The Black Swan

First, an admission: I have not finished this book. In fact, I have read only a little over two thirds of it. However, I'm not sure that's as much of a problem as it would be for other books - which brings me to my first comment.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (or NNT, as he refers to himself) is explaining a single concept, over and over, from many angles. The book itself could easily be divided into many short essays, each a page or two long. I admit it is certainly possible that the last third of the book contains something completely new - indeed, if I did not admit this, I would have failed to grasp the basic concept he is trying to explain - but I will dare make a prediction anyway, and say that most likely, the last third would only continue to circle and flesh out the main concept.
I'm not sure if this is a bad thing or not. It is very repetitive - and yet stays interesting. I'm not desperate to finish it, but I could have if I had more time. Which I don't; I'll be returning it to the library in the morning.
Basically, this book is a guy on a soapbox. And it works.

The concept itself is an interesting one - basically, that we can't predict the future as well as we think we can, and so instead of planning for specific contingencies, we should plan to be flexible. And pay more attention to the comparative worst and best outcomes, not how likely we think either of them to be.

A few thoughts on this:
1. Well duh! Look, scientists have figured out what writers of fiction knew all along!
          Okay, so that may not be entirely fair. But there were several points made that reminded me of literature. Terry Pratchett's yetis, for example, or Vonnegut's Tralfalmadorian zoo.

2. Hmm. Noticing some connections to Numb3rs. Jury's still out on whether or not Charlie understands this concept, but a conversation from the very first episode does seem to encapsulate it:
         Charlie: "Larry. Something went wrong. And I don't know what. And now it's like I can't even think."
          Larry: "Well, let me guess. You tried to solve a problem involving human behavior, and it blew up in your face."
         Charlie: "Yeah, pretty much."
         Larry: "Okay, well - Charles, you are a mathematician, and you're always looking for the elegant solution. Human behavior is rarely, if ever, elegant!"

3. Hey! Somebody didn't like his history teacher. Honestly, while I see his point in applying this concept to the study of history, I'm left feeling more offended than anything else. His criticisms of historians are harsh, and stem mainly from an over-simplification of the field. People who really love history and study it in depth are the last ones to think the way he accuses them of thinking.
          But that could just be me. History major here, feeling very defensive.

Night Life

Living nocturnally is actually quite fun. I get up, I run errands - and I often see the sunset while out and about. The best views I've had of sunsets here in Boston were all, believe it or not, from the T.

Then the world calms down, leaving room for me in it. Plus it's a lot cooler out. I can read, work on puzzles, clean, cook... even do some basic grocery shopping, although the meat section closes around 7 or 8 and CVS closes at midnight. I may eventually do some writing, although I don't feel I have a story to tell at the moment. I guess it's not that I'm not writing (I have this blog, and a notebook I've decided to call a kaleidoscope journal, for lack of a better description), I'm just not currently writing fiction.

Meanwhile, I'm also reading a lot. I've really started to enjoy certain reviewers of books/movies/tv shows, and I've also got an ever-changing stack of books (again, mainly nonfiction - who am I and what have I done with Michele?) from the library.

I've also been playing around with photoshop, which is actually a lot of fun, and (on a less artistic note) I'm working my way through the Lego Harry Potter game on my ipod. Which is actually more fun than I expected.

I can go for a walk and see the stars and/or the sunrise. And instead of drunks swearing, I can listen to birds singing.

I've got a ticket to Serenity for midnight Saturday night, and I lector Sunday evening. Then it will be time to start planning/packing for the trip to Rochester!

As a Boston resident, an obligatory side note:

Yeah. Take that... (who were we playing again?) !

An Observation

This old movie poster that I came across

reminds me strongly of a book I got in elementary school:

...but as far as I can tell the plots have nothing in common. And, really, I'm not sure the image even makes sense for the movie, seeing as it's set in a city. It's certainly a memorable image, though - hence my recognizing it immediately even though I haven't read the book in a decade. Yikes, I can actually say that about a book. You're right, Mom, I'm getting old.

Summer Plans

For not having classes or a job, I've sure been busy. Grandma's birthday picnic was a lot of fun. Then I went home for a week to see everyone - and that was great too. Now I'm back in Boston, catching up on laundry, bills, grocery shopping, and sleep. Plus I'm trying to better organize my room (you'd never believe it, at the moment, because inevitably, being half way through means it looks worse than when I started) and I'm looking into stuff to do around Boston.

I also found a new parish that I really like... now I'll be bouncing back and forth between there and St. Columbkille's.

And I plan on spending a lot of time at the library. I may be disappointed by their fiction selection, but the nonfiction's impressive! So I'll be satisfying random curiosity.


Also, Cool stuff.

Wow

I've adjusted my sleep schedule to the rather odd 4am - noon in order to enjoy the quiet around here in the early morning.

I got up early today, however, to watch the shuttle launch:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1945.html

Pretty impressive. That was Endeavour's last launch, and NASA's second last. Apparently they're going to switch to renting seats on commercial shuttles. Just think about that for a second. Going to the Space Station has become such a normal thing that NASA doesn't feel the need to own private shuttles to get there - there are commercial ones.


 Also cool: Operation Crossbow

Time to Breathe

So... yeah, I've been ignoring this blog for a while. Sorry. Of course, Mom and Dad came to visit, so they didn't need the blog...

I'm done at Borders. It's empty. Closed. Signs torn down and everything. When we passed it last week, there were a bunch of guys in suits having some sort of meeting in there... I wonder what will take over the space?

I'm also almost done with school - just one more week. All my major projects and papers are done. I just love this feeling: for once, I don't have dozens of things due, overdue, or almost due all hanging over my head. What's more, Mom & Dad took me grocery shopping and helped me get my laundry done when they visited for Easter (thanks guys!), so none of that needs to be done immediately either.

I cleaned off my desk today. I know it looked like piles and piles of random junk, but believe it or not, that was my "inbox," which was overflowing. So cleaning my desk off meant completing dozens of minor (and not-so-minor) things that I'd let slide. I vacuumed too, and washed the stove and the microwave. And the dishes. Really, I've been quite productive considering how late I got up.

About that: I got up very late today. I've been sleeping 10-12 hours straight each night... hopefully this means I'll soon be caught up on all the sleep I missed this past month, and can go back to 8-hour nights.

 

Walden Pond

Awesome Day

1. I got an internship.

2. It was about 60 degrees out - ie perfect.

3. My new shoes came.

4. I got an internship.

5. I finally got a response from one of the magazines I contacted about my final paper.

6. My printer passed its last test - it worked perfectly, with no hassle & no wait, after having been left on all night. Epson: 3 HP: 0 (or should I give them a point for being pretty?)

7. I got an internship.

8. My group's magazine project presentation went really well, and the class let out early.

9. My new issue of Ploughshares came in the mail.

10. Did I mention the internship?


Also: I got off the T, thought, "It smells like rain," and two seconds later it was raining. Which... is less awesome, but at least proves I'm awesome.
 :-D