100 Greatest Books #76 - Self-Reliance

The next book on the list was a very short one, hence the quick update. It is Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson.


Assuming I have the right essay, since there are 3 different Nature essays, this was a very short read. Although it did improved my opinion of Emerson. The first story that I read of his, Nature, was difficult to understand what he was talking about at times. Self-Reliance was anything but difficult. It was straight forward and actually provided a good lesson. The essay was about how man (and woman) have become too reliant on other people and things and that they are no longer their own person. He stated that we needed to break free of the things we rely on to truly become individuals. Only the individuals are remembered through history, not the ones who just copied other people. You can also find this one online HERE.

100 Greatest Books #75 - Nature

The next book read on the list is Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.


This one threw me through a loop. Emerson wrote 3 different things entitled Nature. I was resolved to read all of them until I came across a website that stated that his first work (1936) was the most prominent and it is the only work before Self-Reliance. And since the works were listed chronologically, I assumed that this must be the one. It was not all together as exciting as I thought it would be. By far Thoreau seemed to have the same ideals but portrayed them better. Not my favorite of philosophers but I can see how it might have been groundbreaking at the time. You can read it online HERE.

100 Greatest Books - Alphabetized Properly

On my webpage I had a PDF of all 306 books alphabetized. Unfortunately I had it alphabetized by author's first name, since that was by far easier to do at the time. Well I finally updated my own list and so I updated the list on my site. You can download the updated list HERE.

100 Greatest Books #74 - The Importance of Being Earnest

And fast on the heals of my last book is my next book read. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde


The one thing I love about reading plays it that they are fast. You get the introduction, the conflict, and the resolution all within about 2 hours. This play was one of the shorter ones and it was rather funny. It is about a made up person named Earnest and two men who pretend to be him. Both who get engaged to different women. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues (I had to say that). It is a very fast paced narrative and the situations are not altogether unbelievable. I rather enjoyed it and will place it on my recommended reading list.

This book is on the Sybervision and My Book lists.

100 Greatest Books #73 - Tom Jones

Since I usually update my website with the review of books that I have read and I once did it here (look to when I started my blog) I figured I would do it here again. My review now is of the 73rd book I have read on my quest to read the 100 greatest books (Hence the blog post title) - Tom Jones by Henry Fielding


Although it is a rather long book (my copy was over 850 pages) I did greatly enjoy reading it. The author is more of a narrator then an impartial observer. He readily makes comments throughout the book that makes you feel like you are sitting by a fire listening to him relay the story. It was definitely a different approach then most I have read and I greatly enjoyed it. The story was exquisite. It is about a bastard, Tom, who was abandoned by his mother to be raised by a very benevolent man. Although I did not readily agree with some of the lessons at the end of the book (how birth makes more of a difference on who the boy is, not just his character) I still enjoyed it and the ending did bring a tear to my cheek. I thought that how the author kept making Tom's situation worse and worse that there was no way to bring him back in a believable manner, but it worked out and rather well at that. I definitely enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with a few months to read it.


The book can be found on the Sybervision, Observer and My Book lists

I'M BACK!!!!!!

Ok, I'm back. It has been sometime since I updated my blog but I figured I should update since I have so much to say. This post is basically going to be about me and then I will create subsequent posts of random things.

First off I am 27 years old and am married to one of the most wonderful women in the world. We have recently moved out to Salt Lake City so that she can start her residency while I hope to go back to school and finish my PhD at some point. I obtained my Bachelors in Geology at SUNY Genseo in NY and my Masters in Geosciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. My research interests lie mainly in vertebrate paleontology but I also enjoy geology in general and love to teach people the joys of geology. In that vein I started my own website so that when I start teaching again it will be up and ready for me to use. It is here at Dinojim.com.

Moving out to Utah will be a lot of fun once my wife starts having some free time (apparently residency means you work a lot). We have been trying to visit all of the National Parks and since we have never been to any out west this gives us a great base of operations.

My other interests as can be gathered from my website include Star Wars, reading, and generally trying to improve myself. In this light I have been trying to read the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written (it needs to be in caps, its a long list). For that I found 4 different lists that total about 306 books. I have been working on that since 2003. My wife and I have also been trying to watch the 100 Greatest Movies which thankfully, takes a lot less time.

My love of Star Wars has caused me to become obsessive over the "Expanded Universe" which is all of the stories in the Star Wars Universe. And since I want to read all of them, I have been collecting everything and anything that has a Star Wars story in it, like books, comics, and video games. All in all, an expensive hobby. But I love it.

Currently I work as an environmental scientist that specializes in GIS. Although I am mostly known for my GIS work I also do a great deal of geology. My main focus of work is with the West Valley Demonstration Project which is a former nuclear reprocessing facility about 40 miles south of Buffalo. I monitor the groundwater and make maps for them. Thankfully they must have liked me enough to fund me even after I moved out to Utah, and I love the work so it is great for me. I would go into more of a description of what I do but I might get in trouble, so I won't.

If that isn't enough I am also trying to write several books. One is a sci-fi book about time travel that I am about a third of the way through the first draft. Another is in the planning stages and it is about science and religion that I am writing in conjunction with my good friend Steve once he gets some free time (he just earned his PhD and just got a job, busy busy). And the last one needs more background information and a plan. It is about using geology movies as teaching tools. Not sure how that one will work yet though.

I think that is everything for now. My current hobbies include trying to get out and do more outdoorsy stuff like hiking and visit some great National Parks and reading (I'm in Tom Jones now, but almost done.) I will update more as things come up.