Predictably Irrational - Gas Prices

I want to buy this guy's book, Predictably Irrational.
Oh, and his accent is Israeli (wikipedia - Dan Ariely).

Summer reading: "After Empire: Chinua Achebe and the great African novel"

"In contrast to European modernism, with its embrace of “art for art’s sake” (a concept that Achebe, with characteristic bluntness, once called “just another piece of deodorized dog shit”), Achebe has always advocated a socially and politically motivated literature. Since literature was complicit in colonialism, he says, let it also work to exorcise the ghosts of colonialism. “Literature is not a luxury for us. It is a life and death affair because we are fashioning a new man,” he declared in a 1980 interview. His most recent novel, “Anthills of the Savannah” (1987), functions clearly in this mold, following a group of friends who serve in the government of the West African country of Kangan, obviously a stand-in for Nigeria. Sam, who took power in a coup, is steering the nation rapidly toward dictatorship. When Chris, the minister of information, refuses to take Sam’s side against Ikem, the editor of the government-controlled newspaper, the full wrath of the government turns against both of them. The book does not match the artistic achievement of “Things Fall Apart” or “Arrow of God,” but it gets to the heart of the corruption and the idealism of African politics."

"After Empire: Chinua Achebe and the great African novel" by Ruth Franklin in The New Yorker

After reading 'Culture Matters,' I think it would be helpful to read about the corruption of third world countries from the perspective of its citizens. Off to the library...

Summer reading: Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies (1963)

I hardly ever completed the assigned reading in high school, especially if I didn't like the teacher. My passive-aggression against the teacher usually came out in two forms: repeated tardiness and not reading. Both just negatively affected my grade.

I had to read 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding in 9th grade and hardly made an attempt at it. I loved my teacher, but I just couldn't get myself to care about these boys on a deserted island. A couple weeks ago I referenced 'Lord of the Flies' in a conversation and later remembered that I had never actually read it. So, I brought it and 'The Culture of Fear' (a book I didn't read for my Conspiracies class junior year of college) out to the beach this past week.

I can't say I enjoyed reading it, but the book was very interesting because of what it says about humanity. Reading the end notes was immensely helpful. In the notes, William Golding describes the theme of the book, and what his point was in writing it. Here you go:

"The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable."

Whoa dang. This is especially interesting paired with my 'The Culture of Fear' book, which, being of the viewpoint of most sociology books (that I've read), blames individual unhealthy behavior on the societal institutions that place people in bad situations. Who is right? Both?

books!

How the Google-Apple Cloud Computer Will Work

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Question: chauvinism

So, chauvinist is the male equivalent of feminist? Well, not really, actually. But that's how the word is used. Chauvinism is any kind of irrational loyalty to an idea or nation. Weird.

Two of my friends, Jeff and Lauren, have read the book Female Chauvinist Pigs, they loved it.

Actually, the male equivalent of feminism is masculism or masculinism. Word of the day.

I found a link to this book while looking up Otherkin (thanks, Lauren). Very cool design.

* oh, and I just remembered that Cintra Wilson wrote one of the funniest holiday-themed short stories/articles I've ever read, (here) at Salon.com. And read her blog (here).

Book I plan on reading when I am 30 and contemplating the fact that I will someday die:

The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch (poet/undertaker)

To Do: Learning to Love You More

A wonderful book/website/project/to do list by the indie queen Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher.

Learning to Love You More

Here are some examples:

10. Make a flier of your day.

9. Draw a constellation from someone's freckles.

8. Curate an artist's retrospective in a public place.

7. Recreate 3 minutes of a Fresh Air interview.

6. Make a poster of shadows.

5. Recreate an object from someone's past.

4. Start a lecture series.

3. Make a documentary video about a small child.

2. Make a neighborhood field recording.

1. Make a child's outfit in an adult size.

...and all on the website, people send in their projects in response to the lists. It's the most wonderful thing I've seen in months.

Reading: The Golden Compass

There's not much else to do on family trips than read by the pool and reject invitations to get in the pool by my nieces and nephew. And get a little Sun-In crazy (I haven't been this blonde since Allie messed up my highlights two years ago and I had a solid spot of yellow on the top of my head). Anyways, I was really proud of myself for reading the 400-page The Golden Compass in like 4 days until I talked to Kara who packed away a 1,000-pager (The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet) in about the same time. Whatever, she was an English major.

So, I read The Golden Compass because of the movie, of course. I haven't yet seen the movie, I was pissed at all the hubbub about Christians boycotting it (mostly on Facebook from what I've seen) and I will definitely see it. Also, I was intrigued because I had heard that it was the Atheists' response to The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I wasn't going to check it out until multiple friends had read them (there's three in the series) and loved them. Also, Wampler (my campus ministry leader at Mizzou) loved it - or rather, loved the first one and thought they went downhill in quality for the last two.

The book reminded me a lot of Harry Potter in the style of writing and because it centered around one "chosen" child growing up not knowing who they really are and going on adventures and who will eventually save the world. As far as the Atheist undertones, the only clear way this came out was that none of the characters were completely honorable or completely dishonorable. In the beginning the Master of Jordan College (who had been taking care of Lyra - the main character - since she was little) tried to poison Lyra's Uncle Asriel (who's Lyra's only blood and very cool). What?? The Master must be evil, right? Well, no, not exactly. Later on it looks in on a conversation between the Master and his colleague and he did it only because he was afraid because of what Uncle Asriel was up to and thought it was the right thing to do. So do you hate him or not? Pretty much all of the characters are like this - in fact, I was a little annoyed by Lyra sometimes.

But having complicated characters is realistic, right? And also a sign of good writing, I think. However, it seemed like there was less of a possibility of there actually being a right answer, like the right thing to do. Everything was confusing. Overall, it was an interesting and entertaining book and kind of reminded me of The DaVinci Code in some ways, but I don't know why. Maybe because I felt like I had to finish it even after I got bored.

ooo...cool! Kindle

I went on Amazon.com this morning to buy some boots (weird) and on the front page they announced Kindle. It's kind of like one of those flat laptops where you can write stuff on it. Except with this you read books. Kind of like an iPod for books.

Years ago my brother (who kind of always makes incredible predictions about the future and technology) said that one day we will all have one piece of paper (or a full newspaper is what he actually said) that will change from day to day and update itself to the news for the day. Maybe this is progress in that area.

Reuters article on Kindle.

I Want to Read This Book...

"And Tango Makes Three" tops ALA's 2006 list of most challenged books

CHICAGO – Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s award-winning "And Tango Makes Three," about two male penguins parenting an egg from a mixed-sex penguin couple, tops the list of most challenged books in 2006 by parents and administrators, due to the issues of homosexuality.

The list also features two books by author Toni Morrison. "The Bluest Eye" and "Beloved" are on the list due to sexual content and offensive language.

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) received a total of 546 challenges last year. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. Public libraries, schools and school libraries report the majority of challenges to OIF.
"The number of challenges reflects only incidents reported," said Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. "For each reported challenge, four or five likely remain unreported."

The "10 Most Challenged Books of 2006" reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

• "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
• "Gossip Girls" series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
• "Alice" series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
• "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
• "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
• "Scary Stories" series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
• "Athletic Shorts" by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.
• "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group
• "Beloved" by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;
• "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.

For more information on book challenges and censorship, please visit the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom’s Banned Books Web site at www.ala.org/bbooks