Next year, same time, things will probably be somewhat different from where I am now. These are the attempts to write an entertaining collection of meaningless contemplations and tales leading up to the coming changes...
While waiting for the day I abandon Holland, I'm blessed with some employer sponsored free time. I'm going to need this time for many reasons. There is the long list of contracts and memberships which need to be terminated, there's friends to see and say goodbye to and there is time to do those things on the-list-of-things-I-need-to-do-someday (not to be confused with other important lists such as list-of-things-I-need-to-do-before-I-die or list-of-things-I-need-to-see-before-I-can't-walk-anymore)
One of those things-I-need-to-do-someday is working through the growing pile of literature which I am supposed to read. Every now and then my girlfriend or any other type of friend will mention a book which either I “must” read, or might be interesting. Since I take these advices quicker than I'm capable of or willing to actually reading them, this list resulted in a pile of books which is getting slightly obese. Now that I got some free time, I put my list of a healthy exercise of morning reading, afternoon reading and evening reading. Hopefully it will be slimmed down to an acceptable size by the time I get to Canada.
For those interested, or for those who's own list is getting too slim, here are some suggestions:
Freakonomics (Levitt & Dubner): What happens if you take statistics, correlation and causation, take them out of context, shake and stir, and finally serve them with some written humor? Probably something like this book. It's a collection of unrelated relatively simple questions and their unexpected (unwanted) answers. Why do drugs dealers live with their mothers? How does abortion relate to a drop in crime? What do Sumo wrestlers and real estate agents have in common ? A lightweight fun read for those with in interest in human psyche, correlation or game theory. (http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/)
The End of Poverty (Jeffrey D. Sachs): I must admit, I haven't finished this one yet and there's a fair chance I won't. It's an interesting analysis of what's wrong with the world today and especially with the position of third world countries. Mr Sachs has been involved in the economics or analyzing some interesting cases, such as Bolivia, Poland or China. It's a good solid book, but there's a bit too much emphasis on the achievements of mister Sachs himself. The book explains events in at a peaceful, take-your-time pace... which makes it easy to get distracted by oh look-something-shiny.
That “something shiny” in this case is “the Swarm” (Frank Schรคtzing). I just started on this book, but being somewhat of a sucker for science fiction (if it can be classified that way), it has already grabbed me and won't let go of me until I finished it. Human kind is happily on its way of screwing up its own and only place to live. What if the other residents of this earth decided it might be a good idea to do something about it, since the only thing those pink / yellow / brown / black bipeds are doing is write reports on this debatable situation. The cover promises a nice blend of science and free format philosophizing: count me in !
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