Leggiamo

Chi Running

2009-11-10T23:10:00.002-05:00

Danny Dreyer's explanation of the healthiest and happiest way to run has been adopted by many runners throughout the world, and the less-effort-more-results approach has also been popularized by Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion technique for swimming. In my quest to survive a triathlon last year, I read both of these volumes, and managed to learn a lot about optimizing my efforts on land and in the water.

In Chi Running, Dreyer highlights the reasons that he thinks runners get injured and then talks about a mindset that can revolutionize anyone's running technique. After that, he describes the ways to actually change your running form, focusing on good posture, a slight forward lean, a consistent pelvic rotation, and a smaller-than-expected stride. After that, he goes into some strategies for learning these changes, some specialized running (i.e. hills, treadmills), and some trouble-shooting techniques. After that, he gets a little ethereal for me and talks about the actual flow of chi and how that impacts not only your running, but also your life overall.

I like this new approach and Dreyer makes some good points that seem to help, though I haven't yet found the dedication to really learn it. I am a little bothered by the commercialization of both Chi Running and Total Immersion, but - hey, if it works...

God is Not Great

2009-11-09T21:21:00.006-05:00

Christopher Hitchens is one of those guys who takes his atheism seriously. My take on his take, however, is that he is much more anti-religion than anti-God. He spends a lot of time in this book talking about the way that religion has been used to manipulate people through the ages, and how people always manage to be oblivious to the manipulation as it goes on.

Among other things, he talks about:

Religious wars and how religion has been used as an excuse for everything from regional conquest to terrorism
How religion - especially when coupled with a lack of eduction - can be positively dangerous to people's health (especially women's health)
The contrast of this world and a world that would seem to have been designed intelligently
The literal and violent rules of the Old Testament
The lack of non-Biblical evidence for Jesus's existence
The ridiculous similarities between the three great monotheistic religions and the irony of their epic warring
The fact that some things that people profess strong belief in are not present at all in the Bible (i.e. Dante's depiction of Hell)
The interesting-at-best origins of some religions and denominations (he especially picks on Joseph Smith)
How odd it is that some religions can just end
The "Samaritan" principle... a point on which Mr. Hitchens and the New Testament authors actually agree... the fact that being religious doesn't necessarily make you a good person
How interesting it is that we Westerners have such a fascination with the "peaceful" Eastern religions, when we do not understand just how corrupt (like Christianity throughout the years) they also are
The impact of religious teaching on young people - and not just about jihad either... think about how much the way you are raised impacts the way you think as an adult - overly religious teaching to children can cause a lot more than missed experiences for those who change their thinking in adulthood
How rational, scientific people continue to cling to religion, even though they no longer need it to explain the world to them

At the end, the book gets a little meandering and preachy, but you can tell that this guy is serious about what he anti-believes. He makes some very interesting points, and I daresay that some religious folks might even agree with much of his treatise.

I learned a lot reading this, but I am not sure exactly how much I can trust what I read. I tend to feel that adamant atheists are being a little hypocritical... I mean, even the astrophysicists can't tell us how the matter that made up the high energy ball that exploded in the Big Bang came to be. Is time a giant loop? Did it begin somewhere? When? Why? Is there a why? Religion has always attempted to answer the unanswerable questions, and has demanded faith when reason would not suffice. The thing that bothers me is the certainty of the devout - how can you be so sure? When does faith cross the line from devotion to demand... and when does anti-faith do the same?

Three Cups of Tea

2009-10-07T22:50:00.004-04:00

So I saw someone else’s review of this book and it mentioned that the book didn’t really tell reader anything they didn’t already know… my experience with this story couldn’t be further from that comment. I’m not really one to keep up with current events, and my knowledge of history is sketchy at best, so having some context (even if it is slightly biased) about the warring factions and newly-minted terrorist groups that move throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan was eye-opening to me. From a political perspective, the thing that struck me most was Mortenson and Relin’s matter-of-fact explanation for how America’s Public Enemy Number One came to be – just an angry young man from Saudi Arabia with the finances and manpower to support a heartless and violent attack on anyone who dared oppose him. From a humanitarian perspective, there are so many amazing things about story, including:

The desolate conditions of many of the towns and villages in north eastern Pakistan and Afghanistan – and even more so, the conditions in the nearby refugee grounds
The power of a relatively little amount of money to effect such dramatic change in hundreds of lives
One young man’s life-long obsession with helping the neediest children in a remote region of the world
The altruism of donors

As far as commentary on the human condition, the willingness of uneducated, illiterate people in desolate lands to sacrifice their time, money, and health to ensure an educational opportunity for their children absolutely floored me. First, there is the remarkable fact that these people are even able to recognize the role that education plays in a child’s future. Beyond that, the degree to which they are willing to sacrifice to make that education happen – all the while people in our own country are throwing away their free opportunities – is heart-warming, and it also the engine that makes Mortenson’s work possible.

Though Relin’s self-admitted love of Mortenson is almost nauseating at times, this is an amazing story that will make you think about the difference you can make and the far-reaching effects of our actions on the international stage. Check it out, and maybe it will even move you to help!

