My Summer Reading

The sun is out, it's bright and the temperature is perfect. . . and yet I'm becoming disappointed. This is the first time it has felt really summer-like since this round of time-off began. The people I want to see this weekend are all out of town; given the lovely weather and dwindling days left of this summer, they would be crazy not to 'seize the day'. My time alone was spent just touring the neighbourhood on my bike, snooping around some of the yard and garage sales of this beginning of the end of the season for them. I'm using the remainder of today resting up from yesterday's excursion (and for tomorrow), and sticking my nose in a few magazines and books. Playing around with more puzzles and mathematics is making me veer towards subjects in science and tech. The material I'm reading is making me ache for having my own workshop or garage to use here.

Some of my light summer reading.

The lack of tranquility around the neighbourhood has been affecting me also. Today is the first day since my holidays began earlier this week that I've felt at ease and liberated, and with a clear enough mind to engage, challenge myself, and get immersed in some really cool projects - and now there is only today and tomorrow left of this stint of freedom. Another part of the disappointment comes from realizing that there is hardly enough time to completely follow through with any of the bigger plans and ideas I want to see manifested. I could try and rush to complete them, but all that does is add extra pressure, and defeats the purpose of setting the stage to focus on something intently to get into the zone of doing some really beneficial learning. When it comes to recreation, no one should have to feel rushed for anything. I really have to make it a point to take an entire month off for the next go around to accommodate for this.

The books I've been mentally chewing through with interest are:

Bicycle Diaries, by David Byrne - It's a bit surprising to learn that the former front man of the very successful 80's rock group, The Talking Heads, used, and continues to use a bicycle as his primary means of urban transportation, even in a city that's relatively hostile to cyclists like New York, where he currently resides. He shares some wonderful accounts and perspectives of the histories and cultural vibe he has experienced while cycling through various cities on this globe like Berlin, London, San Francisco, Istanbul, et al.

Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts - It's a book that lies between motivational reading, and practical survival guide for exploring the world abroad. It's a book for opening your mind to possibilities while on the road. It was interesting to peruse the biography, and to note that his beginnings were just as humble as mine were, and he turned his traveling experiences into his trade. It's a full of pointers about how to reach financial goals to allow yourself this freedom. It's not so delusional as to suggest how to escape work, but emphasizes having the kind of work that's meaningful to allow you to do this, and using to tie up lose ends. I currently have this book as a loan from the library, but I believe it's one that I'll end up buying.

Radical Abundance, by K. Eric Drexler - Don't let the title fool you. It's not one of those tomes about the Law of Attraction, Secret of the Universe, or other such airy-fairy material. The book is about the science and upcoming revolution of nanotechnology, and how it would radically change the world. I read Drexler's book, Engines of Creation, back in the early 90's, and noted his theories about what could be possible when we begin designing and building things from the atom and moving upward. Reading this book serves as a follow up to learn about what is actually happening in the field of nanotechnological R & D. The manipulation and fabrication of things on the atomic level, is akin to the development of the creative use and manipulation of bits and bytes in the digital information age, except there would be even more radical advancements if/when these ideas come into fruition. Be forewarned, it would help to brush up on some basic chemistry before you read this one.