Tag Archive for 'superforest book club'

SuperForest Book Club: The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki

heather published on December 5, 2010 in celebrity and zeitgeist. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Photo via goodreads

Hello SuperForest!

I’ve been slowly but surely reading this amazing book, “The Sacred Balance” by David Suzuki. Why slowly but surely? Well, to give you a sneak peek into the life of SuperForester Heather,  this is because I’m one of those people who has about 3 or 4 books on the nightstand at the same time. Anyway, so far this book is a bit science heavy in places, but overall it’s a wonderful, eye-opening and meaningful book to read about the environment. Like the book says, it is about “rediscovering our place in nature.”

For those of you not too familiar with David Suzuki, you can check out my previous posts about him here and here. He’s an extremely rad dude! Very SuperForesty.

Even though I’m only about halfway through this book, I highly recommend it to you all. A couple of quotes to get you inspired:

“There is no environment “out there” that is separate from us. We can’t manage our impact on the environment if we are our surroundings. Indigenous people are absolutely correct: we are born of the earth and constructed from the four sacred elements of earth, air, fire and water” (page 17).

“Like air and water, soil is a critical source of life that is taken into the deepest recesses of our bodies and actually made into us. Like air and water, then, soil demands great respect: what we do to it, we do to ourselves”(page 143).

Happy reading, SuperForest! I love SuperForest Book Club! Thanks to SuperForester Jonfor this idea, and to SuperForester Jesse for the first Book Club post! Let’s read together, SuperForest! On another note, I got my copy of Manual for the Peacemaker and I’m starting it tonight! Another book on the nightstand…

100 Ways to Make the World a Better Place #85: Love Life Today

april published on January 16, 2010 in zeitgeist. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

If you were told, by a reputable scientist, that the world would end tonight, how would this news change the way you lived? Also, what would you do in this final hour?

proustian_thoughts1

Marcel Proust 1871 – 1922

In 1920s Paris, there was a publication called L’Intransigeant. It featured a section which posed big questions, relating to various topics. In 1922, a rather elaborate question was formulated. The premise being that a scientist has announced the world will end and that death will be the certain fate of hundreds of millions of people. The question read: “If this prediction were confirmed, what do you think would be its effects on people between the time when they acquired the aforementioned certainty and the moment of cataclysm? Finally, as far as you’re concerned, what would you do in this last hour?”

French novelist Marcel Proust (pictured above) sent in the following reply:

I think that life would suddenly seem wonderful to us if we were threatened to die as you say. Just think of how many projects, travels, love affairs, studies it – our life – hides from us, made invisible by our laziness which, certain of a future, delays them incessantly.

But let all this threaten to become impossible forever, how beautiful it would become again! Ah! If only the cataclysm doesn’t happen this time, we won’t miss visiting the new galleries of the Louvre, throwing ourselves at the feet of Miss X, making a trip to India.

The cataclysm doesn’t happen, we don’t do any of it, because we find ourselves back in the heart of normal life, where negligence deadens desire. And yet we shouldn’t have needed the cataclysm to love life today. It would have been enough to think that we are humans, and that death may come this evening.

I fell upon this story while reading How Proust Can Change Your Life by one of my favourite authors, Alain de Botton. I think it’s a wonderful reminder to live for now, appreciate life, and chase your dreams. Proust longed for the Louvre, love and India, and died just four months after submitting this reply. I wonder what you long for.

April

Recycle This!

jordan published on October 5, 2008 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .
I don’t know if you’ve heard but these days recycling is the biggest fad sweeping the nation. It’s more awesome then POGS...

In fact, all the cool kids are doing it.  Especially the ones like me, who spent their lunch breaks and recesses reading fantasy novels in the library.  That’s right readers can recycle too!

It’s called paperbackswap and it’s a website where you exchange old, dearly loved books for crisp sparkling new ones (that have been dearly loved by someone else).  How it works?
   1) You post all your books you have to exchange, and get credit for each book.
   2) People request your books, you print out a label, and mail them off.
   3) You receive credit for each book you mail.
   4) Use credits to request and receive books of your own.  Sent to your door!
There are over 2.5 million books to choose from.  So cool.
And if you’re too cool to read these days, too tech minded, or just simply enjoy your kicks in 2 hour or less visual packages, there’s swapadvd.com as well!
It’s the sister site to paperswap and works pretty much the same way.  There’s also swapacd and swap-a-friend!  Ok… I made the last one up.  But there is swapagoat.

So are you interested in entertainment in an environmentally friendly way? I bet all those stacks of books, dvds, and cds are looking pretty good to you right now.  And the best part… it’s free.  

So go sign-up and tell ‘em Team SuperForest (superforestnyc@gmail.com ) sent you.  Then read-swap-and repeat as needed.  
Always merry and bright,
-jordan

The Superforest Book Club

jordan published on September 24, 2008 in Uncategorized. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Speaking of books and Kinship with all life…

This novel is essentially a running dialogue between a (yes, I’m saying this correctly) telepathic gorilla, and an Average Joe Schmoe. If you can get past that odd premise (and it took me a minute to do so), you’ll find yourself thrust into an engaging, challenging discourse on the evolution and mythology of mankind and the resultant course we’ve set for ourselves and our planet.

As silly as it sounds, it’s surprisingly refreshing to find yourself put on the spot by a 600 lb gorilla, even if he is fictional.

This book was certainly a mind-opener for me, and for several of the high school students I taught. Even those who disliked seem affected (or at least engaged) by the resulting lively debates. Now I invite you to buy it, read it, and discuss amongst yourself (or here in the comment boards on Superforest!)

Find it here at Amazon. And enjoy!

Always merry and bright!
-jordan