Un poco ayuda
On Wednesday we are flying off to Spain for a visit to see my Mom. Then we are planning to spend three days in London with friends. We are so excited to get to see all the Cathedrals, eat great food, and be disconnected from our life for a while. I am planning on blogging about our trip, and since it's my first time going to Europe I am ready to be wowed!
But as many of you probably know I am not the best flyer in the world. It's sad but true that when I am in a plane I feel like we are moments away from ending up in a situation like this. I usually overload myself with stimuli so as to keep distracted. This involves numerous magazines, playlists, and other such distractions. We are flying on British Airways and I heard those plans are really cool so that will be fun.
Where you guys can help me is by suggesting anyone of the following resources for me to "engage in" over my vacation / family visiting trip. Here are my three requests:
Music:
I have some iTunes money so I am hoping for a suggestion of a good album for me to download and listen to over and over again. I am hoping that upon repeated hearings the lyrics, music, or style will become more and more enjoyable to me. Here are some samples of artists that this was the case for me so as to give you a sense of my tastes.
- The Shins
- Bright Eyes
- MuteMath
- Ray LaMontagne
- Sufjan Stevens
- Carrie Underwood
- Alison Krauss and Union Station
- John Mayer
- Chris Tomlin
My attention span favors magizines more than it favors books. The last non-fiction book I read was probably a Clancy or Grisham novel, nothing impressive I know. I did read "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman and I loved that book. Can anyone give me a suggestion of a book to purchase and take with me that perhaps you really enjoyed and you have been waiting to recommend it to someone who will have the time to read it?
Spiritual Resource:
This could be a book, podcast, movie, music, anything that might have a good spiritual component to it that you would recommend me spending some time with. Nothing shlocky please.
Here's the catch. I need this by Tuesday! Sorry for the late notice, any suggestion will help and I will post my reflection on each of the three things that I choose.
5 comments:
Hi! I stumbled upon your blog accidentally, but enjoyed your postings and thought I'd suggest a few really good books that I've encountered recently..
Bill Bryson's Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.. it's a memoir, but his writing style is very engaging.. it reads more like fiction, lots of storytelling but with some witty historical and pop-culture references.. I wasn't sure I was going to like it but once I started reading I couldn't put it down!!
Why We Love by Helen Fisher.. I just finished this book today.. it's non-fiction as well but very engaging and relevant.. since you are in a loving relationship it may interest you.. it talks about love from a social, cultural, and scientific perspective. It's full of literary references, studies that have been done on animals and humans, and the author's suggestions and musings as far as how romantic love happens with regard to brain chemistry and emotions, as well as how to keep love alive, and the history of love and romance in primitive humans as well as the mating rituals and romantic behavior of other species.. it is really fascinating!
Indecision, by Benjamin Kunkel.. I liked the first half of this novel better than the second half, but overall it was a really good book. Kind of quirky, distinct writing style, and a somewhat random but believable premise upon which the protagonist takes off on his adventures..
Hope this gives you some ideas, I'm the kind of person who reads about a book a day, and most of my friends are too busy or too drunk to read books (I'm in college) so I'm happy to make recommendations.
Enjoy your trip!! I had a friend who spent a year there for a foreign exchange type trip and she had a blast!!
R
No suggestions, but a bit of sympathy - I'm not a great traveler either (although I travel a fair bit for someone who doesn't care for it that much). It's not that I'm afraid of crashing, I just always feel a sense of dread and somewhat depressed whenever I'm about to go out of town.
Anyway, I usually drink of a couple of glasses of wine on long trips, but I'm not sure how knocked out you'll want to be presumably with a kid in tow.
Okay, one book suggestion is Only in New York by Stuart Goldenberg. Even though you're traveling away from the city, it's a good book that doesn't require too much commitment.
Have you read "Traveling Mercies: Some Thought on Faith" by Ann Lamott? It is a memoir, kinda in the same vein as "Blue Like Jazz" -- I think she is a great writer. It's definitely not G Rated, but I think it's got some really insightful thoughts and is funny, too.
I hope you guys have a GREAT time!
Hi... emily (harrow) turner here! I just finished a great book. i am recommending it to anyone who will listen! check out the link below.
have a fun trip!
http://www.hearmusic.com/#PRODUCT250
Hey Jason - Alex Organ here. I just read Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD. Last week it was announced as this year's Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction - it was also Oprah's choice for her book club (if you're into that sort of thing). It's fiction, BUT you don't need an extended attention span to read it. The writing style moves very quickly (I read it in about 3 hours total). It's about a father and his young son travelling "the road" across some kind of post-apocolyptic America. Sounds uplifting, right? Well, it is, in it's way. It's one of the best things I've read in some time - I think you'd really dig it.
Music? At the same time I was falling in love with The Shins, I also discovered The Postal Service. It's a side project from the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie (I think). A bit more emo than The Shins (can emo levels even be measured?), but a fine, fine listen. The album is called "Give Up".
Hope you guys have a great trip!!
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