By Anne Lamott
Lamott’s book on how to write has five me much to think about. She focuses on fiction and takes us through the grueling, embarrassing, frustrating process of churning out a story.
Two points which make me think my blog does not make me a better fiction writer…
“New writers often make the mistake of making themselves the lead of the story “
“You are making this mistake of assuming everything that happens to you is interesting “
By John Steinbeck
Looking over my library history, I see that I’ve been picking at East of Eden for two and half years. While I have a desire to read great literature, I can loose focus when the book is finally on my e-reader.
Having said that, East of Eden is a wonderfully written, multi-generation epic. It explores the idea of good, evil and choice. You must vs you may.
By Edmund De Waal
I’m on a quest to understand the roots of antisemitism. Reading The Hare with Amber Eyes, the history of a family of secular Jewish bankers in Vienna. It showed me how integrated, needed, and influential a Jewish family could be, yet how they were always kept a little separated because of their background.The Nazi state weaponized its civil service to systematically isolate and target people, even amid internal administrative chaos. Modern politics feels chaotic, but there is some comfort that today’s power structures lack that unified, weaponized momentum.
The movie trailer deceived me. The image of a boy and a tiger on a boat evoked Calvin and Hobbes. The book is most certainly not that. A ship transporting a zoo sinks in the Pacific. Amongst the survivors are the boy and the tiger. Their time together is horrifying tale of survival.
Or is it? The book is known for its philosophy. Which, I think, is loosely that if two different stories fit the facts, then choose the story that inspires you the most.
I disagree with that philosophy. Of course I am a pragmatic realist. This does not diminish the book. It’s wonderful writing. It’s a testament to the author that one can disagree with the book, without rejecting it.
There is another way to interpret the book. That the boy was trapped on a life boat with a cannibal. After being rescued, rather than face those horrors, he tells a story of being trapped on the boat with a tiger.
By Jordan B. Peterson.
AI says...
Here are the 12 rules, along with a brief summary of each:
Stand up straight with your shoulders back
This is about self-respect and confidence. Peterson argues that body language affects neurochemistry (like serotonin levels) and that taking responsibility for your life improves your mental state and how others perceive you.Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping
Many people are hard on themselves but compassionate toward others. Peterson suggests viewing yourself as someone you need to care for, encouraging self-care and self-respect rather than self-sabotage.Make friends with people who want the best for you
Surround yourself with supportive, honest friends who encourage your growth and hold you accountable, rather than those who enable bad behavior or drag you down.Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today
Focus on your own progress and improvement. Social comparison is often futile and demoralizing; personal growth is a marathon, not a race against others.Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them
This is about parenting with firmness and love. If you dislike your child’s behavior, correct it. Allowing bad behavior can lead to resentment and harm the child’s future character and relationships.Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world
Fix your own life first. You can’t solve societal problems if your own life is chaotic. Take responsibility for your immediate sphere of influence before trying to change the broader world.Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)
Short-term gratification (expediency) often leads to long-term regret. Meaningful actions may be difficult or unpleasant now but lead to a more fulfilled and stable life in the future.Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie
Honesty builds trust and reality-testing. Lying distorts your perception of reality and creates chaos. Even small lies can accumulate and undermine your integrity and relationships.Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t
Approach conversations with humility and openness. Even if someone is wrong or annoying, there’s always something you can learn. This fosters respect and reduces conflict.Be precise in your speech
Vague thoughts and language lead to vague feelings and outcomes. Clarify your problems and goals by articulating them clearly. Precision helps you solve problems and act effectively.Do not bother children when they are skateboarding
This metaphorical rule emphasizes the importance of allowing young men (and people in general) to take calculated risks. Overprotectiveness can prevent the development of competence and confidence.Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street
Appreciate small moments of joy and beauty in life. Even in the face of suffering or chaos, find solace in simple, positive experiences. It’s a reminder to be present and grateful for small mercies.'
I first heard about Jordan Peterson during a meeting with a CEO. He mentioned he was reading 12 Rules for Life, so I added it to my list.
If you look up Peterson, you’ll find he is quite the character—problematic, polarizing, and combative. I won’t go into details here here, but I will use this as a launch point.
Three specific rules resonate with me:
By Carl Hiaasen.
Hiaasen's books are always full of Trashy bad guys pulling off trashy crimes while trashy investigators try to stop them in trashy ways.
It's a fun read. Not high brow, though it's smart with its social commentary.
Wikipedia says Pillion is a 2025, romance, comedy, dark drama film. We saw it a while back so I thought I'd read the book (Box Hill) that it was based on.
