Novel Wisdom: Saban & Stoker

This post is apart of a series where I discuss quotes from books.

Tomorrow is Halloween and Nick Saban’s birthday. In past editions of Novel Wisdom I provided quotes from authors in pairs. They have ranged from C. S. Lewis and Donald Miller to David Anthony Durkham and Jack London. In honor of the day I thought I would provide a quote from one of the scariest books I’ve read and one from the man who is the king of college football today.

1904 Edition via

If you haven’t read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, you should. Even though the book was written in 1897, it’s still good. It’s compelling, thrilling, and extremely well-written. The book’s unique style of journal entries, letters, and character narratives keep the work feeling fresh. Like most classics, there’s a reason this one has been around for a long time.

“The world seems full of good men, even if there are monsters in it.”

For those not familiar with college football, the entire season is about one thing-raising the crystal trophy at the end. One man has done it more than most anyone else. In his book, How Good Do You Want To Be? Saban discusses his personal life and how decisions he made and habits he formed lead to his success. It’s sound advice that goes beyond the football field.  

“It doesn’t matter what your endeavor—salesperson, teacher, athlete—you must take advantage of the gifts you were given and make the decision to succeed. Keep in mind that many people with gifts and skills don’t make it to the top. Champions are rare. Everybody has some chance, some opportunity to change and improve, but not everybody takes advantage. Be somebody who does.”

I think the two quotes here are remarkably similar, despite the vast differences they have at first glance. They were written literally over one hundred years apart. One from an author of classic literature, the other from a college football coach. Stoker was from 18th century Dublin. Saban is from 1950’s West Virginia. But given the things that separate them, their quotes compliment each other well. In incredibly different ways the encourage the reader and ask them to do be someone of integrity. At least that was my take from it. If you have any thoughts on the quotes or the authors leave a comment below. I hope you have a great Halloween.

Something to Watch

There’s tons of things to watch on the internet. Instagram. Vine. Cats doing everything. But maybe we are missing something. I think we tend to approach the internet the same way we do TV. We follow our routine and check out favorite spots. Facebook, Twitter, email, maybe some news, online shopping, then repeat. We spend hours every week trying to find the bottom of social network feeds, when we really could invest that time, rather than just spend it.

One great way is online sermons. I know. This sounds as exciting as books on tape, but there really is some good stuff there. As an example, check out the video below. It’s a promo for an upcoming series at Daystar Church. And who’s that in the video….none other than yours truly!

Login to Facebook to see the video. Like my page while you’re logged in.

If you watched the video you should see that this stuff doesn’t have to be boring. There are great ways to find sermons right for you. Check out iTunes podcasts. Google a topic. Visit the website of an organization you like and see what they offer. The thing is do add it into your routine. Whatever your faith may be, this is a great way to go a little deeper with it. Make it a habit and it won’t take long for you to realize that you don’t have to surf through channels to find something to watch.

If you liked the video, follow along with the current series here.

Mid-week Review: Salinger

This post is apart of a series of reviews that will appear on Wednesdays

I have already reviewed books and products during this series so movies seemed like the next logical step. I decided to go with a recently released documentary I’ve been following.

Most notable authors have a name that surpasses the fame of any single work they created. Hemingway, Steinbeck, Tolkien, King, Grisham, all wrote books that were read by millions and the majority of their readers could tell just as much about the author as they could the books. That was never the case with J. D. Salinger. And it was no coincidence. Salinger wanted only his work to speak for him, and until recently he had succeeded.

Released on September 6th, 2013, Salinger is a documentary, written and directed by Shane Salerno, about the reclusive life of J. D. Salinger, author of the American classic, The Catcher in the Rye. If you haven’t read this book, stop reading this and go here. The documentary covers the life of Salinger while revolving around his greatest work. In interviews with over 150 people including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Martin Sheen, Gore Vidal, Edward Norton and several people close to Salinger, the book and its impact on the American culture are discussed. It also reveals how it affected the author’s life directly. It shows just how much of himself he poured into his work and how its success affected his personal relationships.

I admit that I didn’t know much about Salinger before watching this film. I had read Catcher because I saw it on everyone’s top reading lists. After reading it I believe it deserves to be there. This documentary is a extremely well done. The imagery coincides perfectly with the commentary and when it is all done you really feel like you’ve witnessed something no one else has seen before or will see again. The anticipation for this project has been growing as it originally began production five years ago. Extreme measures were taken to keep the work secret.  The film’s writer and director said this,

“In the final analysis, what distinguishes our film and book project is access—access to Salinger’s friends, colleagues and members of his inner circle that have never spoken on the record before as well as film footage, photographs and other material that has never been seen…We take the viewer and reader inside J. D. Salinger’s private world and shine light on a man named Jerry who lived in the shadow of the myth of J. D. Salinger”.

