For the Love of Books

Remember when I mentioned back in the fall how anticipatory I was for the release of Mindy Kaling’s book?  Well, it didn’t disappoint.  I pretty much devoured it.  Also, I now believe that Mindy Kaling has made it onto the list of, “People I Think I Would Be Friends With If I Were Given the Chance” (blog post forthcoming).  If my previous post, other hype (she was on Good Morning America next to Bill Clinton, for goodness sakes), or the next quote doesn’t entice you into reading it…you might be a lost cause.

“Teenage girls, please don’t worry about being super popular in high school, or being the best actress in high school, or the best athlete. Not only do people not care about any of that the second you graduate, but when you get older, if you reference your successes in high school too much, it actually makes you look kind of pitiful, like some babbling old Tennessee Williams character with nothing else going on in her current life. What I’ve noticed is that almost no one who was a big star in high school is also big star later in life. For us overlooked kids, it’s so wonderfully fair.”

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So, I like maps.  If you had asked me prior to reading this book, I probably would have replied that I liked maps more than the average person.  Post-reading Maphead, as with so many hobbies, I have quite a journey to go on before feeling like a ‘true’ Maphead.  It is by Ken Jennings, of being-totally-good-at-Jeopardy fame.  His style of writing reminds me a bit of Bill Bryson; it is knowledgeable, humorous, and accessible.

& I know now I’d like to visit Victoria Island in the territory of Nunavut.  It is home to the world’s largest ‘triple island’ – that is, the world’s largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island.

Every chapter covered a new angle.  A few of these were: geocaching, road rallies (I’m thinking about signing up for the annual St. Valentine’s Day Massacre race), the National Geography Bee, & how maps are utilized in fantasy & science fiction novels.

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I have this memory of visiting the local tide pools on a school field trip.  & what I carried away from it was being berated for not calling the starfish ‘seastars’.  “They’re not fish.” my teacher pointed out.  It has always stuck in my mind.  Regardless of their non-fish status, their starry nature appeals to me.  & so does this poem.  Enjoy!

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Starfish  – by Eleanor Lerman

This is what life does. It lets you walk up to
the store to buy breakfast and the paper, on a
stiff knee. It lets you choose the way you have
your eggs, your coffee. Then it sits a fisherman
down beside you at the counter who says, Last night,
the channel was full of starfish. And you wonder,
is this a message, finally, or just another day?

Life lets you take the dog for a walk down to the
pond, where whole generations of biological
processes are boiling beneath the mud. Reeds
speak to you of the natural world: they whisper,
they sing. And herons pass by. Are you old
enough to appreciate the moment? Too old?
There is movement beneath the water, but it
may be nothing. There may be nothing going on.

And then life suggests that you remember the
years you ran around, the years you developed
a shocking lifestyle, advocated careless abandon,
owned a chilly heart. Upon reflection, you are
genuinely surprised to find how quiet you have
become. And then life lets you go home to think
about all this. Which you do, for quite a long time.

Later, you wake up beside your old love, the one
who never had any conditions, the one who waited
you out. This is life’s way of letting you know that
you are lucky. (It won’t give you smart or brave,
so you’ll have to settle for lucky.) Because you
were born at a good time. Because you were able
to listen when people spoke to you. Because you
stopped when you should have and started again.

So life lets you have a sandwich, and pie for your
late night dessert. (Pie for the dog, as well.) And
then life sends you back to bed, to dreamland,
while outside, the starfish drift through the channel,
with smiles on their starry faces as they head
out to deep water, to the far and boundless sea.

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You caught me.  Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (& Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling isn’t actually out yet.  But you should know I already have it on hold at the library.  I told a friend, “I think it might be even better than Tina Fey’s Bossypants.”  I immediately felt sacrilegious for making it competitive – like they both cannot exist equally on my bookshelf.  (They totally can & are most welcome to live on my bookshelf).  What I meant was – similar to Bossypants – I hope to laugh aloud & enjoy it immensely.  & I already have based on the excerpts released.  So I hope you check out the following audio & print excerpts so I can reference them in person next time we have tea.

