Review: SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really love books like this one. Levitt has an amazing ability to break down very difficult concepts and ideas into little bits that make a lot of sense when looked at rationally. From the invention of cars and how horse manure was piled 60 feet high in NYC to how we could stop global warming for about 250 million dollars with a few sulfur dioxide chimneys it is a blast I also really liked the bit about prostitution and how the economy of it works. Another classic was the monkeys and realizing that they learn token economies just like we humans do and also, that these token economies lead to sex being paid for very quickly. The world’s oldest profession lives.

I would say the writing style compares to Malcolm Gladwell in that both writers are very smart, witty and have a wonderful sense of humor about subjects that could be very depressing and worrisome. Well worth the read.



View all my reviews

Review: In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise

In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise by George Prochnik

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book a second time for the Noe Valley Library Book Club. I actually read it last year and nominated it and the other members decided to give it a go. I like that Mr. Prochnik starts out with a simple story and then it continually evolves and changes to be such a difficult and confusing belief system that silence is good. It really is something that I need and yet it is truly not able to achieved.

I really enjoyed the chapter on architecture designed by deaf people and Deaf Space with Gallaudet University. I also appreciated that the idea of being “sound proof” brings along its own problems in that if something is truly sound proof your own heart, breath, movement will sound incredibly loud and then make the sound proofing almost unbearable. There is a point of too much noise, though, and I agree with that. I’ve started not watching nearly as much tv or listening to music or anything while walking or relaxing and notice a huge difference in my own anxiety and emotions. I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in how silence, and the lack of it, can affect your world and the world around you.

A must read so that anyone can understand what silence is and what it is not.



View all my reviews

Review: Outliers

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I truly love Malcolm Gladwell and the way he writes his books. His knowledge, and research, seems to be impeccable and his ability to explain very obtuse ideas is fantastic. I enjoy learning about the Jewish lawyers in NYC, the computer geniuses like Bill Gates and others, and the richest people in America and how so much of what they accomplished was based on when they were born, what luck they had, and an incredible amount of hard work. There is no self-made person and this book helps show that perfectly.

I also very much enjoyed how, at the end of the book, he goes into his own family and explains how he became the way he is because of how lucky his ancestors were to be raised, even though slaves, in Jamaica compared to America because slaves were allowed much more freedom, power and prestige in the 1800s. His point is that he would not be the person he is, in the position he is, with the ability he has, if not for that perfect occurrence of luck, hard work and time placement.



View all my reviews

Review: The Man in the High Castle

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Philip K. Dick is an amazing story teller and writer. This novel is based on the premise that the Japanese, Germans and Italians won World War II and what the effects would be on the world because of this. The West Coast of the U.S. is now Japanese property and Germany owns the East Coast of the U.S. and basically all of Europe and most of Russia. Italy was given the Mediterrean Sea which was drained for land use.

The characters are very deeply interwoven into the story and into each other. Dick’s knowledge of the I ching and world history is fantastic and very inclusive. His ability to keep me intrigued and reading seems to always be present whenever I read a book by him. I finished this book in about 4 days and I felt like all I wanted to do was read more and more each moment.

View all my reviews

Review: Just Kids

Just Kids by Patti Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Totally blown away. I knew of Patti Smith from her musical career but didn’t really understand much about her life and how it developed. This is an amazing biography of the first twenty five or so years of her life and her meeting with Robert Mapplethorpe. It does go until his death but the majority of it is her younger years before she was famous.

Patti has a very quick and rapid fire way of writing that I appreciated. It fit with her life and how she sees the world. Her growth from a small town and supermarket check out girl to the rock star is truly amazing. If it was fiction I wouldn’t have believed it but it is real.

I appreciated learning about both Robert and Patti and how their lives connected on so many paths and so many journeys. I had no idea they even knew each other let alone seemed to be each other’s muses.

Lastly, the people that Patti runs into and meets are truly a page out of history. So many rock stars, artists, heroes from the past and everyone else you can imagine seem to appear. To read about Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix talking to Patti and realize that this was just her life was incredible to me. To live in that era, with those people, and to be able to take it in and become your own person at the same time. Truly wonderful.

