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Jay

Jay

"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."
- Logan Pearsall Smith

Avid reader. For as long as I can remember.
The genres have changed over the times. Nowadays it is more non-fiction - economics, business. Also, nowadays finding that I spend way too much time on my google reader feeds than on any... more »
  • Davenport, IA
  • member since August 16 2007

Public Notes

 
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Displaying 1-20 of 33 notes
  • Cigarette Widow

    Cigarette Widow says

    Thank you!

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Natalya

    Natalya says

    Wow, great quotes! Being an aspiring journalist, I especially love "the cost of the lack of curiosity", and "women and their bitchy male biographers" is also great. Ah and "stephen fries it" makes me crack up...and "ozzie's ray of light"..wow. Random question, but have you seen "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"? That quote reminded me of it..great movie, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I stared at the "shinseki" quote for a while, knowing I'd heard/read it somewhere..I like the diversity of the sources of these quotes! The Palin quote..right on. That woman..scares me. Oh, ok last one, "No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself" is an absolute favorite of mine, I love to see it on another person's list!

    posted 10 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Natalya

    Natalya says

    Thanks! I like yours too. I really need to invest in a "commonplace book" to record all the quotes I find, I can never just pick a few of my favorites, hence the massive lists on my page/discussions...

    posted 10 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Frabjous Day

    Frabjous Day says

    Yes, but you're my countryman, and I've never held out much hope for my countrymen's souls...
    (Have you?)
    Why, thank you!

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Jim

    Jim says

    jay. highly reccomend Crowds and Power. I read it years ago and remember the facinating truths of human behavior.

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    Ha ha, I like that story! Yes, there is quite a lot of English bashing amongst Scottish people, and it goes in the opposite direction, too. Most of it's taken in good part, though.

    My experience of the US so far is mixed. I agree with you that yes, they aren't shy about discussing "delicate" issues but from what I've seen, no one really wants to actually do anything about these things. For example, whenever I watch the local Pittsburgh news, there is quite often stories about people being shot dead and such like, and because these incidents occur in poor, predominantly African American areas nobody really cares that these people are dying for no reason and so no attempt is made to stop these things happening. I could be wrong, but from what I know in the UK (in certain areas at least) there is more of an attempt at integration and people have at least some appreciation of different religions and cultures.

    I just can't understand why people think America is the pinnacle of culture and enlightenment. My neighbour is from Kazakhstan (where Borat is from, if you've seen that movie) and she says she is treated like a movie star when she goes back to visit, just coz she lives in the US!! Bu I do agree with you that globalisation isn't all bad and bringing technology to more people is definitely a good thing. And it is naive and idealistic to think that cultures and traditions will remain unaffected by modern advances, I suppose things are constantly shifting and evolving whether we like it or not.

    OK, I think I let my fingers go on for too long also! :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    In my last post I meant to say I didn't know there was such a thing as the braveheart experience, not bagpipes, as it reads. Apologies, it's late!

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    So you like the sound of the bagpipes, then?!? That's, funny, I didn't even know there was such a thing. What did they do, take up the Wallace monument and then showed you some bit of grass that was the site of some ancient battle? (Sorry, I don't mean to be sarcastic).

    I really like your blog - you are really articulate. There is no way I would be able to put down all the mess of thoughts that are in my head so well. The best I can do is a facebook and a bebo page that just has a few random details about myself.

    I particularly liked your story about Jack the taxi driver, it reminded me of when I was walking round the area where I live in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago and saw an old white man wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Obama and Hillary on it. After a closer inspection I noticed a slogan beneath the pic that read "Bros Not Hoes". I just stared at him in disbelief (I was too shocked to say anything to him, actually I still am), but he was oblivious to me and everything else around him....

    Obviously you know way more about economics than I do - all I know is that it really pisses me off when every city or large town I visit has a McDonalds or a Starbucks on every corner. And the fact that areas of the major Indian cities could be mistaken for NYC just makes me really depressed. Not that I have anything against Manhattan, but if I went to India I would want to see India, not some American clone (OK, rant over, sorry!)

