Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Welcome to all.

I'm an almost-retired former many things -- teacher, business executive, attorney, cabinet maker -- living with my wife and two cats, and next door to my twin daughters, their husbands, and two grandchildren (edit: now four!), on an island in the Pacific Northwest. I have the immense pleasure of sitting in my library/study looking out across the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Vancouver Island, distracted from my computer and books by watching all that nature offers for my delight -- not only the ever changing sky and water, but bald eagles, Orca whales, our resident river otters and seal, deer (right now, we have two mothers, one with one fawn, one with twin fawns), and an abundance of seagulls, cormorants, and various other seabirds.

I have been reading the classics since my college days at St. John's College, and love reading and discussing them. I hope everyone will feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, both those who are new to the classics and those who have extensive experience with them.

I am a 'nowhere-near retirement' HR specialist in the Chicago-land area. After obtaining my Masters in History I stumbled into HR primarily because I was tired of being broke and stayed because there are some great people here.

I read constantly, though rarely with clear direction. Each morning I wake up 30 minutes earlier than I need to so that I can make sure I start each day reading before rushing off to work. I'm addicted to acquiring books, especially since I purchased a Kindle earlier this year. When I'm not reading I'm usually watching sports with my boyfriend (I am seriously falling in love with baseball - before I was almost strictly into football) or going for rather lengthy walks with my dog, a black lab named Jackson. We live two blocks from one of the great lakes, and walking a happy dog while gazing at a huge expanse of water can make any day a good day.

Ever since I left academia three years ago I've been starving for a group whose book lists aren't dictated by Oprah. My friends don't read the same subjects I read (we aren't even close, actually) and while I love them all dearly, I am so very glad to have found this group on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ! I vow to do my best to keep up with this ambitious bunch of bibliophiles! : )

I guess you can say I'm "retired." I'm only 48, but I haven't worked full time since 1994 and haven't had any sort of paying job at all since 2001. I used to be a litigation attorney. A good thing to be retired from.

My husband is still a litigation attorney. I always say that we have to marry each other, no one else will. I have one 16-year-old son. And all that that implies. No pets. I love animals, but I don't want them moving in with me.

I'm probably an even more directionless reader than Paula claims to be. I started college as an English major, but it didn't take long for me to turn to the Dark Side and become a pre-law political science major. I've regretted it and tried to fill in on my own ever since.

When I'm not reading or constantly restocking the refrigerator, I'm a brand new docent at the L.A. Zoo. Since I managed the six-month docent training with no science or biology or zoology background, I figure I can manage this group with very little classic lit background, right? Right?

Looking forward to trying, anyway.

I am a horse breeder in souteastern Pennsylvania. I live on a farm with 22 Morgan horses, 4 dogs, 3 cats, and my husband. During tax season I also work as a tax preparer. I read canstantly and have a book almost everywhere I go. If I forget to bring one I usually regret it. You inevitably have to wait in line when you have no entertainment along. I prefer actual books to their audio or computer counterparts. I'm excited and a little intimidated by the idea of this group, but I think it's just the motivation I need to fill in the huge gaps in my backround.

I am a student of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health Engineering in a Technical Institute in Costa Rica, actually, I'm almost done, I defend my graduation thesis next week. Since I learned to read I haven't stopped, and also enjoy writting, although I've had a hard time going farther then a short story or a poem. I joined this group because one thing always comes to my mind when reading a classic, and it's that they are always always good, I've never been disappointed by one... I hope this to be a fullfilling experience for us all.

What a great and diverse bunch! This is going to be fun.

Hello. Reading has always been my first love. I remember when I was 4 years old (one of my earliest childhood memories) we pulled into our driveway and I pleaded with my mom, "when am I ever going to go to school so I can learn to read?" I was reading avidly soon after I read my first word, "EXIT".

My mom was reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to my sister and me when I was about 10 years old. Looking back I wonder if that was such a good idea. I remember the main character was sexually molested or something.

