Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Running, Drinking, Tao, Pooh

How's that for a title?

Last night, I went out and did my pseduo-Galloway thing while I work on recovering. I dare not jinx it by saying too much, but I did get 2.5 miles in.

Don't forget, today is National Running Day!1



I plan to get out there, dodging the lightning bolts that are supposed to be coming down this afternoon. Should make for an interesting time.

As far as Alky Tuesday goes, yes, I'll be keeping this theme going.. It appears to be reasonably successful, and I'm planning to mix more things in than just beer. (Next week is the construction of a good mint julep, for instance.. I have the pictures ready, even. :) ). I know a couple of you wanted a beer Thursday as well.. I'm not opposed to it, and I'll try it for a bit.. not sure how long my waistline and my wallet will handle it, but I'm willing to give it a go.

So.. on to TFH's 'Literary Wednesday'. In order to have a quality post for you, I took the time and finished my last 15 pages before work. Yes, I'm willing to do that for all of you. (yeah, ok, so I'd be willing to do any semi-reasonable thing before work, just to delay that)

Today's entry is...
The Tao of Pooh.



Laugh if you want, but this is probably the closest I'll get to what TFH intended for LW. This book was not only great, it was one of those books that gets you thinking and does something for you.

I'll preface this by saying.. I don't know a lot about Winnie the Pooh. Sure, I know who he is, and can pick him out in a crowd. But, I've never read the stories. Similarly, I don't know a lot about Taoism. It is a philosophy which intrigues me, though (and always has).

The book is written to use the two themes (Taoism and Winnie the Pooh) to explain each other. Now, you might say, that's just silly, and it can't work. But, it soooo does work.

The book is funny, cute, and really deep. To really take away everything from this book, I'll need to read it again (and probably will at some point). The book uses various excerpts from Pooh stories to explain Taoist concepts, and various extracts of Taoist texts to talk about the characters in the 100 acre wood.

It's written as the author talking with Pooh about different concepts, and then jumps into story fragments to back up the point. Truly a fascinating read. It's a quick read, but I think you'd need to read it multiple times to get everything out of it.

Not having read other Pooh stories, I was laughing while reading it. 2

Alright.. that's all.. 3

Don't forget to get out there and do some running today, everyone.. keep on rockin'!



1 I didn't know it until I saw it on FB a week ago. I guess FB is good for something, after all. :)
2 That didn't work out so well while proctoring a test, but, well, that's their problem. :P
3 I see why G does these footnote things.. They're pretty nifty and fun

7 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

hmmm, maybe choose to run without the ipod today if you normally do in case of lightening... lol. footnotes... you too? :)

MCM Mama said...

It's been ages since I read that book. I may have to go back and revisit it.

Careful on your run tonight. Of course, as per usual in my life, I don't have time to run ON National Running Day, so I'll have my own personal running day tomorrow.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

I know a couple of you wanted a beer Thursday as well ...

If by "a couple of you" you mean me, it'd be cool with me if you just kept Alky Tuesday because maybe two daze of bloggy boozing is too much. I must've been buzzed on beer when I suggested that but then ... when am I not?

Credit where credit is due: I stole the idea of using footnotes in the idiosyncratic way I do from David Foster Wallace, whose non-fiction essays always cracked me up; and his footnotes were often the best parts. Plus, it's fun sometimes just to confuse your readers with multiple narratives even to the point where the footnotes become more substantive than the main text; or are so long that by the time the reader gets back to the main text, she's all ... "What was this about again?"

Perverse, I know, but it's how I do, yo.

Denise said...

Just throw beer into the Tuesday rotation...no need to drink yourself silly and go broke for us!

No Longer Using said...

OMG I LOVE FOOTNOTES! how do i get those?! happy nat'l running day to you too! :) and i need to read that book!

X-Country2 said...

Interesting book. I'm a sucker for cute cover art, and that certainly fits the bill.

Cindy said...

i've read that book--very cute approach to explaining the philosophy! and i did go and run today. yeah!