Reading Ray, here! We hope you enjoyed Section II of The Last Lecture as much as we did. To kick off our discussion this week, post about which was your favorite of Randy's childhood dreams and why?
Also, still no suggestions on what we should read next. Are you SURE you want to leave all the power up to Julie, Melanie and I???
Have a great weekend and Happy Reading!
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11 comments:
my favorite of his childhood dreams was "Disney Imagineer". It seems like a really cool dream. I didnt even think twice about it as a kid. I never pulled things apart mentally as a kid. I just figured Disney just existed... As an adult I of course know better and now I analyze things too much!
Before I get into talking about which of Randy's childhood memories I liked best I just wanted to say I loved how described his parent and how he won the parent lottery. His parents were smart people that knew when to put him in his place and when to foster his creativity. I like that.
I love the paintings he describes that he painted in his room. A submarine! How cool from a kids point of view.
Hmmm... the part about him talking about his childhood dreams is a little bit amazing to me. I don't really remember having such specific childhood dreams. I mean being a Princess is probably out for me. I did grow up, got married and had kids. Not the Brady Bunch or Eight is Enough that I had envisioned but I did that.
I think my favorite of Randy's is the the Encyclopedia bit. What kid thinks about stuff like that? I read our books a lot. I learned the sign language alphabet and calligraphy from our Encyclopedia. I think the types of dreams he had shows that he was pretty tuned in as a kid.
The only other dream I remember having were being a Dental Hygenist but then I had a bad experience and decided I didn't want to be in peoples mouths all day. Then while playing with my Lego's I dreamed of being an Architect. Uh- physics. Designig tall buildings and complicated floor plans probably isn't a smart thing for me to do. Maybe the Princess thing will work out. Who knows?
What are your childhood dreams?
I swear, Cheryl, you almost stole my entire post! I LOVED Randy talking about his parents and painting his room. I'd also planned on asking everyone about their childhood dreams. Great minds think alike today.
Experiencing Zero Gravity was probably my favorite of his childhood dreams though. Man, that guy did not ever give up. Do you thing Randy owned the von Oech cards?? If not, he probably would have liked them.
One of my childhood dreams was to be a country singer. Maybe not a soloist like Reba, but maybe a part of a group like Little Big Town, because it is the big harmony pieces that really get me. I begged for voice lessons when I was younger., but my parents thought piano lessons would be better for me, since I was already in every school choir that would fit in my schedule. I've never made it to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, but I had a couple of chances to sing in college and now at church. Maybe someday I'll have the chance to pass my appreciation of music along to my own kids, or at least to my nieces and nephews.
I am very happy my kids havent read about how "cool" his parents were for letting them be creative in their rooms. I would NEVER let my kids touch their walls. I remember wishing my parents would but when I got my first apartment it was worth the wait. My kids will live. His parents however were" extraordinary."
I was told there is a great book by Greg Mortenson called "Three Cups Of Tea". I have no idea when it was written but I was told it was a great story. It is an idea for the next book if you are still looking for ideas:)
Randy seems to have great memories. I think I had a wonderful childhood... but can't remember thoughts and feelings... I just remember seeing the pictures I liked of me.
I enjoyed the part about the NFL - I even had to underline this quote
"That lesson has stuck with me my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better."
At 17 I wanted to go to New York, not necessarily to be on Broadway... but I said my name was 'gonna' be in lights... and I'd spread my hands out like a marquee... and then I said... I'm gonna be the one designing the lights... ba da bing!!
Well, I'm a designer of sorts!!
Ooh! Peggy, I love that quote, too! Tough love- everyone needs to hear it sometimes.
Randy just had the best outlook on life. I wish he had been one of my professor!
Hello Everyone!
I've been more than laying low for the past while, and I apologize. In the past 3 weeks I've had to pack up my life as I've known it for the past 7 years, finish working at my first "real PT" job, say good bye to mentors who have turned into friends, live with my parents for a week, and then relocate to a small town, which I'm still in the midst of moving from a long term suites location to an apt for the next 13 weeks, and managed to actively participate in the peanut/shell game and the decathlon. **Breathe** So, now that I've sort of found myself again, I'm back :)
Peggy, that quote you posted, and that Cheryl, you commented on was by far one of my favorite of the whole book. Ok, so maybe favorite isn't the right word, but it definitely hit home for me. If there's one thing I've learned about myself over the past year, its that I really dislike constructive criticism. I really think its because I haven't learned how to take it correctly. I really appreciate the IDEA of constructive criticism, and at times, do not have too much of a problem opening my mouth and telling other people how they are doing, BUT I just can't seem to figure out how to swallow it myself. So, I think that quote really spoke to me, because I want people to care, and if caring can be portrayed by another suggesting how I might improve myself, I shouldn't be so scared of it.
I hope that makes sense.
Julie, that makes perfect sense. It's not always easy hearing something we may not want to hear but need to. I was always overly sensitive to critism and I wish someone had taught this to me earlier in life.
Well, it's still not easy but I understand it better.
I wanted to let everyone know that I'm not sure if I'll be able to participate in the conversation for the Last Lecture. I have not acquired a copy of the book yet -- mostly through lack of effort on my own part; with moving and starting a new job, I honestly feel like I have no time for anything other than unpacking & cleaning.
However, I do have a suggestion for a future book for the group to read. The book is More Than A Dream by G.R. Kearney. It is about the Cristo Rey network, a network of schools in which I am now employed. I've heard the book is very good, and I also thought it might be a nice way for me to share my new work experience with members of the HLA community.
I was reading RealSimple Magazine(I think it's from the same company as Martha Stewart) in this months issue they listed a few book club ideas from real book club members:
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
these books had more of a positive response... there we more that had profound results or were good reads but not liked by the readers.
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