Honing in on your psychic self

Because I missed my stop in the last post I found myself marching the streets of West Hollywood to get back to where I was supposed to be. The Starbucks on Santa Monica Blvd. just north of La Cienega was packed! Found out from reader, Jacob, that it's because there are many people vacationing this time of year - and the Ramada is right next door.

Jacob, who normally stakes out inside the Starbucks for his reading found himself sitting outside that day because the tourists have squeezed him out. But it was a nice, beautiful, crisp morning with many cute dogs trotting about with their owners so one can't really complain.

Jacob is reading "Discover Your Psychic Type" by Sherrie Dillard. Interestingly enough, I was on the phone with my bestie, Karen, telling her about my upcoming trip to San Francisco over Labour Day weekend and she told me that she would be attending a retreat that Saturday. What kind of retreat? One where she will be DISCOVERING HER PSYCHIC SELF! Interesting indeed!


Dillard's book is about how to discover your inner psychic. There are 4 types of psychic: mental, emotional, physical...and Jacob couldn't tell me the 4th because he hasn't gotten that far yet :) He also shared that he used to go on spiritual retreats but not so much anymore. Jacob is also reading Prayer: How to Pray Effectively from the Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes

You can usually find Jacob reading books on spirituality. He tries to read every spiritual book he encounters along the way. And from time to time you may catch him indulging in biographies.

Growing up he enjoyed reading "Beautiful Bible Stories". It was his nighttime reading as a child. I just tried looking up the author just now and not sure which one it could be since there are many "Beautiful Bible Stories" out there.

If he could write a book of his own it would be a spiritual book.

Whose biography did you enjoy reading? I personally love Zelda by Nancy Milford, a biography of Zelda Fitzgerald. That woman was a firecracker - I love it!

Satire On El Quatro

The art of trying to get someone's attention on the sly - my new favourite thing to analyse. I'm on the #4 bus this morning, earbuds in tact, and Lula and Sailor of Barry Gifford's Wild At Heart keeping me company en route to work. I notice the guy in front me of whip out his book and I start to get his attention with a little coquettish eye-play and smirks. Finally I get up and approach him since my stop is quickly approaching.

Eric is reading Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent. The book is about a fantasy land called Fournecks - a satire on Australia, I believe? (Someone correct me quick!) This book is one in a series of 28! Eric has read all but the latest book in the collection, and is actually re-reading The Last Continent in order to save money on books.


His favourite book at the moment would have to be Choke by Chuck Palahniuk and just like Ian he enjoyed Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Satirical and Sci-fi books are pretty much his forte and can read these two genres non-stop! Speaking of stops, I totally missed my stop. So before I hopped off at the next one I squeezed in one last question. If Eric were tasked to write his own book it would be something that went against/questioned religion.


What Terry Pratchett book have you read?

The Vonnegut Collective

Los Angelenos, was this past Sunday absolutely gorgeous or what? People need to hang outdoors more often! Rather than organize my closet that seems to have exploded into my chambers I opted for some quality time with Pierrot, my bike. Pedaled over to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to visit my favourite graves and watch the swans and ducks in the lake.

(swans and ducks not pictured but they were there to the left...bathing)

Also encountered some giant calaveras (sp?) dancing to their own beat in the sunlight.


Afterwards, I headed over to Larchmont Village for something sweet and cool. Treated myself to some Pinkberry, browsed the books @ Chevalier books, and encountered Eric sitting outside of the Starbucks. Times like these when I laugh to myself because people around me must think I am trying to hit on attractive men. :)

With iPod earbuds in place, Eric is reading Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's short stories that were never published - compiled by his son, Mark Vonnegut.

This is the second Vonnegut book that Eric's read. The first one was A Man Without A Country, a collection of articles written over the last five years. It's dark humour and wisecracky. Eric's enjoyment of this book led him to pick up "Armageddon".


Eric prefers reading non-fiction because he feels it is more relatable than fiction.

One of his favourite books is The Frog King by Adam Davies. He tells me it's about a writer struggling in New York, battling alcoholism and his womanizing ways. I just peeked at the cover on Amazon and I'm sold on looks alone! Eric's read all three books by Davies (other 2 are Goodbye Lemon and Mine All Mine). If he could write a book of his own he'd want it to be a book similar to The Frog King.

When he was younger Eric enjoyed Jack Kerouac's On The Road.

Next on the docket? Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. I looked up a brief description of the book because the title alone intrigued me and I believe I found the introduction:
My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world.

SOLD!

Favourite Vonnegut book? I must confess that I've never read any of his books. (I know)


Ever picked a book purely based on its cover, not knowing anything else about it? How about just reading the first and/or last lines?

