Category: Commentary

Book: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Last fall I read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( hereafter “Running“) by Haruki Murakami. It’s a small book with nicely spaced lines of text. A quick read.

As you may well imagine, even before you open the yellow and red cover, Running is neither a running or writing book. It is about life. Murakami talks of owning a jazz bar in Tokyo in the 1960s. And hating it, but working hard. One day he decides to write a novel, submits it and wins a prize. His life begins as a novelist when he sells the bar and turns his full attention to writing. His writing success continues, but is secondary to his discussions of running. Murakami credits running for his writing success. He draws many similarities between the two pursuits. The solitary approach required by each. The pain of each. The decision to not suffer. The focus required.

Running provides a practical approach to life. Murakami talks of struggling with his slowing marathon time. Training harder, longer, or differently does not help. He is simply growing old and slowing down. He acknowledges that this doesn’t translate to writing. That writers peak at varying ages.

The bottom line is that to be successful running a bar, writing fiction, or running marathons, he has to work hard and be extremely focused.

Should I Quit Facebook?

First, read the following excerpt of the “Licenses” clause of Facebook’s new terms of use:

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

If that’s not bad enough, read the “Termination” section:

The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: … Licenses …

Since I’ve been alerted to Facebook’s new terms of service, I will not longer be importing the posts from this blog to Facebook’s Notes application. Further, I will no longer be importing photos via the “my flickr” application or directly into Facebook’s default photo application.

Facebook is now just an elaborate address book to me.

Update: Consumerist has a nice summary and highlights that if you restrict your privacy settings then you may not be as exposed to the drastic licensing provision quoted above.

Daily Response: Feb 12, 2009

The Daily Response isn’t exactly daily, is it? Well, I do my best. Here’s my response to today.

1. The fourth book of the Twilight series – New Moon – is like a powerful vacuum. I’ve been sucked into this horrible teen drama.

2. I read yesterday that Chicago is one of the 10 worst cities in which to live and that winning the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics would improve the city. Since I’m moving there this summer, I’m going to start supporting the bid.

3. New favorite twitterer to follow: @NickCarraway

4. If you didn’t see Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman last night, find it on YouTube and watch it. He’s gone off the deep end or he’s fronting a major ruse to regain some Hollywood advantage. Maybe he lost a bet. Who knows. Here’s an article about it, too.

5. I want to try this beer: Hitachino.

Movie: He’s Just Not That Into You

He’s Just Not That Into You made me smile. It wasn’t hilarious. It wasn’t overly cheesy. It wasn’t a great or classic story. It definitely wasn’t made for men. But it made me smile, and I appreciate that.

I just wonder: How does it feel for those couples watching the movie that realize they’re living examples of the couples in the movie?

Daily Response: Feb 5, 2009

Daily Response is a new daily series I’m starting that will be hosted here on my blog and distributed via my Facebook Notes and also on my tumblr. Daily Response is my impromptu comments on any notable news I’ve come across during the day either in real life or here on the Interweb.

1. Michael Phelps being suspended from the U.S. Swim team is justice. The team has rules and it must respect and obey them. With this said, I believe marijuana should be legalized. We have bigger fish to fry than catching smokers.

2. There has been an unnecessary public discussion via school wide email today. The short of it is that a student took issue with the content of an email sent by an organization. Instead of addressing this privately, the student chose to blast the entire school with his thoughts. This prompted responses from others telling him to shut up. This is a waste of my email storage space.

3. This video, “Verizon Math Fail” is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time.

4. I hate that American banks are being federalized. That the federal government is capping executive compensation is disgusting. We have a capitalist economy. Some regulation is okay, but now we are going too far. These types of moves by the Obama administration make me question whether I should have voted for him to lead my country.

5. While making toast this morning an idea struck me. Toasters should be offset so that piece one springs up ten to fifteen seconds before piece two, thus allowing time to butter piece one before piece two starts to cool off.

Book: The Associate

I just finished John Grisham’s The Associate. It was good enough for me to spend the last few hours finishing instead of working on my draft order, but not great. The plot – and all there is to Grisham books is sturdy plot – opened with great potential. The first 75 pages drew me in. The book starts by introducing the reader to the protagonist, a third-year law student named Kyle. From there his well ordered life as a high-potential student and editor of the Yale Law Review is thrown into disarray thanks the resurfacing of a long-forgotten college incident.

The suspense was linear. There were no twists. No big revelations at the end of the book. Nothing that made it necessary to finish. In summary, reading the book was like being promised a bonfire and receiving a smoldering fire pit. It kept me warm, but I had to stay too close.

I’m going to read The Partner next and see if it’s any better. I’ve heard good things.

Liveblogging the Australian Open Final

This “liveblog” will be updated periodically as I watch Roger Federer vie for his 14th Grand Slam against world #1 Rafael Nadal.

8:20 am – Final score: Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. That’s it for me. Have a good day and enjoy the Super Bowl

8:17 am – It’s funny that the first moments after winning or losing a major tennis championship are spent tidying one’s gear into one’s bag. That just wouldn’t happen in baseball, football, or hockey. Can you imagine, upon winning the World Series, the team taking the time to tidy their bats, make sure their helmets were in their cubbies, etc. No way!

8:15 am – Federer forehand long – Nadal wins! Game. Set. Match. Championship.

8:13 am – Props to Federer on saving two match points. Gut wrenching stuff.

8:08 am – Rafa looks like he was good money. The Nadal family box is entertaining. They are young in spirit, smartly dressed, and consistently standing. Federer’s box on the other hand is always seated and pensive.

8:07 am – Either way NIKE wins, right?

7:57 am – Roger’s nervers get the best of him – loses serve. Nadal leads the final set 3-1. Uh oh! This could be over in a matter of minutes.

7:56 am – I am endlessly impressed by one-handed backhands. It must require a great deal of skill and practice to hit with power and control.

7:52 am – No commercials in the final set! Like watching the Masters.

7:41 am – All square. I could have woken up now and it kinda would have been the same.

7:26 am – Federer holds. If this goes to a 5th set, Nadal might have it. His adrenaline will overpower Federer’s remaining strength.

7:11 am – Just an afterthought: Growing up I watched Pete Sampras duel with Andre Agassi. I never thought I would see the kind of tennis they seemed to be able to play. But, now that Nadal has stepped up his game beyond just clay courts, these guys captivate me almost as much as Peet and Andre. I have to say though… Sampras would never double-fault to lose a critical set in a major.

7:08 am – Nadal breaks back. Not sure How I feel about this. Concurrently reading assignments for Judicial Opinion Drafting.

7:05 am – Oh, Federer. If only you could have broken last set we could wrap this match up before breakfast.

6:56 am – Rafa takes the third set in a tiebreaker, 7-3. Federer looks tight. I want a donut.

6:48 am – “Tiebreak to decide the third [set].” ESPN keeps cutting to Roger’s girlfriend. She looks worried. Looks like she just thanked the heavens that Roger held.

6:42 am – It’s getting light outside. I’m wondering if it’s too early to do my laundry.

6:35 am – Both Federer and Nadal look fatigued right now – Federer because he hasn’t capitalized on any of the break point chances and Nadal because he keeps almost losing his serve.

6:30 am – Great service by Nadal. I no longer have to pull for him as the underdog. I’m getting what I wanted – a close match worth waking up for.

6:15 am – Okay, I’m getting up for real and watching this. It looks good. Third set on serve with one set each.

4:45 am – Wake up see, see that tennis is on, fall back asleep.

4:00 am – Alarm goes off and I that Federer was broken in his first service game – the first game of the match. I watch him break back against Nadal.