READING: I’m in the middle of SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. This smorgasbord
of facts and figures is a follow up to their 2005 bestseller Freakonomics. The economist and
journalist set out to answer questions you didn’t know you needed to ask. Each
chapter plays out like an intense television drama. A question is posed,
various side stories play out that make the reader wonder how they’re related, and
eventually all is revealed because everything is connected or something like
that. The chapters I’ve read so far have included shark attacks, prostitutes,
and murder; so basically it’s literary Law and Order. I’ve learned that’s
basically what the field of economics: law and order, which are dictated by incentives.
"People respond to incentives, although not
necessarily in ways that are predictable or manifest. Therefore, one of the
most powerful laws in the universe is the law of unintended consequences. This
applies to schoolteachers and Realtors and crack dealers as well as expectant
mothers, sumo wrestlers, bagel salesmen, and the Ku Klux Klan."
LISTENING: The other day I decided to revisit my trusty Sufjan
Stevens Pandora station, whereupon I was introduced to "Memories and Dust" by
Josh Pyle. I’d never heard of him or the song before, but I automatically went
to YouTube to listen to the lighthearted strumming several hundred more times. The
old-fashioned acoustic sound brought me back to being on the porch at camp,
swinging on a hammock, and singing along while my friend Jon played "Opportunity" by Pete Murray on the guitar. To me, that song evokes such a sense of family
and community that I am immediately homesick for my home away from home.
FOLLOWING: As an avid reader of TIME magazine, I always anticipate the penultimate page, the one
that features a witty column from the Sultan of Snark ™ himself, Joel Stein. His
Twitter feed @thejoelstein is a miniature version of that column with constant
funny updates on his family or current events. His tweet calling for Mitt
Romney to release his Netflix queue had me laughing for half an hour.
EATING: I was proud to embrace my heritage by eating
couscous and hummus. Then I realized our main course was shrimp. Close enough.
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