美国
彩虹色的花 豆瓣
作者: 麦克・格雷涅茨 原作/图 / 细野绫子 文 译者: 蒲蒲兰 二十一世纪出版社 2005 - 8
早春的一天,雪还没有化掉,在原野上突然开了一朵彩虹色的花。终于能见到太阳了,她十分高兴,由衷地愿意跟每个人分享自己的快乐。 每次路过她身旁的都是一些善良可爱的小家伙,彩虹色的花总是很热情地帮助它们,很慷慨地把她的花瓣一片一片地给了蚂蚁、蜥蝎、老鼠、小鸟、刺猬……小家伙们每次都心满意足地走了,彩虹色的花也分享着它们的快乐。
随着季节的变换,彩虹色的花慢慢枯萎老去,被掩盖在白茫茫的雪地下。虽然她离开了现世,却给大家留下了一片温情。冬去春来,彩虹色的花又回来了,又见到太阳……生命可以轮回,乐于助人的精神则永存其中,给读者留下无穷的意味。
艾略特·厄威特 豆瓣
9.6 (8 个评分) 作者: 艾略特·厄威特 译者: 程墨 浙江摄影出版社 2016 - 5
艾略特·厄威特是当今最具声望的摄影大师之一,他继承了布列松的衣钵,以捕捉日常生活中幽默、诙谐的瞬间而知名。他是在世的马格南摄影师中最德高望重的一个,他还获得了国际知名的ICP摄影无限奖的终身成就奖。艾略特·厄威特著程墨编译的《艾略特·厄威特个人精选(精)》是对厄威特毕生作品的一个回顾,由大师自己挑选他认为最满意的作品,共收录了343幅照片,呈现了厄威特漫长的摄影生涯中创作的精品力作。本书中的许多作品已经成为20世纪最为人所熟知的影像,比如玛丽莲·梦露、切·格瓦拉的人像照,比如那些在日常生活中捕捉到的充满了诗意、智慧和幽默感的作品。本书还收录了一些厄威特早期拍摄的从未面世过的作品,对于深入了解这位大师极有意义。
2024年6月15日 已读
名流到路人无缝切换。有的日常照片居然看得我笑出声来,高明高明。
找到了非常高清的扫描本来看,于是问题来了。有的照片篇幅很大,需要翻开的左右两页拼在一起得到整张照片。大概看了二三十张照片之后,发现因为封面页错页的缘故,我把很多本该是一张连贯的照片的当成两张照片看了。恍然大悟之后再从头看,发现我之前对大部分照片所讲述的场景和故事的解读完全变了!寂寞张望变成了对视,略有神经之举变成心有灵犀。
惊讶之余不免感慨,50%的照片展现的可能并非是50%的现实,而会被解读成截然不同的事实。
摄影 漂在加拿大 美国 艺术
我喜欢自己 豆瓣
I Like Me
作者: (美)南希·卡尔森 文/图 译者: 余治莹 河北教育出版社 2011 - 5
小朋友有没有想过,自己到底喜不喜欢你自己?这本《我喜欢自己》里的主角,是一只可爱的小猪,她最好的朋友就是她自己,她懂得照顾自己,既使没有朋友在身边,也会做一些让自己愉快的事情。如果犯了错或是遇到了挫折,她会给自己再一次的机会尝试。透过简单的文字与丰富的插图,让小朋友可以认识自己与自己的关系。
2024年6月12日 已读
很可爱,也许不仅仅是给小孩儿看的。我见过不喜欢自己的大人,可是远远多过不喜欢自己的小孩儿啊。
儿童 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国
傻鹅皮杜妮 豆瓣
作者: (美)罗杰·杜佛辛 译者: 蒋家语 明天出版社 2008
傻鹅皮杜妮在草地上闲逛,忽然发现一本书,牠想起比尔的爸爸曾说:『有书又爱书的人就有智慧。』傻鹅想让别的动物尊重牠,不要再笑牠傻,就把书夹在翅膀下到处走,越走越骄傲,脖子伸越长。其它的动物也发现了皮杜妮的改变,所以一有问题就来请教皮杜妮,不过牠常常给别人不是很好的意见,造成别人的伤害,直到有一天,动物们发现了一个盒子,来问皮杜妮这是什么?他回答是糖果,结果却是鞭炮,就炸得大伙遍体鳞伤,牠的书也炸飞了,脖子又回到原来的长度,也知道自己的不聪明,最后牠发现书中牠不认识的文字,才知道要先学会这些字,才能真正把智慧装进脑袋里,牠就开始学习去认字了。这是个极具教育意义的故事,告诉小朋友真正的智慧,必须是了解书中的 意义;智慧,必须装进脑袋里。
Why We Sleep 豆瓣
9.0 (22 个评分) 作者: Matthew Walker PhD Scribner 2017 - 10
The first sleep book by a leading scientific expert—Professor Matthew Walker, Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab—reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better.
Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remained elusive.
An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity.
Walker answers important questions about sleep: how do caffeine and alcohol affect sleep? What really happens during REM sleep? Why do our sleep patterns change across a lifetime? How do common sleep aids affect us and can they do long-term damage? Charting cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and synthesizing decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; regulate hormones; prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; enhance the education and lifespan of our children, and boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses. Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book
2024年6月9日 已读
听完深深感激老天让我成年之后睡眠很好,我应该更珍惜而非挥霍它的。读了一半立刻买了中文版回家,感觉爸爸妈妈近年开始失眠变严重了。回忆一下,在我成长的过程中,睡觉睡得多这个特质,一直是不被看好的,人们宣扬并且尝试更少的睡眠来彰显自己“精力充沛”,同样,睡的多的人十有八九会被冠上“懒”的标记。其实现在回想,明明就应该鼓励大家,有的睡,多睡!
推荐给想对睡眠多了解一点的朋友。如果没时间读完就去实践一下作者的建议吧,一两个也是好的。
尽量每天入睡和醒来的时间一致,
睡前洗热水澡,
睡前两个小时不要剧烈运动,不要大吃大喝,
不要喝酒,
在做完其他的尝试之前尽量不要轻易尝试安眠药,
多接触日光,
减少咖啡因和尼古丁的摄入,
下午三点之后就别午睡了,
尽量别用闹钟,用了也避免snooze的功能,
电子设备远离睡觉的房间,
钟不要放在手边避免半夜醒来看到增加焦虑,
睡不着就起来做点事,好过在床上狂想,
睡前最好只做听音乐或是看书等轻缓活动。
还有一点,就是醒来之后,去看早晨的日光。
Libby 医学 图书馆 漂在加拿大 睡眠
寻找光的旅程 豆瓣
ノーザンライツ
作者: [日] 星野道夫 译者: 黄晔 南海出版公司 2019 - 5
你有多久没有抬头看看天空的星辰了?又有多久没有在雪地上聆听一次风的声音了?不知何时,人类慢慢失去了静下来倾听大自然喃喃细语的能力。身体变得越来越疲惫,内心也变得越来越浮躁。夜深人静时不禁想问:我们究竟需要怎样的生活?在遥远的阿拉斯加,似乎有什么在一直召唤着我们的心灵。那里有我们未曾见过的冰河、星空、雪岩、极光、北美驯鹿、鲸,还有世界蕞初、蕞美的样子。在那里,我们才能真正感受到内心的宁静与自由,生命的纯真与自在。如果你想获得片刻的安静,或者想放松一下疲惫的身心,请拿起这本书,跟随星野道夫一起远离纷乱的尘世,进入一个仿佛被世界遗弃般宁静的世界。我们听见的也许是极地的呼唤,或是自己因感动而颤抖的心。海报:
2024年6月8日 已读
阿拉斯加的人和事。
感觉米利亚和珍妮两位女飞行员是灵魂人物,贯穿全篇。很有喜感的是,二战结束,其中一位女飞行员失业,当时准备要去干的工作是……女秘书。我想象了一下,她在知道自己可以被雇佣去阿拉斯加开飞机的时候,拿着手上的女秘书offer是何等有趣的心情对比。星野道夫和印第安人开玩笑问集合的时间是“日本时间还是印第安时间”,我还想当然以为是在讲时区,没想到是印第安时间是指约定的时间没有卵用,最后一个人到才出发哈哈。