I started being interested in real literature, I guess, when I was about that same age after my mom read Little Women to us. I, however, didn't read too much classic literature until I was in my 20's. Since then I have read quite a bit of it and my favorite genre is historical fiction along the lines of Tolstoy. I am a certified middle school language arts teacher but I don't have a full-time job that pays money. I have been a substitute teacher for 14 years and I love it. I consider my full-time job being the mother of my 3 children. Two of them are grown (23 and 18). My baby is 5. She is quite a handful and she loves to be read to and I am teaching her to play chess.

I would love to write a memoir someday of my life and be a famous author who didn't write her first novel until she was in her late 40's. I am extremely excited to be part of this group!

Hi folks,
I'm a retired educator--high school and community college English teacer, Language Arts curriculum specialist for the Department of Defense school system in Europe for five years living in Spain. My hearing loss required me to get out of teaching, so my wife and I bought a bookstore in California near Sacramento. Sold that, ran two used bookstores, and when my wife retired we moved to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico 3 1/2 years ago. Love it here, volunteer at the Biblioteca Publica (second largest bilingual library in Mexico) and direct and act in community theater (in English). When we moved to Mexico, we brought 35 boxes of mostly unread books, and I get many books from the Biblioteca as well. I just had my 70th birthday, and I'm working on 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I figure I'll finish the 1001 by the time I'm 90, so I can go to book heaven.

Hello all! I work out of my home in central Virginia as a managing editor for a couple of ecological journals, and I love it. However, I do not have a science background; I studied journalism and Russian language/lit in college. (Just to clarify: "managing editing" with journals, as opposed to magazines, means I have nothing to do with accepting or rejecting content; I check the grammar and make sure everything gets published when and where it's supposed to.) I live with my husband, a computer tech, but no kids...yet. So while I have this flexible job and a certain amount of free time, we've been exploring the east coast, where we've lived now for just under a year, and working to expand our horizons in other ways, such as watching classic films. I have also recently joined a real-life book club that prefers higher-level, though not necessarily "classic," novels.

I love to read and always have. Between high school and college I've actually read quite a few--though probably not all, since I went to college within the last 10 years--things that could be called Western Canon. I have also read a number of Russian novels and short stories, especially from the 19th century. Unfortunately my Russian never quite reached a level where I could pick up Brothers Karamazov or War and Peace and read them in Russian, at least not quickly. However, I have read enough short stories and excerpts of novels in Russian to appreciate that some translations are better than others.

I joined this group because I prefer to read classic literature as a general rule: I figure they must be classic for a reason and probably a lot of modern stories have borrowed from them, so why not read the originals? Because I am already part of a book club and have work and other things going on I may not always be on the current Western Canon book, so for those I will simply follow the discussions and not comment. However, I noticed a few on the list that I was already planning to read soon so I'm looking forward to discussing them!

I, like Kathy, am 48 years old. I live in a college town in central Iowa, the same town where I graduated from Journalism school. I have worked for non-profits as a fundraiser, and done lots of electoral work for Democrats.

I am married and have two daughters ages 17 and 19. My 19-year-old is #33 on the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ reviewers list--she writes wonderful summaries of Shakespeare. My vocation for the last 11 years has been as hospice volunteer for a non-profit hospice. I tried volunteering a few years with a for-profit hospice but decided no one deserves to make money from someone else's poor health. Sorry for the mini-rant, but hospice work is truly my heart.

I read for pleasure and have been a member of a lively book group for 16 years. I have been challenging myself with the 1001 books you must read before you die list, but am excited to explore some of the Canon books with this group.

I'm a homeschooling mom of 14 years; just graduated #2 from hs and my youngest will be a junior in the fall. I received my BA in English in 2007 from Cal State and enjoy teaching classes, especially literature, for other homeschoolers. I recently participated in my first Shakespeare symposium at which I was able to read one of my papers - such an honor for me and fun!
I read for fun but also to expand my knowledge and exposure to literature for all ages, genres and periods.

I mentioned elsewhere a bit about myself, but for congruity's sake I'll post it here as well, with a few more details:)

I'm 23 and the Community editor (people-based feature stories, birth, wedding, anniversary announcements, etc.) for the newspaper in my hometown. I graduated from Purdue University last year and, much to my chagrin, found that returning home made the most sense. Luckily I landed this amazing job and have continued to learn a lot.
I'm currently attending school in the evenings to get my teaching license and hope to teach middle school language arts or high school literature.
The idea of "the classics" has always tickled my fancy, and now that my undergraduate literature studies are over I'm so glad to have found a new group like ours to continue learning.

