Change

The end of summer is always a period of change. I am so comfortable at home with my family, it is always hard to leave. But it is also always very exiting, none more so than this summer, where I move into my own apartment. I've never lived alone, and I'm looking forward to it with apprehension and excitement.

So, on the topic of change, there are a few notable writers who I want to look at. First up is the late Octavia Butler, from Parable of the Sower:

All that you touch
You Change.

All that you Change
Changes you.

The only lasting truth
Is Change.

God
Is Change

- - -

Any Change may bear seeds of benefit.
Seek them out.
And Change may bear seeds of harm.
Beware.
God is infinitely malleable.
God is Change.

- - -

We are Earthseed
The life that perceives itself
Changing.

- - -

Changes.
The galaxies move through space.
The stars ignite,
burn,
age,
cool,
Evolving.
God is Change.
God prevails.

- - -

And from the sequel: Parable of the Talents:

Here we are--
Energy,
Mass,
Life,
Shaping life,
Mind,
Shaping Mind,
God,
Shaping God.
Consider--
We are born
Not with purpose,
But with potential.

- - -

Chaos
Is God's most dangerous face--
Amorphous, roiling, hungry.
Shape Chaos--
Shape God.
Act.

Alter the speed
Or the direction of Change.
Vary the scope of Change.
Recombine the seeds of Change.
Transmute the impact of Change.
Seize Change.
Use it.
Adapt and Grow.

There are many more, but these ones speak of change directly. For a little background, the story is about a woman who creates what she calls Earthseed, a religion? pseudo-religion? that holds as it's central tenant the idea of change. Or, as it it stated: God is Change.

This concept of accepting change, and shaping the changes to a common goal, or personal goal, or lofty ideal stuck with me. Especially now when there is going to be so much change in my life. I have a desire to change dramatically what and how I eat (thanks Michael Pollan). I have a desire to continue my academic life in climate change science and modelling, but to also continue my desire to study films academically (i.e. this summer with Kurosawa).

The second if from Сталкер (Stalker), a Russian movie by Andrei Tarkovsky from 1979. The movie follows three people, a professor, a writer, and the stalker (think of him as tour guide) as they trespass onto a quarantined property called "the Zone" where there is some strange power at work, and supposedly a room that will grant anyone's wish. The Zone is treacherous in the most subtle ways, and their trip is slow, cautious, and long (the movie is 2.5 hours long). It comes about half-way through, when the Stalker is monologuing:

"Let everything that's been planned come true. Let them believe. And let them have a laugh at their passions. Because what they call passion actually is not some emotional energy, but just the friction between their souls and the outside world. And most important, let them believe in themselves, let them be helpless like children, because weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing. When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible, when he dies, he is hard and insensitive. When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant, but when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being. Because what has hardened will never win."

While this never hits 'change' explicitly, it deals with states with which change comes easily: Pliancy and weakness, as opposed to hardness and strength. Those that are pliant and weak have more life, more future. Those that are hard and strong are closer to death, unwilling to adapt and accept change. I think of many of the older people I know, who are so set in their ways that they simply cannot change (I have a great aunt who is racist, but she was so old that no one tried to tell her that that time has past. She had become hardened. On the other hand, my grandmother adapted pretty well to the news that one of her granddaughters was a lesbian. And when the marriange ceremony was held at our family cottage, she took it as it was. She was plaint. I was happy to hear that when she and her old lady friends went to see Brokeback Mountain, not really knowing what it was. She ended up explaining to her old lady friends that the two guys were gay, because they just couldn't accept it in their hardened old age.)

Change is hard, especially when change is tending away from a comfort zone. But change is life, and when you get down to it, would you really want nothing to change? Would you like to spend your entire life in your largest comfort zone? What about the rest of the planet? What about the experiences that define life, and make it a life worth living?

Finally, form the Dalai Lama: "Change only takes place through action. Not through prayer, or meditation, but through action."

