Jim and I were best friends and mates for 27 years. He was taken from me by an airplane accident. One morning he was there and by the afternoon he was gone.
So I succumb....
I have been reading Ben Franklin's autobiographical collection. At the start he states that he derives pleasure from "any little anecdotes of my ancestors." He can imagine that his posterity shares his curiosity, so he succumbs to the inducement of his vanity and decides write his story. He goes on to say that in telling his story, he realizes that a recollection of that life is almost like living it over again, and that putting it down in writing makes it as durable as possible (his words). I have been fascinated by Ben's story--all the nitty gritty details about what he ate and didn't eat, the gossip about his friends and enemies, the chain of events that influenced his principles, his thoughts, his passions, his disappointments and heartbreaks. I know this is a blog, not an ode to vanity, but where else could I tell my own story?
The urge to tell one's personal story is one of the strongest of human drives--rivaling survival, perhaps. (What good is surviving if there's no story?) So, I suppose, I too am driven to tell my story; much as I abhor the notion of joining a crowd (and bloggers are truly a crowd), the draw of the blog is irresistible. A little tidbit, a morsel at a time, indelibly recorded--immortality via blog?
The urge to tell one's personal story is one of the strongest of human drives--rivaling survival, perhaps. (What good is surviving if there's no story?) So, I suppose, I too am driven to tell my story; much as I abhor the notion of joining a crowd (and bloggers are truly a crowd), the draw of the blog is irresistible. A little tidbit, a morsel at a time, indelibly recorded--immortality via blog?
Reading Favorites
- Steven Ambrose: Band of Brothers
- Gary Zukav: Dancing Wu Li Masters
- Dan Simmons: Hyperion
- James Michener: The Source
- Robert Heinlein
- Issac Asimov
- Joe Simpson: Touching the Void
- Stephen King: The Eyes of the Dragon
- Robert L. Scott: God is My Copilot
- Beryl Markham: West With the Night
- Tony Hillerman (mostly)
- Ben K. Green
- Robert Service
- Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Patrick McMannus
- Richard Proennke: Alone in the Wilderness
- Douglas Whynott: Following the Bloom
- Chris Czajkowski: Diary of a Wilderness Dweller
- Steven Strogatzaz: Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaeous Order
- Steven Johnson: Mind Wide Open
- T.E. Lawrence: Seven Pillars of Wisdom
- Cormack McCarthy: All The Pretty Horses
- Osa Johnson: I Married Adventure
Today's Favorite Songs
- In My Secret Life (Leonard Cohen)
- Spanish Moss (Gordon Lightfoot)
- Danny Boy (Celtic Woman)
- Going Home (Soundtrack: Amistad)
- Hard Part (David Wilcox)
- Almost Lover (A Fine Frenzy)
- One More Cup of Coffee (Cheap Wine)
- Angel (Sarah McLaughlin)
- The Story (Brandi Carlile)
- Blue Caravan (Vienna Teng)
- Yesterday When I Was Young (Roy Clark)
- Bring It On! (Slaid Cleaves)
- Flies on the Butter (Wynona Judd)
- Whispering Jessie (John Denver)
- Song For a Winter's Night (Sara McLachlan)
- Far Away (Larry Paxton)
- Bright Eyes (Remy Zero)
- Bend Down the Branches (Tom Waits)
- Autumn On the Trail (Riders in the Sky)
- Prairie Wind (Neil Young)
- Forever Autumn (Moody Blues)
- Mummer's Dance (Loreena McKennit)
- Ripple (Grateful Dead)
- All The Pretty Horses (Friends of Dean Martinez)
- If I Could Be Where You Are (Enya)
- Shiver of Lonesome (Danni Leigh)
- Like a Rock (Bob Seager)
- Soft Place to Fall (Allison Moorer
- Ghost (Alison Krause)
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