Reading, Concerts, Sailing, etc.

Time to catch up a bit. I'll start with my long neglected reading list. I recently finished Birds of America by Lorrie Moore. It's a collection of short stories with an overarching melancholy that's tempered by bursts of dark, but poignant humor. Not the best, not the worst, but a worthy read.

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Next up was Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. The basic premise is that experience allows you to make insightful choices based on thin slices of information. Also, our judgement can be derailed by racial or gender bias, information overload, stress, and marketing. One thing that was particularly interesting was the application of these ideas to personal relationships. We can misconstrue our biases for positive qualities in others and end up with brain dead, but attract partners (or presidents). Also, what we say we're attracted to and what we're actually attracted to are completely different things. Trying to qualify attributes that are purely qualitative is simply an exercise is self-justification, so beware of your biases.

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Two books that were pure crap were The Last Lecture and The Power of Now. The Last Lecture was simply pompous and self-congratulatory. Just because you're facing mortality (we all die someday) doesn't mean you have all the answers. Lame. The Power of Now is essentially cognitive behavioral therapy dressed up in new age jargon and pumped out through the Oprah machine. CBT generally has a positive view within the psychiatric community and is an effective tool for a number of issues, so why the new age window dressing? Double lame.

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On to my last book: When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris. This book rocked! It's insanely funny and David's flaws and eccentricities gives me renewed appreciation for the quirks that make us human. Highly, highly recommended. Buy this book now.

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Outside of my books, I've just been enjoying life these past few weeks. Last weekend I saw Combichrist at the Avalon. It was a solid show; rough, sweaty, and loud. For the 4th, I took a trip to Santa Barbara and went on a sailing cruise. I've never been on a real sailboat before, so it was an interesting experience. I liked the silence of the sails as we cut through the waves, but I still prefer flying over the ocean in an over-powered jet ski, jumping the white capped waves or blasting full throttle on the rare days when the ocean is flat and still as plane of glass. After the cruise, I spent a bit of time on the beach. However, the nearby fires were raining down ash, so I called it a day and heading back to LA. Saturday was BBQ and today I went surfing in Santa Monica, grabbed some lunch, then went hiking in Griffith Park. All in all, life = good.

Why Oxford is so great

One of my Oxford Professors, Jonathan Zittrain, was on the Colbert Report last night to promote his new book ‘The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It’. He was just as lively and good humored as he was in the classroom, and his book brings up some interesting points.

Essentially, the book explores how the internet is transitioning from a loose and free playground to a patchwork of walled kingdoms and bespoke devices where applications and content can be centrally monitored, blocked, and manipulated.

For example: why is iTunes only compatible with the iPod? Doesn’t that lock out innovation in music and video devices? Similarly, the iPhone is a closed garden where only Apple approved applications can run. Even then, they can be scrapped at Apple’s command, just as iPhone unlocking software was blocked by code in one of Apple’s endless updates. Is your Tivo really your own if a company thousands of miles away can erase content without your permission? How about that Xbox? How much privacy and control do you really have when you’re tethered to Microsoft?

Seeing Jonathan on Colbert reminded me of just how extraordinary my time at Oxford was.

http://futureoftheinternet.org/

Weekend in Cancun

This weekend was nothing short of AMAZING! My friend and I decided to take a trip to Cancun to get away from it all, so Friday morning we got up at 3am and headed to LAX for our flight. After touching down around four, we checked into the Westin Cancun, and headed straight for the beach.

The warm, clear waters stretched out to a distant reef before fading into the endless blue Caribbean. The sand, a fine mix of washed up shells, was white and cool under the afternoon sun. I jumped in the surf for hours, drank cold beers in the warm breeze, lounged on weathered beach recliners, and broke up the day with lethargic swims in the hotel pool. That night, I sat on the balcony overlooking the sea and listened as the waves gently washed ashore in the summer night.

The next morning was a leisurely breakfast before catching a van to Puerto Morelos. There, we ventured out in a small boat to snorkel the reefs. Under the salty waves I held large, smooth conch shells and watched stingrays and barracudas idly pass by. Between the first and second dives, the guide abruptly stopped the boat and jumped into the waters. He came up a minute later with a MASSIVE sea turtle struggling in his hands. Its head was as big as the guide's and it splashed around with flippers larger than my hands, but it only seemed mildly annoyed at the interruption and soon slipped beneath the surface and darted off. After the reefs was a lazy lunch of shredded chicken and tortillas in the shade of a thatched beach patio. Upon returning to Cancun, we smoked Cuban cigars on the balcony and waited for the heat of day to fade to night.

On the final morning, I just relaxed and enjoyed a long breakfast. After some last minute shopping, we headed to the airport and made our way back home. It was a perfect escape from the ordinary, but now I can’t wait to travel again.

iPod + surfing = fun

So this last weekend I got a new toy; an Otterbox waterproof iPod case. I wanted to see if I could take my iPod out while surfing, so this seemed to be the way to go. After giving it a quick test (by throwing my iPod in the pool) I headed out to the beach. The waves were pretty big and I spent most of the day eating saltwater, but my tunes held up; even underwater. The only weak point was my Sony earbuds, which vacillated between heavy bass and high treble. Guess I need to find a waterproof set. For now, it’s a workable combo that makes surfing even more fun.

This weekend I’ve got some big plans though. I’m taking a trip to Cancun with my friend. I can’t wait to go diving in some warm, clear water and drink beers on the beach at night. In August, I’ll be heading up to SF to see Radiohead at Golden Gate Park. This is going to be a great summer.

Kicking into summer

So it's been forever since I've written, but I haven't really been up to much. Didn't do anything Memorial Day; the weather was bad so I just went surfing and hiking. Last weekend was better, so I went surfing and hiking. I saw my little shark friend though.

Along the beaches of SoCal there are a bunch of bottom feeding sharks that hang out close to shore. I was walking out of the surf and spotted one a couple of yards away in the shallows. It looked like a sandy brown log, but it was a 4 foot sand shark. No big, they pretty much avoid people and swimmers rarely even notice them. Kinda cool once you notice though.

Today I had a client lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel and saw Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer getting lunch. The Fonz was there too. Happy Days.