The Man Who Knew Too Much

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I read GK Chesterton’s story collection The Man Who Knew Too Much, and it was a lifesaver. I picked this book on instinct right before I took off on a flight. When I was doing my final packing the morning of my trip, none of the books on my nightstand felt right. All the books at the airport looked dumb. It was a crisis. Then I remembered Project Gutenberg. I skimmed through some of the top/popular lists, clicked on some names I recognized, and a few seconds later I had a handful of options ready for travel. A good collection of fun, cynical mysteries, usually with some laconic or mordant humor. There’s usually some corruption at the heart of things. If you ever find yourself in a pinch, Gutenberg has you covered.

BLDGBLOG: Ghost Streets of Los Angeles

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BLDGBLOG: Ghost Streets of Los Angeles.

I love the idea that the buildings seen here take their form from a lost street—that an old throughway since scrubbed from the surface of Los Angeles has reappeared in the form of contemporary architectural space. That is, someone’s living room is actually shaped the way it is not because of something peculiar to architectural history, but because of a ghost street, or the wall of perhaps your very own bedroom takes its angle from a right of way that, for whatever reason, long ago disappeared.

Chi-Raq

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Chi-Raq. This one made me wonder if other movies are even trying to be interesting. Some parts I didn’t love, some I actively kinda disliked, but man there’s so much good stuff. So many different moods and shifts. It’s a little bit of a mess but I’d much rather feel that investment, alternately cackling with pleasure and rolling my eyes, than settle for a placid, sated indifference for two hours.

Equilateral

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I read Ken Kalfus’ Equilateral, and thought it was worthwhile. A 19th century engineer coordinates the construction of a giant continent-spanning triangle built as a signal to Martian civilization. There’s a faint kinship with Euphoria (which I loved), in its blending the romance, science, and exploration.

Creed

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Creed. Loved it. Loooooooooooved it. I’d put it up there with the original. Jordan and Thompson leads radiate young beautiful blackness. There’s nothing new in the plotting of their story, but I love how they grow together. They each have their own thing cooking, neither one gives it up, and they find a way to show up for each other. Stallone – and I love how these movies can’t help but be autobiographical – is solid, that ideal Balboa mix of tough and noble and vulnerable. Interesting naming of Jordan’s lead. I was thinking Adonis complex, but rather than driven by misperceived appearance, it’s a deeper shame from ancestry, or maybe even just existing in the first place. Also ties in with rebirth pattern you see in the myths: the son and the franchise. Love the camera tracking in the first big fight, and its willingness in calmer scenes to sit back and bit and not shove faces in your, uh, face. Also dig the fun details like the stat cards for rival boxers. Why not? Even the triumphantly corny moment with the biker kids taps into something so local and specific you can’t argue with it. I was ready to fight. One of my favorites this year.

I started using Day One last fall

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I started using Day One last fall. Today makes 365 consecutive days with at least one entry, most with several sets of notes and a photo or two. Think I might get those 600-something pages printed and bound and read everything I forgot. I guess I could have been putting this on paper all along, but y'know, whatever helps you build the habit…

Structured Procrastination: Do Less & Deceive Yourself

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Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

cough. Filed under: procrastination. Structured Procrastination: Do Less & Deceive Yourself

When Popular Fiction Isn’t Popular: Genre, Literary, and the Myths of Popularity | Electric Literature

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There is an odd cognitive dissonance that happens in these conversations, where we are simultaneously supposed to believe that literary fiction is “mainstream fiction” and genre fiction is “ghettoized,” and also that literary fiction is a niche nobody reads while genre authors laugh all the way to the bank.

When Popular Fiction Isn’t Popular: Genre, Literary, and the Myths of Popularity | Electric Literature

How to talk to anyone: the experts' guide

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There’s a phrase I like to use: “The roof is an introduction”, which means that if you’re in the same place, you always have something in common. Remember that most people in any room feel uncomfortable. If we can be aware of that, and think, “What can I do to make other people feel comfortable with me?” that’s not just a great strategy for socialising – it’s a kindness.

How to talk to anyone: the experts' guide

The Politics of Empathy and the Politics of Technology — The Message

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Then there’s the question of automated changing of profile pictures to express sympathy, a form of emotional disaster relief. We first saw this phenomenon when Facebook created an easy way for people to apply a rainbow overlay to their profile pictures to support and celebrate a civil rights win: marriage equality. Even if you approve of rainbowing profiles, you have to acknowledge that by encouraging rainbows, Facebook was making another political choice, like the way Safety Check was a political decision.

The Politics of Empathy and the Politics of Technology — The Message