读到后来也很伤感。他后来和这两位年近八十的女飞行员一起去了向往已久的欣杰克河流旅行,一路的对话,让他感觉自己是和她们分享的最后一个故事了。读的时候会自然而然觉得星野写下这样的感触,是因为她们两位年事已高,以后怕是没有机会了。然而下一页你就会读到,实际上却是他自己,很快便意外离世。我们拥有的时间永远比想象中少啊。
散文 旅行 日本 漂在加拿大 美国
晚安,月亮 豆瓣
作者: (美)玛格丽特·怀兹·布朗 文 / (美)克雷门·赫德 图 译者: 阿甲 北京联合出版公司 2014 - 6
在绿色的大房间里,一只小兔子躺在床上。“晚安,房间。晚安,月亮。”他向这个灯光柔和的房间里的一切熟悉事物:三只小熊坐在椅子上的那幅画,座钟和短袜,小猫和手套,等等的所有东西,一一道晚安。
在这部深受一代代读者喜爱的经典儿童文学作品中,安静诗意的文字,与柔和平静、催人欲睡的画面,共同创造了一部完美的睡前故事书。它从孩子的视角出发,获得了无数大小读者的喜爱,荣誉等身,经久不衰。自1947年出版至今,不同译本已发行超过2000万册。
《晚安,月亮》已被翻译成法语、西班牙语、荷兰语、日语、俄语、瑞典语、韩语、巴西葡萄牙语、加泰罗尼亚语、希伯来语、老挝苗语。
月亮的味道 豆瓣
9.0 (16 个评分) 作者: [波兰] 麦克·格雷涅茨 译者: 漪然 彭懿 二十一世纪出版社 2007 - 1
夜的故事总是充满魅力的,以夜色做背景,凹凸不平的画布、浮雕式的涂层,让人忍不住想上去触摸一把。厚重的色调,给人以心理上的依托。
动物的每一次叠加,并不是简简单单的重现。每个动物,每一次变化都用不同的方向、不同的角度在释放着他们的力量,一起向上支撑着。
夜色下的月亮是轻盈的,它在游戏着,游戏的名称也许叫“逗你玩”!直到它累了、玩够了。动物们终于尝到了月亮的滋味,尝到了辛劳的回报。吃饱了、吃累了...
最后的结局来得突兀而谐趣,充盈着童稚童真的趣味。一本不可多得的好书!
2024年6月8日 已读
距离想看居然过去十多年了。这个月亮质感我很喜欢,看着就很酥脆,我也想来一口。
儿童 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国
当春天来临 豆瓣
When Spring Comes
作者: [美] 凯文·亨克斯 文 / [美] 劳拉·德罗兹克 图 译者: 陈赛 启发童书馆 | 北京联合出版公司 2018 - 1
春天还没来的时候,草是褐色的。但如果你等待,春天会把它变成绿色,再镶上小小的花朵。
如果你等待,一枚蛋会变成一只小鸟,一颗种子会慢慢发芽。从融雪到嫩芽,从春雨到泥巴,从枯草丛生到花园遍染……春天来得忽快忽慢,它总是变化心意。但当它终于留步,你会看到……你喜欢泥巴吗?你喜欢水洼吗?一起翻开这本书,一起嗅闻、感受、体会春天的气息吧!
2024年6月3日 已读
读这里面所描绘的细节,想起我最近两年观察到的春天景象,感受到了不谋而合的喜悦。
去年和同事讨论说,卡尔加里就是这样,春天或早或迟,或许还得过好几个false spring才能真正等到短暂的春天来临,在此之前,整个城市望过去,高速路边到公园,一言蔽之,brown。温哥华自不必说,意识到大自然的背景色变成了春天的一瞬,我就像在被推着走,感受每个角落春的来临。住在四季分明的地方真是好的,哪怕冬天长一点,哪怕春天短一点,但是这份期待很动人,我年长了些才更有体会。
儿童 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国
老鼠牙医生 豆瓣
作者: [美国] 威廉·史塔克 译者: 任溶溶 二十一世纪出版社 2013 - 1
《老鼠牙医生》内容简介:纽伯瑞银奖作品《老鼠牙医生》讲述的是一个老鼠智斗狐狸的故事。德索托医生是一位牙医生,他医术高明。在能干的助手德索托太太的帮助下,他为大大小小的动物看牙病。他的技术是那样高超,幸运的病人们一点儿都不会觉得疼痛。德索托医生是一位老鼠牙医生,因此从不给吃老鼠的“危险”动物看牙。可是有一天,一只狐狸出现了,他牙疼得要命,乞求德索托医生帮他治病。善良的德索托夫妇怎样打发他?又怎样确保给狐狸装上假牙后他不会露出本性?聪明的德索托医生和太太找到了一个办法……
海报:
2024年6月2日 已读
又敬业又会机智地保护自己,感觉是会给阅读的小朋友上很好的一课呢!
