The Barkley Marathons

I think most people would be better off with more pain in their lives, honestly. I think that, if nothing else, they would appreciate the pain-free times more. But I think also there’s this self-induced aspect of, you’ve struggled, you’ve overcome, you’ve gotten through, then you’re confident and you both enjoy the rest of your life more, but also you feel like you can do things and you take on challenges that you wouldn’t otherwise try, and you get to points that you wouldn’t otherwise reach.

– Julian Jamison from The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats Its Young

I recently watched a documentary about the infamous Barkley Marathon.

Since I first heard about the race a few years ago, I’ve thought it was kind of ridiculous, but I really enjoyed the documentary. I still have no desire to ever participate in the race, but I have a newfound respect for the participants.

It’s currently streaming on Netflix or you can rent it from Apple for 99 cents.

President Obama and Marilynne Robinson

Last year President Obama had an interesting conversation with writer Marilynne Robinson that was published in the New York Review of Books (Part 1, Part 2)

I’ve learned I think I’ve learned from novels. It has to do with empathy. It has to do with being comfortable with the notion that the world is complicated and full of grays, but there’s still truth there to be found, and that you have to strive for that and work for that. And the notion that it’s possible to connect with some[one] else even though they’re very different from you.

– President Barack Obama

Kids and screen time

In my home I have come to realise that TV watching increases as my level of involvement decreases. That isn’t easy for me to admit, but there you have it. My uncomfortable truth.

– Forage and Forge

Knowledge is not to be forced on anyone

Knowledge…needs to be pulled into the brain by the student, not pushed into it by the teacher.  Knowledge is not to be forced on anyone. The brain has to be receptive, malleable, and most important, hungry for that knowledge.

– Monty Roberts from The Man Who Listens to Horses

via Happiness is Here

 

Football Night in America

This is the beginning of the end for American Football.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that the league does not think it has lost viewers despite a 10 percent drop in television ratings this season.

I enjoy a lot of things about football, but the medical dangers, along with generational changes, will lead to declining interest in football.

Obligatory Reading

I’m stealing this Jorge Luis Borges quote from Austin Kleon because it aligns with the way my reading has evolved over the years—I no longer feel guilty putting down books that I don’t have a connection with.

I believe that the phrase ‘obligatory reading’ is a contradiction in terms; reading should not be obligatory… If a book bores you, leave it; don’t read it because it is famous, don’t read it because it is modern, don’t read a book because it is old…. If a book is tedious to you, don’t read it; that book was not written for you. Reading should be a form of happiness, so I would advise all possible readers of my last will and testament—which I do not plan to write—I would advise them to read a lot, and not to get intimidated by writer’s reputations, to continue to look for personal happiness, personal enjoyment. It is the only way to read.