The Year of Living Biblically

2009-07-06T22:25:00.004-04:00

This review brings two exciting news items: 1) I finally finished a book! It has been far too long, and I only have my ultra-short commute to blame. 2) I wonder if the book's author might ever read my review? As a self-confessed self-googler and regular amazon-checker, there is the slightest chance that he might actually come across my thoughts on the topic.

As for the book itself, I can say that I am very impressed and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Bible-based religion and how it affects our society. This book is a chronicle of AJ Jacobs' "Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible" and focuses on his year-long attempt to follow all of the rules in Bible, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. Throughout the course of the year, he grows a monstrous beard, switches to wearing all-white, attaches tassles to his clothes, almost sacrifices a chicken, visits the Creation Museum, parties with Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and goes to a Bible Study at Jerry Falwell's church. And those are just the tangible experiences... through this project, he also learns to truly rest (sometimes), to put faith in something bigger, to truly respect other religions (including the fanatical ones), and even becomes a better person.

The greatest message that AJ/Jacob learned from his experience is that there is no such thing as taking the Bible 100% literally... those who argue against interpretation are - at some level - interpreting the stories also. He also comes to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with appreciating parts of the Bible but not all of it - he eventually decides that he can take many of the lessons from the Good Book without becoming Ultra Orthodox or Fundamentalist.

From my perspective, AJ manages to examine the ins and outs of many takes on the Bible with an open mind and an open heart. His stories are peppered with laugh-out-loud humor and he manages to describe even the most outlandish situations with objectivity.

I once recommended this book for a book club analysis, but I have to wonder if its readers would be as objective as its author. In any case, I look forward to going back in time and seeing what AJ has to say about Britannica!

AAAS Science Roundup

2009-03-03T10:59:00.003-05:00

This month's edition features a discussion on my future research topic:

Color and Cognition Color is a fundamental aspect of human perception, and its effects on cognition and behavior have intrigued generations of researchers. Previous research on how color affects cognition, however, has yielded inconsistent findings. For example, some research suggests that red enhances cognitive task performance as compared with blue or green, while other studies suggest the opposite. In a Report in the 27 Feb 2008 Science (published online 5 Feb), Mehta and Zhu sought to reconcile this inconsistency (see the ScienceNOW story by G. Miller). In a series of experiments, the researchers manipulated the background color on a computer screen while volunteers performed a variety of tasks. For those tasks that required attention to detail -- such as recalling words from a list or proofreading addresses -- participants performed better when the background was red, as opposed to blue or neutral. Blue, on the other hand, stimulated creativity. When subjects were asked to name as many uses for a brick as they could think of in a minute, they came up with more creative responses and earned higher creativity scores from a jury of their peers when the background was blue. The researchers surmise that the results reflect the different associations conjured by red and blue. Red often alerts us to danger or mistakes, signaling the need to be vigilant. In contrast, blue is often associated with peace and tranquility, which may put people in a more creative mindset.

Someday, when I publish my ground-breaking dissertation, we will all understand the quantitative impact of aethestics on usability!

Being Informed Doesn't Always Make Us Productive

2009-02-06T10:48:00.004-05:00

Though I've read this in many forms many times, I can never find it in my heart to take the advice seriously: stop checking your email. I suppose this could apply to any sort of information that is obsessively reviewed - your friend's feeds, your reader application (which is, by the way, where I was reading about this: http://www.technotheory.com/2009/02/little-bit-of-productivity-great-bit-of-happiness), and most definitely your email. Lots of folks encourage us to be smarter about staying informed - pick and choose the things you spend your time on and the people you spend your time with.

Easier said than done... though if I listened, maybe I'd have more time to read actual books?

Jitterbug Perfume

2009-01-17T00:20:00.005-05:00

For the last book club that I actually attended, we read Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. This was my first foray into Tom Robbins books, so I guess it is not surprising that I was pretty surprised. It sort of reminded me of when I first read Christopher Moore and all of a sudden a very normal story of intrigue and oceanography turned into an epic adventure of the Whale People.

So it was a similar feeling when this medieval adventure introduced us to Pan; intermingled with modern-day characters in Paris, Seattle, and New Orleans; and tried to convince us that eternal life is achievable if you just focus on it hard enough.

In any case, this was a very interesting mix of the unbelievable, the overly-sexual, and some moral lessons about life. While it is interesting to think of the implications of a life that never ends - from the mundane business of avoiding detection to the truly deep question as to the purpose of life - it is hard to take that lesson from a guy who is also touting the sexy stinkiness of Pan and describing the nearly-lesbian adventures of two bartenders who can't seem to get it together.

A very interesting book, but it left me with more of a stunned look on my face than a smile. :?

PS: This book also made for a very interesting-tasting theme dinner!

Water for Elephants

2008-09-13T18:28:00.004-04:00

I started and finished this book a few weeks ago on a trip out to Las Vegas. It's certainly an entertaining story, because I started it while I was waiting for my flight at Dulles and I finished it by the time I picked up my car at McCarran.

