yeah, me too.
anyway, remember how he recommended that i read this? turns out, despite his affinity for discussing non-socially acceptable subjects, he kind of knew what he was talking about in the old book referral department.
because on my most recent travels to the dirty vegas, i managed to consume every literary morsel of randy pausch’s the last lecture in the length of the plane ride itself (which is all but 50 minutes give or take a head wind). to say i couldn’t put it down-slash-constantly found myself dog-earring pages and nodding my head in agreement at about 50% of the text would be, well, it would be completely accurate. because that’s exactly what happened/i did.
you know how there are those books that, based purely on principle, should have a home in your personal library? things like, say, goodnight moon, the giving tree, to kill a mockingbird, one fish two fish red fish blue fish (you should probably just have the entire dr. seuss collection), and war and peace (it just makes you look scholarly to have a book with that many pages in your collection)?
well, make room on your bookshelf, ladies & gents because i think pauch’s legacy deserves a spot in your literary archives, too. not only is it a heart-warming autobiographical look back on a life cut too short by pancreatic cancer, but it’s chock-full of the life lessons gleaned along the way. life lessons randy intended to leave for his students at carnegie mellon university, but more importantly, for his three young children that would grow up without him, too (it’s fine, i teared up a few dozen times, too).
and most definitely life lessons applicable to anyone with a pulse (i.e. you and me, i hope).
so don’t be surprised if the next few entries include a quote from randy, because he’s certainly inspired me to be a bit more thankful for this precious life i have. and if you heed my advice and go out and immediately purchase a copy of your own (or you can ask to borrow mine. but only if you ask really really nicely and maybe bribe me a little), chances are, he’ll inspire you, too.
