An Evening with Charlie Bartlett

The weekend begins. After breakfast-for-dinner with Tony, I decided to watch a movie I've had sitting on my DVR for a while - "Charlie Bartlett" with Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr.. It's had a few laugh out loud moments, but I would describe it as choppy.

It was another busy week at work - I spent the lions share of the day in meetings, following by an extra meeting or two. In between I managed to get a little work done, but for the most part I am carrying a lot of stuff into next week. I may, if I am up to it, spend a few hours working over the weekend, but right now I am definitely not there. I am not even anywhere close to there.

Tonight, I just want to relax, to slide slowly into the evening, and to spend some time reading "Spares". That is a perfect way to start a three day weekend. My plan is to keep it simple tomorrow - breakfast, a little cleaning, a little laundry, and then out to a movie and lunch. I'm planning on seeing "The Guard" tomorrow at a matinee. It's playing down at the CineArts theater in Santana Row, which is a very nice theater.

At some point over the weekend - perhaps even tomorrow, I am going to tackle this big stack of books on the kitchen table, sort through it, and find the fifty books that I want to retain. Depending on when I contemplate that task - some days I think it will be easy and other days I wonder if I will be able to do it. I definitely attach to books. I love reading. I read a lot. I've always read a lot. Each book contains within it an entire world and that always amazes me. (Of course, some of the books and some of the worlds are far better than others.)

I am finishing up "Spares", and I've got George R.R. Martin's "A Clash of Kings" and Suzanne Collin's "The Hunger Games". I am looking forward to each one. "The Hunger Games" is technically young adult, but I happened to be a fan of Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson.." series and James Patterson's "Maximum Ride" series - both of which are young adult. A well-crafted story, regardless of the intended audience, is a piece of art. Just writing about books makes me want to curl up and read, so I may call it an early a night - and then read into the deep darkness of the night finishing up "Spares".

Is Reality Fragile?

I’ve mentioned before I am reading “Spares” by Michael Marshall Smith. I am at a point in the novel where the hero is about to enter “The Gap”, a sort of alternate reality/cyberspace construct to attempt to rescue the spares (clones) and the nature of reality is very slippery. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the book so it came as no surprise to me at all that I tossed and turned most of the night dreaming about the nature of reality.

Let me paint the scene for you. In my bedroom I have minimal furniture – I have a bed, two little night stands, a lamp, a hamper and a ceiling fan/lamp. There is a sizable window on the east wall of the bedroom and the window is shaded with both blinds and curtains. Because of the heat I have the window open and a small fan in the window and because of the light that streams in from outside I have the blinds lowered and the curtains pulled, all except the very small portion where the fan fits. Both the window fan and the ceiling fan are on, slowly turning, to keep the room nice and cool while I sleep.

I am laying there in bed, tossing fitfully, dreaming that the very nature of reality in the room is shifting. There isn’t a specific shift going on – it is just that everything is very amorphous, very fluid. Each time I sleep, reality shifts. Each time I wake, I anchor my thoughts on certain things and reality settles back into place. Somewhere in the middle of the night I realize that I can hold reality constant as long as I limit my thoughts to about seven or eight different items. It is only when my thoughts go above that number of items that reality begins to shift. Half-awake, half-asleep I anchor the room in my mind consciously by counting the objects in the room and placing them each in their proper position.

Then, finally, I am able to fall asleep and sleep soundly through the remainder of the night.

As a result of this nocturnal exploration I woke up this morning with my thoughts slowly maneuvering around the question of what is real. I think there was an interesting insight wrapped inside the dream. The human mind can hold, on average, four objects in our minds simultaneously (two in each hemisphere). When we cross that threshold, we begin a process of rapid switching objects in and out. The more objects we attempt to comprehend simultaneously, the more likely we are to make a mistake in our comprehension of the objects and by extension our interpretation and perception of reality becomes increasingly inaccurate.

Reality (based on our perceptions) is a fragile place. The more complex reality is the more fragile it becomes. I think that is a lot of the power that lies in any of the approaches to reality that stress simplicity and being “in the moment”. The fewer items we attempt to comprehend in any given moment, the more likely it is that our comprehension of those items will be accurate. By pulling ourselves into the moment, by focusing on a few simple things, we are better able to accurately perceive reality. It’s not that the complex nature of reality becomes any less fragile, but rather that we are more accurate in our interpretation of reality at the given moment.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-many-objects-can-you-hold-in-mind-simultaneously

Swordfish Dreams

I woke this morning from a dream of grilled swordfish and asparagus spears. It was a very vivid dream and I woke up hungry. I usually don't dream of food, but food (from a conversation with T.R.) was high on my mind last night when I drifted off to sleep. I may have to make it a point to find that piece of grilled swordfish this weekend.

That puts a strange thought in my mind. There are times when I find myself limited by the range of my habits. Thinking about the swordfish - there is excellent fish at the Race Street Fish Market, which is not that far from my apartment and maybe twenty minutes from work. I always enjoy the food there, but I rarely go there. Why? Habit pushes me toward other places, no other reason.

I've been reading an excellent book - "Spares" and I'm about two-thirds of the way into novel and it is outstanding. Twice in the last week I ended up either staying up late or getting up a little early so I could move through a couple of chapters. I'm within a night or two of finishing the novel and I almost don't want it to end. I'd definitely recommend it, just as T.R. recommended it to me. Well worth the read.

Today was a good day, breakfast, socializing with friends, a late burger, some DVR time and soon enough I am going to curl up with the novel and finish the day.

A Day, A TV Show and a Book

Well, every day ends. Today ended well. I am sitting in the living room with my feet up, having just had dinner and watched the latest episode of TNT's "Falling Skies", which I am enjoying - in large part because I think the triad of Will Patton, Noah Wylie and Moon Bloodgood are a set of very enjoyable actors, and in part because, well, I am a sucker for nearly anything that has to do with alien invasions.

The day passed quickly at work - I've been focused on trying to get as much cleared from my desk as I can before the vacation starts. I always hate leaving anything behind but I am not going to really have any choice this time around. Fortunately, I am not leaving anything major behind - just a lot of small stuff. I spent a good portion of the day today delving deeply into the operational metrics for the first half of the year and that kind of interesting. I always love crunching data because there is so much revealed (and concealed) in the counts.

My plan tonight is a simple one - I am going to spend time with TR and then read my way into the night. I haven't had much of a change lately to invest a few hours in reading, so I am going to make up for that tonight (and I am planning to make up for a lot of it while I am on vacation). I am currently reading a good Science Fiction book called "Spares" by Michael Marshall Smith. It's a book TR recommended and I instantly liked it from the first chapter. It is very well written and it quickly draws the reader in. I am about a third of the way into it and I wanted to read more deeply and make more headway because I am curious about how it is going to turn out. So, with that curiosity intact, I am off to read myself to sleep.