Recently in Reading Category

Somehow, I happened on the blog of Michael "Mish" Shedlock - everything must be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but I think a lot of his analysis is spot on. I've also started following some articles on http://seekingalpha.com/ as I try to make sense of the current investment climate.

Being in the middle-class, capital preservation is very important in volatile times - otherwise there will be nothing to invest when the market rebounds.

Mish often talks of deflation and an "L"-shaped recession (or depression). Him and others (i.e. this article) has me very nervous... are we screwed?


This above picture linked from here.

Zack had been prompting me to read this for some time, so I took it with on my trip to Texas last week. It turned out to be very easy and engaging reading and I finished it on the flight down. Reading Wil's blog entries and then his own commentary on the blogs was interesting. I have found a very similiar duality or "show" which occurs in my own writing.

When I first started this blog, I was writing it for me - my earliest entries are intimate, revealing, and sometimes "inappropriate." As my audience appeared and it became clear that Eriko, my parents, my siblings, and other relatives were reading the blog I found myself altering the type of content and presentation.

No longer do I write an entry as a stream of consciousness in a vacuum - I'm very aware of the "audience" watching. At the same time, my life has changed so much, most of my content has become less brash; there is no need for such bravado - gone are the days of political and international conspiracy theories (who has time for that), the partying (day after is too painful), and the women (one is very much enough, thank you).

My entries are focused on career and my family. I find it fitting that this matched Wil's transition as well - he is my role model for the "goals" page on nick.org.

The quartet continues in the zany tradition!

The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything: Forty-two.

Now what was the actual question, again?

Wow. I'm going to have to think about this one for a while to understand exactly what I read. Several people have commented on how great the book was, but I just found it a bit strange.

I doubled-down in reading this book; once again, if you can get past the fact that the main characters are all 16-year old super-geniuses (some whom have become Emperor of China, Caliph of Islam, or Goddess of India) then the descriptions of countries warring against each other is believable, maybe. There is a real transformation of the Peter Wiggin character - which has to be done to keep the flavor of the series. Card is rumored to be writing a sequel to this and the Ender series. Despite my lackluster rating, I am in to deep to not continue reading.

The recent movie inspired me to read Fleming's original Bond classic. Unfortunately, I was a bit tainted as I had already watched the movie. The book was reasonable, but I didn't particularly care for the French that was used often to describe the places and for fancy quips between characters.

The movie stay relatively true to the book but there were some subtle yet significant twists. It was also slightly modernized to reflect the current world political situation as one would expect. The wikipedia list of differences is here.

It is worth noting that I'm far too tainted in general from watching all of the Bond flicks to linkely be able to enjoy any of Ian's books. Unless he wrote some that weren't made into movies, I will likely end up anticipating the story and not reading for enjoyment.

I read the 2000 edition from the library, but there is a 2007 edition available. The book provides an overview of ISOs, NQOs, ESPP, and ATM (along with a few other topics.) There is enough here to cause any interested individual to feel a strong need to call a competent tax accountant.

I will be giving my dad's accountant, Jeffery Bowles, a call very soon.

A quick rant about AMT - what a mess. From here, "Because the AMT was not indexed for inflation, its reach has expanded annually, delivering a significant tax increase this spring to an estimated 4 million households. The AMT would have spread even more rapidly after President Bush's tax cuts reduced taxpayers' normal bills, but Congress enacted yearly "patches" to restrain its growth. The most recent patch expired in December, and unless Congress acts, the tax is projected to strike more than 23 million households next spring, many of them earning as little as $50,000 a year."

This is the 3rd book in the Ender Shadow series, which centers around Bean. I still struggle to bond with Bean, the genetically manipulated child genius - and I was not at all moved by the romance that occurred between him and Petra.

I have one book left in this series to finish. Card's books are light and easily readable but I haven't enjoyed them enough to want to read them again.