Anybody out there?

I don’t know if any of my fellow book club members ever read this, or if anyone has continued reading Three Cups of Tea, but I thought I’d post something anyway. I started reading the book at the beginning of the year, then I got overwhelmed with other books I was reading, so I pushed it aside. But I picked it up again, and I’m loving it. I’m trying to pace myself, because I want to put some thought into all of the things I’ve found interesting so far.

A couple of random thoughts from the beginning of the book:
- Chapter 1 – In reading the descriptions of mountain climbing, all the dangers involved in climbing K2, I wonder what motivates people to risk their lives to climb it. And how does one even train? It’s not like you can climb it (or anything remotely similar to it) for practice.
- Chapter 2, pg. 23 – I love that he got lost because he was marveling at the beauty around him. Getting lost might not be such a great thing, but it led him to a great place. And despite his weakness and pain, he was still enjoying the beautiful surroundings. I don’t think I could have done that.
- Chapter 2, pg. 24-25 – All of the hospitality shown to Greg when he entered Korphe was fascinating. Haji Ali greeted him, had him wash up, took him home, served tea, and fed him jerky before any questions are asked, and then comes the great question, “What the hell?”

Mostly what has been striking me about this book is Greg Mortenson’s passion. He came back to the U.S. and everything he did from there revolved around raising money so he could get back and build his school. I recently saw Donald Miller speak on his book tour, and, among the many great things he said, one point he made was that it’s okay to want things. We just need to want better things. Donald Miller wants to provide mentors for fatherless boys. Greg Mortenson wants to provide schools for Pakistani kids. As I read and am inspired by Mortenson’s passion, I am also struck by the fact that I don’t know what I want. Not that I have to have some grand idea about building schools halfway around the world. But right now, the only thing I seem to want is a full-time job – and that really isn’t a “better thing,” in my opinion. I want to want something that would be a driving force. (And I don’t mean something to idolize and put in front of God – I mean a God-given and God-inspired passion.) I don’t know what that will look like. But I’m open for possibilities.

Introducing Amy...

I was inspired by Kristin’s introduction to tell a little about myself as well, even though I do know all the current members of the club. Maybe in the future I won’t, or maybe I can at least share some things you might not know about me.

I have been living back in my hometown of Woodinville for almost a year now. I used to struggle on a daily basis with the fact that I’m back home, not because it’s been a bad experience but because I felt like I was behind in life or something – I don’t have a full-time job and I’m renting my old room from my parents. But I am fully confident that this is where I’m supposed to be in life right now, that it won’t be like this forever, and that I am so extremely blessed that I enjoy my job and I have a great opportunity to live with my family right now (and we even get along! Yay!). And I’ve gone through a turnaround to not pine for a different way of life, but to accept where I’m at and even to embrace it.

I’m following the format of Kristin’s bio here, so let’s see…I have two part-time jobs, one that runs from April through September (baseball season) and one that runs from late August through May (school year). Both involve sports media, so I’m in the area of my career interest and hoping to eventually work my way up. My bachelor’s degree is in both print and TV journalism, although I haven’t written a published news article in more than five years now. After I burn out on the media world, my hope is to go back to school and get a master’s (not sure what field) and a teaching certificate and teach high school journalism. That means the master’s will probably need to be in English so I would be qualified to supplement my teaching with English classes – and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

Interests: Books, baseball, baking, organizing (ran out of B words), copying others’ craft ideas, watching too much television, attempting to write clever things, hanging out with high school kids, embroidery, trying to make embroidery cool.

OK, I do have some thoughts on the book so far, so one of these days I’ll post them. Until then…

introducing myself

i think the perspective of the reader is just as important to the dialogue of reading as the words on the page. this being said, i want to briefly introduce myself to bring a bit of background to my future postings. to understand me is to understand how i read.

my name is kristin and i currently live in new orleans. i am a bit of a wanderer though. i moved around a lot when i was little and have done some more since growing up. states under my belt include oklahoma, florida, new york, colorado, tennessee, and louisiana. i'll probably be in new orleans for another year or so before moving on to grad school.

i work in the nonprofit world, coordinating short term recovery volunteers. i am passionate about the work nonprofits do in communities, especially here in new orleans. i am also passionate about education and literature. i graduated from college with a degree in english and a certification in secondary education.

my interests include: reading, coffee and tea, cooking, long conversations, writing, and exploring whatever city i happen to be in.

i know that is a super brief introduction, but might be relevant when i post. i would be very interested to hear brief bios about everyone else as well. perhaps only i will benefit from it, but if it is a selfish request, so be it.

looking forward to hearing people's thoughts about this book. i'm not far into it, but already inspired.

Ending the year with a new book...

I'm off to a conference for the weekend, and I'm bring Three Cups of Tea with me, so I guess this is just me officially saying that I'm starting the book! I intended to do it earlier but just never did.

Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

Let's try that again...

That's right, it's 10:30 Saturday night and I am...blogging! Yay! My latest life mission is to not think about things for quite as long and to actually do them instead. I'm not entirely successful, but I've been making progress. So when I suddenly had the thought just now that I should make an entry on the blog, well, that's what I decided to do.

So first things first, I am proposing two new "rules" to the ABC. 1) The discussion on any book remains open indefinitely. If you think of something to add about a book that was read months and months ago, then blog about it! 2) Any member of the book club can invite a trusted friend to join in.

Let me know what you think of these proposed rules.

Second things second, Jess and I have been discussing getting things going again with a new book. She has been interested in reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, and my mom read it (before it was on everybody's "must-read" lists) and recommends it. So I think that's what we are going to go with. I'm going to go find my mom's copy, and in the next couple of days, I'll get started with it. Excited for a new discussion!

Off to find the book and invite a dear friend to join us...

Page 156 and 180

Just one quick thing... I'm so jealous of her certainty! I mean, her previous marital experience is definitely one to influence her decision, but come one, she doesn't even hesitate... i want that!

Edit: I just read this, "She made it sound so simple that he found himself convinced that it would work. That was the wonderful thing about confidence - it was infectious." So maybe i need to surround myself with some confident people!

Simplicity

I remember that my dad would talk about visiting relatives in the south during the summer when he was little and he always mentioned how slow everything was. People talked slowly, they walked slowly, they really took their time because that was the culture AND it was a 1000 degrees. It's been pretty warm here lately and I keep remembering those stories, trying to force myself to slow down. It's actually been a nice thing to look forward to since Seth is in Colorado. Instead of dreading alone time i'm trying to savor it but doing fun things and taking my time to slow down and appreciate each thing that I'm doing. I have also noticed this theme while reading this book. I feel that there is a certain use of language that portrays this slow pace in their lives, the intentionality in everything they say and do. With so many other mystery novels i feel this sense of urgency to keep reading. The plot twists and rapid thoughts of the characters create this rushed feeling as though you are there in the moment with them. I can't wait to turn the page and find out what happens so much that I often find myself skimming passages to get to the point. I love that, but this is a whole new experience for me. While i find myself wanting to know what's going to happen and I definitely keep turning the page wanted to read more, I'm really reading every word and I have been forcing myself to slow my pace to go along with the book. In fact I try not to read too much at once so that i have a chance to let it soak in. As I do this I realize how much I love reading, becoming a part of the story. So there it is... the theme that i keep coming back to. I hope you have a moment to stop, breathe and take it slow.