It is a great documentary and I encourage you to check it out. Despite its recent release of only a month ago it is already on Netflix. If you don’t have Netflix, get it. It’s worth the money. More people are suddenly beginning to realize this.  If you’ve seen the film or read the classic leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

 

Chalk It Up To Experience

In a previous post I did a little project that involved some chalk painting. I didn’t do the painting there, my wife did, but since then I’ve more than made up for that. So in this post I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to lately.

If you haven’t heard of chalk paint yet you need only to do a quick search on Pinterest to see how this trend is sweeping through the minds of young woman across North America. Nearly every one has a board full of projects they are just waiting to tackle, if they haven’t already started.  A quick project I did was to make a custom coat rack.

First I cut a piece of wood to size. Then covered with some white chalk paint and gave it some distressing. I did some measuring and added in prongs from a portrait hanging kit. Drilled some holes, added the knobs, then put it in place. My wife bought a few knobs and I used some I had off a previous project.

There are a ton of even easier ways to use this stuff. Find a throwback wood piece from a yard sale  or an antique hand-me-down. Then pick a color and go to town. It sounds too easy and it pretty much is. Here’s some other items I’ve done.

Before & After coffee table

After

And a pair of matching end tables. Some spray painting the handles helped to dress it up.

A hope chest – handed down and painted. Still getting hardware.

Before & After record player. I picked this up at a thrift store for a few bucks.

Before & After

There’s a few projects I’ve done and I’m sure there’s more to come. It’s a cheap, easy way to dress up some things around your house. And I’m all about cheap. I’m sure I’ll post any others I do on here because let’s be honest, these kind of posts are pretty easy to make. Thanks for following along.

If you enjoyed this article you may also like:

• How to Make Your Lady Happy: DIY Decor
• Essentials for Every Toolbox
• “Dude, Are You on Pinterest?”

Shutdown

For those that know me personally know I have the privilege of working for the United States federal government. My day job is spent working for what I have always felt to be the greatest nation in the world and that opinion hasn’t changed. The government shutdown affects me directly. I did my small part and wrote a letter to my president. Here’s an excerpt:

 I have been deemed an essential employee and am required to continue my one and a half hour commute each day, and work for the public, while not knowing when I will be compensated…Despite the opinions of parties regarding the Affordable Care Act, there should be no debate that civil servants are not to blame for this current debacle. I’m asking that you reach an agreement swiftly and pass legislation that will ensure the continued compensation for government employees. That they be paid without interruption for the work we have continued to do. Unlike elected officials, we have no websites to receive the disdain many Americans have for the government shutdown. We are front line representatives. Each day we are forced to answer for the decisions others have made that directly change the lives of thousands. And now, those of us that have been told to continue coming to work without pay, are forced to give the best possible service with our hands tied behind our backs and only a cold, preformed script to read in the absence of responsive and reliable service. And yet despite this, you still have employees that continue to do their best each and every day, again without knowing when pay will arrive, while politicians banter back and forth. Please reach a resolution for the sake of the public and the workforce of civil servants that wish to do nothing more than serve.”

I don’t know what political party my readers side with but I hope you understand the perdicament of government employees. If you have questions, comments, or thoughts, feel free to leave them below. Thank you.

Manly Pages: Covers

A series where I’ll provide book recommendations specifically for men.

Despite the well known saying, we all judge a book by it’s cover. I’ve talked about it here before. Whether I’m looking online or browsing the isles of a bookstore, covers help me decide what I’m going to read. If it’s yellow and red and says Eat, Pray, Love I’m passing that one up. But if it has a wheat field on fire and says Cities of the Plain I’m reading the back flap.

So here’s a few covers that caught my eye. They each have a masculine feel and made me think of this series. There may be several different covers available for the books below, but these are the ones I prefer.

1. Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West – Desert tracks leading to a lonely covered wagon creates imagery that comes close to matching the mystery of this epic novel. (artwork by Richard Adelson)
2. Casino Royale – Is there anything that symbolizes the classy work of a spy like a poker chip? This book is the reason why the two go together. (via Thomas & Mercer)
3. Hatchet  – With just a few images you know immediately this book is going to be good. A boy, a wolf, a hatchet, and endless wilderness are elements that would cause any man to grab this one off the shelf. (via Aladdin Paperbacks)
4. A Painted House – While the scene is simple, the tones of it are not. Only showing the portion of what appears to be a very plain house creates a feeling that there’s more to this situation that can be seen at first glance. Combine that with the name of this prolific author and it is sure to grab attention. (cover by Patti Ratchford & Shasti O’Leary)
5. The Pearl – The beach, a man concealing his treasure, and a knife in the sand automatically gets the mind creating all sorts of plots. Not to mention how slim this book really is make it one that will attract the eye of any guy looking for something to read. (artwork via Penguin)
6. Woe to Live On – This is the only book on the list that I haven’t read, but it’s on my list for a reason, the cover. I’ve read works from this author before so when he comes out with a book that reminds me of the classic scene from Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid it was only a matter of time before I checked it out.

These all appear to be great books and that’s what a good cover is supposed to do. The images here looked like they were aiming to be read by a guy. Because of that they may be destined to live next to a toilet bowl for a few weeks.