不过我看书名,开始还以为这书是讲有一个医生长着老鼠牙……困惑地想象了好一会儿。
儿童 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国
Sector 7 豆瓣
作者: David Wiesner Clarion Books 1999 - 9
在线阅读本书
Only the person who gave us Tuesday could have devised this fantastic tale, which begins with a school trip to the Empire State Building. There a boy makes friends with a mischievous little cloud, who whisks him away to the Cloud Dispatch Center for Sector 7 (the region that includes New York City). The clouds are bored with their everyday shapes, so the boy obligingly starts to sketch some new ones. . . . The wordless yet eloquent account of this unparalleled adventure is a funny, touching story about art, friendship, and the weather, as well as a visual tour de force.
2024年6月2日 已读
我喜欢这个!去年背过的不同的云朵单词居然在这本书里派上了用场啊哈哈哈!好美的想象力。全书没有一句对话,但是画面的细节把故事说的明明白白。
我看的时候就在想和青蛙在天上飞的绘本有异曲同工之妙,看完发现是同一个作者!海洋和河流的动物来到了天空,妙~
儿童 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国 英文
A Quantum Life 豆瓣
作者: Hakeem Oluseyi / Joshua Horwitz Ballantine Books 2021 - 6
In this inspiring coming-of-age memoir, a world-renowned astrophysicist emerges from an impoverished childhood and crime-filled adolescence to ascend through the top ranks of research physics.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS •“You’ll encounter one extraordinary turn of events after another, as the extraordinary chess player, puzzle solver, and occasional grifter works his way from grinding poverty and deep despair to worldwide acclaim as a physicist.”—Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society
Navigating poverty, violence, and instability, a young James Plummer had two guiding stars—a genius IQ and a love of science. But a bookish nerd is a soft target, and James faced years of bullying and abuse. As he struggled to survive his childhood in some of the country’s toughest urban neighborhoods in New Orleans, Houston, and LA, and later in the equally poor backwoods of Mississippi, he adopted the persona of “gangsta nerd”—dealing weed in juke joints while winning state science fairs with computer programs that model Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Once admitted to the elite physics PhD program at Stanford University, James found himself pulled between the promise of a bright future and a dangerous crack cocaine habit he developed in college. With the encouragement of his mentor and the sole Black professor in the physics department, James confronted his personal demons as well as the entrenched racism and classism of the scientific establishment. When he finally seized his dream of a life in astrophysics, he adopted a new name, Hakeem Muata Oluseyi, to honor his African ancestors.
Alternately heartbreaking and hopeful, A Quantum Life narrates one man’s remarkable quest across an ever-expanding universe filled with entanglement and choice.
2024年6月1日 已读
这本传记可以当悬疑小说看。因为你看开头二十章,家庭贫困,妈妈有精神疾病+嗑药,孩子上了小学才知道有爹这玩意,爹呢是又吸毒又贩毒,他自己也深陷毒圈……怎么看这本书本应该不是黑帮大佬的回忆录,就是如何成为breaking bad主人翁的指南。所以作者是怎么一步步成为了天体物理学家,和大学教授呢?
