Comments on: i’m not a new-ager, but … http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/ Olympian, Joan Nesbit Mabe, waxes (and wanes) philosophical. Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:36:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Shake http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5236 Shake Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:27:05 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5236 I will now practice agreements 1,2, and 3..So I will keep my mouth shut ... :) I will now practice agreements 1,2, and 3..So I will keep my mouth shut … :)

]]> By: Fat Charlie the Archangel http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5235 Fat Charlie the Archangel Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:05:35 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5235 Shake - Funny, I keep reading and rereading the Big Book, and have now for some 7776 days (1111 weeks tomorrow :) But after thinking about it, I've decided that here are some LifeChangers: Stranger in a Strange Land - I read it when I was about 10 years old, and haven't been right since. Illusions (Confessions of a Reluctant Messiah) - the sort of book where one reads and says "yeah, yeah, but nobody ever said it out loud before...yeah..." Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - in 1986, I was at a friend's house for the first time in years; when I looked at his bookshelf, I had read almost everything there (we were that kind of friends) but I saw this title, and - although I'd heard of it before, and laughed about it - I decided to try it. I have no idea how many copies I've gone through, and given away Overeaters Anonymous - I read it after five years sober (one night, I slapped my sponsor's hand because he stuck it in my popcorn bowl - he made arrangements for me to read this book the next day :) and I've been in OA since then. jim p. Shake -

Funny, I keep reading and rereading the Big Book, and have now for some 7776 days (1111 weeks tomorrow :)

But after thinking about it, I’ve decided that here are some LifeChangers:

Stranger in a Strange Land – I read it when I was about 10 years old, and haven’t been right since.

Illusions (Confessions of a Reluctant Messiah) – the sort of book where one reads and says “yeah, yeah, but nobody ever said it out loud before…yeah…”

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – in 1986, I was at a friend’s house for the first time in years; when I looked at his bookshelf, I had read almost everything there (we were that kind of friends) but I saw this title, and – although I’d heard of it before, and laughed about it – I decided to try it. I have no idea how many copies I’ve gone through, and given away

Overeaters Anonymous – I read it after five years sober (one night, I slapped my sponsor’s hand because he stuck it in my popcorn bowl – he made arrangements for me to read this book the next day :) and I’ve been in OA since then.

jim p.

]]> By: Shake http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5222 Shake Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:51:46 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5222 and Joan, since I am new to your site I felt I should comment that your brother seems like a FASCINATING creature.. Does he work out? and Joan, since I am new to your site I felt I should comment that your brother seems like a FASCINATING creature.. Does he work out?

]]> By: Shake http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5220 Shake Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:49:39 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5220 Tru dat Fat C. I , too was transformed by the Big book but since it's been a year, I decided to read something a little easier . Since I am so lazy I decided 4 agreements were alot easier than 12 steps.. Tru dat Fat C. I , too was transformed by the Big book but since it’s been a year, I decided to read something a little easier . Since I am so lazy I decided 4 agreements were alot easier than 12 steps..

]]> By: Jim Terry http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5210 Jim Terry Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:34:22 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5210 Hi Joan - Wisdom - simply expressed in those four gems! When I think of important books in my life, the following come to mind: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Death in Venice, Mrs. Dalloway, Lord Jim. I'm not sure any one of these books changed my life, but I keep going back to them. Certainly books in general have changed my life. Reading time is a lot like running time – the day is richer for it. I remember as a kid reading under the covers with a flashlight. My parents would try to get me to stop, knowing they would have to deal with a sleep-deprived child the next day. Now my 6 year-old (who just learned to read) is doing the same thing, and I have to smile when I urge him to go to sleep (nice symmetry there). We make a deal – 15 more minutes with the flashlight, then lights out. Best, Jim Hi Joan -

Wisdom – simply expressed in those four gems!

When I think of important books in my life, the following come to mind: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Death in Venice, Mrs. Dalloway, Lord Jim. I’m not sure any one of these books changed my life, but I keep going back to them. Certainly books in general have changed my life. Reading time is a lot like running time – the day is richer for it.

