Blood Pressure

Yesterday was quite hectic but fun day. I attended health seminars in the morning, in preparation for my annual physical exam. The results were not encouraging: high cholesterol, border line hypertension and being overweight. It was not disastrous but not my best result so far. I attended a department meeting in the afternoon where one got a view of next year’s projects. High level stuff but enough to keep one’s hope up as the goal was aggressive, ambitious and correct. It’s a good place to be; to be part of a grand plan that would motivate people achieve goals. I am glad I had stayed and continued on because I now see it’s the most stable place to develop one self. The only thing is that the ambitious plan may have played a part in my hypertension as I took my physical exam right after the meeting.

It’s a lesson learned: not to have your medical assessment after a high level meeting. But I think it’s much more, specifically more weight in my part. I guess my body is not as young as it used to be and being overweight is not good. At least I am not obese though one may head to that direction if one is not careful. I had hoped that my results would be better considering I exercise more: at least 3 times a week; more times than I ever had in the past. So increasing exercise was not really good. Earlier this year, I also joined a weight management program but left after completing the basic course. I had thought that I learned new skills but I gained a few more pounds after leaving the course. I think that is the problem here: eating too much and sleeping less.  Exercise is not enough to keep one on the right path.

Last night my friends had dinner at home. My wife cooked fired chicken, French fries and salad. Actually, a few came after dinner for coffee because their beloved puppy just graduated from dog school. We had a nice time talking about technology – Sony Dash, i Phone, iPad, NetFlix, Archos as well as investing in gold, getting pregnant and preparing for winter. We will meet again tomorrow night to have dinner together. An old friend from Thailand is also here so we invited her to come along. She had jet lag so she could not come last night. I had worked with her a few times in Bangkok and Singapore. She was posted in China for a few months and is back in Thailand. Seeing her brought back a lot of pleasant memories with old friends. Those days are long gone after the downsizing of operations in Asia.

I did not realize how far I had gone from Asia after focusing on my work. Work has kept one further and further away from one’s memories. Soon one gets older and feebler or sicker. It’s like one’s past life is receding from memory or is it one’s youth that is slipping farther behind? Last night I showed my friends how Facebook is displayed in Sony Dash. It remains the only link to one’s past. Social networking for nomads or frequent travelers is a tool that keeps them grounded. It’s probably the best example where technology can help people retain their humanity and connections. Technology started out as making one smarter and more productive. Now technology helps in communication and keeping people connected. Perhaps this is the next technology wave that everyone has been talking about.

Barabási's Bursts

There have been a recent slew of books that peer into a deeper reality of modern life; often counter intuitive truths that serve to illuminate and, even, correct common perceptions. Writers like Malcolm Gladwell, Nassim Nicolas Taleb and the economist - authors of the book ‘Freakonomics.’ Now there is scientist Albert-Laszló Barabási with his book ‘Bursts’. Of course there have always been good writers who educate and explain subtle theories to lay men due to their specialization. People like the late, great John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Stiglitz, the economist author of ‘The Myth of the Rational Market,’ John Perkins’ the author of “Economic Hit Men,’ Niall Ferguson, Benoit Mandelbroth and so on. So called intellectuals who move towards the cutting edge of thought in their respective fields whether economics, social science, history, investments and finance.

Their subjects often refer to exotic fields that may become mainstream thinking later on. In literature or popular fiction, writers like Spanish authors Arturo Perez Reverte or Carlos Ruiz Zafon or even the American writer William Gibson are visionaries who write of a different actuality, away from the conventional. Eventually, success will allow them to move towards a common acceptance. Movie directors are an obvious example such as Francis Ford Coppola (including daughter Sophia), Darren Afronsky, and George Lucas and so on. Visual artists are a good gauge of the move from obscurity to popular acceptance as one can actually see the progression of styles (unlike written words). For instance, Picasso and the French impressionist and abstract painters who were first rejected from the salons but eventually created a new movement. 

It’s the stuff of revolutionaries where new ideas from Karl Marx or Lenin or Mao or John Maynard Keynes transform whole countries and cultures. But it’s no longer politics or economics or literature but in design and marketing and business. Take a look at Steve Jobs who altered the computer, animation, music and phone industries. It’s the force of an idea whose time has come that these visionaries ‘bend’ their society towards their purposes. But at the start, these ‘radical’ thinkers are the butt of abuse and ridicule. But due to these uncertain times - are radical ideas the new normal? The collapse of the old order in finance, politics, country-power (US, China and Soviet Union) has set normal moorings adrift. One is floating in a turbulent sea that any new idea is like an outpost that one must reach and grasp, thinking it would anchor one firmly away from the chaos.

