2011 Bests
2011 was a good year. I turned 29, made some great friends, learnt new things, lost more illusions, changed my eating habits and embarked on a fitness program.
Along the way, these are the things that made me feel happy, enlightened and human:
- George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. This was the the first fantasy book that I've tackled in more than a decade. I sped through it in a little over a month. It was so good that although I don't watch TV, I followed up with HBO's Game of Thrones, which was based off the first book.
- A Fraction of the Whole by Stevie Toltz. The blackest, smartest, craziest contemporary novel I've read in a long time. It was huge but I didn't want it to end. Toltz is a genius!
- Why we get Fat by Gary Taubes. This slim volume by a science researcher opened my eyes to the thing that is killing us. I'm not fat but because diabetes runs in my family I found it relevant. Thanks to it I have significantly changed my eating habits.
- The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Gallwey. Big-daddy of all self-development books. I've written about it here.
- Convict Conditioning and Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder. The former book outlines a practical bodyweight program. The latter book was a jolt of inspiration and, reading it, I felt compelled to stand up and give Mr Arnold a impassioned salute. He applies time, focus and effort to his own body and builds it like an artist would, hammering away at a sculpture. Much respect to him.
- I saw Warrior, a brilliant, warm movie about family set against the backdop of an MMA tournament. Move over Rocky.
I ended 2011 with an injured knee but these are just minor aberrations in an upwards trajectory.
2012, you are mine.
