Classic

"I've found that there is always some beauty left--in nature, sunshine, freedom...in yourself. Look at these things, and then you find yourself again. Then you regain your balance."
Anne Frank

I was wandering through my campus library the other day, and decided to check out the "Give a Book/Take a Book" cart. Usually this cart is full of jewels like "Math for the Ages," or even better, "Paradise Love." Harlequin romance novels seem to congregate on this cart.

However, the other day I found "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl." I read that in 8th grade, and remember being very moved. But I decided that it would probably be a good idea to grab it and read it again. So I did.

Whenever I read any book, I become completely immersed in it. I think about it when I'm not reading it. I invariably put myself in the narrator's place. It's almost like a mini obsession with which I grapple for as long as I'm reading. When you're reading the story of a small, spirited Jewish girl who is locked away and eventually ripped away from her family and killed in a concentration camp (sorry if I ruined the ending for you...but by the way...the Titanic sinks, Jesus ends up getting crucified, and Romeo and Juliet both committ suicide. Sorry again!) this makes for very thought-provoking days.

I'm not going to do a book report on Anne Frank. I'm not going to try to minimalize what is possibly the most culturally significant book of the 20th century (and written by a child!) with lots of adjectives and descriptions. What I am going to do is make a list of other classic books that I've read at one point or another that I think I should probably read again. I got so much more out of this book the second time around. Who knows what else is out there to be gotten!

1. Wuthering Heights
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Beowulf
4. The Canterbury Tales
5. Dante's Inferno
6. Heart of Darkness
7. Great Expectations
8. To Kill a Mockingbird
9. Uncle Tom's Cabin

Any other thoughts??

xoxo

Purpose

"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better."
JK Rowling

My co-worker came into work today with a present for me. Any day that starts out with me getting presents is bound to be a good day, regardless of my lackadaisical wake-up process this morning. It's called Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. It's about transcending our ego-based state of consciousness to find personal happiness. I'm not really into self-help books, which is surprising when you consider my constant struggle to better myself. I don't think that's what it is, though...and it actually seems interesting. It's called a "spiritual manifesto." I like manifestos. I also like things that are spiritual (as long as they're not stiflingly religious.)

Also, one of my students just came in and was talking about when she lived in England. She apparently lived in a farmhouse on the vicarage, and had peacocks in her yard. She also happens to be very tall and willowy, and extremely pretty. I think if Jane Austen were around, she'd want to write a book about her. To be clear, I am not a huge Jane Austen fan. I am a moderate fan. Some of her books are SO boring and stupid. Others are rather entertaining.

That's all.

xoxo

Brain

Story

I believe we write our own stories. And each time we think we know the end--we don't. Perhaps luck exists somewhere between the world of planning, the world of chance, and the peace that comes from knowing that you just can't know it all. You know, life's funny that way. Once you let go of the wheel, you might end up right where you belong.