Strange Complaints

One of the things I love about our local library - about any library, really - is the fact that if they don’t have a book you wish to read you can request it, and they will try to get it for you. As a teenager growing up in Louisiana, I may have taken advantage of that and slowly requested my way through the complete works of Harlan Ellison. 

It took years, but those ladies found a way.

While our local library does not have the resources as the ones of my youth, I’m just as grateful when a requested book arrives, as I was back then. Granted, as a Board Member maybe they’re just humoring me in much the same way as those librarians humored me when I was still a (very) awkward teenager.

Hmm.

Regardless, what I wanted to write about was that I’ve realized that if I am requesting these books in hope that someone else might enjoy them then it might be worthwhile to mention them. Stands to reason, right?

The two books I wanted to mention were the last two I requested. “The Game” by Peter King and “Dreams of a White Snow Lions: The Remarkable Life, Vision and Deeds of the Dalai Lama” by Sherab Dhargye (translated by Mariateresa Bianca) - both excellent if wildly different.

Peter King’s book is a celebration of the stories he’s worked on as an journalist over the past 40 years covering the NFL. As someone who grew up loving football as a kid in south Louisiana (Go Saints!), it was a fascinating look behind the scenes as the NFL went through the growing pains that eventually took it to being the juggernaut of sports that it currently is.

It deepened my love and respect for the game.

The biography of the Dalai Lama was something I requested simply as I wished to know more about the man himself, and not just the man as mystical continuation of a holy path of enlightenment and reincarnation. And, while the book seems dense and perhaps a challenging read, it’s also a rewarding read. Along with all of the baggage that might come from being the literal symbol of a people and lost country, the Dalai Lama turns out to be deeply human and concerned for not only his people but also that he lives as humbly and in the moment as possible so that when his time here is done and his mantle is taken up by a new Dalai Lama that he will have helped forge at least one step upon the collective journey.

It, well, it made me realize that we can all aspire to be the best version of ourselves that we can and that it is NEVER too late in life to try to achieve that. 

Anyways, now I think I’ll go contemplate what to request next.

Until later…