Read and Reading and More Reading

This past Monday my wife and I were invited to speak at a local university where they were starting book clubs on campus. One of the faculty there knew we read a lot so they invited us to come speak to the group.

I spoke for a few minutes about why I like to read and mentioned the following ideas:

1. Read to Connect the Dots.   That is, as you go through life and see different things, it is fun and a good thing to figure out how things fit together and how they connect. I gave the example of watching the Robin Hood movie and noticing that Richard the Lionheart dies early in that movie but he appears late in the Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie. It can't be both so one hits the books (or  Wikipedia) to find the truth.
2. Read to find the Truth.  This is generally related to the first point but not always. The news, media, movies, twitter and other places are full of misinformation and sometimes lies and complete mis-representations. I just finished reading I Was Blind But Now I See: Time to Be Happy which makes the point that one shouldn't even watch the news since their goal appears to be focus on fear and the sensational. Reading and more reading from various sources and good sources can help one find the truth.
3. Be an Explorer.  Finally, just get out there and explore. I recently read books on the crusades, Hiter and Stalin, architecture, right brain vs. left brain people, jobs, lots of sci-fi and several books about faith and christianity. Read lots of different things. Read things outside areas where you work. Seek out diverse points of view.

Get out there and explore, connect the dots and look for the truth.  By the way, I told the students they couldn't use the excuse that they are busy. They will be busy from now till they are in a retirement home. It doesn't get less busy. Just read.

My wife then spoke on reasons she as enjoyed a book club she has been a part of for many years.  She also has been doing a blog on the books she reads and you can stop by and see it here.

After the session a friend recommended the book Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project.  I bought the audio book and listened to it in the car this week. This is about a project to have people record their own stories in their own words. The audio version was probably not the book itself, but was an hour of the actual stories as told by the people themselves together with some commentary by the author.  Pretty cool idea and recommended.  Thanks S for the recommendation.

If you have a great book to recommend to me, let me know. I'm always looking.

Enjoy the Ride

I sure have enjoyed attending some of the NBA games in Oklahoma City this season. It is remarkable how much of a change in Oklahoma City has taken place since the team's arrival and rise. Two nights ago the Celtics were in town and last night the Lakers were here. Still hard to believe.

A few thoughts:

1. This is a great outlet to stand and cheer and scream. I believe that has medicinal effects.
2. It is a lot more fun to watch when one is confident in the team. I remember when the Hornets came to town for two years. We enjoyed going to the games and watching, but we/they mostly lost. Now we mostly win.
3. When the Hornets were here and a team like the Lakers or Celtics came to town, there were nearly as many people dressed in Purple/Yellow or Green as those rooting for the Hornets.  While there are still some dressed that way, the numbers are much less.  People cheer for the Thunder here.
4. Kudos to the team members who seem to have a lot of class and seem to have a lot of fun together.
5. Kudos to the team ownership for smart personnel moves to bring together these guys. This seems to be a class organization.

Enjoy the ride.

Sleep Beam

I've decided I'm going to invent a sleep beam. By that I mean I'm going to figure out how to send a wave of something into my brain to cause deep sleep to happen in a timely manner and for a predetermined amount of time. This will provide a reliable nights sleep to the average adult who is perhaps wishing for more.

The beam will be sent from the headboard of my bed and when I press a button on the side of the controller, the beam will shoot my head from above quickly sending me into a deep sleep. I'll put in a timer so that it turns off after 6 hours or so.  And I've decided that I'll put in a voice activated sensor that if the words mom, mommy, dad, daddy, donuts, fire or hey you are spoken the beam will disengage. Imagine a Star Trek sick bay table with the beam coming out of the overhead console. That is the idea.

I can can envision a portable system emits the beam from your iPhone or suitable smart phone for use when traveling. In the portable system, I'll add the phrase "please put away all electronic devices and raise your seat-backs and tables to their upright and locked positions" to the list of phrases that will turn off the system.

I supposed you could send the beam at someone else so I'll have to install a facial recognition system to make sure it only works on the owner.

I'll make lots of money.