QotD: How tough we aren't

[liveonearth]

The environment we're used to is designed to sustain us. We live like fish in an aquarium. Food comes mysteriously down, oxygen bubbles up. We are the domestic pets of a human zoo we call civilization. Then we go into nature, where we are least among equals with all other creatures. There we are put to the test. Most of us sleep through the test. We get in and out and never know what might have been demanded. Such an experience can make us even more vulnerable, for we come away with the illusion of growing hardy, salty, knowledgeable: Been there, done that.
--Laurence Gonzales in Deep Survival, page 133.

Comments

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I gobbled it up cover to cover and it has been passed around to a few friends who also enjoyed it. Every time it passes through my hands I have to post another quote from it. It's well written and nicely informed.

[anais-pf.livejournal.com]

I put it on my "Books To Read" list (which is, of course, 14 pages long). I look forward to reading it.

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

My "books to read" list is at least twice as long as yours.....goodness gracious. How do you sort out what to read next? Or just wait for books to land in your lap? That's my method. If I run out of books then I go to the library but it almost never happens.

[anais-pf.livejournal.com]

My list of books to read lives in my computer and I have it roughly categorized, though not at all organized. Some of the listings are just titles and authors; others have snippets of quotes to indicate who recommended the book (usually online) and why.

I can't say that there's any method to my deciding what to read next. I suppose I decide based on the mood I'm in when I finish the latest book.

This summer I've had a "science fiction summer" theme going on, but that hasn't stopped me from getting armloads of nonfiction from the library and dipping into five or six books simultaneously. I also have a dedicated shelf of books I bought when I had more money, but have not yet read. That amounts to about 25 books. Then there's a stack of books other people have given to me or lent to me, that I haven't read yet. There are also books in the basement that belong to my husband, many of which I haven't read, and of course A. brought books with him, too.

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Yes, I also have a hoard of books bought when I had money, and a partner with a pretty good collection of his own.... This may seem random, but do you know what personality type you are on the Myers-Briggs scale? I'm INTJ and was amazed when I read about my own book habit.

[anais-pf.livejournal.com]

I'm an INTP. :)

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I remember that.