191–200 of 294 posts
For me it's: quiet the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, by Haruki Murakami http://www.amazon.com/Colorless-Tsukuru-Tazaki-Years-Pilgrim... Hard to do it justice, but here is Patti Smith: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/books/review/haruki-muraka... I changed my attitude toward all of my old friends after reading this book. I started calling them more, and trying to be more in their lives. It's amazing how centering b…
I also came here to share Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki. I can't recommend it enough.
Dungeon World rulebook - http://www.dungeon-world.com/ and Vornheim city kit - http://www.lotfp.com/RPG/products/vornheim Mostly because I always wanted to run a pen&paper rpg, even though I am fairly busy, and this provided a rule-light enough framework to just do that. Especially Vornheim, that shows how to do randomize world building in under a minute :-)
I love the philosophical approach it takes to the game --a rules-light, minimal-prep collaboration between the GM and the players. One of the core principles for the GM is "Ask questions, use the answers", which is wonderful to me. In a couple different games I ran of DW, we started with just the player's character choices, and the questions I decided to ask, and got rolling from there.
For anyone interested--the rules are free on their website, and there's a thriving G+ community, "Dungeon World Tavern" (can't link it at work) with very creative people. Also, the "Indigo Galleon" adventure, from the DW website, is my favorite, and a good place to start. It was the first thing I GM'd, and I'll be running it for a third time next Wednesday.
If anyone's looking at it and has questions, let me know --I love seeing people get into this game (or pen-and-paper RPGs in general).
Ulysses by James Joyce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_%28novel%29 For most of my life, I focused on the logical, external, left-brain side of life. I saw little value in art (and even spurned it as something pretentious people did to seem more cultured). And so, I defined myself as “logical”, “left-brain”, “scientist”, etc and rejected the tags: “right-brain”, “artist”, etc. Leading up to reading Ulysses, I ha…
Looks like it's my turn to provide the cliche hipster answer: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle , by Haruku Murakami: http://www.amazon.com/The-Wind-Up-Bird-Chronicle-Novel/dp/06... If you're familiar with Murakami, it's par for the course and considered one of his pivotal novels. If you're not: surrealist, dreamlike modern fiction often centering around ideas of masculinity, post-war fallout, and urban ennui. Incredibly st…
Doesn't seem hipsterish at all to me. FWIW, I wouldn't really say that any book in 2014 changed my life, but... if I had to name my favorite book of 2014 there's a good chance that I'd pick After Dark by Murakami. It was my first Murakami and I thought it was very good. Murakami rocks.
Really good read, though a bit longish. But that could be due to the fact that I listened to an audio-book of it.
Looks like it's my turn to provide the cliche hipster answer: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle , by Haruku Murakami: http://www.amazon.com/The-Wind-Up-Bird-Chronicle-Novel/dp/06... If you're familiar with Murakami, it's par for the course and considered one of his pivotal novels. If you're not: surrealist, dreamlike modern fiction often centering around ideas of masculinity, post-war fallout, and urban ennui. Incredibly st…
Doesn't seem hipsterish at all to me. FWIW, I wouldn't really say that any book in 2014 changed my life, but... if I had to name my favorite book of 2014 there's a good chance that I'd pick After Dark by Murakami. It was my first Murakami and I thought it was very good. Murakami rocks.
The Accidental Creative and Die Empty by Todd Henry provide excellent tools and background for adding practical discipline to creative work and life in general. As of now I can't prioritize one over the other. Either or both are well worth the time invested.
Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton takes a critical look at how charitable giving and service are done by the modern church and provides a better plan distilled from decades of experience helping troubled neighborhoods in Atlanta.
The Permanent Portfolio by Rowland and Lawson preaches Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio but fills in all the implementation gaps left in Harry's rather thin original.
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. This classic on what Christians believe cuts as deep today as it did in Lewis's day.
If you have ever enjoyed reading the Lesswrong wiki or any of the readings from MIRI/SIAI, this book provides a really great summary.