Put on the Glasses

I firmly believe that PowerPoint is overused in the workplace. Many people seem to use it as a crutch or -- and this is really a pet peeve of mine -- simply read off the slides.  Edward R. Tufte's essay  The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within reinforced many of my beliefs: Slides were not meant for large amounts of data. You either lose something by cramming it into a slide or the slide so packed with numbers it is not useful. PowerPoint presentations are not meant to be read later nor should they be posted on your internal corporate website. It is a presentation and something should be lost without a speaker to clarify the content of the slides.  Bullet lists dilute thought through unnecessary categorization. Yes, I know that I am using a list right now. However, not all data or information should be presented with bullet points. The book gives a great example of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address being br...

Continuing my post from yesterday, here are the rest of the books I read this month: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova I think I would have liked this book if I had not had high expectations for it.  I really loved her first novel, The Historian .  Who doesn't love a good vampire novel?   The Swan Thieves  just didn't pack the detail-ridden punch of the last novel.  In this story, an artist attacks a painting in a museum and is arrested.  When he is placed under psychiatric care, his psychiatrist tries to unravel what drove this him to attack that specific painting.  I think I would recommend the book to art lovers and possibly Dean Koontz fans. The Invisible Kingdom: From the Tips of Our Fingers to the Tops of Our Trash, Inside the Curious World of Microbes by Idan Ben-Barak This was a very entertaining, quick read about microbes.  It doesn't go deep into the real science; it briefly explains the world of microb...

I can't believe a month has passed by since my last series of book reviews.  I am proud of the fact that I got through another 8 books this past month.  Writing these monthly blog posts has really pushed me to read more.  Here are some of the things I read: The Gates by John Connelly I loved this book.  It was a funny, fast read about the gates of hell opening up.  I know, that sentence does not make much sense.  It was fast in that I polished this book off in one night.  It was funny in that the writing didn't gross you out or frighten.  It simply told the tale of a boy trying to stop demons from flooding out of the gate and overrunning his town.  I definitely recommend this book if you like Neil Gaiman or Susanna Clarke. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout I think this book was beyond me.  It concerned many facets of small town life, senior living and marital relations that I just couldn't relate to. ...

Continuing my post from a couple a days ago, here are some more books that I have read in the last month: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz This book was incredible.  It is definitely one of the best books I have ever read, which is not surprising since it won the Pulitzer Prize (that is actually why I had put it on my wishlist; one of my methods for finding new books is looking at lists of award recipients).  The book is set in both the Bronx and the Dominican Republic.  It tells the story of Oscar Wao, an unpopular, Dominican nerd, and his family.  The book combines Dominican history and culture with a classic and compelling coming of age story.  While the book is mostly in English, Díaz mixes in Spanish words and phrases regularly.  However, at no point did I feel excluded or isolated.  Instead, this book became the determining factor in my beginning to learn Spanish in my free time.  That is how good it is; it inspired...

Another month has passed and another pile of books has been read.  I read 8 books in the last month which I think is pretty good.  If I keep this up, I might be able to reach 100 books by the end of the year!  That would be amazing but I am not holding my breath.  Once the weather warms, walking will take a priority over curling up with a book. Like last month, I wanted to give a brief assessment of what I thought of each book in case you might be inclined to read it.  Here goes: The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell As you might have noticed, last month I read Assassination Vacation by this author.  I liked that book so much that I quickly picked up this book to read.  At first I was disappointed.  It does not have the sarcastic dry humor that I loved so much in her other book.  Plus, it is about the Puritans, a subject I know little about.  However, once I got used to the characters (early 1700s political figures in Puritan New...

This is going to sound stupid and nerdy but I love looking at my books.  When I am bored I just stare at the shelves and think about the books I've read or books that I still want to read. Last night, I couldn't sleep so I was looking at my bookshelf and I concocted a list of my top living authors.  These are the authors who, if I see a new book of theirs advertised or at a store, I do not hesitate to buy it.  These are also authors who have written more books that I like than books that I didn't like.  That would exclude, for instance, Mark Danielewski who wrote one of my favorite books ( House of Leaves ) but his second book was not so good.  Also, John Kennedy Toole does not make the list because he only wrote one book. Furthermore, I didn't list authors when I have only read one of their books, like Junot Diaz, Joyce Carol Oates or Paulo Coehlo.  Is this a subjective list?  Yes.  Is this a pointless list? Probably but I was amused by it an...

