quests

on a recent study break (I'm studying for a big med school test which is why I've been so off-blogging) I went on a hike with some friends where part of the discussion led us to the types of quests we're interested in reading about.  There are lots of types of quests - 

One is the classic quest towards a primary goal where all the tasks along the way are necessary in order to learn things or obtain weapons or make friends that help you in achieving that goal.  A contemporary example is Harry Potter - where the goal is to beat Voldemort, or Lord of the Rings, where the goal is to destroy the one ring in Mt. Doom.

The other quest is the one where there is a vague goal at the end, but the adventure is much more the point, and the obstacles have less to do with moving you closer to the quest and more just what happens to get in your way.  The classic example of this might be Odysseus, where he keeps trying to get home, but adventures just keep popping up in his way.  They don't necessarily help him get closer to home or learn things that help him get home, but the journey helps him learn just how important home is.   Hobbit (part of my current summer reading) is also this type of quest and I had forgotten just how many adventures are squeezed into this short book.   It's what made it way more fun to read than the LOTR as a kid, and in a funny way, is a better metaphor for my life right now.  Even though there are definitely some big goals that I'm working towards, my daily life feels like a lot of not-necessarily-related obstacles to puzzle through, that don't exactly get me closer to those big goals but allow me to stumble into all sorts of adventures and questions.  I'm into it.

"There is a lot more to [Mr. Baggins] that you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself."

- Gandalf in the opening chapter of the Hobbit

ingots and ferry wheels

a little bike adventure with the manfriend through the shapes and sights of Pittsburgh

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those yeas wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. what weather they shall have is not ours to rule.

- Tolkien

summer reading list

an excellent Summer Reading List should have a few components:

first and foremost, it should make you excited.  I so rarely get to devour books that I truly relish the time I get to spend sitting out on a porch or curled up on a blanket just me and my book.  

second, it should make you think - but not too much.  that's why I always vote for something you love but haven't read in a while (The Hobbit), something you've heard is amazing but haven't had a chance to read (Prodigal Summer), something that makes you think more broadly about your work (The Checklist Manifesto, Choice), and one that you know isn't serious at all (The Dovekeepers), and then I always think a good magazine (NewYorker) is delightful because it's even less of a commitment, but you're still taking time to delve into worlds unknown, thoughts that have nothing to do with your every day life, an adventure, a meeting of new minds, right from your own front porch.

"the best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you though special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead.  And it is if a hand has come out, and taken yours."

- Alan Bennett