the stuff of thought - steven pinker (2005)

how we think, as evidenced by how we communicate. he covers how we acquire language how we use words what's in a name the psychology of 4-letter-words and even the psychology of courtesy. 

i read then i speed-read then i skip and finally i abort. i'm shallow that way.

the good:

• fascinating premise
• smooth snarky style 
• real stuff here, not just your two-chapter wonder

the bad:

• he tends to ramblin'
• wasted potential, on account of it being almost exclusively english

relocation

J2 is relocating.

J2 is driving cross-country to relocate.

my baby.

me pore pore 'eart.

recent books

• peter wimsey - dorothy sayers
• hamish macbeth - m.c. beaton
• noise - kahneman, sibony, sunstein (2021)
• league of denial - fainaru-wada & fainaru (2013)
• the undoing project - michael lewis (2016)
• young wives' tales - adele parks (2012)
• the premonition - michael lewis (2021, fresh!)
• the bilingual brain - albert costa (2020)

it's been a pretty decent list of enjoyable stuff. peter wimsey and hamish macbeth pop up like whack-a-mole's in between the rest. i am in constant tension between reading another one and getting closer to the end of the series. and, as you see, i tend to like michael lewis' action. 

also, the bilingual brain is brilliant. i only wish i remembered to give it its own review. 

here are some that i could not finish, owing to pretentious writing irritating premise or unfulfilled promise:

• c. northcote parkinson's parkinson's law - leo gough (2011). gah gah gah. the original is miles better 
• to sell is human - daniel pink (2012). we just don't get along. i've tried drive and i could not finish that either
• stuffocation - james wallman (2013). long-winded pedantry. as a new word i learnt puts it, it's prolix
• surrounded by idiots - thomas erikson (2014). same vibes as the above. pity, because it has such a catchy title 
• real food/fake food - larry olmsted (2016). i am unable to manage beyond a few chapters and i stop in the interest of self-preservation. because one needs to carry on eating, you know

and i am working my way through mental acrobatics for this one, because i catch glimpses of a glorious blue sky amidst the (admittedly witty) verbiage:

• the stuff of thought - steven pinker (2005)

quantitative easing

we go from 2-a-group-no dining-in to the liberty of 500-per-gathering next week.  i feel a sense of loss.

i like silence.

i like my own company.

i like not getting a cold.

i've got some cool looking masks by now.

i like the space between you and me.

i like having an excuse not to visit.

i like attending meetings on zoom.

and i like going to church in front of the TV.

i dislike RRT intensely.