Every day I look at Craigslist and peruse the "free" page under the "for sale" category.  Usually there is the normal stuff that I don't want like mattresses or tube televisions.  Sometimes there are funny posts like this one advertising free snow.  Every so often there is a gem nearby.   A couple of weeks ago I got lucky.  Someone posted that they had left a bag of books outside for free.  It was only a block away!  I immediately marched to the address and snagged some great books: I have wanted to read that Bruce Campbell autobiography for years.  The books were all in great condition.  The ones I didn't want, like the old Photoshop books, I donated to the local library for their free cart . If you haven't looked at Craigslist's free page I definitely recommend it.  It is fun to read and sometimes you might actually get something you want.

13 1/2 by Nevada Barr If you like John Saul, you will probably like this book. I am sick of John Saul. I went through a John Saul phase last fall and read about 5 of his books in a row. I feel like I could write a John Saul novel now because the plots became so predictable. Nevada Barr's 13 1/2 is the same contrived thriller plot. I predicted the ending within the first 50 pages and then rolled my eyes as my prediction unfolded. That being said, I read it in one night (awesome) and it wasn't dull. It was a typical thriller. If that floats your boat, read it. Sin and the Second City by Karen Abbott This is another fictionalized history that I loved. It chronicled the short but exciting existence of the Everleigh Club in Chicago, a famous brothel. This is another book I would recommend if you like history in narrative form. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut This was my second time reading this book. It was just as good the second time around. It is a science fiction novel about ...

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem This book had a bit of a slow start. It definitely took me a while to get into it. However, once I got into the flow it was a terrific novel. It is set in Manhattan and follows Chase Insteadman, a former child actor whose fiance is stuck on a space station. He becomes obsessed with a culture critic names Perkus Tooth and most of the novel involves their antics and puzzling obsessions. The first half of the novel I wondered, "Where is this going? What is the point of this?" At some point, I let it go and enjoyed the free-flowing narrative that is a strange mixture of fact and fiction. Several times I had to Google things in the book to check to see if they actually existed. He would intertwine fiction with real New York places, people and events. For example, the weird maple syrup smell that occurred a couple of years ago and WNYC's Brian Lehrer were in the book. However, the book also talked of a strange tiger terrorizing the cit...

Last night, Brian and I went to a Dave Eggers panel discussion concerning the latest issue of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Above you can see the panel of Chris Ying and Dave Eggers, both editors of McSweeney's , along with Linda Miller, co-founder of Salon.com , as moderator. The new issue was done in newspaper, specifically broadside, format and called the San Francisco Panorama (that's where McSweeney's is based). If you bought it in San Francisco when it was released it would seem quite relevant. There are all of the normal components of a local newspaper: local news, advertisements for local businesses, sports and comics. The difference lies mainly in the depth of the articles, the design and the editorial choices. From listening to the panel discussion it was easy to see that Dave Eggers and his team wanted to pay homage to the craft of newspaper writing and to really explore newspaper as an art form. There are great design features, like graphs, diagrams a...

Not only is it full of books to borrow but now the Leonard branch of the Brooklyn Public Library has a free book cart! I love it. This was the last stack of books Brian and I snagged. He is very excited about the programming books. They usually cost $50 each. I find myself using the library more and more. The first time I saw the cart I thought it was a fluke but I asked the nice lady at the desk about it. The books are free and you can bring in your own books to add to the cart. I plan to do that the next time I go so that I can share books I've finished. I love the Brooklyn Public Library!

Brian did an excellent job shopping for me this year. He looked at my wishlist and bought me almost every book on there. Six books! With all of these and the huge stack of books I picked up at the library last week, I will be reading until rapture! Hooray! I already peeked inside and read the preface to Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation and I was rolling on the floor laughing. She is hilarious. He also bought me a personal library set! I've always wanted one of these. Now I can labels my books properly when I lend them out. :) Because he got so many books, he got me the free tote bag at the Strand, my favorite bookstore in NYC. They really do have 18 miles of books or at least it feels like it. I am so excited to read the books that I can hardly contain myself. I guess it was a good thing I was an English major, huh?