This was a bit of a depressing tale, when you consider what it says about human nature, the way we treat others, and the way we treat animals - especially the way we take out our feelings about other things on animals. The story as a whole really reminded me of Moulin Rouge and I could easily see Ewan McGregor as the main character. I had a hard time understanding why he felt that he had to protect his elephant for all those years - because who could really blame her for what she did?

While the ending was a bit fantastic, I thought it was more than needed to make up for all of the sad bits that let up to it. All in all, a good read, but not nearly as in depth or generally enjoyable as I had anticipated!

Gridlock

2008-08-08T17:29:00.003-04:00

Check out the Tierney Lab's latest post and quiz - and take a turn at recording what you think! It's at http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com.

Parched

2008-08-05T12:18:00.005-04:00

I picked this up at the bargain bin at Barnes & Noble and now I sort of understand why it was put there in the first place. While the premise of the story is interesting and uplifting, the actual telling of it is drawn out and overly dramatic. I'm not sure if I would feel differently if I had ever battled a horrible disease like alcoholism, but I kept wondering when she was going to be done describing the daily downs that accompany 24-7 drinking and drug use.

She definitely got the point across that she was not a likeable person during her addiction - and I liked her even less for the self-pitying narrative (however true it was at the time) that wove its way through the pages

You know from the beginning how the story ends (recovery inspired by family intervention) and as I was reading, I was just waiting for the big tearful meeting to occur. Additionally, the role of religion seemed like an afterthought to the story - again, maybe I would understand if I had ever had a sudden enlightenment of the spiritual persuasion

The most interesting bit about all of this was how immediately intriguing the quotes from her journal entries were. Acidic, scathing, sad, and b*tchy at once, they were truly insightful and amazingly written. I got the impression that the story would have been a better one if it only consisted of her journal entries!

All-in-all, not a bad read, but not a great one either.

I just came to the End

2008-05-06T23:00:00.003-04:00

of Then We Came to the End (Joshua Harris).

I'm hoping to have some additional conclusions after next week's book club - we actually have a discussion guide this time! - but my initial conclusion is just puzzled at my own weirdness about the emotional progression of the story. Midway through this past weekend, I found myself depressed by listening to the characters and their daily struggles. Their never-ending attempts to find value in what they do for 8-14 hours every day are all to real for me to laugh at. Their silly-from-the outside rage at others within the environment who seem to exist with the singular purpose of making "our" life miserable and the repetitive focus on the things-that-shouldn't-matter remind me of my own personal daily grind and my continuing inability to escape from my own manufactured life.

Sure, maybe that's a bit deep, but what does it say about me that the bits about the office politics and the after-lunch depression reach me more directly than the near-tragedies and true-tragedies revealed at the close of the story that impact "us" in the dawn of the 21st Century? I guess you could just say that the every day struggles are more real to a relatively priviledged corporate-type like myself. Or perhaps I just need a little shaking up from a disgruntled former coworker??

DCist

2008-03-14T13:47:00.002-04:00

I am absolutely going to start contributing to this: http://dcist.com/2008/03/14/overheard_in_dc_40.php.

You should too!

War for Jesus

2008-03-14T08:48:00.003-04:00

Holy fagioli... this guy never ceases to amaze me. Though I still believe that the fault lies with the American public for electing a former-alcoholic-turned-poor-public-speaker, I can't help but get riled up every time he calls on God to defend his domestic or international policy decisions.

Now I've got no problem with a faithful person who asks God to direct them and bless them and help them make the right decisions, but I've got no patience for a man who reads a bit of a holy book and then decides that we should levy our beliefs and cultural practices on the rest of the world because they support his faith. Especially when that effort costs thousands of lives.

And didn't we try this before with equally bloody results?

It's ok, Crackberries

2008-02-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

Now here is a story that would have totally freaked me out once upon a time: Blackberry service is down in North America! Good thing I (a) just don't care that much anymore and (b) have avoided getting one of the deadly-addictive things at my new job. :) Yeah, that picture is my fellow blackberry addict and me striving to stay connected while at a wine festival in Stuttgart, Germany. Why oh why did we need to be connected to the States then?

Seriously?

2008-02-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

This lady has got to be out of her mind. She has obviously never been stuck in a bad marriage... or tried to get out of one. People just don't realize how much different it is when you are legally bound to one another, or how quickly people change when you try to break that off. And sure, it might be nice to have your own personal handyman, but what if you are forever-yoked to someone who makes you crazy, disgusts you, or always lets you down?

There is something to be said for giving up the romantic notion that there is someone perfect for you, because nobody is perfect. But settling for someone you don't love or someone who you know won't make you happy is the worst idea I've ever heard!

Many folks seem to agree.

Do Relationships Make Women Depressed?

2008-02-08T13:14:00.000-05:00

I ask this as one of those semi-prone-to-slight-depression types who often wonders what is the cause of it all. I've got lots of wonderful friends, a relatively drama-free family, a great guy, a life-in-general on the mend, a great-paying job... so what gets me down?

