Several posts ago, I tried to get you hooked on CRACK (Crevice Reading Acquiring Cool Knowledge).   This basically involves pulling out the most interesting little volume (evolume or paper) in little moments of time to up your skills or just have fun.  In the last post, I introduced you to the concept of “honey” and heading for the sweetest spots in your reading or listening.

It’s time for the reader’s voices to be heard!  Show us your crack, honey!   What are you reading or listening to that is fun or just moving you forward.

I will start:

• I’m reading a page or two of BECK, a Japanese manga about a rock and roll band.  It reminds me to keep thinking/doing guitar and also let me experience adolescent non-polite language.  I don’t use a dictionary.
  

  This is a reference manga for the manga series, “Beck.” The manga is about a 90 lb. weakling who joins a rock band. (I didn’t end up following the manga or the anime.) The music guide gives background to all the characters and all the real-life music influences that run throughout the manga. If I read this, not only will I know more Japanese, I will also know more about rock and roll music history. Amazon Japan Link.

• Bedtime reading.   I’m re-reading 禅、シンプル生活のすすめ.  or Zen Suggestions for a Simple Life.  I read the table of contents and let the suggestions soak in until I am sleepy.  Suggestions include waking up 15 minutes earlier and greeting the day with deep, relaxed breathing.
  

  Half the fun/learning was just browsing. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized the book was Zen based. (I read everything but the biggest kanji on the cover. 🙂

• When my children are playing by themselves and not turning me into a hospital patient or おおかみ (wolf/monster), I’ve been skimming the honey from Puerto Rico:  A Political and Cultural History by Arturo Morales Carrion.  I’ve been reading the book backwards like one of the Japanese authors suggests you study history books.  I’m getting ready to teach a course on the Caribbean.  I’ve been reading the first sentence of most paragraphs and extracting the honey where it smells sweetest.
• oodles and oodles of podcasts and now that I brought Snow Leopard (I have an old Mac) home, I have ramen sized servings of Japanese rock and roll (Guitar Wolf, Urufuls, Happy End, etc) ….fun!

If you’ve gotten hooked on CRACK (reading or listening), show us what you’ve got.  If you haven’t gotten the crack idea yet from me give khatzumoto at ajatt.com a um, crack.

What do you pull out when you want to stretch your mind and use those little moments?  Show us your CRACK.