Friday, October 13, 2006

Forces


I believe the last three weeks (and I predict the ensuing month at least) constitute one of those periods in which my blog becomes a little grown-over. Other matters, on which I have little doubt I will pontificate and complain to the reader, have demanded my attention.
Still, I have been ruminating on the idea of influences and connection, and rather than posting yet another haiku or koanic image, I’ll share a list of books that have influenced my thinking and writing over the last year, though I’ve probably forgotten a few. While I don’t necessarily agree with everything these authors have offered in these titles, I can with limited exception recommend all of these to the reader.

A Great Improvisation, Stacey Schiff
The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
Pomes All Sizes, Jack Kerouac
Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba
Your Backyard Herb Garden, Miranda Smith
Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management, various
The Stolen Child, Keith Donohue
Hands-On Environmentalism, Brent Haglund and Thomas Still
The Gospel of Luke (NIV)
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carol
Organization Theory and Design, Richard L. Daft
Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, Manfred B. Steger
The Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier
The Limits of Enchantment, Graham Joyce
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa
Foundations of Finance: The Logic and Practice of Financial Management, Arthur J. Keown, J. William Petty, John D. Martin, and David F. Scott
The Best American Poetry – 2004, Lyn Hejinian and David Lehman

I also read National Geographic, cover to cover, and the journals Science and Quality Progress, as time permits.

1 comment:

Kit said...

thanks so much for the response.. i was so happy when i saw it, because i didn't know whether you would actually respond, and i normally don't get taken very seriously with things like that. the subject tends to be hard to bring up in conversation without making it awkward. and also, i wanted to thank you, just for the really reassuring advice you gave. it's really nice to hear from someone who knows for sure, and not a peer who is fairly certain. i'm grateful beyond words.

other than that, i can't really top what you posted =) you do still sound like you lead an interesting life, although it is a bit of a shame to hear you gave up your old job. i'm a little bit envious of the stability, i guess. and to answer your question on posting on either subjects, i haven't on either, and haven't really thought about it, but you've got me curious =) i've actually been meaning to respond to the first post you left me, but keep getting sidetracked and lazy ~__~ i've been more into literature lately through your example, and would like to strive towards simply being more educated. you do pose a great example =D

your list of books surprised me ^^;; i was particularly amused that there is a book called the art of peace, and that alice in wonderland made your list.. i haven't read that since high school, haha. although i'm sure there are a lot of themes that i would understand now that i wouldn't have understood then, so maybe i'm due for a reread either way. i also find it interesting that the art of war is from a chinese author, and that the art of peace is from a japanese author. i wonder if there's any additional meaning behind that. though i guess the easiest way to find out is to read it myself.

my friend in psych major is telling me to read a book on economy (so she says) called the world is flat. have you ever heard of it?