Reading and Riding: The Upside of Down is not a downer

I bought a book recently that should help me shed the tag Mr. Doom and Gloom and five pounds at the same time.

How can I go wrong reading The Upside of Down [Catastrophe, creativity, and the renewal of civilization] - a title that seems to suggest that every dark cloud has a silver lining, lemons produce lemonade, and Toronto Maple Leaf fans should be smiling as if they know something the rest of us don’t - while riding my exercise bike?


["Miles to go before I sleep": photo by mojo]

Having read the first chapter I realize the author is going to wade me through his view of ‘where we are now’ (under a dark cloud) before we reach ‘where we could be’ (the silver lining).

That’s OK by me.

I’ll patiently wade through information about five tectonic stresses (the author’s words) that “are accumulating deep underneath the surface of our societies” while reading and riding.

The stresses related to population, energy, the environment, climate and economy sound gloomy and doomy but then, I’m only beginning chapter two.

And have miles to go before I sleep.

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