If any one reading this has other quotes or ideas about change, please let me know.

The summer is coming to an end

I start orientation at Cornell in eight days, which begins a (hopefully) five-year (or more) period of my life. Until then, I get to wrap up, pack up, and reflect on the summer, which, like so many of my summers, are defined by the books that I read.

This summer has been very productive, as far as books go (at 3,700+ pages).

1. American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau - ed. Bill McKibben (1,047 pages)

I saw this at Barnes and Noble during my first few weeks home from Clarkson, and while it cost a lot (~$40) it looked perfect for the summer. It contains samples of environmental writing from 101 authors since Thoureau in 1837, and is a wonderful walk through of the change and growth of environmental writers, and the movement that they all in some form or another write for.

2. The Greenlanders - by Jane Smiley (584 pages)

This was given to me by Jan Wojcik and is a full immersion in the life of those living in Greenland during the 14th century. If you're at all interested in Greenland, read it. If you're looking for a great story, read it. If you have heard of Jane Smiley, read it. It's slow reading though...no chapters, hardly any breaks in the story. But man, it's worth it.

3. The Emperor and the Wolf: the Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune - by Stuart Galbraith (848 pages)

I work at home at a privately owned video store, and have access to thousands of movies. Since the job is far from full-time, I wanted to fill my time with something somewhat productive, so I decided to watch as many of Akira Kurosawa's 27 films as possible. I got through 25, all that are available on video today. The book walks through the director's life, as well as the life of his main actor (Mifune). I expect my collection of Kurosawa DVDs to grow quickly.

4. Botany of Desire - by Michael Pollan (271 pages)

Also given to me by Jan Wojcik, this is a look at human use of agriculture throug the viewpoint of apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. Like Pollan's recent book (The Omnivores Dillema, which I finished last semester), this one explores food, and how we grow, eat, and think about it in fantastic, enlightening, and often disturbing ways.

5. In Defense of Food - by Michael Pollan (244 pages)

This is Pollan's newest book, and if I had to chose one book that changed my life, this is it. I highly recommend this book to everyone. If you read thorugh his simple advice: "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." (which he expands upon in the book), I think you will change your eating habits too.

6. The Universe in a Single Atom - by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (216 pages)

This was recommended by my close friend Toni Sacco, and is an exploration of the current state of science, the limits of science, and the breathtaking wisdom and sincerity of the Dalai Lama. I am now in love with the Dalai Lama.

7. The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic-and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World - by Steven Johnson (299 pages)

I read an opinion pience in the newspaper about how beer is critical for the success of civilizations, and the author pointed to this book, which briefly mentions beer. However, the book explores the Cholera epidemic in London, and traces its source, causes, and bumbling cluelessness of humans.

8. Into the Wild - by Jon Krakauer (207 pages)

Given out with the Honors graduation package, this book follows the footsteps of John McCandless (a.k.a. Chris Johnson). There's a movie (it's good), and the story is upsetting and/or inspiring, depending on your mood and your attitude.

and I am currently in the middle of three books:

1. Cryptonomicon - by Neal Stephenson

A 1000+ page uber-novel about cryptography, war, and computer business (there are three stories in this one book), I forgot it at home so I haven't picked it up in two weeks.

2. American Gods - by Neil Gaiman

Recommended by my Californian uncle, this novel is proving to be just plain awesome.

3. What to Eat - by Marion Nestle

This book, described by Michal Pollan (whose opinion I now hold very highly) as "absolutely indispensable," Nestle explores the traps, pitfalls, and horror of the food we all take for granted, and goes very well with In Defense of Food.

I am somewhat surprised that only one of the books I finished this summer is fiction.

So I am planning to make this blog available in a few days, once I update some contact information, etc.

P.S. The blog name and quote are from the novel version of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, based on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, based on the short story The Sentinel, by Arthur C. Clarke (the last two paragraphs of chapter 39).