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Well, I’m on a plane enroute from Indianapolis to Houston, then on to Austin. Over five hours behind schedule due to mechanical problems. Any hope of writing a nice book review for you were dashed some time ago. So let me instead propose some things for you to do. Things to diversify your view of the world.
Buy or rent a movie that you would not otherwise consider – perhaps a foreign film from a country whose movies you have never watched. Or a British or European classic like Kind Hearts and Coronets or The Wages of Fear (what a thriller!). (Some of the world’s best and most unusual movies are made available on DVD, and nowadays on Blu-Ray, from the Criterion Collection, well worth seeking out. All available on Amazon and at most Barnes & Noble stores.)
Go listen to live music that you don’t think you will like. Preferably music that you really have no idea what it’s like. For many folks, that would include modern music – not that hard to find if you live near a university or a music school. Or maybe modern dance. Or, as in film, music from some “strange” nation.
Drive around your town and pick three buildings that you really like. Ideally, find buildings from very different eras. Find out who the architect was or architects were – by looking it up online or just asking the building owner or developer. Then seek out other buildings by the same architects. Find out when each was built. Try to see if the architects evolved over time; they might have changed their styles, they might have “grown.” Keep your eyes open for similar buildings as you travel to other places, near and far.
Do this more often, and keep doing it until you find some things you really like. Then go “deep” on those, getting books and doing research online. See where it takes you.
Expand your horizons. Take flight…
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