why i write...TED: Sheena Iyengar on The Art of Choosing

this video is not only excellent, entertaining, and addressing some of the most interesting conflicts in culture(s), it articulates a core reason why i write. i grew up in a house with parents that represented diametrically opposing cultural views on choice and the nature of the individual...so instead of choosing a camp, i became a poet and a buddhist sympathizer--always inhabiting the borerlands.

Analogy as the Core of Cognition

here is Douglas Hofstadter on "Analogy as the Core of Cognition"
from the Stanford Presidential Lecture Series in the Humanities and Arts.

sit down with some fruit and coffee/pizza and beer, and settle in for the hour. it's worth it.

Human + iPhone = Cyborg

Check out this Wired.com article about how an American filmmaker was crushed and stranded under Haitian earthquake rubble for nearly 3 days...and survived thanks to his iPhone.

Man Buried in Haiti Rubble Uses iPhone to Treat Wounds, Survive

TED Talks: Sendhil Mullainathan

Your mind lies--or just gets confused--in the final mile of a long journey.  This is an opportunity.