HI my name vikz, i love reading and talking about books

I'm a retired writer/editor/Christian school teacher who moved from Florida back to the glorious Northwest to be near my nonagenarian parents. This is my year for Virgil (Aeneid), Dante (Divine Comedy), Shakespeare, and Dickens. I'm reading all of Shakespeare's novels this year (he only wrote 15, and getting them all into my head in a short period of time is proving to be wonderfully advantageous) and listening to the Arkangel Shakespeare Complete (a great audio dramatization of the 38 plays). Since I'm pretty much a lady of leisure these days, I think I'll have some time to add this group to the mix.

Hi Everyone, I retired a few years ago to write full-time and for the most part have loved it. I still lead the Book Group at the library where I used to work so I sandwich the Book Group selection in each month with all my other reading. I have eclectic tastes but love mostly fiction and since I was an English major I always enjoy reading the classics. I'm the farthest thing from an expert but I hope to make up for that in enthusiasm and diligence. Oh, and I'm also listed as an author here on GoodReads because I've had two books published. (I'm hoping to make that three books very soon. :)) I'm looking forward to the reading we'll do here.

Hi everybody

I'm a medical librarian in Melbourne, Australia and I currently work for a health research organisation. I have a Masters degree in Information Management which I completed by distance learning last year. I'm 37 and live in a inner-city suburb with my husband and elderly cat. I love reading and I am compelled to read everyday (this is not why I decided to become a librarian!!). I have had an interest in the Classics for a long time and have wanted to be involved in some sort of personal development reading program and I think this is it! I studied some philosophy in my undergraduate years and have wanted to read more. My husband is an art critic and philosopher and he owns many of the books in the canon.

Welcome again to all our wonderful and diverse members. Please join in the discussion.

Any comment or question is welcome and may open up other vistas for discussion; please don't feel that you need to be erudite or super-intellectual in order to participate. Not so at all!

Hi Everyone and Everyman,

Being a reader and being a mother is probably what best defines me.

My husband and I have one wonderful daughter who is ALMOST 21. That could, I suppose, imply we have others that aren't wonderful, but no, just the one.

I graduated from Bismarck Junior College ever so many years ago and worked mainly as a waitress---although in my last position I had worked my way up to office manager---until my daughter was born. At which point I only took jobs that worked with my daughter's schedule.

I have ALWAYS loved to read. Like one of the posters above, I have a book in the car, and I'm reading while I stand in line at the post office, etc.

My mother read to us children and I think that provided such a strong foundation. She actually read Pilgrim's Progress to us and even ... Everyman ... to us while we were still in quite young....because by the time we reached 4th grade we wanted to read by ourselves becuase it was faster.


But she did impart a love of books.

My father only had 6 years of education, but he pushed us to be more focused and analytical than my mother did.

She loved fiction; he loved non-fiction.

So happy to be here reading your thoughts.

Glad to see you here, Adelle. And everybody else, of course -- I didn't have time to send individual greetings during the first rush of sign-ups, but I am delighted with all the great responses and postings to this new group!

Hi,
The pen name Asmah came from Abdulrazak Gurnah's Desertion. The novel gives the meaning as one who is without sin. Her sister Jamila's means beautiful. My hobby is a thirteen-year-old cat Cinnamon and a aquarium of distinguishable fish. I prefer the aural over the visual although a video lecture with decent sound is enjoyable. Composition obsesses me, and reading widens the world.

Greetings,

I'm Alice, a 20-something graduate student and intern living on the East Coast, U.S. I'm hoping to go into the non-profit field when I graduate. I read anywhere between 6-12 books on average per month from a wide variety of topics/genres, but I always seem to gravitate back to the classics. I'm looking forward to speaking more with others who also enjoy classic literature.

