Enjoy the Little Things

I believe that you must enjoy the little things. It may seem like one of the easiest things to do, but it is so easy to get caught up in the fast track of life and forget that some of your greatest memories are among the simplest. These simple moments or experiences are those that when you look back, you will realize that they mean the most to you. Small in size, but monumental in meaning. There are so many moments of my life where, at the time, they seemed insignificant. Most of these were from my year spent in Hungary. During my final month before I came home, I felt as if I hadn't done anything my entire year. I hadn't seen all of the historical landmarks, or gone to as many countries as my friends had gone to, but I realized that what I had done, I had loved and I now cherish those memories most of all. My favorite memory is probably one of the simplest and I wasn't even doing anything special. That little memory is one of my best. Stop to smell the roses, watch the sunset, eat your favorite food, and do anything you want, because for all we know, you might not see tomorrow. Enjoy the little things.

Live in the Moment

I believe that life needs to be lived in the moment, we need to live without past regrets or future preoccupations. By living in the now we experience so much more, we are tuned in to whats going on around us, life would be so much more vibrant. Why should we waste the one life we have not living in the moment. I feel that many people spend too much time thinking about living, planning how to live, not actually living. Life is too important an experience to waste.

SEX

This I believe....:Sex is Nature’s Best Medicine

Josephine Katlyn Bush

I believe that the best of all characteristics shines through when partaking in intercourse. The human body is comprised of full and utter beauty, complex emotions and countless provoking thoughts; yet the one thing that connects everyone of us is sex. It is the common trait in which a human can fully come clean, where no spoken words are needed, and more accurately we portray our thoughts through moans, gestures, ‘o-faces,’ sweat, all in which is often times real loving which is formed with a true connection with another individual in which your sexual role completes a full and devoted emotion.

Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things Review

We are all aware of the idea of global warming, and that we need to be more environmentally friendly. Though many of us don’t like to agree with the idea, or admit to it, the fact of the matter is, our world is changing and we need to make some changes.

In Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough (an architect) and Michael Braungart (chemist) take this idea of change to a whole new level. Those who are aware of what’s going on have come up with methods of change, new ways to do things in a more Earth friendly way. According to McDonough and Braungart; however, these efforts have not been used effectively. The brilliant authors of this book take all of the common endeavors previously taken to save the world and find all of the negative aspects of them. Now, I’m not saying this book is overall negative. After you finish reading it, you’re not ready to commit suicide because you are so upset with what has become of the Earth. Cradle to Cradle is more of an eye opener. It is realistically motivating.

Let’s take the idea of recycling, as an example of one of these failed efforts. It’s a novel concept; however, not very effective. In the process of recycling and safely-or so we think- reusing materials from one product to create another, we are actually doing what McDonough and Braungart like to call “downcycling.” In the downcycling process, the value of materials is dissipated, and the harm is increased. Combining various types of metals and dyes into a new product can be more harmful than just throwing the original product into a landfill. Who would have thought?

So if we cannot reuse things, what is the solution? Well if you take a look at the subtitle of the book, you will figure it out. Remaking the Way We Make Things. Up until now, all of our products and manufactured goods have been built on a cradle-to-grave system, meaning a product is made, someone buys it, uses it, then throws it away. It is nothing but waste. Everything needs to be made on a cradle-to-cradle system, and use the concept “waste equals food.” What this means is that products have no end, no waste, just like nature. We should be able to throw our empty food containers on the ground and allow them to serve as food for another organism. Everything needs to be made to continue in an earthly circle.

I think Cradle to Cradle is a must-read for everyone, those who care about the environment at least. It’s filled with information and real-life examples, which help make these different alternatives actually make sense. I would say the only flaw is some of the information used. Because of the fact that it is written by professionals, parts of the book are hard to follow. If you can set aside a couple of days, and possibly take some notes while you read; however, you will be able to piece everything together, and it is all worth knowing about.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Naomi Major

Book Review: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Aron Ralston writes a fabulous book about his accident in Blue John Canyon. The brave 

mountaineer takes us through his exhilarating experience in his autobiography Between A Rock And A Hard Place. His story became renowned world-wide in May of 2003.

Aron had been planning on going on an adventure full of biking, hiking and canyoneering in remote Moab, Utah. He was expecting an 8 hour trip, and he had been in this area many times before doing the same things. But he had made one mistake by not telling anyone where he was going and for how long. And that was okay until his arm was trapped beneath an 800 pond boulder. He was climbing down in a slot canyon. He had just stepped off of a huge boulder and, when he turned to get down, the boulder came down also. It bounced off his left arm and then made a final resting spot between Aron’s right arm and the two canyon walls.

Aron remained stuck in the desert canyon near Moab, Utah for five days with very limited supplies.  All he had with him were, “two small bean burritos, about five hundred calories total. In the outside mesh pouch, I have my CD player, CDs, extra AA batteries, mini video camcorder. My multi-use tool and three-LED headlamp are also in the pouch (pg. 28).” And only twenty-two ounces of water left.

It had been twenty-four hours and his arm was pretty well gone and there was very slim chance that he would get it back if he did get out. At this point he decided to film himself just in case he doesn’t make it out alive and therefore someone can watch the tape and learn about what happened.

He takes us through his entire story of survival. From first meeting the girls, to getting his hand stuck between the boulder and the canyon wall, to cutting off his own arm, and finally escaping the deadly canyon with blood still dripping through his tourniquet.

