The Literary Trail

As many of you may already know, I recently wrote about a personal literary mission to complete the Modern Library's Best 100 Novels, Time Magazine's Top 100 Novels, and the Booker Prize winners and shortlisted fiction lists. Theoretically, this constantly growing list could currently contain 434 books (although there aren't quite that many due to some overlaps).

Most of my friends have deemed me insane and one friend even said I had condemned myself to perpetual serfdom by choosing a reading goal that only continues to grow by six novels each year but I'm excited to meet the challenge. I've been especially slow on the Booker Prize list thus far but in the next couple months my focus will shift and you'll see my completion list in relation to the Booker grow exponentially (at least after I finish Augie March, which I've just begun). As I do so I will record my progress.

Completion Lists stand as follows:

Booker Prize (229 left)

1. Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
2. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
3. The Gathering by Anne Enright
4. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
5. The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth

Modern Library (10 of 100 - 90 left)

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
5. 1984 by George Orwell
6. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
7. Animal Farm by George Orwell
8. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Time Magazine List (21 of 100 - 79 left)
1. Animal Farm by George Orwell
2. Beloved by Toni Morrison
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
5. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
6. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. Money by Martin Amis
10. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
11. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
12. 1984 by George Orwell
13. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
14. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
16. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
17. Possession by A.S. Byatt
18. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
19. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
20. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
21. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

In the overall drive I have 403 books left (not taking into account list overlaps, which is still possible). I've read 40 books since the end of last summer and I consider myself well read, but I'm starting to wonder what I ever could have read before I started these lists. I'm also wondering if I could get some sort of publisher to give me some sort of scholarship for taking on this reading endeavor. People get money for riding their bike, right? Maybe there's some sort of scholarship opportunity here...

I finished The Industry of Souls just minutes ago and it was truly beautiful. Martin Booth is an extraordinary writer and his characters are well developed and full of nuggets of simple wisdom that only once felt cliched.

My favorite line is, "And I raise my glass to them, to the past, to the times you would think I should rather forget and yet which I cannot because I do not wish to. For, if I forget the past, I forget them - Work Unit 8 in Sosnogorsklag 32 - and that would not be right."

I also liked the way the protagonist at one point says...CAUTION: SPOILER: "...with another sum to be placed in trust to provide two scholarships per annum for pupils to travel and see the world, that they, like me, can come to understand that there is evil and there is goodness, to learn the lesson that if you kill something of beauty, two uglinesses spring up in its place."

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Now for the tunes. Many of you have probably already heard of Hot Chip, but if you haven't and you'd like to be on the cutting edge of indie bands then check them out. Sometimes I think they're an acquired taste, but I enjoy their upbeat, electro infused feel. It's nice background lounge music, although I'm not sure if most people say they like them just to be cool. What I especially like about this band though, is their aptitude for trippy music videos. See "Ready For the Floor" for visual amazement:

The Time In Between

It's a weird feeling, to dedicate yourself religiously to something and then suddenly realize it's over. It's even weirder when somewhere in your mind you know that the end is coming. It's inevitable, unstoppable, and always looming but incredibly shocking.

The end I'm speaking of is softball. It's the sport I started in first or second grade and the game that took me around the country. I played from sun up to sun down some days, and spent hours upon hours practicing even the most minute of details. Remembering to raise an elbow or move your hands back an inch in your stance could make the difference between hitting well and trying to hit yourself out of a paper bag.

Sometimes I think about what it would have been like had I spent an average of three hours per day practicing the guitar or writing. Those activities don't require a finite end except for maybe death, and maybe I'd be a rock star or well published. But then I consider what it would have really been like and if I had it to change I wouldn't change anything at all.

The actual act of hitting and fielding may be irrelevant to my life now (except of course for the occasional office softball game should my life come to that) but what softball has given me takes my breath away. The game provided me with some of the most important people in my life, from coaches to friends, and fans who supported me along the way. Softball gave me the utmost respect for my dad, who spent countless hours teaching me how to play without ever bragging about how great of a player he was. I hope to have learned from that. It also helped pay for life during college and provided me a platform for recognition and travel.

Most of all, softball taught me the power of persistence. For better or worse, I now know that I can and will run myself into the ground. I will work harder than most people. I will give everything I own to achieve what I want, and that could perhaps make all the difference in my future.

