IP: Waiting... Reading.

So, now that it's the end of the semester classes seem to either be speeding up to the point where they'll finish with an explosion or are simply slowing down peacefully. IP is one of those classes that is slowing down because I'm waiting for materials I've ordered to come in! which is fine because I'm now using this tentative speed to work on the more theoretical aspects of the project.

I recently bought some books that cover topics/terms that are directly related to my project: Biophilia- Human's innate love of living things and "nature" and Nature Deficit Disorder- a transformation in the younger generation's relationship with nature–one that is lacking. The books I bought are:

Biophilia By Edward O. Wilson

The Nature Principle By Richard Louv and

Last Child in the Woods also by Richard Louv.

I've started reading Last Child and I'm already in love with it. It speaks very specifically about the feeling I'm working with in my project, this detachment yet intrinsic yearning for nature in our lives. It mainly talks about how children interact with nature in the modern day and how it has changed from our parents generation. Louv is trying to encourage and help recognize the significants of children playing and learning in nature.

Some Quotes just from the first 20 pages:

"[Nature] serves as a blank slate upon which children draw and reinterpret the culture's fantasies."

"In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy."

"Nature is reflected in our capacity for wonder."

"[modern-day] kids haven't lost anything, because they never had it."

"they [speak] of nature with a strange mixture of puzzlement, detachment, and yearning."

Good stuff, you guys should check it out.