In regards to the government's broadband stimulus package, which was designed to pump money into broadband development in order to create jobs and help the economy, Thomas Hazlett wrote for the Financial Times: And don’t forget this stimulation: emergency spending projects are to Congress what free beer is to a college fraternity party. That made me giggle and I thought my Dad would appreciate that bit of humor. Perhaps, someone else reading this blog will too. I think I am just a sucker for humor in op-ed pieces. For the original article, click here .

I had to share the fun things that Chuck wrote in the books he signed. They are all applicable to the storylines in the books. Here are pictures of the three books that I got signed at the event: Oddly enough, I now own a total of 10 signed books by Chuck, 7 of which are first editions. I also have a signed penguin, a signed CD of him reading short stories and a signed, personal letter. What can I say? I like the man's writing. Here is the giant inflatable penguin I got at the event. The ink smeared but it doesn't diminish the awesomeness of a giant inflatable penguin. Chuck sure is good to his fans.

Yes, I am obsessive. I saw Chuck Palahniuk, again. This was actually the third time that I have seen him live. It was a special event put on by The Strand (the bookstore with 18 miles of books) at Webster Hall. It was actually very fancy for an author event. There was a video projector, flashing images and lines from his newest book, Pygmy , which just came out yesterday. You don't usually get fancy technology for authors. Because I was one of the first 150 people to get a ticket, I was a VIP. this meant that I was able to have my books personalized by Chuck at the event. I arrived early to try to get my stuff signed before the event but not early enough. I ended up being 3rd from the cut off prior to the event, so that I had to wait until after to get my stuff signed. By that point, there were no chairs left. After standing in line, I stood through the whole event and then got back in line. Oh, the things one does for literature. It was a fun event. He gave out huge...

Last weekend, Brian and I went to see Neil Gaiman give a talk for Pen World Voices. Neil Gaiman, if you don't know, wrote Stardust , American Gods , Coraline , and Neverwhere , among other things. His latest book, The Graveyard Book , just won the Newbery Medal, for best American children's fiction. Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book are my two favorites. I liked The Graveyard Book so much that I forced Brian to read it. He liked it too. It was awesome to see him. Brian and I got terrific, front row seats. Neil was funny and interesting, even a bit inspiring at times. When we left, Brian said he even felt inspired to start writing! My favorite part of the talk was his revealing a fantasy he had as a kid. He dreamed of being the guy who wrote The Lord of the Rings . He didn't just want to write a book like it. He wanted to write that specific book. So, he fantasized that he would be holding the book and somehow transport to a parallel universe where The Lord o...

I like to scan the Craigslist legal job postings for fun. Yesterday I found a particularly comical one called "Horrific Lawyer Needed for Dirty Job." Unfortunately, it has already been taken down. Here is what it said: "Looking for a lawyer to scare people and stimulate them to return money." I do not feel like going into the vast array of possible ethical violations that this man may be proposing. However, a job post like this reminds me why people hate lawyers: they think we spend our time threatening people. While I am on the subject of hating lawyers, I thought I should point out that if you like Dickens novels, and you hate lawyers, Bleak House is a terrific read. It condenses all of the reasons why the public hates lawyers. I had to read it in my Law and Literature class and I am amazed that Dickens was able to write such a sharp critique of the profession. I am not a Dickens fan but my Professor proclaimed that every lawyer must read Bleak House . ...

I thought that I would explain my Google Shared Reader. Over on the right side of the screen you can see a list of articles under the title "Alicia's shared items in Google Reader." I use Google Reader to read blogs. The reader allows me to receive information from numerous blogs in one location. One of the special features of Google Reader is my ability to share articles that I like. The list of articles to the right includes the most recent articles that I have found interesting. It changes as often as I find interesting posts. So, if you haven't checked my site in awhile and are interested, I have posted a link under "Linkage" to the site where all of my shared items are located. I think it is fun to be able to share the things I find fascinating or funny. Enjoy!

Nicole sent me the link to a blog post titled " Best. Review. of Worst. Book. Ever. " The post discusses the greatest book review ever written about a really bad novel. The book is called The Shadow God and it is by Aaron Rayburn. Go here for the original review on Amazon. I definitely agree that it is the funniest review I have read in a long time. Enjoy. P.S. Thank you, Mr. Moore, for taking one for the team.