BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Movies don't count as having read the book.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa Mae Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma-Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossein
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Monday, September 2, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
They aren't my friends.
Henry James, an American author was quoted in my Smart Brief from HERC. I just had to include this in my blog because it is congruent with my recent learning experiences. The link is below.
Not Everyone Should Like Me!
Not Everyone Should Like Me!
Henry James points out something my counselor, support group, and a few other wise people have said. I shouldn't try to befriend everyone.
I have never adopted the attitude that there are people out there worth completely avoiding. My Christian faith demands that I recognize that all people are created by God. I am called to love them all as a Christian. I suppose trying to love everyone the way Christ does assumes I am capable of loving unconditionally, the way God does. My divorce proves that I am not capable of this. Who do I want not liking me?
I don't really like people who openly disrespect the rights, safety, and uniqueness of others.
I'm sure the guy Paul Shankman interviewed in the report above had no intention of offending anyone. If he is right, and did nothing, his charges should be dropped, but I am reluctant to believe he did nothing.
Drunk drivers, aggressive drivers, and flamboyant drivers on public avenues are less and less tolerable to me as I get older. I suppose I am a bit of a hypocrite, because when I was in high school, I loved showing off. I still like turning my radio up loud, but I didn't install any super bass thumpers in my car (which I also dislike a lot), and I believe I outgrew all that macho showmanship.
Drunk drivers, aggressive drivers, and flamboyant drivers on public avenues are less and less tolerable to me as I get older. I suppose I am a bit of a hypocrite, because when I was in high school, I loved showing off. I still like turning my radio up loud, but I didn't install any super bass thumpers in my car (which I also dislike a lot), and I believe I outgrew all that macho showmanship.
Openly disrespecting others is offensive in any circumstance. Probably the easiest for me to stand up to is racists, or sexual bigots. Personal opinions are fine, but when expresses their opinions at someone they are people who commit hate crimes. Bullying others because they don't meet your own standards is a great way to make a bad impression. Bullies are off my list too.
Other people I probably shouldn't consider friends:
1. Strangers. (Tough one, since I automatically assume God made all people good.)
1b. To clarify, if I have only known someone less than 5 years, I probably don't really know them. I have met a lot of great people in the past five years and I do hope some of them become my friends, but until I stop getting hurt, taken advantage of, and used, I can't expect them to be my real friends. Once the five year relationship has been established though, numbers 9, 11 and 12 can be disregarded.
1c. Knowing someone involves interacting with them more than once or twice a week in various contexts for personal reasons.
I suppose the next few are obvious to a lot of people, but I need to clarify them for me.
3. Alcoholics. I don't mind people who drink alcohol, but people who find it necessary to get drunk more than a few times a year can't understand how scared I am of alcoholism. Growing up around alcoholism, I can't live with it in my life. I doubt many alcoholics claim the title.
4. Drug pushers...yes I know, this includes not just a few doctors. I need to maintain a professional relationship with any doctors I know anyway. I may regret this if I fall in love with someone who is in the medical profession.
5. Killers, child abusers, animal abusers. (Thankfully I don't know any.)
6. Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons. (I believe God made them too, but I can't agree with most of their teachings.)
7. White supremacists, racists, and bigots: including a few people in my community who frequently promote racial conflict, cleansing, and disparity. (See number 6)
8. Satanists. (See number 6.)
9. Anybody under the age of 25. I hate that I have to think this way, but because of society's stigma about child predators, I need to be careful about developing personal relationships with people who haven't been adults for a while. Former students under the age of 25 inspire me, I love them, and as much as I admire them and enjoy communicating with them, any relationship I have with them can only be simple. To carry on a complex relationship with any of them would do them harm too.
10. Anyone who gossips. (Sigh I could lose a lot of connections here. Teachers like to gossip. Maybe I shouldn't be re posting about news items.)
11. Politicians, because if someone is currently active in an elected position, I must remember they can be influenced, and may not always have my best interest at heart.
11b. People I meet who work in the entertainment, hospitality, or service industry while I am a customer, client or fan. Until the five year rule kicks in, these people can really only be interested in me for my enthusiasm, or money. Of course this rule is disregarded if a relationship forms outside the above context or extends longer than 5 years.
