Brown Motion

A book written merely a decade ago - very relevant if you are a parent and want the very best for your child.  Very relevant if you are simply wanting to figure out what to do that might make you happy.  The title 'The Element' refers to the state where every person trying to find what makes them perform their very best, ideally finds themselves in. A race car driver performing on the track, a ballet dancer on stage or a carpenter in his natural element selecting his wood and working with the grain they all can be extremely accomplished and fulfilled if they are in fact in their element. This thesis is also a rant against what our current educational system has become, a ritualistic and mechanised assembly line of students who are forced into conformity and assessed in their capabilities as a result of standardized tests that measure nothing more than the ability of the parent to fork out large sums of money. This is somewhat in contrast to another book I read in parall...

Falafel is like a Mediterranean Wada.  For the Anglic community it can be described as a deep fried mouthful of ground beans (usually chickpea aka garbanzo aka Kabuli Chana) mixed with some herbs and spices to create a fluffy yet crisp ball of palate pleasing goodness.  Think hush puppies from the other side of the planet. We met with some friends on a cold and cloudy Saturday to try a place in the Silicon Valley that touted to make great falafels and pita (flat bread native to the Mediterranean) along with some varieties of food native to that region of the world. I chose to get Shawarma, where the spice seasoned meat (chicken, lamb, beef or whatever the chef can get their hand on) spins on a spit against hot flames for a long period of time till it gets shaved off and served in a bread or over rice. My version was ensconced in a flat bread - the pita - made on site- with pickled radish, carrot and other veggies, along with a sour cream and chickpea and sesame seed ba...

Owning real property is fraught with pluses and minuses.  I guess one cannot be fraught with pluses so let us say there are pluses and minuses to this endeavor.  Of owning.  Parcels. As in a home. Of the minuses is notices that your city sends you - more like missives - that alert you to sudden tax increases and obligations for which your reaction generally tends to be a shrug. Not a happy shrug more like - oh heck - what am I going to do with this?  They figured it out so it must be right.  Not really.  Being dismissive is to your own detriment to an extent in that you never know how any cost basis was derived and whether it is truly applicable to you. Largely things are transparent (better than third world countries) but due diligence can help.  I tried to do it by attending the City Council meeting for which an invite was included in said missive. It had an agenda item wherein the citizenry could ask questions surrounding this mystery t...

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...

Defined in some of the English language dictionaries, a fanatic means a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics. The latter characterization is a slice of what aspect of life one can be fanatical about. To me a fanatic has been a distinction between the middle of the bell curve populace where I would fall and the outliers that have the power to shape the trend lines. But I wonder what makes someone truly fanatical about their job or profession? Is it a deep and uncompromising love of what that job entails? Is it pride? Is it trust in something that is core to their constitution? Or is it this other intangible called Faith? Is this fanaticism driven by the reward at the end (could be monetary or power enhancing or fame inducing) or the journey itself feeding into the drive. I am sure its all of the above and its very personal for every one of us. The levels of dedication we provide to a task or service are fluid but for those that ar...