作者其实没有写太多他有多刻苦,多勤奋……但是你看他经历的困境和创伤就能很容易想象出来。读完觉得好学校真好啊,哪怕有些favor少数族裔的机制看着像装装样子,至少真的有渴求机会陷于困境的人得到帮助,奋力一跃,改变了整个人生。
话说地狱笑话是真的存在,作者说他第一次见他爹挺意外的,因为他认识的黑人小孩都是没有“爹”这个概念的。
Libby 图书馆 漂在加拿大 美国 自传
黄木偶和粉木偶 豆瓣
作者: [美] 威廉·史塔克 作 译者: 杨玲玲 / 彭懿 二十一世纪出版社 2015 - 10
这是一个通过辩论的方式思考自己来自何方的故事。故事讲述一个黄木偶和一个粉木偶正在晒太阳,他们不知道自己从哪里来,为什么在这里,于是开始思索起自己的出身。他们推测、争论,黄木偶认为是数百万年来的种种偶然造就了他们,并想出各种可能性来自圆其说,而粉木偶一开始并不同意,但最终还是渐渐被说服。正在这时,一个男人出现,拿起这两个木偶离开了。这个突如其来的变故,打破了两个木偶所有的构想。
2024年5月28日 已读
厉害了,两只木偶觉醒,开始思考人生。时间足够久,什么不会发生呢?
所以我们是宇宙的偶然,还是漫漫时间长河里的必然呢?给小朋友看这个会不会太猛了哈哈。
儿童 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国
木屋之色 豆瓣
Cabin Porn
8.6 (8 个评分) 作者: [美] 扎克·克莱因 译者: 刘丽娜 浦睿文化·湖南美术出版社 2018 - 1
献给每一位想要放慢脚步,
在世界的隐秘角落静一静的你。
·
简单、自然生活的圣经。
——《明镜周刊》
·
2009年,年轻的美国创业家、Vimeo视频网站创始人扎克•克莱因在纽约市远郊的山里买了一块地,和朋友们一起盖了几间木屋,结伴而居。他的网站“木屋之色”应运而生。在这里,来自世界各地的人们分享了超过1.2万幅小屋的照片和造屋故事,其中的200幅精美照片和10个动人故事,构成了这本《木屋之色》。
《木屋之色》不只展示自然的大美、木屋的精巧,更呈现人对生命、生活方式的思考。
在10个故事中,人们或隐世而居、或改建旧屋、或凿穴而住,在自然风景中动手建屋,与家人朋友共度美好时光,营造梦想的生活。
而200幅世界各地的木屋风景里,有深山、荒漠、丛林、河海、高崖、土坡……它们告诉你,只要愿意,人可以在喜欢的任何地方惬意安居。
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◎水石书店年度力荐
◎美国亚马逊图书生活家居类、室内设计类、木构造类三榜畅销
◎同名网站点击量破1000万,粉丝超过35万
◎10则动人的造屋故事,图文版的《瓦尔登湖》
◎200幅至美小屋风景,隐匿于自然的“乌托邦”
2024年5月27日 已读
作者有钱人啊,买一大块地就是为了露营= = 这里面好多照片都还蛮好看的,我跃跃欲试想去住一住木屋。但是全书没有一页提厕所啊,所以他们都是要走几十米去挖坑的吗?
看了里面不同人对自己盖屋子的理念与实操,也能更好地理解物理大哥的同事小哥每年休三个月假后来索性辞职去盖小木屋了,当然人家在岛上有块地是前提哈哈……
摄影 散文 漂在加拿大 生活 美国
美丽的新年 豆瓣
Mei Li
作者: [美] 托马斯·汉德福思 译者: 蒙正童书馆 中国华侨出版社 2016 - 1
故事主人公美丽的纯朴开朗给了读者深刻的印象,她只有三个铜板的压岁钱,先是给了需要钱过年的贫困女孩力大第一个铜钱,又忍住美食的诱惑用第二枚铜钱买了鞭炮,第三枚铜钱则给哥哥圣玉带来了财运。虽然压岁钱花完时,美丽多少有些沮丧,而算命道士“统治一个王国”的预言,又令美丽兴奋不已。经过城里一天的历险,善有善报的美丽,在女孩力大的帮助下,顺利出城,踏上回家的路。所有的劳累和饥饿在美丽看到家的那一刻全都融化了,妈妈温柔的问候,热腾腾的年夜饭,是每个归家游子的期盼。
2024年5月26日 已读
背景处处是在中国,但每一页的故事都透着在中国不可能发生的奇幻感觉。只想说这个童话绘本太神奇了。
中国 儿童 新年 漂在加拿大 绘本
The Cult of We 豆瓣
作者: Eliot Brown / Maureen Farrell Crown 2021 - 6
The definitive inside story of WeWork, its audacious founder, and what its epic unraveling says about a financial system drunk on the elixir of Silicon Valley innovation—from the Wall Street Journal correspondents (recently featured in the WeWork Hulu documentary) whose scoop-filled reporting hastened the company’s downfall.
