Explore my journey through incarceration with a unique collection of daily journals and in-depth book reports. Each entry offers a raw, personal perspective, transforming moments of confinement into reflections of growth and resilience.
The past week has been incredible! My mom, my amazing webmaster, already shared the fantastic news about my early release on the blog. I wanted to write a journal entry to explain the complex calculations that led to this outcome. The key to my early release is the...
I've often heard Meditations recommended in forums and pop culture as a must-read. I borrowed this copy from a more affluent fellow inmate. It was a beautiful edition: hardcover with gold leaf pages and a ribbon bookmark. However, the more I appreciated the book's...
The Tao of Pooh is a small book that teaches "the principles of Taoism as demonstrated by Winnie-the-Pooh." I'm trying to learn about various philosophies during my time in prison, and a friend recommended this book as an accessible introduction to Taoism (Daoism). It...
History of Sexuality: An Introduction was recommended to me by ChatGPT. I knew it was an acclaimed book but had little other background. Written in the late 1970s, it examines the development and use of sexuality over the past three centuries. I found the writing...
Man's Search for Meaning provided me with profound meaning. It was written by a German Jew who, through luck, survived the Nazi concentration camps. Soon after the war, it became a bestseller, translated into many languages. While recounting his experiences in the...
Ghost in the Wires has been on my book list for a while, and it was recommended by a fellow inmate. He was right; this book was awesome. It's a sort of autobiography, but told in a narrative form. Kevin Mitnick was once known as the world's most notorious hacker and...
Two unique aspects of prison life are money/spending management and ingenuity. I want to share how both are impacting me right now. Commissary is a big part of life here at camp. With a $180 spending limit and two weeks between shopping days, I have to strategize...
No one truly wants to "fit in" with the general prison population, but everyone craves a sense of belonging among their peers. Six weeks in, I'm starting to find my place. I've met some good people who share my values. We believe in making the most of our time here,...
Time in prison drips like molasses through an hourglass. I've found ways to speed it up, though. Working out is number one, but your body can only handle so much. Rest days, especially weekends, drag on. Reading helps, but it depends on the material. My book list is...
Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet born in 1265. The Inferno is an epic poem written in 1310. It tells the story of Dante himself being taken on a guided tour of Hell in the year 1300. The Inferno is the first part of a trilogy; the other two are The Purgatorio...
Reading: from the beginning