Unconventional thinking on life, business, and creativity.
Explorer? Being lost makes you fully present? The mystery of distance. Desire cherished instead of satisfied. Similar thoughts in this book: sive.rs/book/GettingLost
summary: At first, it’s interesting autobiographical accounts by a man that does many low-status odd jobs in China, getting treated terribly. Then near the end of the book he gets burnt-out, takes a two year break to stay at his parents house being a full-time…
summary: Really beautiful writing. Wonderful semi-poetic words around the subject of exploring, venturing into the unknown, and identity. Only downside is the subjects became just memoir for the second half of the book, instead of sticking to the theme. recomm…
summary: Insights into marketing, design, advertising, positioning, and business strategy. Argues for doing what seems illogical in theory, but works in practice because psychology isn't science. Often counter-intuitive, so worth a little extra verbosity. reco…
summary: Novelette about a man who dies of a heart attack but then is suddenly back in college, at it was, repeating his life, so he decides to make changes this time but still dies of a heart attack at the exact same moment, sending him back to college again,…
I just spent many days in a hospital in India. 15 years ago I did one in Bangkok for $500, but now that same package at the same hospital costs $1500. A similar one in Singapore was around $2000. Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, two years ago, was $5000. Last mo…
summary: Entertaining for the first few minutes, then you catch on to the formula of his little stupid sayings based on opposites. Then you notice his deeply misanthropic disgust of all people, especially women. Also this book has a weirdly verbose preface by…
On a podcast, I briefly mentioned that I’m building my dream house without predicting - by living in a bare cabin in the woods, then adding only what I find I actually need. I hope you can apply it metaphorically to your own projects or life choices. When you…
summary: Türkiye history and cultural understanding. One of the better books in this series. The history helps explain today’s secular/religious balance or divisions. Then manners and travel tips. recommend: 7/10 my notes: Turkey seems Westernized and modern i…
summary: Author walks around the city - usually her New York City neighborhood - with 11 different experts in different fields. Geologist, artist, sound designer, physician, child, dog, and a blind woman. Each pointing out what she hadn’t noticed. You’ll learn…
summary: Non-fiction story of four real women in current China, following their lives from childhood in the 1990s until 2023 when the book was published. I love her direct writing style, and the stories were pretty fascinating. A great 3rd or 4th book to help…
summary: About the craft of writing a great film screenplay. A bit tedious (with sloppy repetitive writing) but I always love these books for making me see the craft behind movies I know well, and pointing out how to use this craft to make better stories in an…
Someone asks you to do something, and you feel that pressure to answer immediately. You avoid confrontation, and say OK. I felt the pain of this, over and over again. Then I finally figured out a solution that’s worked wonderfully for years. I saved it on my c…
Last week someone asked why I prefer books. My immediate answer was that I love their quiet, non-commercial nature. No ads. No hype. Just quiet wisdom with deep rewards for a focused mind. single sentence deep inside a book. Island by Aldous Huxley This is a n…
Forty years ago, a family moved from India to Canada, and raised their children with “Indian values”. When those children visited India last year, the locals laughed at their outdated beliefs. What their family had said were facts were just a perspective from…
summary: 80’s book about Chinese, helped me understand how simplified Chinese writing came about: not as much top-down as bottom-up formalizing of shorthand and cursive that had been in use for centuries. recommend: 3/10 my notes: In the Ming and Qing dynastie…
I can relate to the original meaning of this old term that means to be good citizen of the internet. Wikipedia says a “netizen” is someone who actively contributes to the development of the internet, not for personal gain or profit, but to make the internet a…
summary: How to be agentic - to take charge and make things happen, no matter how unusual or uncomfortable it may be. Make your world the way you ideally want it to be, instead of normal. Cate Hall embodies this, so it’s great to hear it from someone really li…
summary: Thoughts on human rights, race, gender, travel, inequality, tribe, home, visas, poverty, Kenya, Africa, and Bessie Head. recommend: 3/10 my notes: First requirements before consider going somewhere: I only ask for a clean and safe hotel, an easy visa…
summary: I love cultural psychology. Great insights here, and examples of how change happens, on the personal level, cultural level, and even institutional level. American, but lived in Hong Kong for years and I appreciated his example of Singapore. recommend:…
summary: Using the story of Anna - the patient who laughed when the surgeon stimulated parts of her brain - the author looks at the subject of consciousness from 19 different angles, writing in slightly different styles. He used the format of another book I ha…
summary: You have hidden motives and subconscious incentives. Two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason. Instititutions do this too: wasteful because they’re serving hidden purposes no one acknowledges. Great insights throughout. recomm…
I get this question a lot, so here’s my honest answer. At first I thought we’d raise him in Singapore, fluent in all the cultures of Asia. But after a few months, I realized how important it was to me that he have a real connection with nature. Feet in the riv…
Kolkata India, and from Kolkata to Istanbul, for at least four days each, between February and April. Rent a home-stay room on College Street in Kolkata, and in the Balat neighborhood of Istanbul. Download The Odyssey audiobook, translated by Emily Wilson, rea…
Imagine you’re a ghost. You drift through the world but nobody sees you. You’re disconnected. I have few memories of childhood, maybe because it felt like nobody saw me. My life began at age 12 when I met my first best friend. We talked hours a day for years,…
I was dating for the first time, after a six year long relationship. I said, “It didn’t.” I said, “It did!” it was great from beginning to end. I thought it was probably spam, but before deleting it, just in case, I replied “Who are you and why do you think I’…
Sofia was my first big love. We met at 21, when we were both in the circus. She opened me up, and taught me how to be honest. I was absolutely certain that I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. We were in love and had been together for two years,…
This is a real question. I don’t know the answer and I’m curious. But I honestly didn’t realize it until one day I was thinking about the difference between shallow versus deep friendships, and made a list of my closest friends. After I looked at the short lis…
I was 36, and had been living in Portland for two years. I saw an amazing house for sale — really amazing — stunning design, ideal location on the edge of the city, and its backyard was the start of a huge state park. I had a visceral reaction. Then I snapped…
I’m going for the double meaning of “get me” that also means “understand me”. Come and get me. I want my words to improve your future decisions. A personal website is an autobiography. I wish everyone had one. The more we share, the better. This site is what’s…