WeWork would be worth $10 trillion, more than any other company in the world. It wasn’t just an office space provider. It was a tech company—an AI startup, even. Its WeGrow schools and WeLive residences would revolutionize education and housing. One day, mused founder Adam Neumann, a Middle East peace accord would be signed in a WeWork. The company might help colonize Mars. And Neumann would become the world’s first trillionaire.
This was the vision of Neumann and his primary cheerleader, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son. In hindsight, their ambition for the company, whose primary business was subletting desks in slickly designed offices, seems like madness. Why did so many intelligent people—from venture capitalists to Wall Street elite—fall for the hype? And how did WeWork go so wrong?
In little more than a decade, Neumann transformed himself from a struggling baby clothes salesman into the charismatic, hard-partying CEO of a company worth $47 billion—on paper. With his long hair and feel-good mantras, the six-foot-five Israeli transplant looked the part of a messianic truth teller. Investors swooned, and billions poured in.
Neumann dined with the CEOs of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, entertaining a parade of power brokers desperate to get a slice of what he was selling: the country’s most valuable startup, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a generation-defining moment.
Soon, however, WeWork was burning through cash faster than Neumann could bring it in. From his private jet, sometimes clouded with marijuana smoke, he scoured the globe for more capital. Then, as WeWork readied a Hail Mary IPO, it all fell apart. Nearly $40 billion of value vaporized in one of corporate America’s most spectacular meltdowns.
Peppered with eye-popping, never-before-reported details, The Cult of We is the gripping story of careless and often absurd people—and the financial system they have made.
2024年5月20日 已读
像把皇帝的新衣拿出来,把里面的细节添添改改,然后就是WeWork和Adam Neumann的从发家到众人推的故事。这本书前前后后听了得有一年,因为听着听着会觉得太蠢了,要喘口气。
这个和bad blood给我是类似的感觉,就是按照书里的写法,这俩CEO一看就是心理有问题,做事不靠谱,全靠一张嘴的,怎么那么多华尔街投资界的资深行家和大佬就看不出来,还上赶着给这俩混蛋vouch兼送钱送人呢。读到很后面我突然意识到,他们是真的不知道吗,不见得的。也许他们觉得,不过只是送这样(能骗更多人)的人&企业一段路,撑到下一个阶段或是上市,只要等到后面有更大的冤种接盘,他们就赚了。
WeWork筹备上市期间,各投行轮流舔Adam Neumann的那一章读完,我觉得我从此之后不用再读写太监的文章了。
Libby 商业 图书馆 漂在加拿大 纪实
My Stroke of Insight 豆瓣
作者: Jill Bolte Taylor Viking Adult 2008 - 5
在线阅读本书
A brain scientist's journey from a debilitating stroke to full recovery becomes an inspiring exploration of human consciousness and its possibilities
On the morning of December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist, experienced a massive stroke when a blood vessel exploded in the left side of her brain. A neuroanatomist by profession, she observed her own mind completely deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life, all within the space of four brief hours. As the damaged left side of her brain--the rational, grounded, detail- and time-oriented side--swung in and out of function, Taylor alternated between two distinct and opposite realties: the euphoric nirvana of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace; and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized Jill was having a stroke, and enabled her to seek help before she was lost completely.
In My Stroke of Insight , Taylor shares her unique perspective on the brain and its capacity for recovery, and the sense of omniscient understanding she gained from this unusual and inspiring voyage out of the abyss of a wounded brain. It would take eight years for Taylor to heal completely. Because of her knowledge of how the brain works, her respect for the cells composing her human form, and most of all an amazing mother, Taylor completely repaired her mind and recalibrated her understanding of the world according to the insights gained from her right brain that morning of December 10th.
