Reading, writing, and watching...
Three entries in one day! Wow, no wonder it is cool
and overcast in Pretoria (which is a welcome relief to the 30+ degree Celsius
weather that we have been having over the last few
days)
I thought I would drop a quick
note to let you know what I've been reading, writing, and
watching.
Firstly,
reading.
Of course I have been reading a great deal for my Doctorate. That reading has
concentrated mainly on the works of Ken Wilber, Alaine Touraine and Maurice
Merleau-Ponty. The two books, out of the many that have been read or scanned,
that are truly worthwhile
are:
Ramachandran,
VS. 2004. A brief tour of human
consciousness. New York. PI
Press.
Wilber,
K. 2004. The simple feeling of being:
Embracing your true nature. Boston.
Shambala.
With regards to my Doctoral
studies, I am hoping to be able to complete my Thesis this year! Do please pray
that I will have the time, energy, and necessary skill to do
so.
Then, since the end of last year, I
have read a number of other fun and interesting books. I won't give the full
references here. You're welcome to mail me if you would like to get the full
references.
I have read a number of Dan
Brown's highly entertaining and engaging novels
(The da Vinci code, Angels and Demons,
Digital fortress). It started with someone
asking my opinion on Brown's research for the da Vinci code. I read it and
found it very interesting, although, it is not without some considerable faults.
I will post an article on this book in my next post. The rest were just
entertaining bedtime reading.
Next, I
have been enjoying Sue Townsend's
Adrian Mole and the weapons of mass
destruction. I truly enjoyed reading all
about Adrian Mole in the earlier Secret
diaries of Adrian Mole... This piece of comic
genius was just as entertaining and
fun!
Most recently, I have been reading
Bill Bryson's incredible A short
history of nearly everything. Bryson writes
with wit and insight that is so engaging that the subject matter comes to life!
This book is well worth reading. I received it from my dear friend George
Marchinkowski as a combined birthday and ordination anniversary
present.
On the South African side I
have been reading Dawid van Lill's book
van Lill's South Africa
miscellany. It panders to my taste for
acquiring little known, and unusable, facts about just about everything South
Africa (town names, best wines, Rugby scores, recipes.... you name it, if it is
obscure and interesting, it is bound to be in this little
book)!
Now, on to
writing.
Well, there is of course the ongoing work on my Doctoral Thesis... That is
going along at a fairly steady pace. I am working on another chapter focussing
mainly on the work of Ken Wilber - in particular his integrative
theory.
I am also writing a chapter for
a book that my colleague Wessel Bentley and I are working on. Among the
contributors to the book are Rev's Mvume Dandala, Stanley Magoba, Peter Grassow,
Gcobani Vika, and then of course Wessel and I. We hope to have the book ready
by SYNOD (May) this year. However, it will definitely be ready by this year's
annual MCSA Conference.
I have also had
the privilege of writing a section for a book on Kilnerton College by Dr Joan
Millard. I am so excited about both of these publications! So, watch this
space for more on the above publications.
In terms of what I have been
watching.
The only truly notable movie I have seen in recent months is the incredible
South Africa film
Yesterday
staring Leleti Khumalo. I can honestly say that it is one of the most moving
and artfully crafted films I have every had the privilege to see. It deals
with the life and struggles of a rural South African mother who is HIV +. It is
a must see!
It's all been said above!
Posted: Sun - February 6, 2005 at 09:25 AM