How Did I Get Here?

I hit a book sale while in New York recently. This was one of several books I bought there. It would have been worth full price.

A very interesting book to read if you are in the middle of some personal crisis like a mid-life one, but would work for other types as well. Not too much on definite ways out of the crisis as much as how to accept what is going on and how to profit from it. Sort of a new way of looking at this stuff I guess.

There are plenty of interesting anecdotes given to illustrate the points being made, as well as many pertinent quotations.

I think my favorite lesson in the book is about life being in a circle as opposed to a line. Think about that for a minute. I guess you get to redo things until you get them right - whether you want to have a redo or not. Wow!

Give it a look.

Rosicrucian Principles for the Home and Business

An interesting book I think. I got a beautiful, used hardcover copy from 1946 very cheaply on Amazon - the dust jacket listed the new price as $2.25!

Nothing way out or strange in the book actually. Really mostly down to earth type advice, but some rather interesting and unique takes in many respects.

As an example, when concentrating on something that one would like to happen for the purpose of attracting it into one's life (a prayer of sorts), focus on the actual thing required, but do not focus on the specific method of how it will come about. Leave that last part up to the higher power.

OK, that may sound a little strange. I'll let you know how it turns out once I have had time to test it. Take care.

The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs

This is the second in the Professor von Ingelfeld series by Alexander McCall Smith.

The siutations that the Professor gets himself into in the book are bizarre, but hilarious. They include mistaken identity in Arkansas, an operation that goes wrong on a sausage dog (don't read this chapter if you like these dogs), visits involving a psychoanalyst and a father confessor, transporting the bones of a saint where the dog gets revenge of a sort and a meeting with the Pope, and finally a sea cruise with some interested widows.

Give it a try!

Minds, Machines and the Multiverse

This is a book by Julian Brown with the very descriptive subtitle, THE QUEST FOR THE QUANTUM COMPUTER.

Although similar in topic coverage to the other book I wrote about recently on quantum computing (Johnson's A SHORTCUT THROUGH TIME), this one is longer and goes into more detail. Some related topics are also discussed in Brown's book not covered in the other - many of these are interesting (like Many Worlds) and a few are quite bizarre (like the Omega Point).

If you only had the time to read one of these, I would suggest the Johnson book. Brown's book goes into more detail which is often good, but too often drops the ball in various ways with all these details leaving you in the middle of a real muddle. It was very irritating.

I also found the book hard to follow in that I was not sure where it was heading in many instances for long periods. Often I was asking myself, "Why is Brown talking about this topic in the middle of this chapter?" Sometimes it took a while to find that out. I guess I could describe this as the development not being very "tight".

Personally, I thought there was much too much on algorithms and too little on physical implementation, but then, to be fair, this does seem to be representative of how the field is progressing. Also, I am a chemical engineer/patent lawyer and not a computer science person.

If you read Johnson and want more, but not an actual textbook on the subject, give Brown a try. Otherwise, I would skip it.

The Snake Pit

Years ago, I caught the beginning of the movie, and I could not watch more than a few minutes of it, because it was so freaky. I saw a used copy of the book last week for 50 cents, and could not resist for some reason. Once I started reading it, it was hard to put down. It was about as freaky as the movie, but I guess I have matured - HA HA.

Anyway, this is a book about a woman who has a break down and is put in a mental hospital circa 1940, I guess. There is electroshock, tubs, wrapping and all that. She stays confused most of the time, but it is hard to see what else she could be with all she goes through.

She gets better then worse in a big repeating cycle. Finally, her husband pushes and gets her out. It is hard to tell how well she is at this point, but you have to feel sorry for her. Let her out, she isn't dangerous!

The most memorable line in the book for me happens when Virginia (the crazy lady) meets up with another lady who claims to own the Hope Diamond. Her reply is that she owns the Hopeless Emerald, and it is cursed. I laughed out loud at that. I guess a sense of humor helps when one is in a mental hospital.

By the way, the title is explained in the book. I'll leave that as a surprise.

I look forward now to seeing the movie. It is on my Netflix list.

Take a look. It will keep you up at night!