So perhaps all those hours scraping holes through my pants sliding into second and running at six in the morning were worthwhile. I may never see another 65 mile per hour curve ball but who cares? Now it's all about living in the moment and moving onto New York University to prepare for a new future.

Yet there remains one part of my life that's left unanswered. Now that I'm not playing seven hour double headers or traveling to some obscure place for a softball game, what should I do? What happens to the time in between? Will I pick up the guitar or increase the writing? Most of all, where are my four pack abdominals going and when did my wrists start to decrease in size? When did my thighs stop touching when my feet are shoulder width apart? Softball changed me much more than I'd thought.

I'm running, working out, embarking on 20 mile bike rides, playing basketball, dancing in the living room, umpiring, and trying to keep up my physical activity. It's still not the same, and although it's nice to be able to walk without feeling intense pain in my lower back, I need to find a sport, a physical compliment for everything else in my life.

I have yet to figure out what my new physical obsession will be but I can tell you one thing. I wouldn't trade the hours I spent on softball for the world. As much as I hated it sometimes, the act of dedicating yourself so completely to anything is beautiful. It's still an adjustment in the making but I've come to terms with the end.

Softball will always be a part of me but I'm ready to move on. It's time for a new phase in my life, full of new achievements and something else to fill the time in between.

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Today's music feature might bring you back to the 80's a bit but they're current rock sound will remind you that The Virgins are right on the cutting edge of the New York music scene. Check 'em out and enjoy.

Because Nothing Is More Beautiful

When people ask my why I want to make a living doing something related to the supposedly dying music industry I always try to explain myself. "I don't think the music industry is dying at all," I begin. "It's only changing, and because of that I can't think of a more exciting time to be part of what could potentially be a rebirth." Then, as a side note, I usually add something cliched like, "Plus, I just love music and always have."

But even that answer isn't entirely faithful to what I feel. If I were being true and complete in my answer my response would take the form of a story, a story that would probably begin something like this...

Once upon a time (last night) I went to see Rilo Kiley at the Calvin in Northampton. Nik Freitas and Thao with The Get Down Stay Down opened, and as I settled in my seat and looked on the stage for the first time that night I felt my heart quicken. "I'm here," I thought to myself. And by 'here' I really meant home. Not the home where I sleep or eat, but the place where I know I will always feel totally and completely happy.

As soon as Thao with The Get Down Stay Down struck a chord I felt totally and completely at peace. It was as if all the logistics of the real world had dissipated and all that was left was everyone in that very moment. Thao's voice echoed through the venue and reverberated through my body as she stood on stage, keeping time in her high heels with slight sideways kicks. It was as if the people shaking on stage were pumping energy into the rest of the room and the people that filled it. A grin spread over my face and I felt overwhelmed with happiness. I was immersed in song, freed by the lyrics, and suspended in every note.

That's what I love about concerts, the way they so easily transport a room of people to the same place. The main act communicates with hundreds at once, and when everyone sings along or claps to the rhythm they are bonded and truly together. It's unspoken, but when a room full of individuals know the same song it means they've invested a part of their life into that piece of music. It's special to them, a shared experience. Very rarely can you find a place where such a diverse group is so aligned, but I think that's the magic of music. In some ways I think it's how we can save humanity. People relate to songs for all kinds of reasons, but the bottom line is that at a concert everyone relates. Time stops, you're sucked in, and all that matters is the music.

In the end there's nothing more beautiful than that.

Today's feature band is of course, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. "Bag of Hammers" will always have a special place in my heart for what it was to me before the concert (a dance around the house and be happy song on constant repeat for some time), but even more so for what it became last night. It was during this song, right after Thao had finished beat boxing the introduction (unfortunately that's not on this video) that I realized that home for me is not a place. Home is a series of vibrations that bring back memories, pull you into the moment, and unite you with everyone else who is listening. And home, by chance, is also what I want to do with the rest of my life.

So listen and enjoy. Music is sacred.

Here's another Thao with The Get Down Stay Down song. It's live, and called "Health Life and Fire." It doesn't sound as great as they do live, but it's a taste of what they do with their sound and how they're so innovative.



And if you haven't fallen in love with Thao with The Get Down Stay Down then check out Thao's podcast. You've got to love someone who uses the word "procured" when describing hoodies, and the phrase "I had in my possession..." when telling a story. And in case you didn't see it the first time, they appended "Bag of Hammers" to the end of this video too...lol.