When you are trying to help someone, you have to have humor, self-existing humor, and you have to hold the moth in your hand, but not let it go into the flame. That’s what helping others means. Ladies and gentlemen, we have so much responsibility. A long time [...]]]>

KEEP THE MOTH OUT OF THE FLAME

When you are trying to help someone, you have to have humor, self-existing humor, and you have to hold the moth in your hand, but not let it go into the flame. That’s what helping others means. Ladies and gentlemen, we have so much responsibility. A long time ago, people helped one another in this way. Now people just talk, talk talk. They read books, they listen to music, but they never actually help anyone. They never use their bare hands to save a person from going crazy. We have that responsibility. Somebody has to do it. It turns out to be us. We’ve got to do it, and we can do it with a smile, not with a long face.

From “Helping Others,” in GREAT EASTERN SUN: THE WISDOM OF SHAMBHALA, page 180.

I’m pretty sure that’s why a friend of mine gave me a book this past summer; because I [...]]]> Anyone who knows me well knows not only that I have a fascination with words, but also love to debate … I can argue semantics for hours, much to the dismay of people around me at times.

I’m pretty sure that’s why a friend of mine gave me a book this past summer; because I was driving her crazy with my insistence on using the right words … but I wonder if she knows how much I’m actually enjoying reading it?

Sol Steinmetz’s Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning, published by Random House, “shines a light on the often complex evolution of the meaning of words” according to Jesse Sheidlower, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.

For example:

AWKWARD

Before 1400 there was a word in English, awk, meaning “the wrong way, backhanded,” that was of Scandinavian origin, probably old Norse afug. Though the word had fallen out of use in English by the 1600s, it survived as part of the compound word awkward, meaning “turned in the wrong direction, upside down,” literally, “toward the wrong way.” From the idea of doing things the wrong way, a new meaning, “ungraceful, uncouth,” developed, as in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida (1616), where Ulysses says: “And with ridiculous and awkward action … He pageants us.” From this sense came the current meaning, “lacking dexterity, clumsy, bumbling,” applied to persons and things, as in an awkward gesture, an awkward situation. “I have not seen a more clumsy, awkward, and unhandy people.” (Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels)

Of course, when I whip out this newfound knowledge, people look at me like I’m crazy … which leaves me feeling, well, awkward.

Oh well, what’s a guy to do?

Custom Bicycles: A Passionate Pursuit    by Christine Elliott & David Jablonka

Cycling has never lost its appeal. Alongside mass-produced models, the craftsmanship of handmade bespoke bicycle makers has emerged to satisfy the passion of people who ride bikes as a means of daily transport, as a sport and for [...]]]> Drool-worthy porn, currently available from Amazon.com:

Custom Bicycles: A Passionate Pursuit
   by Christine Elliott & David Jablonka

Cycling has never lost its appeal. Alongside mass-produced models, the craftsmanship of handmade bespoke bicycle makers has emerged to satisfy the passion of people who ride bikes as a means of daily transport, as a sport and for recreation. This book by passionate cyclists Christine Elliott and David Jablonka is the product of a worldwide search for the most influential custom bike makers on the planet.

The result is a presentation of a wonderful collection of expertly honed, human-powered machines, built by some of the most creative bicycle makers in the world.

It highlights the range of techniques, materials, design elements and passion behind producing a custom handmade bike. It’s guaranteed to take you on the ride of your life.

Features a foreword by Phil Liggett, the voice of the legendary man behind the English-language broadcasts of the Tour de France.

The Bicycle: The Myth and The Passion
   by Francesco Baroni (Author) & Felice Gimondi (Preface)

This handsomely illustrated volume traces the evolution of the bicycle and spotlights landmarks in its illustrious history. From the first sketches in the 1490s by a student of Leonardo da Vinci to the High Wheel Bicycles that had their heyday in the 1880s, hundreds of archival photographs and illustrations depict the features of these and other early ancestors of the modern bicycle, accompanying a text that vividly recreates the excitement of each new innovation.

