its treasure. Malin is approached by a new leader of an expedition who wants to explore the island. The story is excellently written and I am surprised they haven't tried to make it into a movie yet. Malin does not get the treasure but in the end he does find what he was looking for,

3)Erik Larson - The Devil in the White City: This book blew me away, Larson write about a serial killer during the World fair in chicago. H.H. Holmes was a mastermind. He was able to build a murder hotel, borrow money with no intention of ever paying it back, and would have gotten away with it to, if it wasnt for those kids and that pesky dog. Well It wasnt a kid or a dog, it was one detective who followed a lead and chased Holmes out of the country to capture him. This book is a great book about late 1890's chicago and it will leave you in awe of the man who made killing fun and could have convinced you that you were the one who actually committed the murders.

4) David Eagleman - Incognito - Wow this was an awesome book on all the stuff the brain is doing behind your back. Well sort of, this book explain the inner working of the brain in a way that someone who is Brainless could understand. Eagleman does a great job of bringing it down to a level that the average person could learn something about the way their brain works.

My best reads of 2010

This is just a short list of the best books I have read this year. They are in no particular order.

In Love and War : Jim and sybil stockdale - This book was all about the Stockdale's and the experience they had during Vietnam, when Jim's plane was shot down. This book was so intense for me. I couldn't stop reading it. Both Jim and Sybil wrote many details of what was going on with their lives during this time. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a story of someone sticking it out and coming through in the end.

The Shallows: Nicholas Carr - This was probably one of the more enjoyable books I read this year. In this book Carr goes into great detail on how the internet is changing the way our brain works, and really how we need to be analyzing knowledge.

Satchel: Larry Tye - Now going in to reading this book I did not know much of the Great Satchel Paige. But the book had more details than I can remember. I was quite impressed on the detail of Paige's pitching ability.

Sins of the Father: Ronald Kessler - I did not know much of Joseph Kennedy upon picking up this book. I did not know much of the Kennedy family either. This book showed what a determine hard nosed man Joseph was. Many of the things the book pointed out where the negative things that he accomplished. But none the less he was quite famous in his time.

Good to Great: Jim Collins - This was a great book. It talked about all the things that GREAT companies implement to become great. It talked about how they were intentional and pro-active in their growth and sustainment.

Prodigal god: Timothy Keller - This was a great book on how much God Loves you! I had put off this book because of all the hype, but it turned out it was well worth the read. Very short but packed full of information.

Fordlandia: Greg Grandin - I learned a little about fordlandia from the gals of Stuff you missed in History Class, This book covered all the details they were not able to get in on their podcast. So apparently Henry ford was worried about China having all the rubber trees and slowing down his production of cars, because he would not have control of the rubber for his tires. So he built a city in Brazil and set it up the Ford way, with the 9-5 work day. Set up streets and houses and a whole plantation of Rubber trees. Only problem is, everything he tried didnt work. Lots of details in the book and a bunch of photos of the city called Fordlandia just as it is, a ghost of what it once was.

These are the books that I found most memorable in the year 2010. Already have a stack of books I will be reading for 2011.

Not too shabby

Still plugging away at reading "The Shallows"

I love picking up a book that shares similar thoughts that I have been having for year. Only problem he was able to make money off of it and I tell people who do not seem to care.

In the book he is making a convincing point (could be convincing because I have had the same thought for the past few years) that multitasking takes away from concentrated thought. He quotes Seneca a roman Philosopher " To be everywhere is to be nowhere". I like the wording of this. If we are focused on everything we are hardly focused on anything. It is true the more we spread ourselves out, the more spread out we become. We can't seem to pinpoint problems if we are no focusing on any single on but trying to focus on all of them.

Another great quote one that I would have highlighted if I owned the book was "we are evolving from being cultivators of personal knowledge to being hunters and gatherers in the electronic data forest". Man I love it. I have made this point many time Why waste energy filing away things if I know I can just go to Google and easily pull it up.

Current read

I am still reading "The Shallows", its been a bit over my head and has made me slow down and read it carefully. Its talking of how the internet is changing our way of thinking. Carr has been pointing out how writing changed how we told stories, books changed how we though. But now reading is changing again because we read all day long, now oftentimes unconsciously. He quotes David levy, in stating we read street signs, menus, billboards, and products in stores. But we are reading shallowly, because we never really dive into anything. We skim the surface and never dive deep into what we are reading. I haven't reached the point where he is commenting on the internet changing our thought process yet, he has been laying back knowledge for all the different changes that have taken place in "Technology" and how it affected us.

So far it has been a super good book, and is really enjoyable.

Say what you need to say

I must say I am a little disappointed in this. If you are going to talk trash about your coach, which for one I think is in poor taste. But if you were going to do a report to the paper, at least say who you are. I am tired of this unnamed player crap. I dont think the Vikings losing is completely Childress' fault. It would be like blaming the Cowboys record solely on Wade Phillips. I mean look at his over all stats, he coached a team that won over 50% of their games. So maybe romo should go to the paper and talk trash about phillips but do it unnamed!

Food for thought?

I hope to be a middle school history teacher in the next couple of years. I love history and love kids so I figured I would put the two together. I listen to a great podcast call "Stuff you missed in History class", I love it, I listen to it all the time, the ladies tell of really cool things that happened that I had never even heard of. Maybe its only great to us History buffs that just love learning old information!!!!

But one of their latest blogs really caught my eye. Why was history boring? when I become a teacher am I going to be able to make history not boring? I mean sometimes some things really aren't all that interesting, but regardless history is History. So maybe by putting in hours a week listening to their podcast I can sharpen the skill needed to make history not so boring!