View all my reviews

Reboot: Day 10

This is it.

I’ve decided that I will eat some solid food tonight and start to move off my juice fast that I’ve been on for 10 days.  It won’t be anything radical, just a buritto with beans, rice, bell peppers, and avocado after having my 64 ozs of smoothie during the day but it will be a change.

I’m feeling both sad and proud of myself for making it through this fast.  I am proud that I was able to do it and what I learned about myself and how I relate to food.  I’m also proud of what I learned relating to the isolation and lonliness that not being a part of the “food community” can bring up for me.  It gives me much more empathy for people dealing with addiction issues and how difficult it is to enter into a community that is not on the same path as yourself.  Also knowing it was only my perception of isolation, and nothing the others did, was an important revelation.  Lastly, being able to be less needy of approval and recognition was a huge change.  I plan to keep working on this issue and stay very aware of when I am pulled to ask for recognition and why.

I noticed I didn’t even mention the physical changes that I went through during this fast.  I lost five pounds and three inches off my waist.  I am now wearing a size 33 pair of pants compared to a size 36 ten days ago.  I am also now able to fit into medium sized shirts compared to my previous size of large.  This is the first time since junior college this been possible.  That means I’m down to the size I was at when I was 18.  My birthday is February 19th so that means 25 years ago.

The sadness comes from ending this fast and returning to my normal life.  It feels as if I’m quitting even though I made it through all ten days and actually into my eleventh.  It became very addicting and very meaningful to keep going and now that I’m going to stop I feel like I’m letting myself, and others, down.  I know that I am not as it is actually more healthy for me to re-introduce solid foods into my diet now that I’m working out, and yet, I feel like I’ll lose something special.  I think this fast gave me something to focus on and be very aware and driven towards and I’m worried that will disappear.  I will have to just focus on my solid food diet and my workouts more to continue that drive towards health and happiness.

Even after I’ve stopped the fast I will continue to moderate my facebook group and update as needed.  I have decided I will do two days a week of smoothie only going forward and five days a week of smoothies in the morning and solid food for lunch or dinner.  I feel that is a good balance to being healthy, giving me the nutrients I need, and keeping myself focused on what I want to achieve in my mind and body.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/149696215143579/

Please feel free to subscribe, share and comment.

To your health,

Aram

Reboot: Morning of Day 10!

I did it.

10 days with only juice and no solid foods.

I’m rather surprised at how easy it was after the first two days and how incredibly strong I feel at this point.  Between starting lifting and running in the last two days I would have thought I would be more tired and worn out but it is exactly the opposite.  I do feel a little soreness from my weight workout on Monday and expect it to be a harder workout today since my muscles are fatigued.  That being said, I do not feel as sore as I usually feel after restarting my workouts because I had already cleansed my body of much of the toxins that would be in my body.

I am planning on continuing doing the juice fast for at least a few more days and then will change it as I feel is appropriate.  I am thinking that I will start eating solid food 5 days a week, with green smoothies for breakfast and lunch, and having only green smoothies 2 days a week to keep this going.  I’ve added acidophilus and probiotics to make sure my digestive system doesn’t get any infections also.

So, as of this morning here are the changes that have occurred during my 10 day fast:

1. Went from 176 lbs to 171.  A loss of 5 pounds total.

2. Went from a size 36 pants to a size 33 pants.   A loss of about 2-3 inches around my waist.

3. Went from a large shirt size to a medium.  This may be because of the shirt maker but either way I’ve slimmed down my upper body.

4. Started lifting weights again.

5. Started running again.

6. My sleep pattern is much better.  I actually sleep much deeper and need less sleep.  I don’t feel tired or worn out during the day at all.

7. My thinking is much clearer and quicker.  I notice this constantly.

8. I’m less insecure.  I noticed that I often “ask for praise” when I do something that I feel is important or worthy of it.  This means that people are obligated to give me praise and it may not be true.  I then feel guilty, and that the praise isn’t warranted, and it deminishes the praise immediately.  It is a catch-22 cycle that I have been aware of but not quite able to grasp up until this life chagne.  I’ve been able to stop myself and just say or do what I feel is important and let it be.  I don’t need anyone else’s approval for my statements or actions and I feel secure enough to know that I did what I felt was right and moral.

