Posted by Ryan
April 18, 2009
I’ve now been reading, or walking and listening (to an audiobook), in Central Park for hours and hours. I’m writing this on my iPhone. Isn’t technology grand?
And yet, at the same time, it isn’t grand.
One of the books I’ve been reading is called The Power of Less by Leo Babauta. The book was gifted to me by a very good friend. I don’t intend to review the book, as I haven’t finished it, and because others are much better at book reviews than I am; however, the book is perfect in its timing, or rather, my decision to read it at this particular time was perfect, though I certainly don’t intend to suggest I am anything close to perfection, nor are my decisions.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about doing less. Don’t get me wrong, I have no intention of being less productive–this isn’t about being lazy–rather, it’s about accomplishing more with less, however trite that may sound.
Anyway, I’m at a park, enjoying a beautiful sunset, reading.
More about less I’m a future post.
Posted by Ryan
April 18, 2009
Five and a half, really, but five sounded better for a title.
My alarm sounded at 1:30 AM. An hour and a half wasn’t enough sleep, that was obvious, but I figured I would do better with at least a little sleep. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week I woke up at 4 AM, hoping it would prepare me for today. Perhaps it did, but not enough. I reset my alarm for 1:40. When that went off I reset it to 1:50, and 10 minutes later to 2:00. That was it, I had slept as much as I was able. Now was the moment.
I knew that if I sat down on the couch I would be tempted to lay down, then to get a blanket, eventually leading to the demise of my plan to read for 24 hours straight. Several times this week, however, I stayed awake at 4 AM by listening to audiobooks (Ender’s Shadow and then Mistborn: The Final Empire). I even laid on the couch while listening. The books were interesting enough to keep me awake, despite wanting, desperately, to sleep. I knew that it would be harder with less sleep. But knowledge does not always translate into action. Can you really know if you don’t do what you know?
If you didn’t catch the hint already, I fell asleep. I think I lasted about 20 minutes on the couch before I drifted off. I was awakened at 4 AM by my roommate’s return from a dance and made a half-hearted attempt to stay awake, but once again drifted off into the world of make-believe, or rather, a world of make-believe, for there are many. Sleep is one such world, reading is another. I find it fitting that at least I was in one of these worlds instead of, say, scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush, though that might have kept me awake.
It’s now almost 9 AM. Since awaking on the couch I’ve been listening to Mistborn. I will now commence reading a real book, perhaps The Alchemist? I’m not sure after that. The Power of Less? Lord of the Rings? A Narnia book in Spanish? High Performance MySQL? No, most definitely not that.
I will read until 2 AM, longer if I can. I’ll be posting updates on here and twitter throughout the day.
Posted by Ryan
March 30, 2009
I have signed up for Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.
This means that, as the “24 hour” part of the read-a-thon’s name implies, I will read for a solid 24 hour period starting at 2 AM EST on April 18th, 2009 and end at 2 AM the following morning (that’s how a 24 hour period of time works).
Yes, I expect to stop reading for those pesky survival habits like eating and using the restroom; however, I have no intention of letting a single moment pass without the words of some book or another stimulating my brain. This will be accomplished through audiobooks. I will read until it’s not possible to read, at which point I will switch to an audiobook and carry on until I can read again. This way I can start out reading at home, walk to Central Park or something, and resume reading there.
I can’t wait!
Any suggestions for books?
