Monday Tally is a weekly link round-up of some of my favorite posts discovered over the week. If you have suggestions for Monday Tally, please e-mail sophisticated [dot] dorkiness [at] gmail [dot] com. Enjoy!

I’m a huge fan of getting into television shows late in their run so I can sit down and watch watch a bunch of it in a row. The Guardian had a fun article about the appeal of watching multi-season tv shows over again from the beginning:

The final page of a novel is planned and meant; the final scene of a TV drama is often accidental and dictated by external events. The rerun screening gives viewers their equivalent of the pleasure that comes from taking a well-thumbed hardback from the shelf and opening at page one.

One of the big challenges that a lot of online newsrooms have is keeping up with monitoring the online comment sections. I like this point in this article from Poynter about fostering conversations is for newspapers:

Many commenters treat news stories like bathroom stalls — transitory outlets for anonymous self-expression while no one’s watching. Healthy online communities, on the other hand, can feel very similar to offline communities — your book club, your favorite bar, your office — with familiar faces, in-jokes, and social norms.

That goes along with this Salon article, which argues that we should get rid of anonymous comments altogether.

Nicolas Carr, author of The Shallows, wrote a nice post about the idea of information overload. I like the distinction between situational overload (trying to find a particular piece of information in the vast sea of available information) and ambient overload (the idea that “we’re surrounded by so much information that is of immediate interest to us that we feel overwhelmed by the neverending pressure of trying to keep up with it all”).

I’ve never heard of Livescribe before, but after reading this post about digital notetaking I really, really want one of those pens.

I can’t remember who linked to this on Twitter (sorry!), but I’m in love with this list of food-related books and movies. There are so many I want to read.

Books for My TBR

• Suits: A Woman on Wall Street by Nina Godiwalla because of a Twitter endorsement by Kate (The Parchment Girl).
• The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe by Robert Godwin because I loved his previous memoir, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun.
• My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe because of a review in Shelf Awareness.

It’s been another very slow reading week for me, and not because of anything wrong with the book I was in the middle of, The United States of Arugula by David Kamp. I just ended up being unexpectedly busy, a week where I spent more time doing — playing soccer, getting drinks, eating out, protesting injustice, and watching movies — than reading. I didn’t finish a single book all week, and that made me feel out-of-sorts.

It also got me thinking about how to balance between the time I need to myself, absorbing stories and new ideas from books, and the time that I need to spend outside of what is, for the most part, a solitary activity. What’s the way to balance between being a reader and being a do-er? What is the point at which a solitary hobby turns into a way to enable a tendency towards solitude?

I think I’ve written on here before about my tendency to be an observer rather than a participant. A person who is just as happy, maybe even happier, spending time alone or with one person than out in crowds. I’m an introvert, which I think makes me less inclined to be a do-er in most instances. But you know what, doing things — like going out with 100,000 other people to protest or eating good food with close friends — can be a good use of time too.

Of the many factoids that have stuck in my brain from Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking With Einstein, a book on the art and science of remembering, the one that’s been on my mind this week is the idea of novelty: “Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it.” Having new experiences makes life feel longer, and I want mine to feel as long as possible.

This week I started thinking about doing the Day Zero Project, a challenge to complete 101 goals in 1001 days. Why 1001 days? The website says,

Many people have created lists in the past — frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

I love lists, and I love things crossing off lists. And even more, I love the idea of becoming more of a person that does things instead of waits around for experiences. I need a way to beat my own impulse towards retreating by coming up with a method to encourage myself to do more. As of today, I have 61 things on my list — many related to reading, but others about cooking, traveling, and crafting. I need to come up with 40 more tasks, and then if I’m still all pumped up about being a do-er, I’m off and running.

What do you think about the differences between reading and doing? Are you more of a reader or a do-er? Is there one you’d like to be more than the other? Have you ever tried a 101 in 1001 type of challenge?

Title: Crossing the Heart of Africa: An Odyssey of Love and Adventure
Author: Julian Smith
Genre: Memoir
Year: 2010
Acquired: From the publisher for review.
Rating:

Review: In 1898 British adventurer Ewart Grogan fell in love, but was deemed unworthy by his sweetheart’s aristocratic family. To prove his worth, he set off on a quest to be the first man to cross the entire length of the unexplored African continent. About a century later, journalist Julian Smith came across Grogan’s story and found some kinship with the errant explorer. Although Smith was madly in love with his girlfriend of seven years, he was afraid of committing to her. In order to face his fears, Smith decided to retrace Grogan’s path and explore the heart of Africa.

If the summary makes the premise of the memoir sound like a bit of a stretch, you’d be right. I too was little skeptical if the two narratives would work together or if it would feel forced — there’s nothing worse than a memoir that feels more like a gimmick than an emotionally satisfying story.

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Title: Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Author: Joshua Foer
Genre: Literary Journalism
Year: 2011
Acquired: From the publisher for review for a TLC Book Tour.
Rating:

One Sentence Summary: Journalist Joshua Foer spent a year immersing himself in the art of memory, culminating in competing in the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship.

One Sentence Review: Foer’s book is wonderful when exploring the ideas of memory, but lacks the same sort of passion when Foer focuses on himself and tying his experiences to broader themes.

Why I Read It: I usually enjoy books written by journalists who spend a year immersed in a quirky subculture, so this book seemed right up my alley.

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