The story for both is focused on an S&M romance between Colin and Ray.
Both the movie and the book have the same emotional and narrative core though their structures are very different. Near the end of Pillion Ray abruptly vanishes with no explanation. Box Hill doesn’t have that mystery. About 3/4 of the way through the book Ray dies in a motorcycle accident. This leads to a long section where Colin rebuilds his life.
By Ruth Goodman
Goodman is a historian and a reenact-or of history who has much experience on living with wood, peat and coal fuels. In this book she digs into how different fuels influenced architecture as well as how we live.
Coal smoke is more dirty than wood smoke. As such coal heating pushed the development of chimneys and iron stoves.
Toasting and toast became more popular with coal stoves as it’s difficult to evenly toast with a wood fire.
Soap and cleaning— wood ash can be purified into lye. Wood ash and fat can make soap. The same is not true for coal ash. When wood ash was the dominant fuel, people didn’t buy soap. They made their own or just used ashes; ash on greasy dishes makes its own soap. It wasn’t until coal became dominant that people needed to buy soap.
By John Le Carre.
More of a spy procedural than a spy action adventure novel. The story follows a spy who ages out of the British Secret Service, defects to East Germany and then becomes embroiled in machinations to kill (or protect?) the head of the East German spy service. There are twists, turns and a few murders.
A good read.
By Author C. Brooks.
A good book in the model of "one page of thesis, 200 pages of examples and explanation." The book almost says that in the conclusion...
1. Standup to the man. Refuse to be used by the powerful.
2. Escape the Bubble. Go where you are unexpected and say things people don't expect
3. Say no to contempt. Treat others with love and respect, even when it's difficult.
4. Disagree better. Be part of a healthy competition of ideas. Engage in earnest debate while not shutting anyone out.
5. Tune Out. Disconnect more from unproductive debates.
These are hard things to accomplish. Brooks is *not* advocating that we cynically & passively disconnect. He advocates that you to actively love your enemies and become a better person.
By William P Bengen.
Bengen originated the 4% rule for retirement portfolio draw-down. He revisits this strategy in this book. With the right portfolio he says the safe withdrawal rate not starts at 4.7%.
I see the concerns people can have with the 4% rule. It's not a stretch to call the math behind it curve fitting. Honestly, that's probably as true of monte-carol simulations. Of course you can't really predict the future. You can only make sure that your facts and theories are aligned, and prepare for the day when that is not enough.
Retiring now is... interesting? Inflation is high. The Shiller PE ratio is near an all time high. As I retire, we are starting off at a 3.5% drawdown rate. If things go wrong then we have buffer. If they don't then we can give ourselves a raise.
By Michael Schur
This book is a pop-read through major branches of moral philosophy-- virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, contractulism.
Schur doesn't come to any hard and fast conclusions on how to live. Of course he can't. How could he? But he does offer suggestions that it hopes we would think though.
Try to be a good person.
There will always be situations where you don't know the right choice. Make a choice. Own it. Apologize if you are wrong, Don't be a jerk about it.
More than anything, we are defined by our choices and our actions. Choose. Act. Learn. Don't get stuck.
"In the words of Samuel Beckett: Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
"The best thing about Aristotle's 'constant trying, constant searching' is what results from it: a mature yet still pliable person, brimming with experiences both old an new, who doesn't;t rely solely on familiar routines or dated information about how the world works."
"(when you fight against progress) We're actively not trying to be better, and worse, we're seeing the not-trying as a virtue. This benefits no one."
"Where do you draw the line? As the comedian John Oliver likes to say: somewhere. We draw it in different places, but we need to draw it, each of us, for ourselves."
How to deal with someone with very different (wrong?) values? Think... "I love this person. This person is causing me anguish. We treat those thoughts with equal weight. And we hope the person in question will do the same."
By Dan Kieran. With forward by Tom Hodgkinson
I have a love/hate attitude towards Tom Hodgkinson's Idler oeuvre. This and some of the other Idler books come across as very unambitious, entitled laziness. That you have the time and money to travel for weeks and that no matter how bad the day was, you can always stop by a local pub for a beer.
And...
Most of our suffering while traveling comes from resisting what's happening. The train is late. The weather is bad. The hotel is noisy. These aren't obstacles. This is travel. Your plans are imaginary. The trip you're on is real. Chao's isn't fun, but it forces your to confirm the illusions you have about control.
Treat travel as a practice of attention, of letting go, of embracing what you encounter rather than bending it to your will.
