A well-written article comparing six translations of the famous haiku book.

"Give books away. Get books you want." Exchange books and trade them, like a book swap or book barter.

To do: have more fun.

Quoted: Barbara Ehrenreich's latest book, Dancing in the Streets, is surprisingly optimistic. A "history of collective joy," it explores the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture -- and explains why modern Americans have grown so resistant to ... well ... having fun together.

A free online copy of the notorious classic. Link via svn.

Quoted: After he published Fuck The System and Woodstock Nation, Abbie was kept informed of every sort of rip off scam. He saw that this collection of ways to beat the system could be made into a catalog for his Yippie movement "Sort of a tongue in cheek parody of the American 'How To' manuals that were so popular at the time," said Abbie. But Steal This Book is much more than just a manual of survival in the counter culture world -- a "Hip Boy Scout Handbook" as the New York Times called it. In between the chapters on "Free Food" and "First Aid for Streetfighters," Abbie's thoughts on freedom, liberty, responsibility, self reliance shine through. His idealism echoes the sentiments of Henry Thoreau and Thomas Paine.

What is it about May? The whole winter went by without a reading that would lure me down to Elliott Bay, and now I'm looking at the list of May events like a kid in a candy store. Michael Chabon, Chuck Palahniuk, Miranda July, Christopher Buckley, Jumpha Lahiri, William Langewiesche, Russell Simmons.

So, who's coming to what?

A list of the hardest novels to film.

This quote in the introduction caught my attention:

Quoted: Most movies these days are based on literary sources. Which is ironic, considering the increasing lack of interest in books these days as opposed to the spoon-fed thoughts offered by Hollywood.

I remember seeing some statistics recently about reading becoming more popular.

Dotting to read later.

"The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there."

That would be the Zen of the Burton Custom X. Aww yeah.

Quoted: The Seventies bestseller Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was the biggest-selling philosophy book ever. But for the reclusive author life was bitter-sweet. Here, he talks frankly about anxiety, depression, the death of his son and the road trip that inspired a classic.