Tag Archives: books

May 29 2024
9 Comments
Informative, Uncategorized

It’s a Mystery

It’s true. Time really does fly when you’re having fun. It’s almost astonishing (it would “actually” be astonishing if I weren’t so prone to procrastination) to look back and realize that the last time I posted on the blog was over a year ago. And I’m guessing you’re wondering what the heck I’ve been doing that’s been more fun than writing this blog. The answer is fairly simple really. I’ve been reading. Quite a lot. (Baking a bit too, but that’s a story for another day and another blog.) But not just reading anything. It’s been a rather focused reading binge. You see, I’ve pretty much been exclusively reading mysteries for the past year or so. Also detective stories which, because I find them in the “Mystery” section of the library, seem to fit the bill. If I’ve learned nothing else in all of this time, it’s that those mystery (detective) writers churn out the volumes faster than you can say “elementary, my dear Watson”. (You know he never actually said that.) Which means that because prior to my relatively recent foray into the land of intrigue and chicanery, I was not a mystery reader, I have plenty to catch up on.

So that’s it. That’s what I’ve been doing. Just reading. Nothing mysterious about that. The funny thing is that reading all of those books has got me thinking about the mysteries in my own life, and I’m thinking, maybe yours too. It seems to me that each day we are faced with some conundrums, both big and small, that we can’t make heads or tails of. Like how is it that we put 12 socks into the wash and only 11 come out. Or why, when we get back from the grocery store, do we discover we have everything except the item we went to buy. Or what about the enigma of the forever looping song. You wake up with a song stuck in your head, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t shake it off. It follows you everywhere, looping endlessly like a catchy but slightly annoying soundtrack to your day. I won’t name one of the most frequent offenders as I suspect the damage is already done. And most importantly, why can’t we eat just one chip? Small mysteries, but mysteries nonetheless.

Then there are the bigger, perhaps more perplexing mysteries we face. Like Trump. Now you know as a shallow person I try not to dip my toes too deeply into the kerfuffle we think of as politics. It’s just not what I do. This year though, it’s pretty hard to keep my head in the sand. Let’s face it. In one country you have two young(ish) men who seem to prefer to take pot shots at one another rather than talking about policies, while our neighbour to the south is faced with choosing between a couple of guys who, and I might be somewhat kind here, are a little long in the tooth. But here’s the mystery. These latter two fellas are currently running neck in neck. Now whatever your politics might be, it seems to me to be reasonable to think that a man who is accused of a plethora of charges in umpteen criminal cases should not be quite as popular as one who, while admittedly not perfect, is at least not facing incarceration. What are these supporters of Mr. T thinking? Did they forget that this genius thought injecting bleach to prevent COVID was a good idea? Or that his denial of a fair election resulted in his supporters storming the capital and attempting to hang his VP? Or maybe they really do think there are “good people on both sides”. Do we truly never learn from the past and are forever doomed to repeat it? I can’t begin to speculate on how this story will end but honestly, sometimes the human race is one big mystery to me. 

Then, just when we thought we had this whole internet, online stuff figured out, along comes Artificial Intelligence to add a little suspense into our lives. I gotta tell ya. While some of the mysteries I have read make it hard to fall asleep at night, this AI thing will raise more than a few hairs on the back of your neck. Remember Hal? For some time we have known that AI is capable of displacing people in a variety of occupations but things are getting out of hand fast. Last night while watching the real news, delivered by what I can only presume to be real people, I learned that in the not very distant future we will be watching the news brought to you by some “not so real” people. That’s right. Not real people who look quite a lot like real people will be reporting on what’s happened in the world on any given day. And you and I won’t be able to tell the difference. Before you know it, those not real people will be writing all of the mysteries I’ve been reading. Or maybe even this blog. Truth be told. A tiny bit of of this post was written by Chat GPT. Let me know if you can figure out which part. Sorry, after all of this time, I just couldn’t resist leaving you with a little mystery of my own. 

BTW…If you, like me, are looking for a good mystery, you might want to pick up the Lane Winslow series by Iona Whishaw or the Rowland Sinclair series by Sulari Gentill. You’ll want to start each of them with the first book in the series. I believe they are still being written by real people. And, if you have any other suggestions for a good mystery series please add them in the comments. After all, I never know when I’ll be writing the blog again.

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Oct 02 2012
5 Comments
Informative, Instructive

What chapter is this anyway?

BookshelfI like books. They have a multitude of purposes not the least of which is making people look good. How many times have you gone to someone’s house and, while they left the room to prepare a little something to “tide you over” as my Mother would say, taken a good look at the books they have so carefully and strategically placed on their shelves? The thing is, bookshelves are a lot like Facebook profiles, constructed to reflect the image that their owner wants to project. And it’s really not that hard. Let’s say you want people to think of you as “retro hip”. Add a few Hunter S. Thompson’s to your collection of Kerouac novels, pepper with a little Tom Wolfe and you’ve got yourself a persona. Perhaps radical politics is more up your alley. Place the three volumes of Marx’s “Capital” front and centre, surround with some Saul Alinsky, Noam Chomsky and “Plato’s Republic” just to show depth, and you’re set. Fancy economics as your claim to fame? To do this right you’re going to need some balance. Milton Friedman, Naomi Klein, Adam Smith and Marx (again) should do the trick. Throw in a copy of “Freakonomics” just to let people know you have a sense of humour. I could go on but honestly, this is not rocket science although if that’s your goal try some Sagan, Hawkings and Michio Kaku who, although born and bred in the USA will at least appear to add an international flair.

Books can also make you look smart. Unlike those electronic reading machines, when you carry a book people can actually see what you are reading. Or at least what you appear to be reading because we all know that you don’t actually have to read the book to make people think you are smart. I mean when was the last time you actually walked up to someone to quiz them about the book they were holding? It’s just not going to happen. Of course if it does happen there are some stock responses you can use to maintain the illusion. If it’s non-fiction you’re holding go with “she presents a new and interesting theoretical perspective that really ought to be considered given how tired the previous iterations and approaches to [insert topic here] have become”. That should stop any further inquiry. When it’s a novel you’ve got I suggest “I’m afraid the character development is weaker than in his past work but I’m plowing my way through hopeful that some of his literary genius will become evident in the later chapters” which will not only demonstrate your ability to critically analyze the current work but will also let people know that this is not the first and only book you have read. So be as esoteric in the selection you carry as you want and make sure to keep the cover facing out.

But what I like most about books is that they have a beginning, a middle and an end. As you read them you know exactly where you have been, and where you are going. It also means that you have a pretty good idea of when you are going to be done. Which is why I look back somewhat wistfully on the advice my son (I have two of those) gave me when I first started to write this blog. He said (and I quote) “Mom, you should write a book about being shallow, not a blog.” Because unlike a book, a blog has no natural end. As I look back at my 27 posts I find myself asking “what chapter is this anyway?”. For all I know this thing could go on forever, an especially daunting conclusion to arrive at when your Grandmother lived to be over 100 and your Mother and her sisters are respectively 97, 94, 91 and 80 years of age. The thought is so overwhelming that this week I have sought refuge in my “one week at a time” mantra.

Looks like it worked. That’s another week in the bag.

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