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Booklog
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
My mother is standing in front of the bathroom mirror smelling polished and ready; like Jean Nate, Dippity Do and the waxy sweetness of lipstick.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Salinas Valley is in Northern California.
The Straw Men by Michael Marshall
Palmerston is not a big town, nor one that can convincingly be said to be at the top of its game.
Vineland by Thomas Pynchon
Later than usual one summer morning in 1984, Zoyd Wheeler drifted awake in sunlight through a creeping fig that hung in the window, with a squadron of blue jays stomping around on the roof.
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
In 1517, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, feeling great pity for the Indians who grew worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines, proposed to Emperor Charles V that Negroes be brought to the isles of the Caribbean, so that they might grow worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines.
Finished
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posted Thursday, July 12, 2001
Outward Bound - June 30, 2001
"I relaxed my shoulders and realized that everything would be okay."
---
"God. This is so much harder than I thought it would be. We found a great campsite at about 12,000 feet and the view is incredible. We're surrounded by 3, 14'ers and valleys and lakes, just ate, and are enjoying the view.
"These people are great. I'm going to have to remember to give Matt hell for bailing out at the last minute.
"I travel to a point outside of camp. My back is weary, my feet hurt, and the skin is peeling away from my fingers. I find a soft spot in the grass to sit, and listen to the stream rejoice in its inevitable journey to the ocean.
"Where is my life going? I feel as though I'm standing before a massive void where any number of possibilities can materialize. I know it's all dictated by me ? my choices.
"That kind of pressure scares me because I'm such a perfectionist. I want things to turn out the best way possible, and I'm so torn between idealism and practicality. God, it seems as though I've written that so many times before. At some point, I'm going to have to choose a side.
"The view in front of me seems to reflect my position in life: a stream runs down the hill to my right and collects in a small ravine below me. At one point, it splits and runs around a hill where it pools into a small lake to the left. On the other side of the hill, it continues down the mountainside.
"The left lake, although stagnant, is serene and beautifully clear. It reflects the sky, the mountains, the plants and rocks. It is peaceful.
"The stream is jubilant and fast. It runs over the edge of a cliff below me, unaware of the risk of falling. It flows west, and as we are on the Continental Divide, it will eventually join the Atlantic ocean.
"David is washing his face in it at the moment. Alas, he wants to play cards, so I'll write more later."
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.
?Buddha
Go my students, burn your books, buy yourselves stout shoes. Get away to the mountains, the deserts and the deepest recesses of the earth. In this way and no other will you gain a true knowledge of things and their properties.
?Peter Severinus, 1571 A.D.
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