Monday, May 15, 2006

Finished the Buffy&Philosophy book. Then went through In A Sunburned Country, kinduva travelogue(?) of a writer in Australia. Cool descriptions and anecdotes, but I prefer plot/character/significance kinda stuff. Still, a nice break, and I admit I want to visit Australia now.

Currently reading Management of the Absurd. It was recommended (actually bought for me!) by a coworker who's leaning towards doing leadership counseling. It's got some great "blow your mind" kinda perspectives, like how much the automobile has shaped society as opposed to society using the automobile to accomplish predefined goals. The overall theme seems to be that "techniques" and "tricks" don't work in relationships and managing people, that who you are shines through in the end, for better or worse, and that that "real you" is what determines effective leadership. I don't disagree, but I'm hoping for more how-to later in the book as otherwise it just kinda points out flaws and laughs. Not that other management books have any significant value, but I can't imagine the Nelson Muntz School of Management being the best option.

Watched 2 movies today - Bull Durham and War of the Worlds. Yeah, yeah, I have no taste. I'm just abusing Netflix to see movies I've wanted to, for whatever reason. But it did get me thinking that decent movies can be as good as books. They can pull you into the character and plot almost as effectively (maybe as effectively, but it's definitely a different kind of hook and I prefer books), and the immediacy of sights and sounds make it a more visceral response. And some masters even manage to bring this to the TV screen - like the West Wing (which sadly finished a 7-year run of mostly ups but a few downs tonight), Buffy/Angel/Firefly, and more recently Veronica Mars. If I had to pick one, give me my bookshelves every time, but I like a good story in any medium.

If you were going to help people, where would you look to do so? Causes that already have a lot of attention, or not so much? The first category provides an easy infrastructure to fit into, and usually data (or at least theories) about how to help, but for the very same reasons makes having an individual impact more difficult. Working on more low-profile causes would be a lot lonelier since by definition people aren't focusing attention or resources, but if you can raise that profile, you've individually accomplished more. Hmm, rereading that makes it sound like I'm concerned with my own accomplishments, but it's more the impact on those that need the help - if you can help more people by your own efforts, it seems like a bigger good. Interested in comments as I haven't really hammered on answering this question myself.

Will try to blog again sooner than this time - want to explore Net Neutrality, and hopefully commenters will have insight.
posted by Unknown 12:00 AM | 1 comments