RootsRain

My blog is slowing, it seems. Or maybe it’s just that every time I post I realize it’s been about 2 weeks since my last one. (“Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. It’s been 2 weeks since my last confession.”)

One reason I haven’t posted very much is because I’ve been reading a lot more. I’ve finished 7 books so far this month and I’ve started several more (I’m almost getting as good as Alison). One of the most interesting developments is that I read through Robert Kiyosaki’s best-seller Rich Dad, Poor Dad, where Kiyosaki describes his exerience being brought up by a poor dad, then a rich dad. The book is very good, but one of the most interesting points I picked up was that Kiyosaki said he was determined to “groom himself” for becoming rich, which meant he would need to be able to lead, to be decisive, to communicate, to learn to conquer his fears, to be self-disciplined, etc. And he was an admittedly shy person. So he went to work for Xerox because they had the best sales training program around. Sales, he said, is the best field you can go into if you want to learn how to communicate effectively and articulately; if you want to learn to overcome your nerves and fear of rejection; if you want to learn how to really listen to people. Now I (and Kiyosaki, admittedly) have always hated salespeople because I feel so imposed upon when they’re around. I’m a hunter. Give me the internet and an hour and I’ll beat any salesman’s deal. But Kiyosaki’s point is a complete revelation to me: if you want to learn to communicate verbally, to overcome fears of rejection, your fears of talking to new people, etc., then train to be a salesman. What a concept. The enemy has grindstones that my sword needs.

So I’ve already gone down to the library and picked up a book by Zig Ziglar on selling. It’s not that I’m insecure. Of course… okay, fine. I am. Walking up to unknown people and striking up a conversation is about the most difficult thing I can think of doing. Public speaking is much easier. Shoot, death sounds easier. Whenever I find myself thinking I’ll go talk to that visitor in church, my brain immediately short circuits and I go to reserve brain power. In wine, “reserve” means the extra good stuff. But, in my brain, “reserve” means “shut down everything but the panic cortex and the drool gland.” This also happens often when I have to make a decision under stress, as when I attempted to ask Emily out in grad school (“I was wondering if you’d like to go the—I mean, go with to the—I mean, the coming up—coming—up coming—next—go to the up coming next—the next—the… the..” SHUT DOWN ALL VITAL PROCESSES. ACTIVATE PANIC AND DROOL. Thankfully Emily has uncanny ESP powers and was just waiting for me to shut up so she could say Yes.

In any case, I’ve actually gotten excited about reading a book on selling, so I figured that in itself was enough earth-shaking news in my life to merit a blog post.

But bear with me. I’ve only just started reading it. If you see me staring at you with a vague, panicked look and drool forming at the corners of my mouth, be so good as to say “Hi”. You might save my life.

Ever since Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World came out, I’ve been interested in Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey–Stephen Maturin series. Even more so since I found out the Gwinnett County library here has the entire series on audiobook, read by Patrick Tull, an amazing British stage actor and voice talent. I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks recently, so I’m hearing first-hand the difference between a good voice talent and a great one. And Patrick Tull was a great one. I am deeply thankful that I get to spend 2 hours a day listening to his superb rendition of the Aubrey–Maturin novels during my commute.

Here’s a taste of what my commute sounds like. In the first clip, from Desolation Island, Jack’s ship, the Leopard is trying desperately to outrun the Dutch man-of-war, the Waakzaamheid, which far outguns and outmans Jack’s ship. The sea, though, is in the beginning of a rising storm, which makes chasing pell-mell through a raging sea a deadly contest. And the Waakzaamheid is gaining.

• Desolation Island

In the second clip, from The Fortune of War, U.S.S. Chesapeake has emerged from Boston harbor to attack H.M.S. Shannon, commanded by Philip Broke. Jack and Stephen have escaped from captivity in America onto the Shannon and American and French intelligence agents want them dead at any cost. Jack takes station as a commander of the guns on the Shannon as the Chesapeake, the larger ship with more men and heavier guns, opens up with a full broadside.

• Fortune of War

There is so much to love about these books (especially when read by Patrick Tull). O’Brian really is a master of 19th Century life, especially in the Royal Navy. But his learning, his research, and his believability are all first-rate (it was often said of him that he knew more about the 19th C. than his own century). O’Brian was a deep lover of Jane Austen’s novels and it shows in his brilliant reparté between Jack and Stephen. This is an element that seems to be missing to a great deal in the movie version (which is actually a cobbling of several Aubrey–Maturin books into one film). Also missing is the fact that Stephen is a secret agent for the British and several novels feature his intrigues more than Jack’s sailing. There is also a frustratingly realistic love story that’s woven in an out of the novels (how far it goes I do not know… I’m only on number 7 out of 20). But each novel (so far) is so wonderfully different from the ones before it that I have a hard time believing that a human being wrote them. They seem so engrossingly real down to the last detail and the fresh and interesting locations and plot lines. I highly recommend reading (or listening, if your library has the Patrick Tull set) to the whole series, although there is some profanity (these are sailors, after all), and some crude talk on occasion (although the moral tone is normally against it).

And if you have a long commute, you will never spend a better hour in traffic.