i just stumbled onto james bridle's booktwo blog and browsed his recent post called "stop lying about what you do."

what he says about his book reading is quite frank, unapologetic:

I don’t read like I used to-although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I rarely finish books. I’ve always had a habit of abandoning novels 50-100 pages before the ( Read more... )

good fiction requires a good story. regarding non-fiction, however: even if the narrative is poor, i might still learn something new.

as an example, i love reading about neuroscience .. at least the kind that is disseminated into the public. somehow the human brain fascinates me.

this morning i was reading a book and listening to a record. before, i did the dishes and tidied up a bit of the week's collective mess. somehow, between dish soap, dirty soup bowls, and a sponge, i decided that mathematics could wait until monday.

i've been on an orwell kick, lately, and likely i'll be writing or quoting him in days to come. ( Read more... )

i don't remember subscribing to time magazine. nonetheless it's been appearing regularly in my mailbox, with my mailing address. come to think of it, i prefer my periodicals weekly: i can't be trusted to read the paper every day.

this week, there is an article about what books authors are reading this summer.. which reminds me: i haven't updated ( Read more... )

Travel Tips We Learned the Hard Way from the Morning News.

As we carve out weekends for summer vacations and welcome loved ones home from across the volcanic ash-strewn pond, our STAFF AND READERS share their hard-earned trip advice.
of these, i found only one particularly useful. i made this same mistake once, on my first trip to finland. it was ( Read more... )

i've told a few of my friends in michigan that:

"the internet is better than television."
i believe this, if only for the fact that i waste much, much more time in front of a computer screen than i do a television screen.

it's a wonder how i ever get any work done.

the odd bit is that most the internet (that i see) is text. it may have a ( Read more... )

Airports are unsettling places: thinking about them, they inspire malaise and uneasiness in me.

Sitting in these squeaky plastic seats, we are a crowd of strangers. Our eyes are wary and full of distrust, and behind our eyes, in the very backs of our brains we remember images planes crashing into buildings, and hope that today, like many ( Read more... )