Quoth the Raven

well read ~ 2009

While perusing the blog of Amy Jane of Untangling Tales, I came across the idea of documenting (and hopefully reading) a list of books for the year 2009. This seems like commen sense for those of us who enjoy a good read, and enjoy making endless lists. However, maybe you are just like me and barely get the time to even contemplate sitting down to get through one good book, or the piles of books you need to read, let alone the others you just know you would find enjoyment reading that are lining your bookshelves.

My hope is that this list will help to keep me on the straight and narrow, well on my way of having the satisfaction of consuming all those pages and pages of words. Obviously, with my new found career move into the realm of dog training, you can expect to see many must-read books devoted to the topic of dogs, among other things. While this list will not be like those lists that have all the literary works that one MUST read in a lifetime, it will have books that I must read, want to read, or just feel inspired to read again. So here goes...

• Not Buying It - (Judith Levine). Maybe not a literary work but I had hoped to read this prior to the New Year and get into the philosophy of 'not buying it' come 2009. Unfortunately, I never finished the book, and didn't quite make it through the first 3 days of 2009 before I had the credit card out and was filling my online shopping cart. But I did enjoy reading about Judith's life and transition to non-spending and am determined to finish it this year.
• Good Dog 101 - Cristine Dahl 
• If on a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino 
• How to Run a Dog Business - Veronica Boutelle
• Help for Your Fearful Dog - Nicole Wilde
• On Talking Terms with Dogs - Turid Rugaas
• Walden - Henry David Thoreau 
• Barking - Turid Rugaas
• Getting a Grip on Aggression Cases - Nicole Wilde
• No One Can Hurt Him Anymore - Carol Rothgeb & Scott Cupp
• I'll Be Home Soon - Patricia McConnell
• One on One - Nicole Wilde
• Aggression in Dogs - Brenda Aloff
• Outwitting Dogs - Terry Ryan
• GoodDog 101 - Cristine Dahl
• Oh Behave! Dogs from Pavlov to Premak to Pinker - Jean Donaldson
• Control Unleashed - Leslie McDevitt
• When Pigs Fly - Jane Killion
• Click for Calm - Emma Parsons 
• Stress in Dogs - Martina Scholz & Clarissa von Reinhardt
• The Pitbull Placebo - Karen Delise
• Fatal Dog Attacks - Karen Delise 
• Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson
• Coaching People to Train Their Dogs - Terry Ryan
• The Plague - Albert Camus
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 
• The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
• A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
• Dogs - Ray & Lorna Coppinger 

Don't despair as more books will be added very soon, but while I am on a roll, I may as well include my 'need to watch' DVD list...

• Fighting Dominance in a Dog Whispering World - Jean Donaldson/Ian Dunbar (4 hrs)
• Lassie Come - Patricia McConnell
• Feeling Outnumbered - Patricia McConnell
• Predation in Family Dogs: Predation, Predatory Drift and Preparedness seminar - Jean Donaldson
• Aggression in Dogs - Brenda Aloff (6 hrs)
• Cujo Meets Pavlov - Kathy Sdao
• Learning Theory 101 - Kathy Sdao
• Working with Fearful Dogs - Nicole Wilde
• Obedience Without Conflict: Clear Communication - Ivan Balabanov
• Obedience Without Conflict: The Game - Ivan Balabanov
• Bite 'o' Meter - Sue Sternberg
• Possession Aggression - Sue Sternberg
• Fighting Dogs; Family and Strangers - Pia Silvani
• Constructional Aggression Treatment - Jesus Rosales-Ruiz
• Family Dog One Instructor's Course 
• Different Breeds have Different Needs - Trish King (6hrs)
• Different Faces of Aggression - Trish King
• Abandonment Training - Trish King (3hr)
• Control Unleashed - Leslie McDevitt
• Calming Signals - Turid Rugaas
• The Fundamentals of Animal Training - Bob Bailey 
• Of Wolves and Dogs - Professor Ray Coppinger (9hrs) 
• Emotions, Intelligence & the Behavior of Dogs - Professor Ray Coppinger (9 hrs)

the winter of my discontent

It has been many months since I have returned to my faithful blog. Upon reading my last post, one could easily surmise that I had shut myself away in order to deal with the grief associated with the loss of my father, but I did not. I know enough about grief to know that people will deal with it in many different ways. Some people may in fact choose to hide from the world and collect their thoughts and this is definitely fine. I, however, literally returned to Seattle and threw myself into a endless stream of projects. I may have done this in order not to think about the void I would inevitably feel in coming to terms with losing such a wonderful man,  though I think I was more inspired by my father's death to actually get out and embrace life and all this world has to offer.

Did I do this to prove to myself and my father my own self worth? Or, am I just wanting to make my father proud whether he is around to stand with me in my successes; no matter how large or small these may be. Or, maybe I  just came to the realization that life is short and I feel the urge - the pull - to want to accomplish as much as I can in the short time I am here. To be perfectly honest, I do feel that I am always running against the clock, not the literal clock, though I do feel that to, but strangely enough I feel that I do not have much time and I am always rushing against the invisible hands of time ticking, ticking, ticking. 

I cannot help but think of the words of Henry David Thoreau when he said, " I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."

So yes, I have been living life to the fullest...and it sure is exhausting.

Image provided by the Library of Congress, 1908, Detroit Publishing Co.