Flint for Dreams » Autobiography http://www.flintfordreams.com A Weblog of Reading, Traveling, and Starting New Businesses Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:24:09 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Born Standing Up - Steve Martin http://www.flintfordreams.com/2009/09/10/born-standing-up-steve-martin/ http://www.flintfordreams.com/2009/09/10/born-standing-up-steve-martin/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:51:00 +0000 Paul http://www.flintfordreams.com/?p=183 Born standing up is an autobiography of how Steve Martin broke into show business and became a comedy star. You always hear of stars living in their cars and feeling lonely on the road but Steve makes it vivid. He really shows how as a young man in his 20s he faced down his parent's advice to get a straight job and pushed through to success. It took a ton of work, to be sure. I am trying to make a go of it in publishing and entertainment now myself, and I can honestly say, it is a lot of work.

Steve also had a great way of showing how little accidental things in his life turned into great material. That really appealed to me since it is often not that which we do deliberately that has the biggest impact on our lives.

In closing I just read an Emerson quote that I think sums the book, and Steve's adventure to stand up, well:

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.

]]> http://www.flintfordreams.com/2009/09/10/born-standing-up-steve-martin/feed/ 0 My Life Decoded by Craig J. Venter http://www.flintfordreams.com/2009/08/21/my-life-decoded-by-craig-j-venter/ http://www.flintfordreams.com/2009/08/21/my-life-decoded-by-craig-j-venter/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:27:00 +0000 Paul http://www.flintfordreams.com/?p=181 If you want a book that will blow your mind while spelling out what exactly is "biotechnology" and how it all came into being than this is the book for you. Venter is a controversial figure indeed, as is anyone who has huge ambitions and actually carries them out.

No matter where you stand on the "Gene wars", I can't recommend this book enough. Venter's account is personal, detailed, and compelling. You can tell he is a guy who genuinely cares about the science, and cares about changing the world.

I think this youtube video does a pretty good job of capturing some of what you can expect to read.

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