Of all the changes listed above, I’d have to say that number eight is actually the most important to me.  The change in my mind and way of being is so much more important than the physical.  The physical is important for healthy but the mind, and psyche, is important for true joy of life.

Thanks again to everyone that has supported me on this journey and I look forward to seeing what happens each and every moment as it continues!

Please feel free to comment, subscribe and share my website with anyone you feel would appreciate it.  Also please join my facebook group dedicated to the 10 day juice fast:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/149696215143579/

To your health,

Aram

Reboot: Day 9

One more day to go and I’m feeling incredible!  I did my first weight workout yesterday and am not feeling sore at all.  I had a smoothie made of chard, 1 beet, 1 asian pear, 1 cucumber, 1/2 an avocado and 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds today.  I added in some probiotics to make sure I don’t have any stomach issues going forward.

I decided to go for my first run of the year today and had no idea how I would do since I haven’t run for about 4-5 months.  I was also a little wary because of my workout yesterday and having been doing the juice fast.  I was hoping to do a 2 mile run at about a 10 minute mile pace.  When I finished I was surprised to find out I ran 2.5 miles at a 9:19 minute pace!  This was more than I could have hoped and I felt incredible at the end.

I’m looking forward to crossing day 10 off my calendar and seeing how far I can go.  I may eat tomorrow and I may not.  It is up in the air.  I do know that I will stay vegetarian for as long as I can physically do it.  I would say for the rest of my life but one never knows what will happen and where someone will end up.  All I know is I will do my best.  And for me, that is enough.

To your health,

Aram

Reboot: Day 8

Okay, bragging time!

Some of you know that I’m doing a 10 day juice fast and am on day 8.

I went to buy some new clothes today to celebrate and, for the first time SINCE JUNIOR COLLEGE I fit into size 33 jeans. That means, in 8 days, I’ve gone from a size 36 to a size 33. And the size 33 wasn’t even tight!!!

I also bought a shirt that was a medium. I was an extra large about 2.5 years ago when I weighed 215 lbs and got down to a large. I truly can’t remember when I last wore a medium shirt.

I’m so amazed at the change in my body and can’t wait to see what happens in the future!

This has helped me be much more certain in my life choices and how I am going to eat during the rest of my life.  I am looking forward to being vegetarian, and vegan as much as possible, because of the personal rewards.  I also want to have a softer footprint on the world and eating meat and diary is not consistent with that value to me.  I expect to still feel that awkward feeling of not fitting in, once in a while, and I’m resigned to that.  It will be balanced with the knowledge that I’m living a life that, to me, is consistent with my moral views and beliefs.

Please feel free to join my facebook group if you’d like to join this journey to a better life!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/149696215143579/

To your health,

Aram

Reboot: Day 6

Day 6:  I went out salsa dancing until 2 am last night and woke up at 7 am this morning to help a friend move to his new house with his family.  That means only 5 hours sleep and yet I was very awake and energized.  I checked out my weight and I had lost 3 pounds!  I was surprised because I had only lost 1 pound on the first day and nothing for the next 4.  My waist keeps shrinking and that is a real incentive to keep going .  It is also very important to me that I know I am getting more and more healthy by the day.

I did have a very tough time for about an hour or so during the day on this diet.  When we helped my friend move we all had lunch and people sat around and talked.  I felt, strangely, very left out and awkward because I didn’t really have food or a way to connect with everyone because I wasn’t thirsty or hungry at all.  I always knew that people congregate around food, and that is part of community, but I never realized that I could feel like I was being left out of it because of my food choices.  I have a feeling this must be something like what people addicted to alcohol or drugs feel like when they return from rehab to their homes or original communities.  It really felt very lonely and isolated and took me quite a while to understand and figure out what was going on within me.

I realize that this is my choice and my path at this point and I’m glad I’m doing it and making myself healthy but it can also be quite lonely.  I’m glad that I started a Facebook Group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/149696215143579/ for the 10 Day Reboot and am able to give, and receive, support there because this would be much harder all alone.

To your health,

Aram