alan wells

Today I finally finished a book I’ve been working on since my Thanksgiving break in Copenhagen: Creativity, Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This book was an absolutely amazing read. Its a study of creativity based on interviews with 91 exceptionally creative and successful people, spanning the fields of science, technology, business, art, and literature. It is one of few books I’ve read that I felt like I could flip right back to the first page and read it all over again right after finishing it. I’d highly reccomend it to anyone who feels like they don’t fit into the typical molds of our society, sees the world slightly differently than most, or aspires to be creative personally or professionally.

I’ll need a new book for my trip to Tasmania tomorrrow, and I’m hoping to pick up a copy of one of these at the airport tomorrow:
Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by Michael Oren

The Best American Travel Writing, edited by Bill Bryson

Its been a bit lonely in Sydney lately, most of the students at the University until classes resume in February, and orientation for my program isn’t until Feb 4th. So I decided that I’d take advantage of the time before orientation to get out my Sydney suburb and go travel a bit. Tasmania is a place that I never made it to last time I was in Australia, and its a pretty short flight from Sydney, so I’ll be heading there tomorrow morning. I’m doing tour with a backpacker tour company, not my preffered method of traveling but its just not economical to rent a car when you’re travelling alone. I’ll be in Tazzy until Feb 3rd, and hope to come back with some good pictures and good stories. One place I’m looking forward to checking out is Port Arthur, a famous penal colony established on Tasmania (Tasmania is an island south of Australia) for its remoteness and isolation (not unlike the concept behind Alcatraz).