12. Coworkers and clients who don't meet the five year rule. I hate doing this too, but the only way to focus on being a good worker is to keep in mind anything beyond a professional relationship is forbidden by most employers, and discouraged by society anyway.
13. Administrators, bosses, employers or managers. Anyone who tells me what to do and gives me money for doing it is off limits personally. (See rule 12 and 11.)
14. Simon Cowell. No explanation needed.
14. Simon Cowell. No explanation needed.
15. Broken relationships. I am sad to accept that my relationship with Tammy and her family is broken. I thought we could be friends, but we have to settle for being friendly acquaintances. Sigh...I am sad all over again.
Labels for this post: friends, Henry James, Christianity, disrespectful people, Paul Shankman, stunt cyclists, drunk drivers, sex bigots, race bigots, bullies, strangers, My Five-Year Rule, relationships, personal relationships, professional relationships, casual relationships, Christian love, alcoholics, drug pushers, killers, child abusers, animal abusers, scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, racists, bigots, white supremacists, anyone younger than 25, child predators, gossips, entertainment workers, hospitality workers, service industry workers, coworkers, clients, administrators, managers, bosses, employers, Simon Cowell, complex relationships, simple relationships, past lovers, broken relations, friendly acquaintances.
Congratulations Lacey
Miss Missouri 2008, Lacey Fitzgerald
She was in my classes the second year of my teaching career, and her personality and desire to succeed was apparent in everything she did. I am so blessed to have worked with Lacey, and I know she will succeed in everything she does.
While I knew Lacey was wowing the pageant circuit, I was not aware she had won the Missouri nomination to Miss America. I found out while watching Countdown to the Crown with my wife on Saturday, January 16, 2011. It is so exciting to know such a bright and dynamic young lady and to see her reach for her dreams on a national level.
While in high school, Lacey was involved in everything. She supported the community and will always be admired as a positive spirit. She is involved in sports, clubs, and performances and really made my expereinces at Richmond High School unforgettable.
Congratulations Lacey!
She was in my classes the second year of my teaching career, and her personality and desire to succeed was apparent in everything she did. I am so blessed to have worked with Lacey, and I know she will succeed in everything she does.
While I knew Lacey was wowing the pageant circuit, I was not aware she had won the Missouri nomination to Miss America. I found out while watching Countdown to the Crown with my wife on Saturday, January 16, 2011. It is so exciting to know such a bright and dynamic young lady and to see her reach for her dreams on a national level.
While in high school, Lacey was involved in everything. She supported the community and will always be admired as a positive spirit. She is involved in sports, clubs, and performances and really made my expereinces at Richmond High School unforgettable.
Congratulations Lacey!
Okay, I didn't get a pony for Christmas this year, but I did get everything I wanted.
I got to see my family. I spent time with my mom and pop, my brother, his daughters, and his wife. We played games, ate good food and better than all that talked and got to spend time together. I even spent an afternoon with my grandmother. It was a really wonderful Christmas.
Back home there may not be horses, but there are lots of memories and loving moments.
Photo at left is a photo of me one special Christmas when I still believed I could grow up to be a cowboy.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Starting Over
In many ways, 2013 has been a year of starting over. I was divorced in 2012, resigned from a 12 year teaching position in 2012, and saw my family fall apart worse than ever before in 2012. All of these things would throw anyone into a spiral of depression and frustration. In some ways I am in that now.
I think the most unsettling restart for me has been brought on by my abrupt change of career. I spent 15 years exacting my skills as an educator. My students and many parents expressed appreciation and love for me every day. Then suddenly, it all disappeared. Rumors and fears overcame the public I served since 2000. Suddenly so many people thought I was a threat. I was no longer trusted (and was even rejected) by people I worked with and called friends.
For the past year, I have really learned about connecting with people I have felt surprise, derision and doubt as I face a different social atmosphere than I thought existed. I have been in denial for a long time about the problems facing the modern teacher. Teachers aren't given the benefit of the doubt, support from home, or backing of administrators that they should have. We are alone in the classroom now more than ever. Really, the same is true of people in other professions in my community.