This is Absurd! A Stranger and The Stranger

Ok, I admit it! I'm a geek who is obsessed with Twitter and BrightKite (like Twitter but location-based). I announce to the world what I am doing in real-time - from the most mundane to most splendid moments of my days for the Twitter and Brightkite world to see! It's, dare I say, absurd! (Ok, cheap jokes to go with what is to follow...but it doesn't make change that fact that I'm a nerdlinger.)

A few days ago I see @almostaghost ,my BrightKite friend, bkite that he is "reading camus at the mall". I'm wondering what he's reading so I comment to his alert and an interview was born. I asked him a few questions and he says he would answer them as if I approached him at the South Bay Galleria. Vinod (his real name) actually finished the book by the time my Q's arrived in his inbox; he had read 75% of it at the mall and then finished it later that afternoon by the pool of his apartamento.

Vinod is/was reading The Stranger by Albert Camus (en anglais). I liked his description of the book: "It's about the absurdity of life. And, about a man who shoots someone and goes on trial for it." Kept it terse a la Camus' own writing style in this novel. I had recently just finished reading this book myself and it is now in a friend's possession for him to read/enjoy and discuss with me once he finally gets through all the books I've loaned him.

How did V come to reading this book?
"Well, let's see. Do you know those Philosophy series about pop culture? Like Philosophy & Buffy or Philosophy & The Simpsons? I am a pretty big Dylan fan, and I got the one on Philosophy and Bob Dylan. Most of the essays in there were lame, but the one on existentialism and a few of his albums really impressed me. It was mostly about Kierkegaard, but also referred to Camus and absurdism. There was one quote in particular of Camus' that was used in the essay which quite stuck with me. So I made a mental note to read some Camus sometime."

(photo courtesy of @almostaghost via BrightKite. Yes, we're nerdlingers...)

He's only read The Stranger so far from Camus' repertoire and enjoyed it but not as much as he enjoys Sartre's Nausea, another French novel on existentialism. "Beyond the philosophical nature, that The Stranger was about a criminal and a trial was interesting to me because I have a law degree. That was definitely a nice nuance to the book that I wasn't expecting and enjoyed."

The last book he read? It's tough for him to pinpoint since he reads in drawn-out spurts - taking 2-3 months off from pleasure-reading to study for the bar exam and earn his Esquire stripes! He just took the bar (and didn't pass this time around) and The Stranger is the first book he's read since his Sabbatical from "fun reading" but he thinks he may have read Glenn Greenwald's Great American Hypocrites. It's about the Republican Party and the lies and half-truths they regularly use in their campaigns. He does try to read as much as he can. Right now he does temp legal projects every now and then so he usually takes a book to work and reads a bit at lunch.

Lately he finds himself only reading non-fiction and these French philosophical novels from the 1930s and 40s. In the past he read fantasy and classics the most. Tons of books on the horizon for him to finally get to, though, like Journey To The End Of The Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine (he keeps starting but never finishing it), or a book of Anton Chekhov's short stories.

Growing up V enjoyed Calvin & Hobbes and Roald Dahl books. He read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 40 times! And now that he's all growns-up his favourite books are Naomi Klein's No Logo, Sartre's Nausea, and Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle.

If he were to write a book he would be a non-fiction book explaining intellectual property law for non-lawyers. Or he'd turn his Beck website into a book called "Almost A Ghost".

His thoughts on books turned into movies?
"Oh I don't mind it. I even saw on the Wiki page that The Stranger has been adapted into a couple of films and added them to my Netflix. I was more than pleased with say The Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter movies, even after liking the books.

But I should mention that The Golden Compass film was god awful (and) terrible, which just kills me. And I don't know how they made such a forgettable film out of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, when it's such a unforgettable book (and had been successfully adapted to video games, miniseries, etc.). Those two films just make me sad."


Which philosophical books have you read?

Which books turned movies were you pleased with and/or disappointed by?

Supporting the Arts

This lovely Sunday morn finds me continuing to "make my house a home" (a.k.a purging the excess/organizing.) Quite therapeutic. And jammin' out to TLC's "CrazySexyCool" album - oh yes! Received an email from Dennis Miles, a reader I met a little while back, containing an invite to the play he's been working on. Remember? For anyone interested in the LA area here are the deets:

Sona Tera Roman Hess
a play by Dennis Miles
@ The Lounge (In Hollywood)
6201 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038

Preview: August 15th / 8pm / $15
Opening: August 16th and running through Sept. 21st
Fridays and Saturdays - 8pm showings
Sundays - 7pm showings

For more info visit: www.plays411.com/roman
or call 323-960-7846 (do people still call for tickets?)


And since I'm on an event announcement mood, for anyone interested, one of my friends is screening his movie, Lucky, tomorrow night at the Bungalow on Melrose. View evite here.