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    I loved The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy made Kerala sound so beautiful, in contrast with the story. I would love to visit India, so far I've only seen Western civilisations, which definitely get a bit repetitive after a while thanks to globalisation. I'm from Scotland originally and have only been in Pittsburgh for just over a year. In the city they have done their best to sweep aside its industrial past (they built a shopping mall on top of the site of the former major steel plant in the city - typical for Americans I suppose!) so I think you'd have to go beyond the city itself to see any evidence of its former glory. I did see pictures of downtown Pitt taken in the early 1900s where it was pitch black first thing in the morning due to all the smog, so its probably no wonder they want to forget.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    No, the brain is a far too complicated organ for my mind to get around - so far I have only stuck to the nervous system in the periphery, much more simple!! Sorry, don't mean to boe.

    I have never come across Phantoms in the Brain before, sounds like a really interesting read.

    Where in India are you from (if you don't mind to me being nosey)?
    I used to be friends with a really lovely girl from Bangalore, whom I met in Queensland, Australia, but I sadly lost contact with her.

    Thanks for being my friend! :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    Hey, I thought I'd report back. I just finished Zen and the Art... and felt really inspired by it. I'm a scientist by trade (neurophysiologist to be more precise) and I found all the bits about the limitations of science, or more specifically how we're all causing chaos rather than finding answers, really interesting. It definitely has made me think a lot more deeply about what I'm doing.

    Would you recommend Lila also? I was going to read Think on These Things by Krishnamurti next, have you read this?

    Apologies for the multitude of questions....

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    Cool, thanks for the info. I've just picked up a copy of Zen and the Art...., and I'll look into Krishnamurthy & Osho once I get back home. Your help is much appreciated.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Katrina R

    Katrina R says

    Hi, I thought I'd stop by and say hello. A bit random, I know but I'm looking to read more non-fiction particularly eastern philosophy/meditation (after reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse), which is how I stumbled by your shelf. Anything in particular you'd recommend?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • AthenasDaughter

    AthenasDaughter says

    Wow - you enjoy T Jefferson as well?? You're the first one who's ever expressed that! What do you like about him? What sort of book would interest you (policies, personal history, etc). :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Rain

    Rain says

    Thanks for the note. To be honest? i read " the road less travelled" in 1999. It was an assignment in one of my subjects.... I just remember that its about psychology of love, traditional values and Spiritual growth

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Rain

    Rain says

    i havent encountered any of your faborite books but you are welcome to discuss them with me.... will you??? thanks.....

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Anuradha C

    Anuradha C says

    Hey , thanks, my blog has some other posts other than travel:)
    The book is on my reading list, haven't yet found the time to get to it . Like you a bit of reading happens via google reader.
    You seem to be an avid reader as well..
    Cheers

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • rob

    rob says

    wellll...the thing w/ Eco is that he never writes the same way twice, every one of his books is different from every other...The Name of the Rose is nothing like Foucault's Pendulum, and FP is nothing like The Island of the Day Before, which is nothing like Baudolino...his most popular and easily accessible is The Name of the Rose, which is an historical-fiction mystery, everyone loves that one, myself, I hated it, lol...my fave of his though is Island of the Day Before, it's a beautifully fable, his funniest is Baudolino, which is a satire, and his trickiest is Foucault's Pendulum, so you're mostly picking what you're in the mood for...if you go w/ FP though, one thing to keep in mind, the thing that makes people hate it cause it doesnt seem to make sense, is that, Eco, who can be a very diabolical writer, is making fun of everything he's writing about, and he's also making fun of you, the reader...you have to remember that he was laughing his ass off while he wrote it, then it's easier to 'get'...

    (grins) hope that helps a bit...

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Sneha

    Sneha says

    still stuck with old man and the sea??

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • martinanewberry

    martinanewberry says

    What a lovely thing to say! Thank you so much.

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
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Displaying 1-20 of 33 notes


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