The National Education Association and Missouri State Teachers Association, both demonstrated a unique lack of interest in helping my specific problems. Sure NEA lined up lawyers and spent time talking to me about the situation I never expected to face. They offered to fight for me. I had to decide whether the battle was worth waiting to be paid for five months or not. I decided not to fight it in part because I didn't have the financial support to go for five months without pay. I don't regret my decision, but I do wonder how things might be had I made a different one. I don't really spend much time thinking about this though.
However, since I left the classroom, these professional teaching organizations have done nothing. I haven't had any assistance finding a new position. I haven't been consulted on financial ramifications, continuing education opportunities, or even sharing my experiences with other teachers. Suddenly, all that money I spent hoping for their support evaporated. I'm sure they are using it to protect teachers in different ways, but now that I am an ex-teacher, they have nothing to do with me. I am surprised by this. I shouldn't be; it frustrates me.
I have known for a long time that teachers were under paid. That bothers me less and less when I see the other problems teachers face. I also know now how lucky I was to have the income I had. For years my ex-wife and I struggled to make ends meet financially. Now, I am reeling. I make less than half of what I did. I work less than half of what I did before. I am also less productive. I am surviving. Nobody told me this would happen.
This "learning experience" is teaching me a lot. I think it is also a difficult process to go through. If I can learn nothing else from this, I am learning just how weak society is in supporting our individuals. Professional organizations are out there, but they aren't willing or incapable of helping us on an individual basis when we reach a certain point. In the same way my coworkers, teacher organizations, parents and administrators failed me, society fails our students every day. How frustrated children must be to graduate and face a world so full of expectations far beyond their abilities.
How frightening it must be for young couples to struggle financially through joblessness, medical trauma, homelessness, and relationship difficulties. My counselor does the best she can, but she can't do everything. She is one person who has limited resources. My support group helps in the ways they can, but again, their resources are limited, and the needs in that group vary so much. Community resources are limited too. It is my hope that through Professional Education Resources I can help overcome all of this.
I think the most unsettling restart for me has been brought on by my abrupt change of career. I spent 15 years exacting my skills as an educator. My students and many parents expressed appreciation and love for me every day. Then suddenly, it all disappeared. Rumors and fears overcame the public I served since 2000. Suddenly so many people thought I was a threat. I was no longer trusted (and was even rejected) by people I worked with and called friends.
For the past year, I have really learned about connecting with people I have felt surprise, derision and doubt as I face a different social atmosphere than I thought existed. I have been in denial for a long time about the problems facing the modern teacher. Teachers aren't given the benefit of the doubt, support from home, or backing of administrators that they should have. We are alone in the classroom now more than ever. Really, the same is true of people in other professions in my community.
The National Education Association and Missouri State Teachers Association, both demonstrated a unique lack of interest in helping my specific problems. Sure NEA lined up lawyers and spent time talking to me about the situation I never expected to face. They offered to fight for me. I had to decide whether the battle was worth waiting to be paid for five months or not. I decided not to fight it in part because I didn't have the financial support to go for five months without pay. I don't regret my decision, but I do wonder how things might be had I made a different one. I don't really spend much time thinking about this though.
However, since I left the classroom, these professional teaching organizations have done nothing. I haven't had any assistance finding a new position. I haven't been consulted on financial ramifications, continuing education opportunities, or even sharing my experiences with other teachers. Suddenly, all that money I spent hoping for their support evaporated. I'm sure they are using it to protect teachers in different ways, but now that I am an ex-teacher, they have nothing to do with me. I am surprised by this. I shouldn't be; it frustrates me.
I have known for a long time that teachers were under paid. That bothers me less and less when I see the other problems teachers face. I also know now how lucky I was to have the income I had. For years my ex-wife and I struggled to make ends meet financially. Now, I am reeling. I make less than half of what I did. I work less than half of what I did before. I am also less productive. I am surviving. Nobody told me this would happen.
This "learning experience" is teaching me a lot. I think it is also a difficult process to go through. If I can learn nothing else from this, I am learning just how weak society is in supporting our individuals. Professional organizations are out there, but they aren't willing or incapable of helping us on an individual basis when we reach a certain point. In the same way my coworkers, teacher organizations, parents and administrators failed me, society fails our students every day. How frustrated children must be to graduate and face a world so full of expectations far beyond their abilities.
