Of Course The Main Character Is 29

I have always thought that being 29 made people a little crazy and, even, a little bit distasteful. The nicest 28 year old and the coolest 30 year old was probably a pain in the butt at 29.

Anyway, I heard about The Book of Dahlia by Elisa Albert on NPR this morning. I am interested because it is supposed to be funny (not as funny as Ant Farm by Simon Rich that I wrote about here), but I am not really buying what the write up is selling.

I would normally avoid any and all entertainment that involves someone suffering from cancer, but could be persuaded if it was done in such a way that was funny (which is, apparently, what this book does).

But, I just don't believe it can be truly funny and not annoying (mostly because the main character is 29).

What Do The Cigarette Girl, Shopgirl And A Random Diary From Ebay Have In Common?

Despite a variety of good reviews, I avoided Shopgirl by Steve Martin for a long time. I avoided it not because I thought Steve Martin couldn’t write a novella, but because it seemed a little unfair that he was a great comedian and a great serious writer.

But, eventually, I picked it up and it is a terrific read (short, to the point and observational). What I liked best about it was the way that Los Angeles is evoked. In that sense, it was super similar to The Cigarette Girl by Carol Wolper, which was also excellent.

What about the diary? Well, on eBay there is a brisk trade in other people’s diaries (true story) and I bought one once. It was written by a woman living in LA in the 30s and I have to say that the LA she describes produces some of the same images (albeit 30s style) as both Martin and Wolper.

I Never Really Liked Audio Books (even on an ipod)

I never really liked audio books, but now I have changed my mind. I recently went on a long haul road trip and listened to Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman on CD.

I loved it. Chuck is a brilliant satirist and listening to it in audio form (during a long haul road trip) was better than reading it, because I consumed it in a single “sitting”.

Interesting Snippet

So, as it turns out, my home state (Minnesota) has lots of readers. Of the top 5 most literate cities, Minneapolis is #1 and Saint Paul is #3.

What Would Machiavelli Do?

Stanley Bing is the second reason that I buy Fortune magazine at the airport (the first depends on what is on the cover). Bing writes a column on the last page and (even if the entire magazine sucks that month) his column makes it worth the price of a latte that you have to pay for it.

What Would Machiavelli Do? by Stanley Bing, like the column, is super funny (100 Bullshit Jobs and How to Get Them is also funny). And, while Bing makes it clear (even insists) that you shouldn’t have to bother with reading the actual Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, I started to give it a try (owned it for years).

Before I even got to the text itself, I took a detour. In the foreword to the version published by “Everyman’s Library” the author writes:

The aim is to extract from observed events those recurrent features that provide a basis for practical action. If, as Machiavelli claims, politics can be a science comparable to medicine, then history is its pathology. The decline and fall of the Roman state has always had an obsessive interest for commentators; it could be called the shaping myth of western political thought. (xiii)

Of course, after reading that, I got distracted by Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America by Cullen Murphy. The Prince will wait, I think, a few more years (back to the shelf with Sun Tzu and The Art of War).

This Just In From Oprah

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the newest Oprah’s Book Club selection. Set in the Caribbean coast of South America, spanning multiple years, filled with a type of romance and beautifully written. And, yet, I have never been able to finish it. Ever.

I really want to read this book and, I swear, one day I will persevere, but I never make it past page 20 or so. I have started it so many times that I have basically memorized the opening sentence (which, I think, is one of the best lines ever written):

“It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.” (3)

It is the same story with 100 Years of Solitude by the same author (Oprah’s 2004 selection). But, worse, in the case of 100 Years of Solitude I have started it twice as many times!

The First Draft Of The Reincarnationist

The honest truth is that, while I appreciate literature, my literary standards are not that high when it comes to an interesting plot or theme. And, as far as great plot devises go, it is hard to get better than reincarnation (deals with identity and spirituality with a bit of inherent time travel – hard to get better than that).

The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose (which I was fully expecting to be a great read) might possibly be the worst book that I have ever read. Truly. The plot devise is good, but the characters are flat and make no sense, the storyline is interesting, but doesn’t hang together and the book should be edited in a big way. It really should be about half as long as it is.

At best, The Reincarnationist is a first draft!

How Much Do I Love The Economist?

While I was an international relations student in the early 90s, the saying used to be that if you wanted to be a Foreign Service Officer, you had to read The Economist magazine or the New York Times every week for a year (every single printed word). If you did that, the conventional wisdom went, you were sure to have an FSO business card.

Since the New York Times has fallen on hard times, I suspect students today have dropped it from the list, but I am certain the belief in The Economist still persists.

Anyway, I never became an FSO (the Internet boom intervened), but I did start reading it every week and have never stopped. It is simply the best magazine published today. I could wax on and on about how great it is and why, but I will give one reason here:

The book review section is totally awesome. For example, the review of Alan Greenspan’s new book The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World in the most recent issue (here) is perfect.

Plus, how much do I want to read Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy by Eric D. Weitz? A lot. Not because the review (here) is glowing, but because it is a perfect review.

Alan Greenspan Is Super Cool

The sage of our former times has been on the circuit hawking his new book The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.

He was on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart a couple nights ago (video clip here). His interview reminded me a little bit of what Albert Einstein said about understanding politics. Einstein said (paraphrasing) that math was much easier to understand than people.

Anyway, Greenspan said just about the same thing. He said (paraphrasing) that we rely on giant reams of data, because people make no sense.

Also, from what I understand, in Greenspan’s book he describes wooing his wife with an essay on the Sherman Antitrust Act. That is pretty funny.

