Essays

Best American sports writing 2012
Best American Travel writing
Best American essays

GEOFFREY BENT. Edward Hopper and the Geometry of Despair 
To put forward a thesis on a painter with a new understanding of his work opposing the prevelant theories. Such a bold step is seen in BENJAMIN ANASTAS. The Foul Reign of “Self-Reliance” 

DUDLEY CLENDINEN. The Good Short Life 
Graceful life with ALS

PAUL COLLINS. Vanishing Act 
Does the society owe an artist a living as a child or an adult?




Bestamerican cience and nature writing

Mothers

Title: This I Believe On Motherhood

Edited by Dan Gediman, John Gregory and Mary Jo Gediman

Grabbing the baton reminded me of my special moment of my daughters birth. The author has maintained the gravity of that moment, when she began holding the baby even though she wasnt the biological mother.

Rituals passed on from mothers to daughters and forth.

Do the right thing at the right time. A similar advice I gleaned from my relatives and parents who are working all the time. 

All trees are not the same

Title: A Sanctuary of Trees

Author: Gene Lodgson

Have you ever wondered about the wood used in utility poles? Strengths and weaknesses of trees. Then this book is for you.

From his childhood, the author the author has lived in woodlands. He has amassed immense knowledge about trees, their worth in BTU, how best to cut them, how to get the most out of an acre with planting well chosen species, the prevailing myths about dangers of trees like sassafras, how to gain fuel independence by maintaining your own woodland and replenishing before cutting, sustainable forest farming.

If the main subject wasnt trees, you could mistake it for math with all the acreage and BTU information and calculations. You will learn another meaning of cord.

Inspiring at times

Title: Good prose The Art of Nonfiction

I have read `Among Schoolchildren' by Tracy Kidder a couple of years ago and passed on the book to a teacher. For that reason and The art of Nonfiction, I read this book.
The example of Nabokov's chronophobe for a writing that is simple but is of complex things. The book has some very strong examples of the points being explained.
`Narratives' chapter with the choice of first person, third person lost me. But when the authors talk of structure, the example of a complex double telling of a story brings across how the actual writing/telling of a story can influence or lead to a particular way of telling and retelling.
In the `memoirs' chapter, the readers are left puzzled how Tim O Brien of `The things they carried' felt that he told the story better in his fictional book than the non fictional one. One of those' truth is stranger than fiction' revelations where `fact seems simply insufficient'. Pacifique's need of writing down horrible past so he can less haunted is heart touching.
`Essays' chapter refers to work outside the book that I still need to look at.
Style chapter seemed like a grammar book and the advice of avoiding cliché is pedantic.
Editing as done between the writer and editor in the author duo is an insight into the editing process and the publishing world.

Portrait of the essay as a warm body
Jenny Boully - the Body essay
reference to 'Castro's beard' essay

3 and 1/2

Crushing cancer

Its always interesting to read about the lives of people who have

passion for what they do. It is a nice dream come true, when you always walk home 'the winner'.Imagine, such a reverie being broken with something like a cancer.

Lance Armstrong proved himself to be a real brave sports person, by staging a comeback fighting such an illness with all the courage it took.

This book will be very inspiring to all the people, who cannot imagine life after a major setback.

Aug 25, 2005

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Why book review

QR code and art

QR-Code-Artworks: Martin R. Becker - 2011/12 (German Edition)

If you read magazines a lot, you might have seen the QR Code in the advertisements.  A recent CBS news clip was about art in the zoomed in codes.

What tests a flashlight has to go through

ANSI- FL1 flashlight standards explained

The flash light has a flexibility for near or close spaces. It is light weight with a great intensity of light than I would expect from a torch. Only goes to show how like knives, torches too have gotten Swiss with all the optics and technology. It comes with a case for its safe keep that can be strapped onto loops for easy reach.

Stilty

You Are Special (Max Lucado's Wemmicks)

I come across so many unheard of children stories like The Phantom Toll Booth, that I stash away as a list to read them some time as my daughter grows. Today I cam across a book with wooden characters called 'Wemmicks' which is the kind of name that catches your attention, that you try to remember for later reference and forget. I was introduced to the concept of stars where kids place the stickers on the things they like in a TV commercial. And taking that a little further is to put 'dots' for the things you dont like. Then I started looking at other books. Its not like other children books where its ok even if you dont know what happened next. The tension between the stars and dots, between the donts and dos, haves and have nots builds up. This one has the allure and the mystery of a story with a message that most kids need growing up.

Far to near

Big Five game. In Swades movie, the heroine, a teacher asks about the five big rivers in India.
Yales's museum returning antiques

Travel faux pas - They are committed not only when you are in a foreign country. Even when you are interacting with people of a different class. As an intern, I once traveled in the back of a boss's boss's car while he was driving.
This magazine has advertisement labeled on top of the page to avoid glossy pictures to be mistaken for magazine's article.
Booker travels

National Geo six to summit

Six to summit is about Everest summit by Americans in 1960s. I saw the movie Everest 82 about Canadians summit.

In this magazine, there is an ad about a watch that does updates date on the watch automatically. My sister asked me how is it done? I told her like a digital engineer, when the clock reaches 12 condition is true then the date is changed. But the actual how is here. While reading about this, I am taken back to the days when my parents would say the thorn (hand) is wrong and go about winding it to right. And now I learn that the watches used to rely on the motion of the wearer for heir function and if it hasnt been on the person for too long or the person hasnt moved then the watch does not show correct time. Loosely, we can say that a watch then was like a pedometer, that would not tell you how many but enough steps have been taken. From wiki, I learn the big deal about Seiko and a way to fashion a compass with a watch and a shadow.

Knorr soup that we know in India, is a German Company.

Essay poem

Author: Amy Leach

Her prose is like poetry. Prose poem

At once non-fiction, another time with anthromorphization of strong willed salmons to brides and grooms working against the river to reach the altar, the author adds stories to strife. Her subjects - beavers, Fainting goat with their abilities add to the charm of her writing.
Salmon as Old salt.

Authors interview and more work
A review

Best Books of 2012

Everybody has a list. Last year my friend told me that Bill Gates reads a lot too and he has a years best list.
Here's mine

2012
Wild - Cheryl Strayed
My Dyslexia - Phillip Schultz
The blue bird effect - Julie Zickefoose
Planet of Viruses - Carl Zimmer
The man who changed the way we eat - Thomas McNamee
Yes Chef - Marcus Samuelsson
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake - Anna Quindlen

Mention for Ideas
Extra Virginity - Tom Mueller
The toaster project - Thomas Twaite
How Eskmos keep their babies warm - Mei-Ling  HopGood

Poetry
The animals - a pastoral Richard Grossman


2011
The Anti-Romantic Child - Priscilla Gilman

2010
Muffins and Mayhem - Suzanne Beecher

Article

This article A brief history of wrapping paper, could have begun with the stalwart Hallmark's of greeting card fame. (Hallmark). But it ended with it. Usually we go after the inventors, but in this case, the product with its sole purpose of glitz is the cynosure.
exercise: Leave aside the person, focus on the thing, let it tell its tale independent of the inventor. Let Galatea tell her story. For example, To what Miserable wretches have I been born?


Zadie smith on joy. This article can help maintain a log of your personal experiences by mood.

Next year's read

Authors site

When the author writes of the kinds of people and questions he faces on his floor in the library, they make for funny incidents. This is how the chapters begin and then he brings in his personal life. The way the author has deal with his Tourette's by weight training is amazing.
In the end during a  competition he recalls how like Joe of Touching the Void , he is on his own. Wow, that story was just revisited by Sarah wheeler in access all areas.