Buddha Belly

Lunched at The Little Next Door on 3rd Street (mid-city) somewhat close to work with 2/3 of "Team Cool" (nickname for a group of friends of mine). I'd never been before and now I absolutely love it there. Can't say non to a little French cafe right? Had a deelish Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict. If I could've had a cheese plate and some wine I would've but alas, I didn't want to have to succumb to a food coma in the middle of my work day. But boy was I full! And I definitely want to come by for brunch sometime or after work for a cheese-plate-and-wine-fix.


After le dejeuner I have a little conversation with Dina before heading out. She is sitting at a little table by the door with her green highlighter and latte before her. Dina is reading Breath by Breath by Larry Rosenberg, a book about Buddhist meditation practices. Buddhism has been a passion of hers for the past few years now and she has been engrossing herself in as many books on Buddhism ever since. She used to read fiction alot but admits that it doesn't engage her as much anymore. "Buddhism is my new way of life", she says. I find out that her Buddhist community of friends or "sangha" are the ones who recommend all the Buddhism books, and so do her meditation teachers. "I have 3 of them, actually. 2 teachers in the flesh and 1 online. The one online lives in Northern California." All this talk reminded me of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert so I had to know if Dina had been on a spiritual pilgrimage to another country. She has not but has been to a few retreats here in the U.S.

It was interesting listening to her talk because her voice was so serene and her mannerisms were...delicate but deliberate at the same time. She would pause as if to ensure that the words that came out of her mouth were the right ones. Such a calming experience, if I may say so :-)


When asked what fiction she did read Dina told me the last fictional book she read was The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It just dawned on me right now that I had watched the movie. I wonder if she's watched it and what she thought.

Her favourite book growing up was Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer's The Phantom Tollbooth! I was so elated when I heard that because it is one of my favourite books, as well, and I don't know many people who know of it. And, coincidentally, I just loaned the book to le mec because I had recently referenced something from the book and it was lost on unknowing ears.

If Dina could write a book of her own it would be about Buddhist poetry.

Later she told me that she heard something interesting the other day. She was talking to a friend and they were talking about how many people are reading books online and how they were discussing how difficult it is to really focus on reading something for so long on a computer screen. I completely agree because I have a hard time even reading long articles or emails online because I just feel so...distracted! (Says the girl who works online/in front of a computer all day long). We discussed how much better it FEELS to read an actual book. The act itself is so relaxing and you take yourself out of your everyday even if for a few moments to partake in this "archaic" (ok, I'm being hyperbolic - or am I? - but you know what I mean) form of leisure.

I asked what her thoughts were on audiobooks, then, since we were talking about digital consumption of reading material. Dina feels it isn't so bad to listen to audiobooks. She does it herself with Buddhism books! "We spend so much time in our cars stuck in traffic that it is a great way to pass time and do something productive while driving rather than, say, talking on the phone like most people do!" True that.



What was the last audiobook you listened to? Did you happen to listen to one because you were traveling? Do you listen to audiobooks during your commute to/fro work or school?

A Bruin and his book

Saturday found me driving westbound towards UCLA/Westwood Village, my old stomping grounds. My good friend/former roomie ordered some books on eBay and didn't realise that it got shipped to our first off-campus home on Roebling Avenue! (Note to self: DELETE all former addresses from eBay and other sites). Because I'm a good friend I granted Cezie-pants this favour plus I haven't been back to Westwood in a while so why not go down memory lane, right?

Got to our old house (ack, what have they done!) to find that NOONE WAS HOME! But it was kind of nice walking up the hill and up the Spanish-tiled steps and flashing back to our many adventures there (cue dream-like flashback montage sequence).

Decided to walk thru Westwood and check out the new shops and see which remain. Walked by the Novel Cafe, a place I never went to because I always preferred the French bakery/cafe, Elysee, across the street.


Spotted Ian over the hedge reading Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End Of The World. There are 2 narratives (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and End of the World) about 2 male characters who are going through the same changes. One later finds out that they are the same person. Dual consciousness. Half the chapters are set in Tokyo and is set in a futuristic world. Electrodes are involved and implanted in heads to decipher codes! Ian says it is very surreal with a touch of magic realism, one could say.

I found out that Ian is a fellow English Lit Major, but he is studying American Literature while I mainly focused on Brit Lit, though I did read American Lit in my Queer Literature and Modernism classes. He is entering his Senior year (the final stretch) and this book is for his Japanese Lit class, a course requirement for his major.

Normally he enjoys indulging in fiction. The classics, mainly. The last book he read was Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time.

Growing up he loved reading The Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card about a young boy with a powerful skill. He's bred to be a military genius and is to save the world from alien attacks.

If he could write a book of his own it would be a realistic fiction, with a touch of magic, about taking a journey to another city.


If you could write about a journey to another city, which one would you travel off to? How about a time period?