sand in my shoe

here we are at nearly the end of the first month and here are the things that have been irritating me:

• people who talk at the top of their voices on their cellphones on the train
• people who talk to each other at the top of their voices on the train
• people who play music on their personal devices at maximum volume on the bus
• people who have a formal encounter with you and find it acceptable to suddenly fish out their water bottle for a swig
• gentlemen who run to risque in their taste for jokes and conversation

quite clearly the common theme is human.

good reads (and not)

two rip-roaring satisfyingly meaty jolly good reads. destiny is a sweeping tour of world history that incorporates the middle eastern moslem perspective. not your usual western media stuff or even the world history according to western writers stuff, so this is a fascinating account.

adds up is a whirlwind review of mathematics as i never knew it. and i studied math up to high school! and actually i passed college biostats! and right in the final chapter i discover a new thing - mandelbrot sets. it is delightful.

this one, though, is not quite my cuppa tea. i may like ideas but that socratic method is a tad slow for me. perhaps another day.