the.deni.decimal.system.

Tools    





“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Mother Noise: A Memoir
(Cindy House 2022)



When you promote your association with David Sedaris, you will inevitably draw a comparison to him in some form. While House's writing and story are full of real life experiences, she doesn't seem to balance the sad and grim quite like her teacher does.


In fairness, I don't expect to her to be. Unfortunately her memoir, Mother Noise, came across in a way I can't quite put a finger on. It's not my place to say who can profit on what and why, but the story doesn't resonate. As sympathetic as I am to those that struggle with addiction, her efforts don't add much to the discussion. Drawing attention to your struggles and trying to sell them, sits in a most peculiar way with me.


••



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Hollywood Urban Legends
(Richard Roeper 2001)


Going back in the time machine, we find a book that would be a blog post now. Lucy Arnez was a communist, Robert Patrick's brother, Bert and Ernie's lifestyle, and plenty more underwhelming stories. I don't know much about Roeper other than recognizing the name, but hopefully he is better at his other job.




“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
I'd Like to Play Alone, Please
(Tom Segura 2022)


Is every book going to have a David Sedaris comparison? Maybe.


Tom Segura said that he didn't want to do a book, unless he could do one like David Sedaris. Mmhhm. As a comedian/podcaster, his content doesn't get a rubber stamp from me. That being the case, I do find enough there to check in from time to time. This book was reported to be unheard stories, but it's not. The majority is material that anyone familiar with his act has heard before. To say it is anything like everyone's favorite litter collector, is a stretch. I get it though. Books for some are just a cash grab. Can't blame someone for that.






“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Wonder Drug: 7 Scientifically Proven Ways That Serving Others is the Best Medicine for Yourself
(Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli 2022)

This just in, focusing on yourself is not the best thing for your health. Service is one of the best medicines you can take.


This book is full of insightful bits, but this one really resonated with me. Something that affects so many people and seems like it would be so easy to do. For context, "coins" refers to an earlier analogy made about, "having so many coins in a day" as a finite amount of energy, mental and physical.


"As a leader your job is to focus on keeping coins in your employees' pockets, and not cutting holes in those pockets with negativity. Happiness begets energy, begets high performance, begets pride, begets more happiness, begets success."

••••



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
White Noise
(Don Delillo 1985)

Saturates the reader in anxiety from the moving parts swimming below the surface.

••••



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Heat 2: A Novel
(Meg Gardiner and Michael Mann 2022)


We've got a big problem on our hands. One we can't walk out on in 30 seconds flat and leave behind...


This is the most engrossing book I have read in quite sometime. Heat isn't a movie I think of a lot, even though it excels in many areas. What we have in this prequel/sequel (presequel?) is the potential to equal or surpass the original, based on what these two have laid on the page. As much as I want to expound, I don't want to ruin a single bit.



It's not perfect and the issue I have with it is a big one, but it still shines in light of that. The only problem I see is it would have to be made in a limited series. Then again, they wrote it in a way that seems to be made for that format (hmmm....).


That's all I'll say, I've got to start casting this thing.

•••••



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
The Chaos Machine : The inside story of how social media rewired our minds and our world
(Max Fisher 2022)

DNF

A book like this feels like it confirms your worst ideas of what technology can be. Social media on all platforms engineered to keep you engaged, with indescribable algorithms driving the bus.

DNF, like other books of this type, you feel like you just keep re-reading the same thing over and over. I get it, you can’t handle the truth internet.

•••



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity
(Justin Gregg 2022)

Can you consider yourself the world’s dominant species, when you are the reason for your own extinction?


• •



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
(David K. Shipler 2004)

"As the people in these pages show, working poverty is a constellation of difficulties that magnify one another: not just low wages but also low education, not just dead-end jobs but also limited abilities, no just insufficient savings but also unwise spending, not just poor housing but also poor parenting, not just the lack of health insurance but also the lack of healthy households."

Even if you pursued a higher education, worked hard, saved and did everything possible to create a healthy family; don't forget how much luck plays a part in good fortunes. Everyone isn't so lucky.


• • • •