Hi everyone,

I live in southern California with my fiancé and my cat, and I work at home as a book cover artist. I have a degree in literature/writing and haven't really given up from my school days writing the occasional commentary or critique on books I read, but I'm an eclectic reader and tend to have more than one book (understatement) in progress; what I read and how fast I read it depends entirely upon my mood, and whether or not I review them on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ seems to be just as fickle. So you can probably expect my participation in the group to be unpredictable and inconsistent. :)

Right now I'm in the progress of reading the following:
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (trade paperback)
Rashomon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (trade paperback)
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (mass market paperback)
Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (eReader on the iPhone)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (Stanza on the iPod Touch)
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (Stanza on the iPod Touch, half abandoned)
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (eReader on the iPod Touch)
Settling Accounts: Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove (Kindle for iPhone on the iPod Touch, half abandoned)
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (eBookwise)
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (eBookwise)
The Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles (eBookwise, have already read this in school but am rereading it for the discussion)

I read a lot of genre books, too, due to the type of books for which I create covers in my work, but I tend to go through those more quickly and therefore hardly ever have them "in progress."

Looking forward to discussing books with you all. :)

Wow, the most I have ever read at a time was probably 4. Those are heavy books too!

In my eyes, only the print books count, so really I'm reading only 3 at a time. ;)

Welcome, April.

I thought I read too many books at once, but I seldom have more than five or so going at a time, not counting the ones on the Kindle that I start and drift back to occasionally.

I read the Mysteries of Udolpho a year or two ago and found it lots of fun. What are your thoughts on it? Some readers in the discussion found it turgid and the landscape descriptions too extensive, but I enjoyed those parts of it.

We'll probably get to several of those books in this group at some point -- I'm thinking particularly of Les Miserables and Jude the Obscure, so you'll be ahead of the game when we get to them!

Everyman wrote: "I read the Mysteries of Udolpho a year or two ago and found it lots of fun. What are your thoughts on it? Some readers in the discussion found it turgid and the landscape descriptions too extensive, but I enjoyed those parts of it. "

The landscape descriptions are actually some of my favorite parts of the book, very like a painting or like the cinematic scenes of a movie usually shot by a second unit, but I can see why people would find it tedious. The book simply is very slow moving and long drawn out, and for me it is especially slow because the main character is so extremely passive. She does nothing to take control of her own fate and merely goes along with what the other characters in the book decide for her -- even in her own escape. Her sensibilities compound that for me; she's not willing to take action when she finds herself in a bad situation, but she's very willing to cry over it. I find her very wishy-washy. I know that women of that time have very little power or influence, but it still grates on me. She seems like a very suggestible type. I'm about four-fifths of the way into the book, and still I keep hoping she'll develop some gumption, though I know she never will.

"We'll probably get to several of those books in this group at some point -- I'm thinking particularly of Les Miserables and Jude the Obscure, so you'll be ahead of the game when we get to them! "

Good deal! :) I only just started Les Misérables, but I'm already halfway through Jude.

Les Miserables is one of my favorite books of all time! I would love to read it again!

Yes please, mine too, it's impossible not to devour it once you start... I read it years ago but one of my favorite parts is the description of the Waterloo battle, the writing is just so well done that it makes you feel like your there.

I have never read Les Miserables but always intended to. I'm up for it.

Evalyn wrote: "I have never read Les Miserables but always intended to. I'm up for it."

I'm going to start a "suggested future readings" shelf in our bookshelf. Anybody who wants to can add a book to that shelf. Then we'll have a list of books to select future readings from.

I'm way behind--got very busy. I hope to get into Don Quixote this week and perhaps even join the discussions. My feelings about "Les Miserables" are a bit mixed. It's one of those stories everybody knows by heart and nobody has read. What with the musical and with fifteen or so movie or tv versions, who isn't familiar with it? Still I have this huge two-volume set sitting on my shelf making me feel guilty. If you go for it, I'll jump in (if I ever finish Don Quixote).
GerryC

Gerald wrote: "My feelings about "Les Miserables" are a bit mixed. It's one of those stories everybody knows by heart and nobody has read. What with the musical and with fifteen or so movie or tv versions, who isn't familiar with it?"

You can count me among those not familiar with the story. I've never seen the play or the movie and have no idea what it's even about.

