One Sentence

I'm currently reading the book Drive by Daniel H. Pink. The book is about motivation, and at one point in the book he talks about what makes great men and women. President Kennedy's was once told by Clare Boothe Luce, one of the first women to serve in the U.S. Congress, that "a great man is one sentence." Rather than splinter our lives off into various purposes, it serves us better to orient ourselves toward a greater purpose. So, the question is, What's my sentence?

Day 298 - October 27, 2010

Some fresh book covers.

Day 289 - October 18, 2010

Heard about this memoir on NPR the other day, and I was so intrigued by the author's words on the show that I had to check this book out.

Backing into Forward by Jules Feiffer

Day 261 - September 20, 2010

Interactive digital books. The future of books as we know them?

The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry

Day 240 - August 30, 2010

Jane Merkel wanders through Robert Gatje's new book of public squares, which is almost as good as being there

The Piazza San Marco in Venice.

Courtesy W.W. Norton

Great Public Squares
Robert F. Gatje
W.W. Norton & Company, $65.00
Robert Gatje has written a book that makes you want to get on a plane and revisit every historic square you have ever seen—and then go to the ones you’ve missed in slightly out-of-the-way places like Rhodes, Nancy, and Halifax.
Wonderful colored maps, inspired by the Nolli Map of Rome, help you understand solid and void, distinguish parterres from pavement, grasp street patterns, and, in some cases, identify significant works of architecture. Clusters of photographs and occasional monochromatic historic prints enable you to experience the squares (which are rarely square) in elevation. Measurements let you sense the size and scale of each square described and compare them to one another. Brief, clear, and informative text provides just enough historical information for context.

Day 236 - August 26, 2010

Books on my radar...


The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Day 218 - August 8, 2010

Another book, Everything Explained Through Flowcharts, by humorist Doogie Horner.

Day 216 - August 6, 2010

Read an article on this book in the NY Times Books Update section, and found it fascinating to contemplate all the free time I would have available to me if I stopped watching TV.

I look forward to reading this book soon.

Cognitive Surplus

Day 196 - July 17, 2010

The Art of McSweeney's

Day 129 - May 10, 2010

Some powerful quotes from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-

Stuckness shouldn't be avoided. It's the psychic predecessor of all real understanding. An egoless acceptance of stuckness is a key to an understanding of all Quality, in mechanical work as in other endeavors. It's this understanding of Quality as revealed by stuckness which so often makes self-taught mechanics so superior to institute-trained men who have learned how to handle everything except a new situation.

In each case there's a beautiful way of doing it and an ugly way of doing it, and in arriving at the high-quality, beautiful way of doing it, both an ability to see what "looks good" and an ability to understand the underlying methods to arrive at that "good" are needed. Both classic and romantic understandings of Quality must be combined.

The way to see what looks good and understand the reason it looks good , and to be at one with this goodness as the work proceeds, is to cultivate an inner quietness, a peace of mind so that goodness can shine through.