Book Poll #2

It's that time again. I've finished Neverwhere and Ender's Game. It's time to pick my next book to read. Remember, post your choice in a comment and to include any recommendations for next time's list. I can always try to find recommendations at Little Professor or the library. And if a recommendation gets enough votes, I might read that instead. So please vote this time!

Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
Eyeless in Gaza - Aldous Huxley
The Plague - Albert Camus
The Fall - Albert Camus
Ape and Essence - Aldous Huxley
A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Changing Planes - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Telling - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C. S. Lewis
Harry Potter, Book 2-7 - J. K. Rowling

Poetic Piece of Mind

This is a poetic AIM chat that Hope and I had. I started with two lines. Then Hope responded with two lines. It follows a statement-response formula. I've really been inspired lately. Hope deserves partial credit for it. Enjoy our poetic collaboration!

Dead

Let me breathe life into you
To wake you from your eternal slumber

I only wish to live again.
Rejoice in a rebirth.

What dreams will come but few.
You will stay forever somber.

Unite my body with my soul.
Return again to earth.

My soul yearns for yours.
Hear its booming beckoning call.

We shall be joined again my love.
I gain life from your breath.

No more does matter the hours.
Into your arms constantly I fall.

Forever we shall always be
Together, free of death.

Readers, Readers Everywhere

People just keep coming out of the woodwork telling me they read my blog. That makes me very happy because I had thought this blog would go nowhere when I started it. Now, over seven months later, it's going strong. I can't wait for the one year anniversary. I have less than five months to think about what I'm going to do for it. Just letting everybody know how much I appreciate their readership!

Neverwhere

I'm deep into Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and boy is it good. It's a wonderful fantasy tale that has a similar love story to the movie Stardust, which is based of the Gaiman book of the same name. A new post on The Book Shelf should be up soon. After that, I will begin reading Ender's Game and will make note of the supposed similarities between it and Harry Potter that Orson Scott Card so fervidly claims.

Inspiration...

I felt like writing. Two poems came out. These are those poems.

Deaf

I'm listening for you
As I'm screaming in my room.
I'm stuck in a place
I can't leave.

Can you hear me?
I can't hear you.
I'm lost...
Help me find you.


Blind

I can't see you
When my eyes are open.
I can't see you
When they're closed.

So how am I to know
You're there,
If all I see
Is air?

Smiles and Social Experiments

Today I was walking down Morton hill to my room, and as usual I like to look around at my fellow walkers. Today was a little different though. I was feeling very good, and was therefore smiling. When my eyes connected with this one girl's, she smiled back. That made me feel wonderful. I had recently posted a Facebook status saying how I wanted to spread my smile because the other walkers looked so grumpy. Today it happened, and it stayed with me for the rest of the day. I began to think about other things I could do to make people smile. I thought about saying hello to everyone I pass by tomorrow. I also thought about singing songs from the Sound of Music. So tomorrow I am going to say hello to everyone I come across. On a side note, I have decided to start Neverwhere this weekend, and then, upon finishing, read Ender's Game. Stay tuned for more glimpses into the strange yet awesome world my mind came from!

What to Read Next?

Here is a list of titles and authors. Pick the one you think I should read and post it in a comment. If you have a recommendation, post that in addition to the one you chose.

Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
Eyeless in Gaza - Aldous Huxley
The Plague - Albert Camus
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
The Fall - Albert Camus
Ape and Essence - Aldous Huxley
A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Changing Planes - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Telling - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C. S. Lewis
Harry Potter, Book 2-7 - J. K. Rowling

Have fun!

The Book Shelf

After several thoughts about blogs, and several half-hearted blogs, I deleted The Modern Eclectic and The Course of Communication (my blog for J101) and created The Book Shelf. The Book Shelf will be just that. The pages (posts) will be about literature I am in the process of reading. There will be two lists on the side, along with the archive. One is called Books on the Shelf. This is for books I liked. The other one is called Books in the Bin, which is easy to guess what that's for. The address is thebook-shelf.blogspot.com. I wanted thebookshelf.blogspot.com but some idiot named Jennifer has it. The worst part is there is nothing on her blog, and she's been a member since 2001. She's obviously inactive, and unfortuantely I have no way to contact her in order to get the domain name. Oh well.

Winter Quarter

I'm off to a good start this quarter. I'm taking 20 credit hours this quarter, so it's going to be interesting. I don't have any journalism classes (sad face), but I do have two VisCom courses which should be fun. My friend Kristen is in my Philosophy 120 class, but so is Frank. I thought I might never see Frank again. I thought wrong. My awesome grammer partner is in my Econ 103 class. Hurray! I'm glad I was wrong that I might not see Matt again. I have some familiar faces in my Japanese class, but not my cool ecletic friend Taylor. But I do have fellow Postie, Jessica-san. Speaking of Posties, I ate breakfast this morning with the illustrious Ryan Dunn and City Staff Editor, Brigitta Burks. The weird thing is that we ate breakfast together at the end of fall quarter. I'm really excited for this quarter, so stay tuned for the 2009 edition of the life of John Nero!