Posts Tagged ‘reading’
April Book Review…
I was able to read 5 books in April. There were two non-fiction books and three novels. I learned something from every single one of them and now I’m ready for what my next big goal is going to be towards my passion. The books are: Outliers, Wild Mind, The Giver, The Pleasure of my Company, and Shopgirl. Some short, some long, but they all had a realness to them.
Right now I am in the phase of improving my writing. There are a couple of ways to improve one’s writing. I could either write as much as possible, write everyday, and believe it or not, read as many books. I have learned how people put together their sentences, use commas, colons, semicolons, and whatever punctuation known to man (and woman). I was constantly jotting down words I wasn’t familiar with (which is a lot), so I can go back and remember them for my writing and in everyday speech. I got a better idea of how people let their voice be heard through the story they were telling. And, the sure pleasure of sitting down and getting lost for a couple of hours.
Here is a quick report of the books I read.
Outliers:
So, What Was My Goal of The Day?
Exhaustion, commitment, the story, being lost, a goal that had to be completed was what I went through a couple of days ago. I am not surprised that I completed this goal, but more surprised with 2 things: it is intoxicating and Steve Martin is an unbelievable writer who I want to learn more from.
Tags: challenge, reading, Steve Martin
One Day Challenge: Read a Book in a Day!!!
I have a goal and will try my best to make it happen with all of the things that are going on today for me. I’ll see if I can do it!
One Day Challenge: Read a book in a day!!! from Oaks Real on Vimeo.
Outliers, Taking my Passion to a New Destination With a Little Twist
I push the snooze button, yet for another time. It is now 6 a.m. and know it takes 40 or so minutes to get to work and still smell like shit. But, all I’m going to do is sit in my cubicle and look at my computer screen. So, I skip the shower, wash my face, brush my teeth, put on my wrinkle as can be collar shirt I wore last week and to the club (which still smells like smoke), and run out of the door to my car. I hop on the beltway and quickly realize that I have gotten on a paying road, where I am setting in traffic. I finally make it to work, as I get out my car I think to myself, “Should I take the stairs? They wouldn’t know exactly what time I got in? I should talk to a couple of friends so it looks like I have been here for quite sometime”.
I finally arrive inside my office and my boss gets on me for being late and said he will need this and that for a presentation later in the morning. I get started and complete the work, not caring one bit. I make it to lunch and decide to sit in my car. I sat there in the car (no a/c, started transforming the car into a race car) and thought. I thought about what I have been up to in my life. I thought I was a failure, and thought ‘is this it?’ Damn, I was having a quarter life crisis 2 years before the actual time and didn’t even realize it.
When I started to examine my life, I knew something was missing, I knew I had to do more for myself. I was an expert in the automobile field, but didn’t want to be that guy that could only talk about cars and didn’t care or relate to other topics that were important to people. I knew I sorta liked reading and eventually would read whatever I could, but knew this was a slow process. I didn’t want to continue to watch television and relate to people for 5 minutes on a show that wasted 30 minutes-1 hour of my life. So, I started to listen to podcast and to stretched my net as far as I could: while at work I listened to politics, audio-books, everyday life, current events, pop culture, social media, technology, business, and whatever else.
Tags: experiment, Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, passion, reading
Friends, Where Do You Meet Quality People to Hang Out With?
We don’t know when we will meet people that will change our lives. I met somebody last year that has changed my life for the better and am looking to grow with her for the years to come. However, it is hard to meet male friends after finishing college. Most of last year I was telling my girlfriend and that I don’t have many male friends. She told me that I do have some close friends and that it will take time for you to meet people that you can connect with. I didn’t put much thought into what she was saying and continued to live my life. I did make it a point to hang out with my close friends.
You never know who you will meet when and where…
I met my girlfriend in a bar and most of my close friends I met in college. Some are friends that have fallen off because of their own doing and also because I was and still am doing things outside the norm of a engineering major should be doing. Most of my friends are working their day jobs, going out socially with their friends and girlfriends/wives, and whatever else. I was doing some of the same, however, I drifted in starting a failed business, wasting money on business courses, reading any type of book that I could get my hand on, and ultimately starting this blog that has got me here and will take me to new heights. I believe people go through this phase of their lives only to realize that they haven’t stopped growing and will eventually meet people that will help challenge one’s self and will continue to peel back the layer of orange skin that creates the zest of life that that person wants to truly live.
Tags: books, new friends, reading, writing
- @YEAdamMcFarland The full screen editor are badass, I get plenty done, but there shouldn't be a reason for so many choices. 12:37:20 PM November 13, 2009