Today Taylor is convinced that the stroke was the best thing that could have happened to her. It has taught her that the feeling of nirvana is never more than a mere thought away. By stepping to the right of our left brains , we can all uncover the feelings of well-being and peace that are so often sidelined by our own brain chatter. A fascinating journey into the mechanics of the human mind, My Stroke of Insight is both a valuable recovery guide for anyone touched by a brain injury, and an emotionally stirring testimony that deep internal peace truly is accessible to anyone, at any time. Questions for Jill Bolte Taylor Amazon.com: Your first reaction when you realized what was happening to your body was one you would expect: "Oh my gosh, I'm having a stroke!" Your second, though, was a little more surprising: "Wow, this is so cool!" What could be cool about a stroke? Taylor: I grew up to study the brain because I have a brother who is only 18 months older than I am. He was very different in the way he perceived experiences and then chose to behave. As a result, I became fascinated with the human brain and how it creates our perception of reality. He was eventually diagnosed with the brain disorder schizophrenia, and I dedicated my career to the postmortem investigation of the human brain in an attempt to understand, at a biological level, what are the differences between my brain and my brothers brain. On the morning of the stroke, I realized that my brain was no longer functioning like a "normal" brain and this insight into my brother's reality excited me. I was fascinated to intimately understand what it might be like on the inside for someone who would not be diagnosed as normal. Through the eyes of a curious scientist, this was an absolutely rare and fascinating experience for me to witness the breakdown of my own mind. Amazon.com: What did you learn about the brain from your stroke and your recovery that your scientific training hadn't prepared you for? Taylor: My scientific training did not teach me anything about the human spirit and the value of compassion. I had been trained as a scientist, not as a clinician. I can only hope that we are teaching our future physicians about compassion in medicine, and I know that some medical schools, including the Indiana University School of Medicine, have created a curriculum with this intention. My training as a scientist, however, did provide me with a roadmap to how the body and brain work. And although I lost my left cognitive mind that thinks in language, I retained my right hemisphere that thinks in pictures. As a result, although I could not communicate with the external world, I had an intuitive understanding about what I needed to do in order to create an environment in which the cells in my brain could be happy and healthy enough that they could regain their function. In addition, because of my training, I had an innate trust in the ability of my brain to be able to recover itself and my mother and I respected the organ by listening to it. For example, when I was tired, I allowed my brain to sleep, and when I was fresh and capable of focusing my attention, we gave me age-appropriate toys and tools with which to work. Amazon.com: Your stroke affected functions in your left brain, leaving you to what you call the "la-la land" of your right hemisphere. What was it like to live in your right brain, and then to rebuild your left? Taylor: When the cells in my left brain became nonfunctional because they were swimming in a pool of blood, they lost their ability to inhibit the cells in my right hemisphere. In my right brain, I shifted into the consciousness of the present moment. I was in the right here, right now awareness, with no memories of my past and no perception of the future. The beauty of La-la land (my right hemisphere experience of the present moment) was that everything was an explosion of magnificent stimulation and I dwelled in a space of euphoria. This is great way to exist if you don't have to communicate with the external world or care whether or not you have the capacity to learn. I found that in order for me to be able to learn anything, however, I had to take information from the last moment and apply it to the present moment. When my left hemisphere was completely nonfunctional early on, it was impossible for me to learn, which was okay with me, but I am sure it was frustrating for those around me. A simple example of this was trying to put on my shoes and socks. I eventually became physically capable of putting my shoes and socks on, but I had no ability to understand why I would have to put my socks on before my shoes. To me they were simply independent actions that were not related and I did not have the cognitive ability to figure out the appropriate sequencing of the events. Over time, I regained the ability to weave moments back together to create an expanse of time, and with this ability came the ability to learn methodically again. Life in La-la land will always be just a thought away, but I am truly grateful for the ability to think with linearity once again. Amazon.com: What can we learn about our brains and ourselves from your experience, even if we haven't lived through the kind of brain trauma you have? Taylor: I learned that I have much more say about what goes on between my ears than I was ever taught and I believe that this is true for all of us. I used to understand that I had the ability to stop thinking about one thing by consciously choosing to preoccupy my mind with thinking about something else. But I had no idea that it only took 90 seconds for me to have an emotional circuit triggered, flush a physiological response through my body and then flush completely out of me. We can all learn that we can take full responsibility for what thoughts we are thinking and what emotional circuitry we are feeling. Knowing this and acting on this can lead us into feeling a wonderful sense of well-being and peacefulness. Amazon.com: You are the "Singin' Scientist" for Harvard's Brain Bank (just as you were before your stroke). Could you tell us about the Brain Bank (in song or not)? Taylor: There is a long-term shortage of brain tissue donated for research into the severe mental illnesses. Most people dont realize that when you sign the back of your license as an organ donor, the brain is not included. If you would like to donate your brain for research, you must contact a brain bank directly. There is also a shortage of "normal control" tissue for research. The bottom line reality is that if there were more tissue available for research, then more scientists would be dedicating their careers to the study of the severe mental illnesses and we would have more answers about what is going on with these disorders. The numbers of mentally ill individuals in our society are staggering. The most serious and disabling conditions affect about 6 percent--or one in 17--adults and 9-13 percent of children in the United States. Half of all lifetime conditions of mental illness start by age 14 years, and three-fourths by age 24 years. For more information about brain donation to the Harvard brain bank, please call 1-800-BRAINBANK or visit them at: www.brainbank.mclean.org If you would like to hear me sing the brain bank jingle, please visit www.drjilltaylor.com!