How frightening it must be for young couples to struggle financially through joblessness, medical trauma, homelessness, and relationship difficulties. My counselor does the best she can, but she can't do everything. She is one person who has limited resources. My support group helps in the ways they can, but again, their resources are limited, and the needs in that group vary so much. Community resources are limited too. It is my hope that through Professional Education Resources I can help overcome all of this.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Good Friday's Eve
Today was my 2nd day on the job at Wee Care Learning Center in Festus, Missouri. I am really enjoying the job. The kids are great and my lead teacher has an amazing sense of what kids want, need, and like. Her classroom is a utopian lounge for kids in grades 1-5. At 13 though, they must move on. I wonder just how many child care centers even let kids age 13 and up use their facilities. I imagine that number is really small. When I was a kid, I resented being left home alone with my brothers. I probably would have hated having a babysitter or a daycare center back then, but right now, with my hindsight, I think it would have been so much better for me.
I did not work out today. The bottom of my heels hurt. Am I getting plantar fasciaitis? I hope not. I think I just really need new shoes. Uuugh.
I started the day at McDonald's eating terribly and making resumes and job postings for application. It is already 10 pm. Hmmmm. Gotta be at work at 8:30 tomorrow then I am "considering" my first solo road trip. I would like to visit Nashville or Memphis, but is a 2 night stay really worth it? Yes, if I have fun and don't go broke. I know God will go with me. He always does.
I did not work out today. The bottom of my heels hurt. Am I getting plantar fasciaitis? I hope not. I think I just really need new shoes. Uuugh.
I started the day at McDonald's eating terribly and making resumes and job postings for application. It is already 10 pm. Hmmmm. Gotta be at work at 8:30 tomorrow then I am "considering" my first solo road trip. I would like to visit Nashville or Memphis, but is a 2 night stay really worth it? Yes, if I have fun and don't go broke. I know God will go with me. He always does.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Just one
My mom sent me this quote from Edward Everett Hale
"I am only one
But I am one
I cannot do everything
But I can do something
And I will not let what I cannot do
interfere with what
I can do."
Because I am one.
Today was a little less productive than I hoped, but I was so happy to see about 8 of my former students show up at McDonalds in Festus Missouri while I was working on the internet. Freddie S., Jordan A, Josie R., Gabby, Reagan A., and Nathan C, were all there. So awesome! I was really happy to see them and see their smiles.
I did work out first thing today and it felt really good! I loved it. 30 minutes on the elliptical machine plus 10 minutes or so working on my arms and abs with the weight machines. When I finished I talked to John C. for a while and also saw Gretchen D. Jessica S. and Karen also greeted me like always very supportively and with enthusiasm.
After my work out I headed back to my apartment to find Bud waiting outside for his wife to finish work for Brad and Phyllis. Bud and I talked for a long time about faith, work, and people. It was great. I am so blessed and I know God loves me. Every day I am encouraged by the smiles of others.
So anyway, as I sit here in the cold updating everything except my applications and resumes, I am reminded that I am just one and I shouldn't take on so many things. I need to focus on the important things...getting a job and getting healthy. These should be my priorities.
"I am only one
But I am one
I cannot do everything
But I can do something
And I will not let what I cannot do
interfere with what
I can do."
Because I am one.
Today was a little less productive than I hoped, but I was so happy to see about 8 of my former students show up at McDonalds in Festus Missouri while I was working on the internet. Freddie S., Jordan A, Josie R., Gabby, Reagan A., and Nathan C, were all there. So awesome! I was really happy to see them and see their smiles.
I did work out first thing today and it felt really good! I loved it. 30 minutes on the elliptical machine plus 10 minutes or so working on my arms and abs with the weight machines. When I finished I talked to John C. for a while and also saw Gretchen D. Jessica S. and Karen also greeted me like always very supportively and with enthusiasm.
After my work out I headed back to my apartment to find Bud waiting outside for his wife to finish work for Brad and Phyllis. Bud and I talked for a long time about faith, work, and people. It was great. I am so blessed and I know God loves me. Every day I am encouraged by the smiles of others.
So anyway, as I sit here in the cold updating everything except my applications and resumes, I am reminded that I am just one and I shouldn't take on so many things. I need to focus on the important things...getting a job and getting healthy. These should be my priorities.
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