Connecting to information - Canto I

My relationship with information is that I am a hunter and a feeder. Like my friend, lednik, I listen to books in my car, hundreds of books of all types. It drives my wife and kids crazy. They love to listen to music, but if don't have a book, I’d just as soon ride in silence with my mind free to roam over a myriad of thoughts rather than listen to music (I also enjoy talk radio – if it I learn things). My daughter, who I love more than life itself, will rage at me for wanting to drive in silence. Generally, I lean towards books I would not ordinarily read. For example, I just listened to a Gould book on statistics and evolution – even for me that was an exception. It took me weeks to get through it, but it was worth it because now I have some understanding of why .400 hitting no longer exists in baseball and how statistics are manipulated in politics, medicine and, my other passion, investing. I just love to learn new things, which is why at the age of 49 I’m slogging to classes at Trinity and not being able to sleep class nights thinking about all that we discussed.

When I listen to novel, which is often, I listen to historical novels. They entertain and I learn about new eras with minimal effort. My favorite series is the Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian. I’ve listen to them and read them several times and will do so again, with the blessing. Ironically, the main characters live for music and could never understand my lack of passion for music.



Part of the thrill in hunting is connecting information and finding something new. I believe in understanding the historical, social and personal aspects of literature and writing. I can relate to the Formalist idea of viewing the work as a piece of art detached from the world, with specific intrinsic qualities, but I can’t see any work operating in a vacuum.

Blogging has interested me for two reasons: it allows access to new, broad, unique sources of information; and it creates a space to explore information and to express my thoughts about the information. I now have two blogs and plan on creating another in a few months. This blog is for class, but it’s also to document my thoughts and feelings. My second blog is to document my class, to connect the text to other ideas, and to explore or express my interpretation of the text. The blogs help my feeder instinct.