2024年5月19日 已读
这本书是一个brain scientist记录了自己脑中风之后以及漫长恢复的过程。前半部分还挺有意思的,老实说后半部分有点儿太唯心,神叨叨了。
读完最大的感触,原来大脑出问题后,曾经一切“合理”的部分可能都不复存在。举例来说,察觉到自己可能有stroke之后理所当然就是打电话911求助,但是脑子那个时候可能已经不能把“我的身体出了严重的问题”和“我应该立刻打电话求助”联系起来了。她的大脑功能在中风后迅速退化,从给同事打电话还能蹦一点词,到再给自己的医生打电话已经一句话都说不出来了。逐渐感受到自己受伤更严重,没有办法有足够的能力求助,而且因为她独居,中风发生在她要出门上班之前,所以没有人能立刻注意到并且伸出援手,这个感受很可怕。她后来的恢复过程,让我很是感慨人类身体的resilience。
最打动我的是她妈妈从外地赶来照顾她,虽然那个时候她因为中风有点儿模糊和妈妈之间的关系,但是妈妈一把抱过她,让她回到小时候妈妈的温暖怀抱。
Libby 图书馆 漂在加拿大 神经科学 科普
2024年5月7日 已读
Remember that the people we are talking to are a hundred times more interested in themselves and their own problems than they are in us and our problems. 哈哈这句足矣。什么时候意识到社交场合里人家根本不那么在乎你,出糗的压力就会小很多啊。
另外我是能亲身体会酒精take the edge off的效应的,我这么个超级社恐,喝了几杯酒连婚礼都能主持,想想看有多诱惑。不过幸亏我平日里也不喜欢酒精,没有沉溺于酒精能带来的放松感中,不然真是得不偿失了。
Libby 图书馆 心理 美国 英文
Snowflake Bentley 豆瓣
作者: Jacqueline Briggs Martin Houghton Mifflin Books for Children 1998 - 9
在线阅读本书
From the time he was a small boy, Wilson Bentley saw snowflakes as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystal. Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths: no two snowflakes are alike; and each one is startlingly beautiful. His story is gracefully told and brought to life in lovely woodcuts, giving children insight into a soul who had not only a scientist's vision and perseverance but a clear passion for the wonders of nature. "Of all the forms of water the tiny six-pointed crystals of ice called snow are incomparably the most beautiful and varied." -- Wilson Bentley. SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY won the 1999 Caldecott Medal.
2024年5月3日 已读
突然觉得读书也有timing这一说来着。如果早一个月读,我可能都不太能体会书中所说雪花的美“不输于苹果花”,因为此前我这辈子没有见过苹果花。然而这一个月密集见了许多粉白又缤纷的满树苹果花开,可以更好地去想象Bently先生对雪花的欣赏。
真好啊,他可以专注认真地爱雪花爱几十年。他的爸爸妈妈也很好,很爱他,用十头牛的价钱支持十几岁的他,买最好的相机拍无人问津的雪花,只因为他的好奇和着迷。
传记 漂在加拿大 绘本 美国 英文