Documenting the advent of ball bearings and pneumatic tires, the development of high-tech racing bicycles and state-of-the-art all terrain bikes with waffle tread tires and heavier frames, The Bicycle: The Myth and The Passion examines the models and components that have been the fulfillment of the dreams of visionary inventors. Through an engaging text and vibrant graphics, readers will meet the key players in the world of cycling and gain a newfound appreciation for the colorful history of the bicycle.

My copies are on order … are yours?

This is my first memory: A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky       wood floor A line of green shades—bankers’ lights—down the center Heavy oak chairs that were too low or maybe I was simply       too short             For me to sit in and read So my [...]]]>

MY FIRST MEMORY (OF LIBRARIANS)

This is my first memory:
A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky
      wood floor
A line of green shades—bankers’ lights—down the center
Heavy oak chairs that were too low or maybe I was simply
      too short
            For me to sit in and read
So my first book was always big

The welcoming smile of my librarian
The anticipation in my heart
All those books—another world—just waiting
At my fingertips.

  — Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943)

Custom Bicycles: A Passionate Pursuit    by Christine Elliott & David Jablonka

Cycling has never lost its appeal. Alongside mass-produced models, the craftsmanship of handmade bespoke bicycle makers has emerged to satisfy the passion of people who ride bikes as a means [...]]]> … of a certain type, anyway. Now available for pre-order (currently $37.00) from Amazon.com.

Custom Bicycles: A Passionate Pursuit
   by Christine Elliott & David Jablonka

Cycling has never lost its appeal. Alongside mass-produced models, the craftsmanship of handmade bespoke bicycle makers has emerged to satisfy the passion of people who ride bikes as a means of daily transport, as a sport and for recreation. This book by passionate cyclists Christine Elliott and David Jablonka is the product of a worldwide search for the most influential custom bike makers on the planet.

The result is a presentation of a wonderful collection of expertly honed, human-powered machines, built by some of the most creative bicycle makers in the world.

It highlights the range of techniques, materials, design elements and passion behind producing a custom handmade bike. It’s guaranteed to take you on the ride of your life.

Features a foreword by Phil Liggett, the voice of the legendary man behind the English-language broadcasts of the Tour de France.

Yeah, I know … sounds really exciting doesn’t it. But in reality, from what I’ve read so far, the book seems to do a great job of explaining how the global economy has been pushed [...]]]> Picked up The Origin of Financial Crises: Central Banks, Credit Bubbles, and the Efficient Market Fallacy, by George Cooper recently.

Yeah, I know … sounds really exciting doesn’t it. But in reality, from what I’ve read so far, the book seems to do a great job of explaining how the global economy has been pushed into crisis, and offers potential solutions … one of these being that “avoiding financial tsunamis comes at the price of permitting, even encouraging, a greater number of smaller credit cycles.”

In other words, Mr. Cooper is arguing that instead of staying out of the markets when the economy is growing, but jumping in and cutting interest rates when the economy is contracting, the world’s central banks should permit some short-term cyclicality in order to purge the system of excesses, which can be accomplished by preventing excessive credit creation (which he defines as credit growth far ahead of economic growth).

This doesn’t mean that Mr. Cooper is arguing that the central banks stay out completely; when things do reach crisis proportions, as they have currently, central banks do need to intervene, but they need to be careful NOT to inflate another credit bubble.

I need to finish reading the entire book to really give it a thorough review, but thus far it’s quite an interesting read.

Snow job | The white stuff | The Economist From The Economist print edition

“TO SKI, however well or poorly, is a reminder—whatever one may for a long time have suspected—that one is alive, and that living is [...]]]> The next book on my reading list: The Snow Tourist, by British author and journalist Charlie English.

Snow job | The white stuff | The Economist
From The Economist print edition

“TO SKI, however well or poorly, is a reminder—whatever one may for a long time have suspected—that one is alive, and that living is tremendous fun. There isn’t any other game to compare with it in the world.” So wrote James Riddell after winning the Kandahar Ski Club’s Inferno downhill race in Mürren, Switzerland, in 1929. Riddell went on to become the father of modern ski journalism. Charlie English is his heir in more ways than one.

