Michel de Montaigne, the French philosopher’s brush with death left a deep impression on him – as he said “”If you don’t know how to die, don’t worry; Nature will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and adequately. She will do this job perfectly for you; don’t bother your head about it.” A short essay about his encounter.
Author: neil
Socializing Sex [Article]
Ted Nyman worries about the invasiveness of social media with a provocative idea – check-ins, reviews & coupons – all when using an imaginary site called sex.ly The site is imaginary, but his fears aren’t: “….Slowly, gradually, without realizing: we stop participating in our own lives. We become spectators, checking off life achievements for reasons we do not know. At some point, everything we do is done soley to broadcast these things to casual friends, stalkers, and sycophants.”
Book-stalker
How do you find books to read? John Lingan turned a chance encounter with his hero, a famous book critic, into a book-hunting date in an used bookstore. He writes “…you don’t get to be the best-read man in America by giving a damn about someone else’s taste. You buy and read books that entice you for small reasons like a good cover or an intelligent introduction, books that appeal to your eccentricities. “
Bad boss? [News]
A Cisco VP who is a former CIA agent vows to hunt down whistleblowers – as it is his hobby. Imagine the work environment!
Luck + Cancer [Article]
This man found out he had testicular cancer by sheer accident – he tried something most men wouldn’t think of – take a pregnancy test – & posted a cartoon about it on Reddit (another social news site, a lot more information (& addictive) than those regular news sites!) The first comment recommended he get checked for testicular cancer, & it turned out positive!
Listening [Article]
We often confuse between hearing & listening. This article explains Why Listening Is So Much More Than Hearing.
No small change! [Video]
An older video of a Guinness Record holder for amazing control over abdominal muscles
Reading [Essay]
We who pride ourselves in reading much and widely forget that the printed page serves us in a similar fashion as the drug serves an addict, says Anthony Daniels in this rather long, captivating essay about the future of books & reading in the digital age. A bibliophile’s delight, even when it points an accusatory finger at himself!
Our differences unite us [Letter]
The art of letter writing has all but disappeared in these heady days of 140 character tweets & emails. If you pine for those days of yore, this site has a treasure of letters from the past. Even some very recent ones, like this Obama reply to 10-year old who wrote to ask his advice on how to handle the kids at her school who bullied her about her gay parents.
Nature [Video]
Watch this short clip from a documentary on the incredible power of the ocean, seriously battering some ocean liners.