• Audio Excerpt entitled, “Ground Rules for Best Friendship” via Jezebel
• Audio Excerpt entitled, “Revenge Fantasies” via Hello Giggles
• “Flick Chicks: A Guide to Women at the Movies” written excerpt via the New Yorker

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I love maps.  The beautiful map below by Ellisa Mitchell of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (a series I have been reading since I was a teenager & also one I am determined to finish).  But map making isn’t just for science fiction/fantasy novels.  As this post by Austin Kleon points out, “every tale creates a world in the reader’s mind—and it explored ways that drawing that world can lead to better fiction.”

A lot of my favorite books from childhood include a map.  In fact, a lot of my favorite books in general involve some sort of map (as my Pinterest account demonstrates).  & then there is mind mapping – a type of visual organization of concepts & ideas.

We create little sketches of side streets so we can remind ourselves how to get to our friend’s new apartment.  Sometimes on paper, sometimes on the back of our hand.  My dad once drew a map on a paper napkin to assist my mom in the making of a perfect hamburger.  (note: my mom wasn’t impressed)

It is these maps & diagrams that endear us to others, I think.  We learn how to navigate through our own barriers & how others navigate over their own stumbling blocks.

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Links of Note:

Amanda Farquharson’s “Mind Maps to End All Mind Maps”

F*ck Yeah, Fictional Maps

This is the Hand Drawn Map Association

Recommended Reading:

Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi

You Are Here: Personal Geographies & Other Maps of the Imagination by Katharine Harmon

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Alberto Manguel & Gianni Guadalupi

The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps by Tony Buzan

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What I’m Reading: Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress, and Fear into Vibrance, Strength & Love by Judith Orloff, M.D.

“Energy isn’t some vague phenomenon…”

Dr. Judith Orloff is a clinical psychiatrist who believes that the future of medicine involves integrating traditional medicine with intuition and energy medicine to achieve a better grasp of total wellness.  She frames intuition as the language of energy – something to be trusted & valued.

While certain sections were a little too new age for my own personal tastes, I took away a lot of helpful ideas.  Her description of intuitive empaths and in turn, the challenges they face as a result was illuminating.  Regardless of whether or not you identify yourself as an empath, her exercises for learning to center & protect yourself against energy vampires are helpful.

“In just the right light, with just the right attitude, you’ll be able to see the soles of your shoes sparkle.  They do.  They will.  Let that wonder in.  Be dazzled by the energies interwoven throughout the day-to-day.”

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I saw this at my local library & grabbed it on a whim.  It is based on the author’s time working in a psychiatric ward while studying to be a mental health nurse.  I really enjoyed this.  It is a powerful look at getting rid of the stigma and preconceptions of mental illness.  I felt like there could have been several volumes!  Darryl Cunningham‘s stories were heartfelt and the illustrations were simple & enhancing to the message.  I feel like I could easily recommend this to anyone to give them a taste of mental health activism.

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Do you remember the book Trumpet of the Swan by EB White?  It was about a swan named Louis who is born without a voice.  So eventually (through criminal acts) he gets his wings on a trumpet, learns how to play, & crazy hijinks ensue.  I remember being enthralled by how he learns to read + write with a little chalkboard he hangs around his neck.  & how delicious the watercress sandwiches sounded.

Over the weekend, we took advantage of a break between rain showers & walked down to the Lake.

& found our very own quiet shutterbug swan.

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I think I’m finally getting over my post-vacation blues.  It didn’t help my readjustment to the “real” world to have an odd back injury that has left me trying to pick up things with my toes (it’s a skill you need to practice…)

Last night was helpful: we put on some already-seen-&-well-loved-movies & I drew for the first time in ages.

Except I don’t really draw.  I doodle.  I doodle weird creatures battling each other with bendy straws.  Evidence to come.

& today I went to the Toronto Reference Library with some hot cocoa, spent $1 & got FIVE books I’m looking forward to reading.  If my back wasn’t hurting, I probably would have tried to carry even more.

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