It all started in 1987 when he moved to Colorado with his family from Ohio and acquired a love for the outdoors. In 2002, Aron, a 27 year old mechanical engineer knew life had more to it than a cubicle at Intel. So he quit his job and started a life of adventure. He moved from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico to start a new life in Aspen, Colorado which is the epicenter for his addiction to the outdoors.

This book switches off between being stuck in Blue John Canyon and previous adventures and stories. Including, his near death experience of drowning in the Colorado River, being chased by a bear, and his dream to solo every Colorado fourteener in the winter. His book is very detailed and he makes you feel worried for him in some situations. But more than that you are asking yourself how he could get himself into situations like that.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place takes us through his life of hard times, good times, accidents, and successes. His story is truly inspiring. Time is well spent by reading this book.

The Hot Zone Review

Richard Peterson’s The Hot Zone is a non-fiction bio-thriller that was first published in 1994. This book is mainly about the occurrence of Ebola, a deadly infectious disease with no vaccine or treatment. Peterson tells the story of the disease and different individuals that have the disease. The first half of the book is mainly based on the first outbreak, which happened in 1976 in N’zara, a town in southern Sudan; it shows individuals involved in the initial Ebola outbreaks. These stories are extremely vivid and descriptive, which made it very captivating. The story tells how the disease is carried from place to place, from a remote African cave filled with Ebola, to an airplane over Africa that is carrying a sick passenger who dissolves into a human virus bomb, and then to the confines of a Biosafety Level 4 military lab. This is where scientists risk their lives studying lethal substances that could kill them quickly and horribly. The Hot Zone describes situations that a few years ago would have been taken for science fiction; that is how gruesome and vivid this novel is.
I wasn’t too excited to read this novel at first, but once I got started it really fascinated me. It was definitely an easy read because of Peterson’s writing. The effectiveness of his style lies in his ability to pinpoint his reader’s fears and apprehensions of disease, as he describes the horrific effects on the various organs of the body on page 106. I think that is his biggest advantage is the horror of this story. There is so much fear and he continues to remind his readers how fatal and dangerous the disease is that they can’t stop reading. When Peterson starts to talk about how this virus starts to threaten the United States of America, the level of tension and anticipation increases drastically as opposed to it threatening a small village in Africa.
The Hot Zone by Richard Peterson is an excellent read. If you are looking for entertainment and thrilling non-fiction book, this is it. It tells a very real story that is devastating but mesmerizing. The stories are amazing and the facts are unreal, definitely worth your time to read.

iReview

iReview

Josephine K. Bush

Apple, Pixar, iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad all with the ever included iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto are developed truly make it focused on the customer, the consumer, the Macintosh buyers and Pixar movie watchers. Who could of done it but the self-centered, genius of Steve Jobs himself? He made our world a world of advancements. What everyone else thought was impossible he made sure his team would endeavor to push through that and show the world what the closest thing to perfection was. The biography of Steve Jobs, consequently titled: Steve Jobs, was written by the most famous and clearly outspoken Walter Isaacson who has featured biographies such as; Ben Franklin: An American Life, Einstein: His Life and the Universe, The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. Walter Isaacson does a beautiful job not just showing the amazing outcomes Steve Jobs had on society today, but also how his twisted story left many people with a disgusted taste in their mouth, many appalled and many more curious about Steve and his many hard-ass dispositions. The novel is written through the stories which comprise to complete the collection of the life of Steve Jobs in book form.

As Steve Jobs neared his death, he wanted Isaacson to portray his life and show the rest of the world that he wasn’t the picture perfect Steve that many people saw at Apple World productions or the grand presentation revealing another hot consumer product. Jobs wanted everyone to see the “end-to-end” lifestyle he lived and what made him who he was. He wouldn’t change for anyone, and the biography does exactly that, it shows Jobs as a man with many strengths but some very pressing downfalls that made him a turn-off to most of mankind.

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but you look at the Steve Jobs cover and it speaks to you. He looks at you sternly, nearly daring you to open the book up and read all about his life through Isaacson’s words, but he is also questioning you and through those glasses the sense of intelligence and quirkiness is vividly picked up on. Steve Jobs is not only the best biography that I have ever laid my hands on it is also the least sugar-coated, down to earth material that makes you feel as your inner-bluntness can shine as sharply as Jobs’ (which quite frankly isn’t hard for me to begin with but I love the honesty and straightforwardness in both Isaacson’s tone about Jobs and Jobs himself).

Although Walter Isaacson is truly a professional and a very formal one at that, his writing his informal and helps makes the reader captured. At one point he writes about the iPad and iPhone as well as the so-called apps that come hand and hand with it, and states, “its success came not just from the beauty of the hardware but from the applications, known as apps, that allowed you to indulge in all sorts of delightful activities.” The novel is based on experience and is beautifully transformed from interviews into paragraphs and there are also many direct quotes that help personify the book to an even greater degree.

For Walter Isaacson this was a new creation. His former books were about legacies who were long gone. Steve Jobs contacted Isaacson when he was approaching his death bed and at times Steve would suddenly have an outburst of life to present a new idea and lifetime worth of ideas. This was harder on the Walter as a biography writer because he was forced to contact family members, friends and acquaintances during a hard time. They all had in mind that he wrote this as a tribute to Steve’s life while his death was quickly approaching them all. Because Walter actually grew to know Steve Jobs, his biography was far more personal and attached to the legacy of Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was released soon after the death of Steve on October 5th. At 56 years old, he was a man who has been one of the biggest influences to our time and era. Today, in schools across the world, students learn in history about countless inspirational leaders, inventors and people who changed our life for what it would be. Steve Jobs changed our lives, he will forever go down in history books and the biography written by Walter Isaacson will continued to be read to help inspire more generations.