Zen Career Guide

"People who view the current game as placing human survival in jeopardy are attempting to rewrite the game rules. They see the current consumption and hoarding model as a dead end, leading to the end of all play on earth. Increased population and the fact that more and more people from traditional cultures are playing this game every year put tremendous pressure on the earth's life support system(221)."

The figurative language in this book is a bit overcoming, but that is to be expected because the title of the book is Zen and the Art of Making a Living. The entire 573 page books is all about how to make a career off of being a creative human being. Essentially the book contains tricks to creating a calm successful career in various areas of art. And since I would like to become a photographer this book is coming in pretty handy. A lot of people assume that majoring in art or attending an art college or university contains aspects of egotism, but after sifting through this book, which seems to resemble an encyclopedia, egotism isn't the first thing that comes to mind when considering art. This book talks about how people view the working world. How the average Joe would think purely about money, but in actuality (according to the Zen guide) money is the last thing people should think about when considering a job. As the good Zen book says, money will follow joy must come first. Most people try to "rewrite the game rules" but if we just follow them and pay our dues, giving and taking when necessary people will put less pressure on the worlds support system. Instead of earning as much as we can as fast as we can people should focus of joy and center towards happiness. By doing this not only will everyone be happy but the world will fall into a more balanced equilibrium.

Recap of Atonement

I've just recently finished reading Atonement and cannot get over how much I love it. Yes, it does fall under the classic love novel category but it's so much more then a love story. The whole while I was reading it I couldn't help but feel the deep regret and remorse Briony felt her entire latter half life. The fact that her sisters life and the one man she ever truly loved was ruined because of her overpowers the reader and captivates them into a series of emotions. The ability Ian McEwen, the author, has to characterize each character in the story, the reader feels as if they are more than characters, but living breathing people. Even from the first sentence, "The play for which Briony had designed the posters, programs and tickets, constructed sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collected box in red crepe paper(1)..." Without even allowing Briony lines the audience can already tell what kind of people she is going to be. An overly tedious child who must have great talent because, at only age 11, she has written a play, made the tickets posters, and even a sales booth. It's novels like Atonement that really inspire me to try to write, or even try my hardest at anything. The fact that one person's mind has the ability to create not only a story but the characters inside of it with ridiculous believability just amazes me, and makes me hope that some day I could put this much effort into whatever career I have when I'm older.

Three Cups of Tea

"I was born between trying quickly to learn how to pray like a Shia and making the most of my opportunity to study the ancient Buddhist woodcarvings on the walls," Mortenson says. If the Balti respected Buddhism swastikas and wheels of life, Mortenson decided, as his eye lingered on the carvings, they were probably tolerant enough to endure an infidel praying as a tailor had taught him(142)."


This book, Three Cups of Tea, by co-authors (I think...) Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, is essentially about a man, Mortenson, who sort of accidentally came across an unlucky and unfortunate Pakistan village in Karaokam mountains. Mortenson tried to climb Mt. Everest but failed and after staying in this village is compelled to help out the inhabitants. Mortenson tells the villiagers that he will return someday and do whatever he can to help, and in his case he helps by building a school. Starting with just one and than moving onward to build up to fifty-five schools. A majority of the schools are for women, which amazingly touches the readers. The conditions for women in Pakistan along with other middle eastern countries are utterly horrible. Although they are slowly growing better the way that women are treated is both shocking and horribly depressing. This book reminds me of a little of the Kite Runner, but has tremendous resemblance with A Thousand Splendid Suns. Having already read both of those books I consider myself at least slightly educated about the conditions of life over seas, and too read another book about the trials these people deal with it really makes me think about what I have and how lucky I really am. I mean, I can leave my house alone and return whenever I want, I have independence that other women in other countries just don't have and it really makes me sad to think that.

Mr. Dust

"Five...Four... For a full second his mind is frozen. Three... And it's then that Giovanni lets out a squeal of laughter, kicks himself upright, and throws himself toward the crowd. Two... Ann reaches out to catch him, presses him back into Cosmo's chest, and the two of them watch as the baby raises his hand in a gesture of benediction, forefinger to thumb, blessing the carnival before him-the grimacing faces, the misshapen, the empy, the parodic, the profane, as if he can see through it all to the sacrd life beneath. One... Behind him there reads a field of blue enamel, golden stars (270)."

This book is called The Madonna of Las Vegas and is written by the author Gregory Blake Smith. The book is a story about a mans life and his realization of his shortcomings as the new millennium approaches. The main character Cosmo Dust (yes that's his name) hates that the ages are changing and catches himself lost in the casino life, especially one that is trying to recreate the Sistine Chapel in their ceiling. Cosmo is a painter, and he is good. But recreating a world renown timeless classic? A work of art that is so amazing people travel from all over the world to just crank their necks and absorb the aged talents of Michelangelo? Oh dear. Cosmo is about to quit his job and just move into something that actually means something to him, rather than art that is a copy. But unfortunately he becomes a suspect for a murder. Cosmo goes on somewhat of an adventure mixing ties with the local Vegas mod scene and all hell seems to break loose. All in all Cosmo makes is to the countdown and eludes himself from a very messy crime investigation. I really enjoyed reading this book and I really enjoys the ending, which is the passage I choose. Whilst reading the book the reader sort of feels like everything is a fast pasted rat race, if you will. But the end ties to an calm realizational moment. It's the beginning of a new year, filled with new year resolutions and promises of a better year. Cosmo Dust starts a new year, a new adventure while also saying goodbye to the last.