Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity

David Lynch raises money for his education initiative by publishing this book about how transcendental meditation has influenced his life and art. It's an easy read and upbeat. The insights into his film career are especially interesting.

Like the Malcolm Gladwell book I just read, the writing style is direct and simple. Some chapters are just one sentence or one paragraph.

Chapter titles run the gamut from "Religion" and "Ideas" to "Suffocating Rubber Clown Suit" and "Bob's Big Boy".

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell hits another home run with this book about how opportunities and legacy affect success. Outliers is packed with insights that seem both obvious and non-intuitive at the same time. I think that is the brilliance of his books, using data and research to both defy and reinforce common sense.

For example, we all know families are important but the introduction explains some amazing positive health data from a small immigrant community due apparently to three generations living and working together.

A perfect airplane book, Outliers is riveting from beginning to end. Nevertheless, I had to postpone one of the most mesmerizing chapters on a recent flight from New York. It was on plane crashes. Too close for comfort.

Love Minus Zero/No Limit

Hearing this 1965 Bob Dylan classic in Starbucks this morning was like donning a big warm coat on a cold winter day.
















My love she speaks like silence,
Without ideals or violence,
She doesn't have to say she's faithful,
Yet she's true, like ice, like fire.
People carry roses,
Make promises by the hours,
My love she laughs like the flowers,
Valentines can't buy her.

In the dime stores and bus stations,
People talk of situations,
Read books, repeat quotations,
Draw conclusions on the wall.
Some speak of the future,
My love she speaks softly,
She knows there's no success like failure
And that failure's no success at all.

The cloak and dagger dangles,
Madams light the candles.
In ceremonies of the horsemen,
Even the pawn must hold a grudge.
Statues made of match sticks,
Crumble into one another,
My love winks, she does not bother,
She knows too much to argue or to judge.

The bridge at midnight trembles,
The country doctor rambles,
Bankers' nieces seek perfection,
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring.
The wind howls like a hammer,
The night blows cold and rainy,
My love she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing.

Baked Artichoke Hearts

Ready to rock on Christmas day. The easy recipe here.

iBreath

New breathalyzer for the iPhone. I wonder when iColonoscopy will be available?

New York

Courting Justice

David Boies came to my attention during the Bush v. Gore litigation in 2000. He was impressive and brilliant advocating for Gore. Courting Justice concludes with three chapters on this high profile case but first tackles several others including DOJ's antitrust fight against Microsoft. (Spoiler: Bill Gates comes off as a major asshole).

I am riveted whenever I hear Boies speak but this book was tedious. It felt like work to finish it. Nevertheless, the legal content is fascinating. The problem is in the unexplored avenues Boies frequently mentions and abandons. After 470 pages one would think we'd know more about Boies.