Psychologist Valerie Whiffen asks the same question in her new book, A Secret Sadness. The book makes this hypothesis:

"Women experience depression at a higher rate than men, and researchers have recently uncovered evidence that suggests this may be due to the higher importance they place on their interpersonal relationships."

...which seems pretty obvious to me. I'm sure that she focuses on and particularly speaks to women who have been subject to long-term degrading, abusive, or emotionally distant relationships, but I couldn't help thinking of a more comical explanation.

On Wednesday, my dear friend Qui and I went to see a long-time favorite comedian, Dave Barry. Besides being so hilarious that I could, at times, barely breathe, he imparted a bit of wisdom concerning male-female relationships. He told a story excerpted from one of his books that highlighted just how differently two people can look at the same conversation... much less the same relationship.

So, no, it doesn't surprise me that our relationships make us sad - but is it the actual relationships or just our perception of them?

Abolish Smoking!

2008-02-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

Could it actually happen?

Somehow I doubt that any of us will see this effort come to fruition, given the thousands of years that people have been smoking, the importance of smoking to certain cultural groups and ceremonies, the "coolness" factor of all sorts of tobacco products, and even the propensity for little kids to sit outside and "smoke" leaves of grass in a teeny tiny rebellion.

Michael Bloomberg and the World Health Organization, however, have lofty goals. They claim that none of these uses of tobacco are what could kill more than 20 billion people this century - it is big tobacco that is the larger enemy. The commercialization and product promotion of deadly cigarettes is what puts the vast majority of us at risk.

I am so grateful for all of the anti-smoking laws that have been enacted in the last few years, and it amazes me both that we are able to get anything passed through the people who are so hyped on anti-government-influence sentiments and that states are still battling over whether to pass these life-saving laws. People in this country are so funny... they tend to want their cake and eat it too, with respect to everything from security to health to taxes and infrastructure.

In any case, this is right up there with Global Warming if you ask me... a worldwide epidemic that may never be conquered, but that we also cannot choose to ignore.

Lunchtime on Google News

2008-02-04T12:34:00.000-05:00

Something about the graphic above isn't quite right. Do you see it?

Last time I checked, Mercury wasn't running for office in 2008... but I guess it is more common for political than geospatial characters to have "tumultuous pasts." It is interesting that this would appear on a Google site though... I guess the algorithms that categorize news stories don't operate on the same principle as their search methology?

Brain Music

2008-01-22T13:06:00.000-05:00

No, not the kind that is based on your EEG recordings and puts you to sleep or wakes you up depending on what you need, but the very reason that music appeals to us at all.

In it's gigantic list of all semi-interesting findings from 2007, number 74 is the attempt of a Duke University neuroscientist to understand why tones appeal to us at all. He postulates that we humans - especially our vowels - make very similar sounds to the music we manufacture and that is the reason that it has appealed to us all throughout history.

I have to wonder, though, how well this applies to the different types of music that sound nothing like the typical chromatic scales that Westerners like... are those tones also replicated in our vowels? And what about the vowels whose sounds vary wildly across the world. Does this say anything about people who would prefer to listen to the beat than the melody?

From Les Miserables

2008-01-11T22:32:00.000-05:00

Who says that the Far East owns the chi?

At the same time that there is an infinite without us, is there not an infinite within us? Are not these two infinites (what an alarming plural!) superposed, the one upon the other? Is not this second infinite, so to speak, subjacent to the first? Is it not the latter's mirror, reflection, echo, an abyss which is concentric with another abyss? Is this second infinity intelligent also? Does it think? Does it love? Does it will? If these two infinities are intelligent, each of them has a will principle, and there is an _I_ in the upper infinity as there is an _I_ in the lower infinity. The _I_ below is the soul; the _I_ on high is God.

Love in the Time of Cholera

2007-12-13T16:14:00.000-05:00

So I have finally been motivated to write down some notes on a book I read, but only because I read the book for a Book Club (thanks Julie, Hilary, Laura & Ann). I'm not sure if my thoughts make sense, but I'm sure that my critical reading will improve after I finish the next nonfiction on my list.

I recorded these thoughts as I read, and they definitely include spoilers:

Section One----------- The first section reads like an epic introduction but does well to evoke the oppressive climate (both literally and figuratively) in which the story is based. The domestic animal bloodbath was a little over the top, but it certainly contributed to the ethereal feeling of the time and place.

I felt like I missed the weight of the letter left behind by Jeremiah – he admitted to being a criminal, but that made him a cannibal? I'm not sure if this is something that will be explained to us later, or if we were just supposed to realize that the note totally disrupted Dr. Urbino's feelings about the old man and further demonstrated his traditional nature. The scene where he visited Jeremiah's lover made me think of her as the most admirable character in the book so far.

