Airport book #2! The story's narrative is based around the author's recollection of his past lives. An interesting read, but not exactly my jim-jam. Aleph
Fantastic veggie bahn mi and a weird e-book someone recommended to me that I found interesting. As someone who's always had difficulty "imagining the future," I found this book's suggestion to re-framing that as "remembering future memories" very freeing and lovely.
...this! The second Murakami book I read. I didn't like this as much as I liked The Windup Bird Chronicles, but I still really enjoyed it. A Wild Sheep Chase
...and started reading this one. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel. I loved this book. It was the first of Murakami's books I read. Really haunted me and stuck with me. Not a fast or linear read, but I can't recommend it highly enough!
...on the way home I picked up some travel books. Meredith's friends Aileen & Ryan had invited to attend their wedding in the Philippines and we'd just booked our tickets.
Also found out we're just a few blocks from the Queens Public Library. Mer and I got ourselves cards. I really liked this book. Sad and tender. The Rug Merchant
...Douglas Rushkoff give a lecture about his new book (which I highly recommend) Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age (He makes the argument that basic literacy always includes the ability to READ and WRITE. Most people that use computers are only HALF literate in that they know how to use computers (READ ability) but they don't know how to program them (WRITE ability). Those who have trouble understanding how programs work are less likely to notice that their reality is being mediated by programs that limit their choices to things that are included in the program...)
Josh alternated swims with hammock readings of SHOGUN (He gave it to me when he was finished reading it and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Highly recommended!)
Snapped a photo of these two canoodling on the couch on my way out the door to work on Thursday morning. Good book! (Fates Worse Than Death by Kurt Vonnegut)
Science has long treated religion as a set of personal beliefs that have little to do with a rational understanding of the mind and the universe. However, B. Alan Wallace, a respected Buddhist scholar, proposes that the contemplative methodologies of Buddhism and of Western science are capable of being integrated into a single discipline: contemplative science.
The science of consciousness introduces first-person methods of investigating the mind through Buddhist contemplative techniques, such as samatha, an organized, detailed system of training the attention. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their own theories with the help of highly developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science allows for a deeper knowledge of mental phenomena, including a wide range of states of consciousness, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional, cognitive, and affective imbalances.
Just as behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience have all shed light on the cognitive processes that enable us to survive and flourish, contemplative science offers a groundbreaking perspective for expanding our capacity to realize genuine well-being. It also forges a link between the material world and the realm of the subconscious that transcends the traditional science-based understanding of the self.
man in the sun
she reads to me from the New Yorker
which I don't buy, don't know
how they get in here, but it's
something about the Mafia
one of the heads of the Mafia
who ate too much and had it too easy
too many fine women patting his
walnuts, and he got fat sucking at good
cigars and young breasts and he
has these heart attacks - and so
one day somebody is driving him
in his big car along the road
and he doesn't feel so good
and he asks the boy to stop and let
him out and the boy lays him out
along the road in the fine sunshine
and before he dies he says:
how beautiful life can be, and
then he's gone.
sometimes you've got to kill 4 or 5
thousand men before you somehow
get to believe that the sparrow
is immortal, money is piss and
that you have been wasting
your time.
I finished the last of the books that Meredith bought me for my birthday. This book is a fun read. It's written by the guy who created the "psychopathy checklist." Here's Amazon's summary: "Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please...
In Without Conscience Robert Hare argues convincingly that "psychopath" and "antisocial personality disorder" (a psychiatric term defined by a cluster of criminal behaviors) are not the same thing. Not all psychopaths are criminals, he says, and not all criminals are psychopaths. He proposes a psychopathy checklist that includes emotional/interpersonal traits such as glibness, grandiosity, lack of guilt, and shallow emotions, as well as social deviance traits such as impulsiveness, lack of responsibility, and antisocial behavior. His writing is lucid and illustrated with numerous anecdotes.
The final chapter, "A Survival Guide," is especially recommended: as Hare writes, "Psychopaths are found in every segment of society, and there is a good chance that eventually you will have a painful or humiliating encounter with one."
Oh, you know, just a little light honeymoon reading....haha.
Oh man, it's crazy to think that before I had an e-book reader THIS is what I used to have to try to fit into my luggage. (I like to read when I'm traveling!). Happy August, 2009. See you after we're married!
. Super quick read. After this, I started...
. I loved this book. It was the first of Murakami's books I read. Really haunted me and stuck with me. Not a fast or linear read, but I can't recommend it highly enough! 
)...
on the couch with my buddy until I fell asleep!
(He makes the argument that basic literacy always includes the ability to READ and WRITE. Most people that use computers are only HALF literate in that they know how to use computers (READ ability) but they don't know how to program them (WRITE ability). Those who have trouble understanding how programs work are less likely to notice that their reality is being mediated by programs that limit their choices to things that are included in the program...)
(He gave it to me when he was finished reading it and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Highly recommended!)
I had my tiny mind split open by this book. It ignited an interest in consciousness that still hasn't abided two years (and many more books) later.
Robert Hare argues convincingly that "psychopath" and "antisocial personality disorder" (a psychiatric term defined by a cluster of criminal behaviors) are not the same thing. Not all psychopaths are criminals, he says, and not all criminals are psychopaths. He proposes a psychopathy checklist that includes emotional/interpersonal traits such as glibness, grandiosity, lack of guilt, and shallow emotions, as well as social deviance traits such as impulsiveness, lack of responsibility, and antisocial behavior. His writing is lucid and illustrated with numerous anecdotes. 
(One of Jared Diamond's books that preceded Guns, Germs & Steel)
MOAR SCIENCE!
by Colby Buzzell.)
