A Call for Eclectic Reading

To broaden your mind, broaden your reading. If you always think and read in the same way, the chances are that you will not increase your knowledge or challenge your beliefs. I think it is Bill Gates who subscribes to a wide range of different publications, including many outside of his spheres of influence, so that he can expand his mind and challenge the way he looks at things. During my formal education I got introduced to three main ways of reading and thinking. Firstly the scientific method, secondly the business school approach, and finally the humanities way of thinking and writing. This surely increased the breadth of my learning. When I was in graduate school I decided to do a Greek History paper at undergraduate level for interest. I was amazed when I got my first assignment back and only got a B for it. I have never forgotten the lecturers comments - "You have told me what Smith thinks, you have told me what Brown thinks, you have even told me what Ventcatchalan and Jones et al think, but what do you think? Thios was a turning point for me. As an undergraduate in science and business we were expected to feed back what we had been taught. Your thoughts and opinions were for grad school. But here in a 101 Humanities paper, the professor is interested in my thoughts, Wow! This realigned my whole focus on education. Keep well DK First published on Qassia

Reading - a veritable Magic Carpet

Before I had even got out of bed this morning I had travelled to Africa (20 Chickens for a Saddle), Croatia (Finding O'Dwyer) and colonial New England (The Americans: The Colonial Experience). I don't even think the Space Shuttle could cover that distance so quickly. Reading is a truly wonderful journey into the imagination, the past, present and future. In a book you can be married/single, black/white, male/female, Muslim/Christian, Rich/poor without even going out of the house. Ever since I cut my teeth on Janet and John in the early 1960's, I have been an avid reader. There is nothing like it. Have a good day. DK First published on Qassia

Fishing for Books

Books, books, books! Those of you who have read this blog know that I am addicted to books. My day is made when I get the big Amazon smile or the Fishpond fish parcels delivered to my home. The Fishpond fish I hear you saying. Fishpond is a NZ based online seller of books, CDs and Videos. The advantage though is that the books are priced in NZ dollars not US dollars. That makes the books at least 30% cheaper before you make any savings from the site. Click the link below to explore Explore Fishpond Now Their $5 bargain pre-owned books cover a wide range... have a good day and keep reading DK

Once Upon a Time before Google?

"Grandad what did you do before you had Google?" This question got me thinking, "Well let me see, son, it goes like this": When I was a lad, Google had not been invented. We had a computer, it took up a room the size of a basketball court and the head of IBM thought there was a market for about 5 of them in the US. When I did my undergraduate work we were still using slide-rules. All our assignments were hand written and it took hours of shuffling through thousands of library index cards to find information. Even then you had to wait weeks and sometimes months to get the information delivered to you. I'm sure it was all good training but I much prefer using the Internet to find information. Sure there is junk on the net, but there is junk in the library and bookshops as well. I would do at least 10 searches a day on Google to find things out. I don't need my dictionary or encyclopedia any more as it is so easy to access information. So stand aside young un, Grandad has to look something up on Google. DK First Published on Qassia

Fathers Day - another Book

Isn't Fathers Day great. I got a book called, Our Favourite Poems, New Zealanders choose their best-loved poems. The book contains 100 of New Zealand's favourite poems, chosen from all over the world and voted for in a nationwide poll. As the blurb says,

These are poems that New Zealanders genuinely treasure, both high-brow and popular, traditional and contemporary, and while this anthology is firmly rooted in NZ, it retains a strong international flavour.

I will share one stanza from my favourite NZ Poem by James.K. Baxter:

POEM IN THE MATUKITUKI VALLEY

Some few yards from the hut the standing beeches
Let fall their dead limbs,overgrown
With feathered moss and filigree of bracken.
The rotted wood splits clean and hard
Close-grained to the driven axe, with sound of water
Sibilant falling and high nested birds.

All you fathers out there have a great day.

Ciao

DK

A Trip to the Book Shop

This morning I woke up early and headed off to the bookshop. I was keen to purchase a copy of the biography of Professor J Beaglehole, the late eminent New Zealand historian, written by his son, Tim Beaglehole, another eminent historian. Luckily for me the bookshop (Wadsworths in New Plymouth - thank you Julie) had it as I was having trouble tracking it down!! And I got it $7 cheaper than it was selling for online at Fishpond. I am not meant to be visiting bookshops at the moment but I just can't help it. I have told my wife and she didn't explode at me, as happens sometimes. Happy reading one and all. DK

Adsense Works on Blogger

I was pleasantly surprised when I logged into my Adsense account that I have been making money by putting/activating Adsense on my site here. Well done Google. I'm working hard this weekend to build up my web exposure by a variety of means. I will of course still be getting in some book buying and reading!! Have a great weekend DK