Mr English, an associate editor of the Guardian, is a polymath who wears his learning lightly. His book is a cracking read that deserves to be by the bedside of every keen skier or snowboarder. Indeed, it is the phenomenon of snow, as much as skiing—or boarding, which he prefers—that fascinates him.

He began skiing as a child in the Cairngorm mountains, in central Scotland, and even remembers taking home a Thermos flask of snow as a souvenir. While researching this book Mr English makes a moving return to the Cairngorms, even camping out alone there in the snow. But he also travels more widely, to Washington state to try to ascertain whether Paradise or Mount Baker has the highest annual snowfall in the world, and among the Inuits where he learns to build igloos. In Vienna he goes in search of Bruegel’s “The Hunters in the Snow”, which he believes to be “the fairest portrait of winter” ever painted.

He describes his (failed) attempt to complete the Haute Route, one of the world’s most renowned ski-mountaineering itineraries from Chamonix to Zermatt. Along the way he became afraid and lost his nerve. At the same time his relationship with his French guide, Philippe, became fraught, especially when the guide challenged him: “I think you are dead while you are alive. More and more I think society is made up of people like you. You take risk unconsciously. When you are in the town, or driving your car, you take risk but you don’t think about it. Now you are with me, and this is a conscious risk, you say you will not take it. But if you do not come, you will feel bad. Will you take it?”

Mr English hears what he has to say, but opts out all the same. Many off-piste skiers will identify with this situation. This is a well-rounded work by a well-rounded, if snow-obsessed, writer. But then, there are worse obsessions.

This is one of the reasons why I love The Economist so much … it’s not only in-depth and objectively reported world news (and not just economic news), but also feeds some of my other obsessions.

I’m battling a nasty cold right now, and yet, I’m still planning on heading up the canyon today to put in some turns. Am I crazy? Possibly; but I prefer to think it keeps me sane.

And then, once you’ve finished A Conspiracy of [...]]]> I am a big fan of David Liss‘s work, especially A Conspiracy of Paper, a historical mystery set during the the world’s first stock market crash, which will give some insight into what happened nearly 300 years ago, wrapped up in a story of pugilism and prostitution.

And then, once you’ve finished A Conspiracy of Paper, you can read The Coffee Trader (the introduction of coffee to the commodities exchanges in Amsterdam in the mid 17th Century) and A Spectacle of Corruption (about the machinations involved in an early 18th Century British national election) … all are timely novels to read in the current political and economic climate … a little history to put current events into perspective.

David Liss’s new book, The Whiskey Rebels is finally available.

Synopsis from Publisher’s Weekly:

Set in and around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City in the years after the Revolutionary War, this clever thriller from Liss (The Ethical Assassin) follows the adventures of Ethan Saunders, once a valiant spy for General Washington, who’s fallen on hard times by war’s end. Suspected of treason, Ethan has lost the love of his life, Cynthia, who’s married the fiendish Jacob Pearson, an entrepreneur who managed to prosper during the British occupation of Philadelphia.

At Cynthia’s urging, Ethan agrees to go looking for the missing Jacob, prompted in large part by a desire to redeem his reputation. Meanwhile, the so-called whiskey rebels on the western frontier are trying to bring down the hated Alexander Hamilton and his Bank of the United States.

The courageous Ethan is a likable rogue, and even though Ethan spends too much time delving into the complications of 18th-century finance, he can be counted on when the chips are down and the odds against him soar.

Oddly (at least to me), the only novel Liss has written that I didn’t enjoy was the one mentioned in the Publisher’s Weekly synopsis. The Ethical Assassin was certainly well-written, but the darkly comic novel was set in modern times; it wasn’t what I really expected from Liss, and while I tried to give the book a chance, it never really grabbed me. I have yet to finish it. Perhaps I’ll give it another chance after finishing The Whiskey Rebels

Picked up my copy of The Whiskey Rebels last night, and am already thoroughly engrossed.

Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion by Paolo Facchinetti & Guido Rubino. Pre-order it now from Amazon.com.

I think I’m about to have an orgasm.