I found myself wondering when the flashback was going to start that would tell us how Fermina ended up with Juvenal, only to realize that Dr. Urbino was not actually the afflicted lover. I didn't internalize that Florentino waited for more than 50 years until I understood that the description of Juvenal's age was in the present, not the future. I also had a hard time really liking Juvenal, despite his good nature and philanthropy... so on some level, I was glad when he turned out not to be the protagonist of the story. I was disappointed, however; when Florentino re-declared his love for Fermina so quickly that it was essentially during her husband's funeral. The depth of her love for Juvenal remains to be seen.

Her reaction hints at a climactic event that could have driven them apart and her dream hints at a glimmer or hope for Florentino after all these years.

Section Two----------- The second section has not raised my opinion of Florentino or Fermina and the plotline evokes such a typical romantic disaster that it is difficult to take it seriously. Once again, we readers are reminded of the life-altering repercussions of overzealous fathers who are trying to protect their daughters from young men who are just like they used to be. We have sympathy for Escolastica, who supported her neice through the throws of adolescence, and respect for Transito, who manages and protects her delicate son as much as possible. But we are not able to get any closer to Fermina. We see so much good and bad of Florentino that the only emotion evoked in me is pity.

I found myself rooting for Florentino in several situations with the expectation that he would not persevere, but he always did (i.e. he managed to maintain a job when all circumstances were against him and when he was doing nothing to help himself). I was also hoping that Fermina would not be discovered in her communications with Florentino, but I was amazed when that did not happen. It all seems for naught, now that Fermina has rejected Florentino and we know that he does not win her back anytime soon. On one hand, you can sympathize with Fermina, given the desperation of Florentino, but on the other hand, it is entirely tragic for Florentino and his unrequited love.

Section Three----------- Juvenal’s return to his hometown after an extended stay in Paris highlights the emotions that many of us feel about our childhood after seeing the world, but it is most interesting in comparison to Florentino’s exuberant return home after his journey up north along the river. Juvenal’s education and concern for society still doesn’t make me like him, but yet his brief flashback of his father’s selflessness gives me an immediate respect for him.

I found Fermina’s indignation about Juvenal’s advances odd and I couldn’t totally understand why she eventually accepted him. Was she merely jealous of her cousin’s reaction to the doctor or did she somehow realize the error of her ways? Was she as objective in her decision-making as her new husband?

One would think that Juvenal’s loving and tender approach to his new wife would redeem him, but he really just continued to sound like the over-polished doctor that is described throughout the story. I actually liked the Urbinos better through the eyes of Florentino. Their perfect and loving appearance was more appealing than the thoughts and emotions into which we had a window earlier in the story.

Everyone changes so much in this section of the book, even Florentino, which I did not expect. His violent introduction into sensual love doesn’t seem like a good introduction into a life-long coping mechanism, but does seem to keep him going for more than five decades.

Section Four----------- Everything is blurring together between sections so much that it makes me want to write down each thought I have as I think it and each conclusion as it is drawn. Marquez does an amazing job of recreating flashbacks in a pattern that lets us get to know the characters and even better integrates their stories.

I’m not sure if we are to like Florentino more or less given his innumerable exploits while he waits for Fermina and I’m not certain how Marquez defines “love” after reading about Florentino and all of his “little birds.” In several instances (Leona, Sara, and Olimpia) he certainly found other women to love – it seems the distinction lies in the lifelong obsession and dedication he feels for Fermina.

I was impressed by Florentino’s remorse at wishing for Juvenal’s demise after meeting him but much less impressed by the revelation that he sought out the women of his exploits (a far cry from his first encounter with the opposite sex!) and especially by the lack of an emotional reaction described at the murder of Olimpia.

Fermina’s fate is oh-so-common among historical heroines, though she comes through the sadness and trials of her youth better than most that we meet. I can empathize with her “guilt button” and I think many feel the same but never admit it – over-imagined guilt or true transgressions likely drives much of what occurs in this world. Her feelings as much as admitted that she married Juvenal for the money, but I think there is an important nuance here – she gave up and succumbed to what she saw as her fate. Her father had arranged their whole lives to set her up with a husband who would take care of her and then some, and at the late age of 21, she felt she had no choice but to accept that path.

I think it best that Transíto fades away rather than abruptly disappearing from the story. There could truly be no better reward for a woman so dedicated to her son than to forget the pain that they had both experienced in their lives. Fermina’s reaction to her father’s death can only be expected, as he so harshly and unreasonably affected her life to better his own goals.

Section Five----------- I was surprised at Juvenal’s indiscretion and Marquez’s depiction of the downfall of the story’s most moral and religious man seems to speak of an inevitability of indiscretion in long relationships. Even Florentino admits that he has loved many times over – physically and emotionally. So what did these men actually save for Fermina? From Juvenal, a willingness to renounce others when confronted and from Florentino a physical home? It is no wonder that she eventually comes around to Florentino, given her lifetime of experiences and lack of the love she craved, despite the provision of the life she craved.

The relentless descriptions of the downfalls of old age make me wonder how old Marquez was when he wrote the story. I cannot believe that Florentino’s last conquest is 60 years younger than he. Their relationship is wrong on so many levels, which even he seems to recognize.

On a comical note, it’s too bad that he gave up the shaved-head look for a combover… personal preference I guess!

