phyncke

Today is International Women's Day. I did not do anything for that. I did note it in my mind and saw that there were speeches in DC. I am reading on women's issues right now. I am reading a very interesting book on misogyny called - Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny by Kate Manne. It is a philosophy book so I have to keep looking up things while I read it but the author uses examples from politics and major crimes to make her points. Things I remember. So it is interesting from that stand point. Not an easy read but very worthwhile. I do recommend it with warning - it is disturbing to read about this stuff and the examples are stark. I am looking forward to the climax of the book where she dissects the 2016 election and all of that. Should be really interesting to read that. 

Monday was a Monday. I got work done - got derailed a little bit by the Harry and Meghan interview from last night - and reading about the reactions to that. I have a little bit of a fascination with the royalty thing and what goes on there. I remember how I felt when I heard that they had left the royal family. Honestly I thought - good for them. I know we are getting this all second hand and who knows what is true. But they don't have to stay there and deal with that. Harry is the spare - not really in line for the throne so why not? If his wife is unhappy - why stay? And don't get me started with how brutal the UK press was on her. Brutal. My opinion - they did not have to stay so they didn't.  Not going to do a blow by blow on the interview. Just my two cents on that. 

I am doing some family work - my parents need some help so I am researching home health care providers in their area - NH. Looking at help that they can get in their home. They are pretty independent but could use some visits during the week to get some support. So seeing what there is. They are in a good area for it - so lots of options. I have created a spreadsheet that I am sharing with the siblings. I love spreadsheets. I am not the decision maker so it is not up to me. I think it is a group decision. So we all have access to the info. Love google sheets. 

This week - Saturday - I get my second dose of the vaccine. Very excited about that. A little worried I won't feel well from it but will see what happens with that. Some people have no effects from it. Hope I am in that category. I am going to prepare some meals so I am ready for that. And see how I do. That is about all I have - hope you are well and take good care. 

I just finished the last in the series and thought I would begin my reviews of the trilogy. So here I go.

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Book Review

Set in one possible future when North America has dissolved away to the country of Panem, a realm where the decadent Capitol dominates 12 provinces through the mechanism of exacting tribute through the Hunger Games. The tribute are children, offered up in combat to the death in an arena. Two, a boy and a girl, from each district and only one can triumph. The games are televised, broadcast live for all to see. This system has been in place for seventy four years, ever since the districts revolted and lost the rebellion. Before the revolt, there were 13 districts but one was obliterated by the Capitol in the war.

With this gruesome backdrop of a story, the tale is told with a rich tapestry of writing that holds the reader riveted. Each small description, aptly chosen, lightly written, and so so vivid as to be crystal clear. I find in some writers there is a tendency to overdo it but Ms. Collins application of adjectives and detail is perfect and tells us what we need to really see the world through the eyes and thoughts of the main character and heroine, Katniss Everdeen.

I had trouble putting down this book, took it everywhere with me and read it at every opportunity. I was keenly interested in this story and found Katniss to be a believable heroine and not so perfect as to be annoying. She was very human, with doubts, feelings and all those thoughts that make her a girl in a horrific situation.

I don't want to spoil this for anyone so I won't give away too many plot details. This book achieves much for me - I could see, smell and walk through the world as described and I really sank into it.


Overall rating:
Excellent!

Recommend:
Highly!

Warnings:
Story is violent and disturbing.

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post 1/100 in the 100 things challenge


by liltdybr

Thank you to elflover59 for the beautiful holiday card. That got here today.

I spent hours this afternoon trying to set up Parallels 7 on my new Mac Pro. This software will allow me to set up a windows environment on that machine. I am doing this so I don't have to purchase expensive software for it and so I can run all my graphics designing programs. Anyways...I got stumped on a password and could not get Windows to transfer to the new machine. Buggaboo! I have no idea what that password is or how to change it to one that I do know. I have a call in to my friend who knows such things and will see how I do tomorrow. This gave me a major headache. Argh.

Hope all is well with you. Things are shaping up for new years and the mellow plan. I have an afternoon party here at my house and an evening plan. Unusual for me as I usually don't have anything to do that night and tend to be more contemplative. I have plans on New Years to go out for a buffet lunch too. Yummeh.

I have started reading the original Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes stories and those are really good. Those were a recent (and reasonable) purchase at the bookstore.

Hope all is well with you and your day was less frustrating than mine. :)

Cheers and to all a good night!

This looks fascinating. It was a book delivered to our Dean which I am borrowing until next week when he gets back.

The Black Swan
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Review from Amazon (Wired Magazine):

Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. "Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall--they are the real distorting prisms of human nature." Chief among them: "Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature." Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Sigh. We're still doing it.

Our brains are wired for narrative, not statistical uncertainty. And so we tell ourselves simple stories to explain complex thing we don't--and, most importantly, can't--know. The truth is that we have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. Now, in The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, he focuses on that most dismal of sciences, predicting the future. Forecasting is not just at the heart of Wall Street, but it’s something each of us does every time we make an insurance payment or strap on a seat belt.

The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable. He calls them Black Swans, which is a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment. In Europe all anyone had ever seen were white swans; indeed, "all swans are white" had long been used as the standard example of a scientific truth. So what was the chance of seeing a black one? Impossible to calculate, or at least they were until 1697, when explorers found Cygnus atratus in Australia.

Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. September 11th is one such example, and stock market crashes are another. Or, as he puts it, "History does not crawl, it jumps." Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."

In full disclosure, I'm a long admirer of Taleb's work and a few of my comments on drafts found their way into the book. I, too, look at the world through the powerlaw lens, and I too find that it reveals how many of our assumptions are wrong. But Taleb takes this to a new level with a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature. --Chris Anderson