Anyway, I’ve got to get the book!

She's Geeky

I have a couple posts lined up on The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose and The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in the New World by Alan Greenspan, but I wanted to take a break from books (for just a tiny second) to post the following ad for the “She’s Geeky” conference.

The information provided by the organizers:

She's Geeky ( http://www.shesgeeky.org)

A Women's Tech (un)conference
October 22-23 in Mountain View, CA.

This event is designed to bring together women from a range of technology-focused disciplines who self identify as geeky. Our goal is to support skill exchange and learning between women working in diverse fields and to create a space for networking and talking about issues faced by women in technology.

Feel free to also talk about:
* what it means to you to be a geek
* why you are excited about meeting with other women geeks
* the issues you hope we can talk about
* the skills you can offer others at the event

2) The She's Geeky BLOG BADGE. If you feel inspired, please post the blog badge on your page.

(img src="http://www.kaliyasblogs.net/images/shesgeeky.jpg)


3) SPREAD THE WORD. Please pass on information about the (un)conference to any other women who would enjoy attending, and contributing to, the event.

4) PLEASE REGISTER and Pay (if you have not done so already)
There is a two step registration process
Go to the registration page - http://shesgeeky.org/Signup
Follow the prompt after you activate your account to pay via paypal - http://shesgeeky.org/pay.

5) Ideas for Monday's pre-programmed content.* Click here to see the great content we have outlined so far. Remember all topics that you want to add to the agenda for Tuesday.

6) Sponsorship. We are still looking for sponsors and media sponsors. If you or your company would like to contribute, please contact us at shesgeeky@gmail.com or post on the wiki .

This week Google came on board as a sponsor along with the Nonprofit Technology Network , Atlassian, Purple Tornado, and Citizen Agency.

We have two great /media sponsors/ so far DevChix and LinuxChix . If you are a women's tech group and want to be one too let us know. We are going to make a momento for everyone with all the groups who spread the word.

If you want to help/contribute in some other way you think might be useful, please let us know.


7) Childcare. We are currently planning to offer childcare at the (un)conference if you notify us ahead of time. Please contact Deb Roby debra.roby@gmail.com with the following details: age of each child and the number of children. We can not guarantee we can accommodate all needs, but we will do our best.

8) Accommodation.* The Hotel Avante in Mountain View has provided us with the following rate: $179/night. Their sister hotel, the Palms, has a rate of $139/night, but it is further down the road. Call them (650-940-1000) and mention She's Geeky to get the rate. There are several more budget hotels on El Camino Real.

9) Room Shares and Ride Shares. We have a wiki page http://shesgeeky.org/Logistics for coordinating room and ride shares. Deb Roby is helping out with matching between people. If you would like to offer a home stay for women coming in from out of town, please Deb Roby debra.roby@gmail.com know.

10) (Un)Conference Topics. Please feel free to post the topics you want covered on the wiki http://shesgeeky.org/Proposed%20Topics.

If you have questions ask us :)

shesgeeky@gmail.com


This is going to be a GREAT event.

Kaliya, Mary, Susan, Laurie, Melanie, Heather, Deb, & Julia

“Sex In The City” Saudi Arabian Style

I first became alerted to the book The Girls of Riyadh written by Rajaa Alsanea in a review written up in the Economist. Suitably intrigued I bought and read it.

The cross-cultural communications researcher in me loved it and so did the social media consultant.

I think this book is a “must read” for all Western women, but especially those women who get pissed off every time they see someone covering their hair. Even though the book’s story is frivolous in many ways, it gives the reader clear insight into a world that is completely misunderstood.

The narrative is delivered via the context of social media (arguably, old social media – a Yahoo group – but, still social media). It is an interesting construct (like The Last Messages which is told completely through text messages). Over time it will be interesting to see what fiction includes narrative or other elements that revolve around social media trends and technology.

Anyway, this book is well worth the price of purchase

The Uncertain Hour

The Hours by Michael Cunningham and Being Dead by Jim Crace are two of my all time favorite books. When I saw that both Cunningham and Crace endorsed a new book, I bought it immediately.

The Uncertain Hour by Jesse Browner is a masterpiece and it is impossible to put down. Based on the basic description (a “vivid portrait of life in Rome” and “a gripping entrée into the mind of a great man during his final hours”), I thought there might be parts of it that would be like Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (not in terms of the narrative, but in the sense that the main character in both books are confronting their own death).

It is not. In general, I liked Never Let Me Go (I wrote about it here), but the narrator in The Uncertain Hour is far more philosophical and his anguish more palpable and so the book forces the reader more fully into the story.

I generally require narrative first and writing second (I learned that from Only Revolutions which I wrote about here), but in this book the reader gets both. Plus, it is filled with numerous excellent quotes so these are just a few of my favorites.

On living and death:

We owe so little time to life, and all eternity to death, so let’s pay off our small debts first, Petronius. (32)

On reputation:

A man’s reputation is a delicate vase, vulnerable in equal measure to the malice of enemies, the prurience of strangers, and the clumsiness of friends. (44)

On civilization:

“When it comes down to it, he thought, isn’t all civilization just an exercise in measuring time, in pacing off the foundations on which to build a model of the universe of oneself?” (138)

On love and empire:

“I believe in love just as I believe in empire. They’re both transactions between partners of unequal strength, dressed up in heroic rhetoric.” (170)

It is not often that I read a book and have no complaints, but, in this case, I am unable to think of even one.