First lines of David Toop's "Oceans of Sound"

"Sitting quietly in never-never land, I am listening to summer fleas jump off of my small female cat into the polished wood floor. Outside, starlings are squabbling in the fog tree and behind me I can hear swifts wheeling over rooftops. An ambulance siren, full panic mode, passes from behind the left centre of my head to starboard front."

David Toop, Oceans of Sound

Subtitled "Ambient sound and radical listening in the age of communication," Toop's book so far is an idiosyncratic examination of what it means to listen in a world where are inundated with inputs, with stimulus - with all sorts of sounds. I've been enjoying his take on what music is, his observations and thoughts on music both old and contemporary. In just the first third of the book, I've been exposed to  interesting music I was not aware of - from the wondrous ringing of gamelan orchestras to the quiet, halting piano of Eric Satie, to the "machine music" of Luigi Russolo's Intonarumori.  

 

First Lines of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

 "When I was three and Bailey four, we arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed l—“To Whom It May Concern”—that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson."

- Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Such a well written and powerful book. Each chapter feels like a full recognized short story, and yet the book is a cohesive whole. Angelou makes her childhood  come alive - with all of it's childhood magic, racial injustice, coming-of-age confusion, and terrible tragedies. She went through some terrible experiences, and I'm in awe of her strength and skill in surviving it all and capturing it in such a powerful artistic statement.

First Lines of Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep"

"Do you think you got enough sleep this past week? Can you recall the last time you woke up without an alarm clock feeling refreshed, not needing caffeine? If the answer to either of these questions is “no,” you are not alone. More than a third of adults in many developed nations fail to obtain the recommended seven to nine hours of nightly sleep."

- Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker

Being someone who has always struggled with sleep, i'm interested to learn more about how to work with not against my body to optimize the quantity and quality of my sleep. Two things I've already learned:

1. Melatonin only regulates the timing of sleep, not it's generation. So taking a melatonin supplement will only help your body recognize when it's time to go to sleep  - not help you drift off.
2. Caffeine operates by blocking the body's adenosine receptors. Adenosine is a chemical that builds up in the body during the day, peaking about 12-16 hours after you wake. Caffeine tricks you into feeling alert and awake by preventing the body from recognizing how much adenosine you have - but doesn't prevent it from building up.

I highly recommend Matthew Walker's appearance on the Rich Roll podcast.