SUGGESTION SATURDAY
Today's book was suggested by Kara. Thanks for the suggestion Kara.
Today's book; "This unique first-person account offers a window into the mind of a high-functioning, 27-year-old British autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. Tammet's ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation."
In January I wrote an entry that mentioned the way people imagine the calendar - which was something that I thought no one but me ever imagined, and then I got quite a few responses (all of them very interesting). Here's the entry: http://abookaday09.blogspot.com/2009/01/mango-shaped-space.html. This book was filled with references to the authors thought processes that produced similar "I had no idea other people thought about that kind of stuff" moments. Here's what the author has to say about numbers: "Numbers are my friends, and they are always around me. Each one is unique and has its own personality. The number 11 is friendly and 5 is loud, whereas 4 is both shy and quiet. . . " - (I don't think of numbers as each having an individual personality, but I do think of even numbers as being happier, friendlier, and more pleasant and odd numbers as being harsh and somewhat aloof.)
Tammet goes on to discuss how encyclopedias were his preferred reading material when he was a child - which makes me think about the book The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs (I threw that mention in for you Kara because I know how much you like that book). I love that book - not only for what it contains, but also for what it reminds me of. I read it for the first time when I was at Disneyland, while waiting in line. So now when I go back and read it again I can practically smell the air at Disneyland (is it just me or does the air smell different there), and feel the sun beating down on me, and taste the sour Mickey candy (which I am totally addicted to). If you've never read The Know-It-All, go straight to your nearest bookstore or library and start reading - I highly recommend it.
Random fact for the day: Today is International Pi Day - I would celebrate by doing a few math problems, if I could remember any of the math that I learned in school, but I don't. And I can't even do a cute little play on words and celebrate by eating pie, because I'm allergic. So I guess I'll be skipping over this holiday. Bah humbug. Today is also Einstein's birthday. I'm going to celebrate that by putting up an Einstein quote, "The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."