April wrote: "I've never seen the play or the movie and have no idea what it's even about." That's wonderful. You'll love it. It's been so popular because it's one of the world's great stories. Despite my hesitation, I must say I'm very eager to read it.
GerryC

Dawn wrote: "Yes, Don Quixote is daunting. I picked it up today and had no idea it was that long. I'm ready to dive in though. I'm kind of with Gerald on Les Miserables. "

I certainly think we should seriously consider tackling something a bit shorter than Les Mis after DQ. Also, it would be good to read something written in English after two works where we will be reading different translations. Nice to have a consistent text from time to time. Perhaps something by Dickens, Austen, Gaskell, Trollope, Hardy, Thackeray. Or some essays for a bit of a change -- Lamb, or Johnson. Some Waugh?? Or an American: Emerson, Hawthorne, Poe, et. al. Oh, there are so many books! Some that I'm personally hoping we find time for include the Odyssey, some Shakespeare, Paradise Lost, Middlemarch, War and Peace .. so many books, so little time!

Everyman wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Yes, Don Quixote is daunting. I picked it up today and had no idea it was that long. I'm ready to dive in though. I'm kind of with Gerald on Les Miserables. "

I certainly think we ..."I agree that something shorter would be good. I've never read Trollope, though I have several on the shelf ready to go. The only Austen I've read is "Northanger" so I'm up for anyof the others. Hardy I would enjoy, and I always love Waugh. And I'm ready for Dante. Hawthorne, House of Seven Gables? Here in San Miguel I'm in a Shakespeare Readers group. We meet every two weeks, assign parts, and read a complete play. We've done the complete works and are on our second time through now. Odyssey yes, Paradise Lost yes, Middlemarch yes, War and Peace some other year.

Gerald wrote: "I'm way behind--got very busy. I hope to get into Don Quixote this week and perhaps even join the discussions. My feelings about "Les Miserables" are a bit mixed. It's one of those stories everybod..."

Have you read it? I know it's a well known story, but I think that's what makes it so great, when I started reading it a few years ago I didn't know what to expect, and definitely didn't know if I would be able to finish it with 100% interest (some books I just finish them because I don't like to leave them... but some times I just feel dissapointed).
I don't know if Victor Hugo ever expected it to be such a worldwide known story, but the truth is, seeing the movies you always know who the character is, although he keeps changing his identity, but, reading the book, there are no images then the ones in your own head, so it really gets exciting in some points... plus, it is such an extensive reading that I don't think there is a production (movie, series or musical) that captures all the magic, but then again, that happens all the time. I highly recomend it.

Elky wrote: "Gerald wrote: "I'm way behind--got very busy. I hope to get into Don Quixote this week and perhaps even join the discussions. My feelings about "Les Miserables" are a bit mixed. It's one of those s..."

Nope, never read it yet. I always intended to, and I have a beautiful two volume edition waiting on my shelf for me. I would never equate seeing a movie or play as the equivalent of reading one of the world's great books.

Hi Dawn,
I downloaded a pdf version of don quixote online for free as I did with Sophocles.

I am hoping to have the time to read it.

thewanderingjew wrote: "Hi Dawn,
I downloaded a pdf version of don quixote online for free as I did with Sophocles.

I am hoping to have the time to read it.
"
When you download this, do you then print out 900+ pages or do you read it on your monitor screen?

i read the book on the monitor. i have never tried to read such a long one this way, but i am hoping it will not be a problem. i wouldn't print it out. i don't think my printer would ever be the same. the pdf version comes out to just under 600 pages. if we have assigned readings for each week, i should be able to handle it.
the website i provided has several ways of handling the book. i chose the pdf version.

Again, I simply throw this out. When my book group did DQ it took us months. I think we started it in early May and wrapped it up the end of August.

But, perhaps, if there's a thread structure of Chapters A thru B, C thru D, etc. then both the people who are making their way thru the book slowly and those who are making their way thru at a faster rate would be able to participate.

I thought Everyman did a nice set up on OR with subject headers. But it wasn't a very long piece, so that worked for almost everyone.

Laljit wrote: "An introduction:

I am a psychologist in the central valley of California. Like most people, I have always wanted to read the classics and never really got around to those that weren't assigned rea..."

Welcome! Good to have you. And I hope we are able to inspire you to get around to these wonderful books.

