After two weeks from reading or listening to a book, I like to reflect back on what actually made it to long-term memory. I am of the opinion that most pages in a book contain fluff, drivel and generally boring material. However, every few pages, there is generally something there that lights my bulb or surprises me. If that specific piece of information stays with me past a couple of weeks, then it was worth my time spent consuming the material. Unfortunately, there are many books that I can’t even remember a single fact or quote – that equates to once serious waste of time. Anyway, I figured it might be worthwhile to start putting some of these insights to paper (figuratively). This will also give me a way to quickly look back and recall the key points in a book – besides, you never know how long the ol’ long term memory will stay intact – every snowboard half-pipe crash I take keeps knocking some stuff loose.
So, two weeks ago I read the autobiography of Guns N Roses lead guitarist cleverly entitled “Slash”. He happens(ed) to be one of the guitarists I admire(d) and thought I would gain some insights into what makes him such a good musician and how he goes about arranging his leads. Well, I was wrong on that pre-assessment since there was little to no information on those two topics. Some information did stick, but in general, I was disappointed. Beyond the glorified heroin abuse, non-stop drinking and desire to smash other people’s things there really was not much else. I realize this is the stereotypical rock star life and this is what their marketing sector embraces, but I have not read a book yet (any Rolling Stones book, Scar Tissue, Hammer of the Gods etc.) where the author thoroughly enjoyed the experience of dependency…. and at least lived to write about it). As a public figure, I can’t help to think that making a formal statement against the bad aspects of this behavior would have a positive effect on the individuals that look up to them (and why people think these individuals are worth patterning their life after is whole different post).
Anyway, like I said, there were some things that I remember:
Life Intrigued 