I remember as a kid reading under the covers with a flashlight. My parents would try to get me to stop, knowing they would have to deal with a sleep-deprived child the next day. Now my 6 year-old (who just learned to read) is doing the same thing, and I have to smile when I urge him to go to sleep (nice symmetry there). We make a deal – 15 more minutes with the flashlight, then lights out.

Best,
Jim

]]> By: Joan http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5203 Joan Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:02:44 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5203 Hello Eric, Are your kids old enough yet for you to give them YOUR favorite books? I just read an excerpt from Search for Delicious on-line (from the Amazon link) http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0374465363/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-1224915-2997455#reader-link and was immediately thrust back to 4th grade! My Rosie is going into 4th grade and I can't wait to read it with her. I also loved Charlie, but I think of your other choices as "boys books." My eldest girl - just turned 13 - is a Tolkein freak and I totally agree with your "right time/ right book" theory. Probably the only way for your friend to enjoy re-reading Copperfield would be as a parent or teacher seeing it through new eyes. Sometimes I am so sad to have already read <strong>Tender is the Night</strong> or <strong>King Lear</strong> ("Howl. Howl. Howl!") or <strong>Nine Stories</strong> (by JD Salinger - a boy and a girl writer!), etc. I envy my daughters' blank reading slates. Think about it ... one day your kid will read "The sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer" for the FIRST time!! Hello Eric,
Are your kids old enough yet for you to give them YOUR favorite books? I just read an excerpt from Search for Delicious on-line (from the Amazon link)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0374465363/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-1224915-2997455#reader-link

and was immediately thrust back to 4th grade! My Rosie is going into 4th grade and I can’t wait to read it with her.
I also loved Charlie, but I think of your other choices as “boys books.” My eldest girl – just turned 13 – is a Tolkein freak and I totally agree with your “right time/ right book” theory.
Probably the only way for your friend to enjoy re-reading Copperfield would be as a parent or teacher seeing it through new eyes.

Sometimes I am so sad to have already read Tender is the Night or King Lear (“Howl. Howl. Howl!”) or Nine Stories (by JD Salinger – a boy and a girl writer!), etc.
I envy my daughters’ blank reading slates. Think about it … one day your kid will read “The sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer” for the FIRST time!!

]]> By: Eric http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5186 Eric Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:38:29 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5186 You're right -- many of us don't read whole books as much as we'd like. I can see how this could become a running blog-and-bookclub; I admire/envy you the energy to read as much as you do. I think the books that mean a lot to us say something about where we are at a point in our lives. Books that hit me at the right spot included: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (my alltime favorite book of boyhood), Tolkien (at age 12-perfect), All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Sun Also Rises. But I'm not sure they would've been the same experience at 40. I have a friend who refuses to re-read David Copperfield because he loved it so much at 17 that he is afraid he will lose the memory if he read it again and it disappointed him. Cheers, E You’re right — many of us don’t read whole books as much as we’d like. I can see how this could become a running blog-and-bookclub; I admire/envy you the energy to read as much as you do.

I think the books that mean a lot to us say something about where we are at a point in our lives. Books that hit me at the right spot included: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (my alltime favorite book of boyhood), Tolkien (at age 12-perfect), All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Sun Also Rises. But I’m not sure they would’ve been the same experience at 40. I have a friend who refuses to re-read David Copperfield because he loved it so much at 17 that he is afraid he will lose the memory if he read it again and it disappointed him. Cheers, E

]]> By: Fat Charlie the Archangel http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/comment-page-1/#comment-5184 Fat Charlie the Archangel Tue, 15 Aug 2006 23:45:13 +0000 http://www.runningland.com/2006/08/15/im-not-a-new-ager-but/#comment-5184 Who Is John G? ...without any doubt, the book that changed my life was <a href="http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/" rel="nofollow"> the Big Book</a>. Who Is John G?

…without any doubt, the book that changed my life was the Big Book.

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