I agree that it will be a good plan to break up the longer works with shorter works. Have you any specific suggestions?

As to tackling more than one book at a time, participants are invited to open discussions on any books they want to talk about, but I'm not sure it would be a good idea this early in the group's history to "assign" more than one book at a time as our primary reading.

I'm in my forties, living in Colorado with my husband, dog, and mouse. Since I'm a writer, it's kind of a given that I am a book junkie. I love to read, but I've always preferred older books (prior to 1940s?). When I was living in Germany, most of the books on the library's English shelf were classics, and I wound up reading Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time. That's when I found out why classics are still around and still recommended. As a result, I've been collecting them at used book sales ever since, but rarely don't make the time to actually read them.

I'm really excited to have found this group and look forward to reading the books and to the discussions that will follow. Thanks for setting this up, Everyman.

Barnes and Noble is having a book sale. Buy two classics and get one free.

I was lucky enough to read much of the "western canon" at St. John's College, some twenty-odd years ago. Since then I have mostly looked at those venerable texts, sitting inert on the shelf, and had fond thoughts about them. (Ah, remember Kant's supersensible substrate? What a joker he was!)

My St. John's experience taught me many things, but the most important is that reading a book and discussing it, engaging in a dialectic, is a totally different experience from just reading the book. I've been reminded of this frequently over the past couple years while I've been reading the Eastern "canon" (as prescribed by the St. John's Eastern Classics program.) I've been doing this solo, and I've often yearned for a good seminar discussion on the readings that have really lit me up. (Anyone -- let me know if you have any thoughts on Nagarjuna!)

On a personal note, I am a law librarian living in Las Vegas, NV. In addition to the classics I like moldy old pulp fiction, jazz, and the company of my dogs. My wife tolerates me.

I'm looking forward to jumping in here! Thanks to Everyman for the invitation from the Johnnies group.

Thomas wrote: "I was lucky enough to read much of the "western canon" at St. John's College, some twenty-odd years ago."

Welcome, to another Johnnie from one who read the books a whole lot more than twenty years ago!

For those of you who don't know what being a Johnnie represents, going through creates a bond you never break -- every student follows the identical curriculum for all four years, so except for minor tinkering in the readings from year to year, if you meet another Johnnie you meet somebody who has read and discussed virtually every book you have in the same format you did, even though you may have gone through the program decades apart.

Hi everyone !

I live in Jakarta, Indonesia, with hubby and two young kids. We own a small business. In a previous life, I was a corporate lawyer.

I've always wanted to read more books from the Canon and hope that by joining this group I will be able to read them with a deeper understanding. I have read four major classics in the last 12 months (War and Peace, Don Quixote, The Brothers Karamazov and Middlemarch) and each has been a revelation to me. I'm looking forward to read more with this group, as well as to lively discussions about them.

Hi everyone and thanks to Everyman for the invite.

I live in Yorkshire in England and was, until I lost my job a few months ago, a Sales Director. I am currently interviewing for new roles (which are very few and far between, let me tell you) so please all keep your fingers crossed.

Of course, my new-found unemployed status means that I have plenty of time for my true love - reading. I have already got through over 50 books this year so far which is wonderful as books are my passion. I love most genres (although I admit to struggling with fantasy and sci-fi). I was planning a read of Les Miserables in the next few months but I may hold off until it's read here to have some company :o)

Hi-
I am a retired English prof. living in Western Pa and I've just gotten tuned in to things like Facebook, Twitter and now Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. My two passions currently are reading and acting. I have also been reviewing books on-line for The Compulsive Reader. My latest are on Simone de Beauvoir's "Wartime Diary" and Agnes Humvbert's "Resistance."

My reading is eclectic. I like to have four or five going at any given time. I have even started listening to audio readings--although I'm not sure how I feel about it. Somehow I still prefer holding an actual book in my hand.

I have been interested in the topic of the canon from the time I started teaching and I look forward to hearing all your thoughts on the subject.

Welcome, Jack.

I note that you say "I have been interested in the topic of the canon from the time I started teaching and I look forward to hearing all your thoughts on the subject. "

I hope that in addition to hearing all our thoughts, you will be sharing many of your own!