Section Six----------- Finished at last. I don’t think I’ve ever read so much of a book before without finally smiling, as I did on page 331, when Florentino and Fermina finally succumbed to each other. It is remarkable to me how almost every thing that I start to think is proven wrong, then twisted around and proven right again. I initially thought that Fermina gave into Florentino after that first letter – wrong, but she was eventually won over. I feared for what América might do in her rage, then felt better when she directed it at herself, and then worse again for the violence.

It was remarkable to me how much more immediately likeable the protagonists became after they agreed to be together. It is like I was seeing Florentino through Fermina’s eyes all along and I could only accept him when she did. I’m not sure that reasoning applies to my feelings about Fermina, as Florentino loved her all along, but when we were permitted to see past her haughtiness and stubborn nature, she became likeable even to me. I still take issues with Florentino’s twisted love he for América…

I wonder how long the infidels kept up their journey or how they ever escaped. I was comforted to know that Fermina had memories of the journey, which at least makes me think that they survived long enough to look back on it. I was also surprised to see that my normal worries about the characters faded significantly once the match had been made… as Marquez hints to us with his fuzzy ending, the point is not that Florentino and Fermina had enough time to make up for lost time, but that they got together at all. The important thing is that they realized that their hearts and minds had been taking the journey called life as partners without them even knowing it.

Overall----------- I wondered until the very end why this book was about cholera, but that is just another theme that lies beneath the surface of the tale and only comes to greet us readers properly when we hear about Juvenal’s father. It snakes and twists among the story though – from the cemetery of the roses to the final decision that gives Florentino and Fermina the honeymoon they never knew to anticipate.

The dreamy feel that is reference on the book jacket is all too apparent to me, and occasionally seems misplaced and overdone. I had to wonder if that was a result of the inevitable cultural misunderstandings that come out of a translation, or if that feeling was purposely invoked as part of the story itself.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is the grayness of the world that it presents. Fermina never seems to understand if she made the right decision to live her life with Juvenal. Florentino, while tortured by his love for her, seems to have made his own way, developed his own relationships, and actually lived while a part of him was suspended in wait for her. The rapid onset of old age, made more prominent by the never-ending flashbacks throughout the book, lets us readers understand more easily just how time – and life – can slip through our fingers when we think that we have everything in our control.

I identify with Fermina’s feelings about the letters from Florentino – reading what he has written as a neat package of all of the thoughts she had about life and aging as well. While she had the thoughts at one time or another, they were fleeting and difficult to pin down for her, but he was able to bring them together eloquently and make theses about the human situation. I feel that way in my attempts to record what I thought about this book – every time I have a spark of deep understanding or tying together the themes developed herein, I seem to forget them before I have a chance to record them. This recording/essay/report is my first attempt at getting a better handle on that part of my mind!

I am excited that we decided to read Eat, Pray, Love for the next month... I've been intending to re-read it and write down my thoughts ever since I finished it this summer and I think this is the motivation I need!

This might make it worth it to get a car again

2007-12-07T09:18:00.000-05:00

The NY Times reports that cars will be driving themselves here soon, and I love their take on why this is achievable:

But cars, unlike humans, will keep getting smarter. They will learn from their mistakes. They will not get distracted by cellphone calls. They will not drive drunk. Smart cars will never be infallible, but they don’t have to be. They just have to be better than the drivers who now cause more than 90 percent of traffic accidents and kill a million of their fellow humans per year.

Sure that makes sense, but is it practical for the control-seeking people who inhabit the United States? I have to think that it is actually the only logical way of thinking about it - especially if you give people a choice. People still feel in control when they make a choice, even if that choice is to give up control. It's all about being the master of your own destiny for us.

Can you imagine how much more pleasant a city like DC would be if the traffic didn't prevent you from getting anywhere in the time that you planned for it? Now we just have to automate parking, and the city might be car-friendly again. I guess that will call for even more fuel-efficient (electric, perhaps?) vehicles if the robotic age isn't to make the air pollution even worse...

Time to Clean House

2007-10-31T14:12:00.001-04:00

In catching up on my dorky Science magazines, I came across an article on the clutter that afflicts museums, which is akin to the clutter that afflicts everyday people. Makes me thankful for my personal mantra that loosely translates to "throw away things that you don't need!" It's a good thing too, since I am also frequently reminded that I need to save things that I might need, because I'm always looking for that thing that I threw away too early in the interest of not saving junk. Maybe a 450 sq ft living space has something to do with it?!

My Favorite Thing to Read...

2007-10-31T10:02:00.000-04:00

Mail. That personalized writing always has a hook for me. My favorite application for reading mail, GMail, is going to get undergoing some cool new changes soon and I am pretty excited! Not that the updates will do much for my standard, government-issued, IE6-only computer here at work, but they should make GMail even easier to use from FireFox or IE7+.

