A review of Caroline Knapp’s memoir Drinking: A Love Story. A books that provides a valuable look into the secret life of the functional alcoholic.
Thoughts on: “12 Rules for Life” by Jordan B. Peterson
Life is suffering. How do we deal with that?! We face it, we bare it. Hell is a bottomless pit and even how fucked up and unfair things are, we still can make it even worse. Let’s not do that! What if We get our act together and instead are prepared to face suffering when […]
Thoughts on: “American Kingpin” by Nick Bilton
A failed physicist libertarian created the “Amazon of drugs” on the dark web, banking on the anonymity of Bitcoin and Thor (a web anonymous browser). His name was Ross Ulbricht and the site name was “the Silk Road”. —— He wanted to challenge the government led “war on drugs”, which he saw as a huge […]
Double review: “Good to Great” and “Autobiography of a Yogi”
Good to Great (GtG) lays out the result of a study that was set out to find the universal distinguishing characteristic of companies that went from good to great performance and sustained it for over fifteen years. —————— Autobiography of a yogi is the is the life account of Yogananda Paramahansa; the yogi than introduced […]
Thoughts on: “Advice not Given” by Mark Epstein
“When we let the ego have free reign we suffer – but when we learn to let go, we are free.” —— Dr. Epstein explores where psychotherapy and Buddhism can complement each other in the persuit of mental wellness. —— The Buddha and Freud, Dr Epstein says, came to a similar conclusion. Ego is the […]
Quick Review: The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“I make a claim against many of our habits of thought, that our world is dominated by the extreme, the unknown and the very improbable.“ This black swan is about our blindness to randomness. Especially when it comes to large deviations and what Nassim Taleb calls a “black swan” event. What is a The Black […]
Thoughts on: ”Eat & Run” by Scott Jurek
Scott Jurek runs and eats! By running I mean 100 mile runs (that’s 160km!) and 24 hour races. By eating I mean only plant based foods. —————- Endurance has been a theme in my reading for a while and this is the latest latest entry. I was led to this ultra marathon legends autobiography because […]
Thoughts on: “Deng Xiaoping” by Alexander V. Pantsov
Deng Xiaoping led China through far reaching reforms in the post Mao era and is often credited as the force behind China’s spectacular economic growth. The expansion of the Chinese market and opening up the country to international trade is a part of his legacy, but also less glamorous deeds, such as the massacre on […]
Thoughts on: “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer
“Into Thin Air” is Jon Krakauers gripping first hand account of the May 1996 Mt. Everest disaster. Standing on the top of the worlds highest mountain he couldn’t see any signs of a deadly storm coming in. But he was wrong. When the group arrived at base camp, the mountain had claimed 5 lives and […]
Thoughts on: “Walk Like a Buddha” by Lodro Rinzler
“All of you are perfect as you are, and you can use a little improvement” Zen Master Suzuki Roshi This is a very practical and accessible book about how to apply the teachings of the buddha to different aspects modern life. It has a question/answer format like: What would the buddha do in this and […]