@MT - yes, I've certainly been slacking in the reading category. The pile of "currently reading" books on my nightstand is getting bigger, without much getting finished. And I know that if I'm only reading in bed before I go to sleep, I'm not going to get through much. This is where I'm at since my last update.
- Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces (finished a couple weeks ago)
- Slavin, One Million in the Bank (also finished a couple weeks ago)
- Graham, The Intelligent Investor (sort of finished)
- Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow (still reading)
- Genesis (currently reading)
- The Swamp Fox, John Oller (currently reading)
I thoroughly enjoyed A Confederacy of Dunces--the use of language and of the absurd is wonderful. But, as Alphaville commented previously here, once you get through the quotable language and funny turns of phrases, and the absurdity, this is one of the most depressing books I've ever read. I mean, you just know things aren't going to work out for Ignatius ultimately, especially given how autobiographical the story must be and what happened with the author. Toole does a fantastic job writing Ignatius as being a true prophet for the modern era, and/or completely insane (or, as Catholics like to say, "both/and"); someone who is just banging his head against all the absolute madness that surrounds him, and who absolutely refuses to grin and bear it--refuses to put on a mask and fake it. Rather, Ignatius calls out the absurdity, again and again and again, without really caring about the repercussions.
The Slavin book was about 223 pages too long; I'm not one for anecdotes in books like these.
I did a Blinklist binge on a free trial a few weeks ago, prompted (I think) by Alphaville. It's a neat service, and I probably listened to the summaries of more than 10 books over the course of my free trial, including Graham's Intelligent Investor. That said, almost nothing from any of what I listened to has stuck with me. So I didn't continue the subscription (also, I'm currently enjoying living a completely subscription free lifestyle at the moment). If I ever go the route of trying my hand at active investing, I'll probably start by reading Graham's book for real, and move on from there. But I'm not at that point yet.
I'm about 100 pages into Jayber Crow, and I've really enjoyed it so far--but for whatever reason, the book has yet to suck me in to the point that I can't wait to pick it up to read more. I think it's the setting; I'm so far removed at this point from living in a sort of community that Jayber Crow takes place in and (I think) idolizes or at least glorifies, and yet I long for it so much, that the setting is actually serving as a bit of an obstacle.
As for Genesis, I've recently started being a lector for Mass at my parish church, and the deeper reading of the weekly Bible passages that lectors are expected to do in preparation for reading at Mass has prompted me to read through the entirety of the Bible again. My plan at this point is to go mostly in order, but alternating Old Testament and New Testament books. So, I'm currently reading Genesis, and then I'll read Matthew, then back to Exodus, and so on.
Finally, for The Swamp Fox, one of the ERE skills I'd like to tackle some day is to try my hand at writing more niche/local-focused histories or biographies, perhaps using it as a way to learn more about my family history and the places and people and institutions that have shaped who I am along the way. So, instead of writing a biography of a national figure like Alexander Hamilton, etc., write instead a history of my little city, or my parish, or of a more local figure or a figure who isn't necessarily local but who is more of a more niche type guy, like the founder of the Knights of Columbus. E.g., I've got a federal judge in my lineage, and it would be interesting to perhaps learn more about him and his family and time by writing a non-fiction book focused on one of the more famous trials he presided at. Anyway, I purchased The Swamp Fox a few months ago because according to family legend (confirmed by far reaches of the Internet), my great-great-great-great grandfather fought under Francis Marion in the Revolutionary War, and I'd wanted to learn a little more about Marion. I finally got around to reading the book, but now I'm kinda fascinated with the book's author, John Oller, who made the transition from BigLaw lawyer to full-time historian/biographer (
http://www.johnollernyc.com/author).
So I'm thinking after reading the Swamp Fox I might want to read the rest of Oller's books and then reach out to him directly to ask about his experience with transitioning out of law and about his research and writing process. I was a history major in college, and I suspect that writing non-fiction is likely the thing that most appeals to me as an ERE or semi-ERE productive endeavor.
Honestly (and this is turning into a much longer post than I'd planned), as I've read more and more of the journals on this forum, I'm starting to realize (slowly) that part of the ERE thing is just figuring out where your personal interests are, and ALSO what your basic skillset is ALREADY (because, if you're in your 30s, 40s, 50s, there's a good chance that interests and skillset are going to be somewhat in alignment already)--and then building from there. For me, the two interests/skillsets that have been pretty constant throughout my adult life are (1) research and writing, and (2) teaching. I
enjoy working with my hands outside of the office, from time to time, but I don't like problem solving in that realm. E.g., using ffj as an example, I like seeing his progress in homebrewing, gardening, mushrooms, and construction. And I also have enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) doing my own homebrewing and gardening (and, maybe, some DIY projects around the house). BUT, I like to do those things as a sort of manual laborer. I like to create things following someone else's recipe/instructions. I'd enjoy working for my friend's furniture shop, but only if he's telling me here are the tasks you need to do, and the order in which to do them. I don't have that kind of creativity that makes me want to, e.g., figure out how using this kind of grain or malt or yeast might change the nature of the resulting beer. Or, when it comes to DIY at home, I want to watch a YouTube video that shows me how to tackle my EXACT problem; I don't want to watch 20 videos (or read 20 articles) that tackle similar problems, that I then get to creatively apply to my own particular problem. Also, things like bike maintenance and home repair are, at bottom, chores for me; I don't mind doing them, but I don't get excited about fixing a door that's out of level, etc.--I appreciate the feeling of accomplishment that follows from tackling that project, but it's a chore nonetheless, similar to doing the laundry or cleaning the house. (Contrast that with cooking, which I do get excited about.) ETA: But, I also like to follow recipes for cooking; I don't like experimenting--unlike DW, who is very creative and adventurous in the kitchen.
BUT, that's not true for research/writing (and also for teaching, in small bits). I HATE (and aggressively push back on) following step-by-step instructions when it comes to those endeavors; in fact, the folks I've worked with through the years have learned that I need to be given a good bit of free reign to tackle the problems I'm given by clients; and I'm prone to view almost any level of criticism as micro-management. Not saying that's healthy, it's just that I think I have that artist-type of creativity when it comes to research and writing (and also teaching).
Anyway, still processing this, and I know this is a lot of stream-of-thought, self-therapy jibberish; but I think where I'm coming out on this is that the "stuff" I feel called to create and do may be stuff that is pretty similar to what I'm already creating/doing in my career; just with me having more say in what that stuff is--i.e., instead of spending all of my creative time and energy managing the problems of my clients through research and writing, I should spend some of that time doing research and writing on topics that I select and that are more directly interesting to me. But the process of the doing/creating is pretty similar to what I already do 5 days a week.
As an aside, sort of, my father is a fiction writer--by which I mean that towards the tail end of his working (non-writing) career and ever since he's retired, he's written probably in excess of 50 fiction novels, of various genres. He's had some back and forth with editors, agents, and publishers through the years, but none of his books have been published, so far. I know he'd like to get at least one published, but I also know it doesn't really matter to him. I don't see him getting so disappointed with rejection that he stops writing. He loves writing, and he loves participating in his various writing groups, and having family members read and critique his writing.
I could do that; but I'm not inclined to fiction writing, and that's not where my particular skills lie. Writing non-fiction would not be with a goal of getting published or making any sort of living. Making a success of writing would be, as an example, self-publishing a run of 100 or so books about the local history of my parish, and then selling them for $2/each at our parish shop, next to the prayer cards, rosary beads, and first communion veils.