Hogwash

2007-10-29T15:08:00.001-04:00

When JK Rowling came out with her latest announcement, I couldn't possibly believe that she had actually decided to "out" Albus. It seemed so irrelevant and silly to me that she would comment on the sexuality of the "greatest wizard of all time." It would have made ever so much more sense if she casually mentioned an ex-boyfriend in the storyline or made reference to a wife that he could never love because...

I was glad to see today that I am not the only one who thinks that the assertion is silly. This explanation of characters after the fact is never actually about the characters, it's either to soothe the consciences of doting fans who just can't let go without an explanation or it's to give authors just a little longer with their fleeting audience.

I like an epilogue just as much as the next resolution-loving gal, but this is just ridiculous!

I wonder what I would think of the assertion if I was gay and not just trying to be PC?

Math is hard, right Barbie?

2007-10-15T15:56:00.000-04:00

Not anymore, all of you pink-loving, bubblegum-popping youngsters. According to Danica McKellar, being good at math doesn't make you less cool or less of a girl. Since Danica had the good fortune of playing a beautiful and desirable object of affection on The Wonder Years, she is in a good place to help tell the next generation of beautiful mathematicians, scientists, and engineers that they are on the right path!

On my list

2007-10-14T18:42:00.000-04:00

The Abstinence Teacher - I'm not sure if I want to read it or if I just want to watch the eventual movie... I think it just reminds me so much of Saved, which was painfully hilarious. Hats off to awkward religious comedies! New York Times gives us an absolutely wonderful review of the story, which is even more appealing!

Aren't Headlines Supposed to be Informative?

2007-10-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

When I saw the above headlines on my iGoogle page, my first thought was (no kidding): "why are they criticizing those encouraging people who were cheering on their clients at the Army Ten Miler? They can't possibly blame them for the problems with the course and the death of a runner!"

Imagine my surprise when I found that the actual article is entitled, "GAO: Poor Staffing Cited in Youths' Deaths at 'Boot Camp.'"

Now I know I'm skewed because I did run in this weekend's race, but come on people... a little accuracy for goodness' sake.

USA Today

2007-10-04T16:40:00.000-04:00

Why must people always crap on government workers for wasting money? Yes, I know that it occasionally happens, but for the most part, these are the people who take lower salaries and work in crappier offices for the good of the rest of the country.

If you really want to halt Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, take a look at some of the things that get done over and over because no one reads the reports... or the things that have to be done three times because the person requesting them always wants them tomorrow. Or think about it from another perspective - it's all money that is coming back into our economy for gosh sakes!

Social Impacts

2007-10-04T10:39:00.000-04:00

Though it's not really like me to get through such a heavy book without being tragically affected, I read The Kite Runner earlier this year (courtesy of Sharon, thank you very much). As is the case with almost any book that is popular these days, they're now making a movie about the story. Apparently, this production has caused quite a stir.

This raises quite a few questions for me, including:

Why does a best-selling, stirring, educational book not encite people but a movie will?
Are the actors and families really concerned for their lives, or is there some sort of cultural mismatch going on here that we don't understand?

The simple answer would be that uninformed and uneducated people get all hopped up things that portray painful truths about humanity, automatically assuming an inflammatory stance/statement about their particular culture - and uninformed and uneducated people don't read "hard" books like these. But as for the concern for the movie participants, is it really happening or do we just have a Balinese real estate situation on our hands (see: Liz buys Wayan a house in Eat, Pray, Love)?

Not read but observed nonetheless

2007-10-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

At Olives, in downtown DC:

The pots that they use Are so old and dirty but They make such good food

Happy first days at work!

QUI

2007-09-27T23:56:00.000-04:00

So I was trolling through MySpace again, searching for some info on Brett Dennan (since he is opening for Colbie Caillat at the 930 Club in November) and I came across these lemons... and they are Qui.

A little background: I am super excited that there is a female Colbie out there getting famous, even if she does spell her name wrong. I'm ok with having a gender-ambiguous name but I'm a little tired of having a guys name. Also - we've been going to some shows lately (yay, Blue October!) and this whole business of extended opening acts is getting tiring, so I want to see what he's up to. And - as most people who know her know - Qui eats lemons whole. Always has, always will.

Love ya girl

Read your drug labels!

2007-09-12T00:53:00.000-04:00

I left my doctor's office the other day with a prescription for Augmentin and, although I recognized it as a drug I hadn't taken before, I didn't see anything wrong with it. I went down to my local CVS (which is convenient in its location but not its hours) and my pharmacists filled it without question.

Only when I got the medication home and noticed that my generic version of Augmentin was abbreviated AMOX did I worry. AMOX sounded an awful lot like amoxicillin, which sounds an awful lot like penicillin, to which I am allergic.

Turns out it's a good thing I checked... because all of my concerns checked out and now I have new drugs.

So, kids, it pays to read your prescription lables!

iPodding

2007-09-10T22:47:00.000-04:00

My iPod has been acting up lately.

To be more specific, the combination of a 1st Generation iPod nano, a Dell Inspiron, Windows XP, and a massive external hard drive containing my entire music collection... is not playing well together.

