July 21, 2008
I first heard about The Happiness Hypothesis from twitter, from @zappos tweet on having finished it, to be exact. I was especially interested inthe premise of this book–a look at ancient wisdom and modern psychological research. Jonathan Haidt carefully reviews 10 ideas that have been threads in ancient wisdom and have been addressed in psychological [...]
May 22, 2008
So, there’s this blog I read, and the author has a book with a really compelling title. I’ve enjoyed his blog posts on the topic, and I had put his book on my Amazon wish list.
In support of my intention to acquire, maintain, and store less stuff, I moved most of my Amazon wish list [...]
March 17, 2008
I’ve had an Amazon wish list going for a while, collecting books I hear about that I want to read. It was getting longer and longer. At the same time, I am trying to optimize my belongings to fit into my space and I’m trying to keep the possessions I have in the house [...]
January 27, 2008
Last night we were looking for a Shakespeare sonnet at dinner, so I pulled down The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare: The Complete Works, Annotated from the shelf and opened it to discover this inscription
“To my darling Deedee, Xmas ‘87. The greatest author in the English language! From the greatest Dad.”
I’m Deedee, my dad has been dead [...]
December 1, 2007
Take This Quiz: Are You an Under-buyer or an Over-buyer? | Zen Habits
This took me about 30 seconds. I’m definitely an under-buyer.
I revel in open, uncluttered space, get annoyed at piles o’stuff, don’t stockpile, and, consequently, I short myself on staples now and then (no milk or no cereal for a few days in a [...]
September 6, 2007
I remember where I was on September 11, 2001. I was at my old job, working on a computer, not tuned into the news, when a colleague called and told us to tune into CNN. A rushing sense of unreality, helplessness, and shock followed. Then, we invaded Afghanistan, and I worried about the long-term [...]
September 4, 2007
What is your occupation? Director of Happiness (aka project manager).
What color are your socks right now? No socks. Bare feet.
What are you listening to right now? Girish.
What was the last thing that you ate? Leftover paella from New Bedford Portugese joint.
Can you drive a stick shift? Yes.
If you were a crayon, what color would [...]
August 12, 2007
Funny, the books I’m reading this weekend are affirming each other. I suppose this means nothing more than I have consistent taste. I’m now reading The Sound of Mountain Water by Wallace Stegner. He writes about the value of wilderness as more than just a place to hike, ski, photograph, raft, or play. He writes [...]
Two noteworthy events coming soon!
MiUPA: Design for two different generations: a user experience challenge
We all know about the Baby Boomers: they are a huge demographic, there are a lot of them, and they are now aging. But did you realize that there is a new generation that outnumbers the boomers? Called the “Net Generation” these [...]
August 10, 2007
I just finished The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, which details how we are running off of “startup capital” in a resource-draining, non-integrated way. The beginning echoed many environmental books - a depressing litany of all of the ways we are living unsustainably. When I read that sort of thing I get to feeling hopeless, [...]
not particularly objective musings on odds and ends - Dunrie Greiling, Ann Arbor, MI 48103