After hours and hours of digging through help articles, discussion forums, and random internet rantings, I have come to the conclusion that my iPod is not corrupt, does not need to be restored, is not sharing a hard drive letter assignment with another USB-powered device, is fully charged, and (unfortunately) still won't sync with my computer. Not much of a conclusion for me, so I lie in wait, hoping that some helpful person will read my last plea for help and offer me some sage advice.

Any takers?

Boobs & Midgets

2007-09-09T22:27:00.000-04:00

Reading through my Gmail, an ad for the latest sports headline on CNN popped up and reminded me of a funny story.

I was sitting at Ella's Pizza last night with some friends and were were momentarily sucked into the tennis match playing on TV: it turned out to be one the final round of the U.S. Open. We watched as Justine Henin masterfully defeated Svetlana Huznetsova, which was all the more amazing given their difference in size. Svetlana looked like she could crush Justine with her biceps or her thighs, but apparently, Justine was on the other side of the net lobbing 100+ mph balls at her opponent. Justine is on 125 pounds! (so that's the midget part)

This was all made the more funny by the crowd across the bar who was oh-so-into the tennis match. Jack and I were trying to figure out how in the world scoring works in tennis (we settled on something about 60 and love) and were close to asking for help. The only problem was that the sangria-imbibed expert had boobs that came about 10 miles before she did. I swear, I don't know how people let them hang out like that all the time... I don't have a moral issue with them, but I would be so afraid that one of those things would perk right out of that ever-so-low-cut sun dress and slap somebody across the face!

And you know that bar fights never end well. (so that's the boob part)

Globalization in my mailbox

2007-09-09T21:49:00.001-04:00

I'm still reading through all of the mail that I got while I was on vacation - plus some that had piled up before I left. While taking a leisurely look through my catalogs, I came across a comforter from Garnet Hill. The description reads: "Neapolitan Stripe Flannel Bedding. Crafted in Germany in the traditional English style..."

An Italian stripe on an English item that is made in Germany? This is worse than the EURO...

Apples vs. Gates

2007-09-08T18:43:00.000-04:00

I came across Mike Elgan's latest article today and it inspired me to comment. I've been thinking a lot about this blog today, especially as I read through my current favorite book.

A quick aside: I realize that it's always going to be difficult for me to comment on what I'm currently reading. When something is good enough to make me think, I just want to devour it and can hardly bare to pause in my reading to bend down a page, much less to high-tail it to my computer to jot down my insights. I also hate folding down the edges of book pages - though not as much as I hate bent book spines! Anyway, relating that to this blog... I realized that I might have better luck commenting on anything that I read, rather than just books. For example, this news article is short enough, and online enough, to give me time and motivation to write up my thoughts. So, we'll see if it sticks.

This article is pretty interesting to me, as it starts out highlighting all of the realistic ways in which Apple is coming to resemble Microsoft. Then it goes on to highlight the very-hard-to-see ways that Apple might be coming to resemble Microsoft. Then it breaks and tells you that the author is not out to put Apple down at all, nor is he attempting to defend Microsoft. He is merely pointing out the dangerous and non-business-friendly/non-consumer-friendly attributes that a company can pick up once it becomes very large or popular.

This speaks to me because I fear dearly for the future of my favorite site/portal/problem-solver: Google. I started using Google about 10 years ago, when I was sitting in the lab, trying to be different and more efficient by using Dogpile. (The different part was working, but not so much on the efficient front.) I loved the nonsense of the name and I remember having to look it up to find out where it came from. Needless to say, the success of Google's products and their extension into the beyond-the-search-engine realm has thrilled me. Gmail is my communication platform of choice and I'm usually one of the first among my friends to point out the cool new feature that is still only on the Google Labs page.

But lately I've started to worry. I love the products they are producing and I'm really not that worked up about the potential privacy concerns that have some folks all agitated. I just worry that they're going to get too big for their britches and start charging for all of these wonderful free services that I've become totally reliant on. Or perhaps they will just stop updating them, or adding features, or making them useful - which can be just as crippling to those of us web-o-philes out there.

Google has continued to make an effort to listen and repond to user feedback, but how long can this last?

I hope that Mr. Elgan's assertions about software companies are incorrect, but in this case, only time will tell.

The Space Between Us (Thrity Umrigar)

2007-06-29T21:25:00.001-04:00

My summary...

Books I gave away in 2006

2007-06-05T19:55:00.000-04:00

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Decorations in a Ruined Cemetary by John Gregory Brown
The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L Carter
All's Fair by James Carville & Mary Matalin
Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
White Noise by Don DeLillo
LA Confidential by James Elroy
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Bee Season by Myla Goldberg
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arther Golden
It Happened in Boston? by Russell H Greenan
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Plainsong by Kent Harruf
Dupont Circle by Paul Kafka-Gibbons
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
Wicked by Gregory MacGuire
Raymond & Hannah by Stephen Marche
The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
The Diagnosis by Alan Lightman
The Temple of Music by Jonathan Lowy
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
'Tis by Frank McCourt
Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The War of the World by HG Wells

*Yes, I read them all.*