But I am getting ahead of myself. The premise of Albert-Laszló Barabási’s book is that modern man’s behavior can now be predicted. Today, the actions of every man is monitored via his phone calls, Internet usage, credit card and ATM usage, travel patterns and so on; recorded somewhere in a database. Scientist like Barabasi can access these databases and derive certain patterns. His book is a meditation on esoteric thinkers, Eastern European history particularly Hungary and Transylvania, Christian crusades and battles against the Ottoman invasions and 9/11 surveillance. It’s an intriguing book with many story lines that leap into diverse topics and later combine. I plan to borrow the book that made him famous, ‘Linked’ about social networking. These types of books allow one to delve into a deeper reality as Taleb wrote in one of the book’s adverts.

‘Bursts’ contend that people works in burst patterns. For instance, one works in bursts of energy after long periods of inactivity. This pattern is displayed in travel where one would journey a few miles from home and suddenly move thousand of miles. I have proven this theory myself. For example, living in the Philippines for about 36 years suddenly moving hundreds of miles to Singapore, living there for 7 years and suddenly moving thousands of miles to live in the US. The stock market also performs in the same way where drastic rises in stock value occur in only a few days or weeks. It’s proven by other scientists like Benoit Mandelbroth and seasoned stock market investors. One wonders if this pattern can be exploited in some way. I guess that’s the important thing – to exploit new knowledge from radical thinkers to benefit the common folks.

Sport Seasons

Fall is coming or already upon us. One is not sure coming from Asia. It’s the leaves in the trees that give some clue. When the leaves turn yellow in the trees it means that fall is here. The seasons determine what sports are played. Football and basket ball usually start in the fall though the foot ball season should end before winter. Basketball, being an indoor sport, can extend all the way into winter. Hockey is also a winter sport. Where people come into the warm indoor stadiums and watch their sport heroes. America has a sports culture where kids are trained early in life. One gets to know the moves and slang terms like block and tackle and touch play. When one is old, he can speak about playing interference or tackling when undertaking office politics.

Tennis, soccer and baseball are all spring or summer sports when the weather is pleasant and one can stroll into the fields. Play can also extend into fall where one can catch a game outdoors in the beautiful foliage. Fall is the most beautiful season to be outdoors when the trees are in bloom with different shades. The weather is a bit cooler that one would need a sweater. Spring and summer is also a nice time but a bit hot in the South East. The sky is a wonderful blue during this period with the sun way out warming the day. Golf is an all weather sport where one can be out any time including winter as some aficionados or idiots often do. The seasons dictate the sports as well as the other activities that one does at home.

In small towns there are a lot of wonderful fairs in the fall or late in the summer. It is a preparation for winter when most folks would stay home. So it is a celebration before the cold and falling snow. There are a lot of wonderful parades where people would walk down Main Street, often war veterans where the crowd would clap their hands especially for the old warriors who fought in the European wars or the ones in Asia. Only the recent Middle East wars does one see some hesitation from the crowds. But one always hears some decent applause for the proud veterans. War is a continuation of sports, moving from the green fields of youth into the battle fields in far away places; fighting for abstract ideas as Hemingway writes in his books.

War is a natural offspring of sports or maybe sports is a preparation for war where one would talk about strategy or tactics or soldier – sportsmen. Of battalions and divisions and masses of men moving in unison to achieve some far-off goal and eventually the victory cries. The seasons of war are also myriad, where one would have different weapons used in the different seasons. But winter is never a good time to fight. The cold and loneliness and the depressing all white landscape is not the best occasion to be injured or killed. It’s a time best spent in front of a fire place enjoying the wonder of the season. But most battles are won in winter; the Chinese assault in Manchuria against the Japanese or the UN defeat in Korea or even Valley Forge with Washington.

Most officers play golf because it is a pleasant endeavor walking in the green, undulating hills. A golf club and balls is one’s weapon and ammunition and one also talks about strategy and tactics. Perhaps golf can be thought of like chess, where one needs to be physically equipped to implement one’s battle plan – a more active activity than chess. But golf is less cerebral and more in the active lifestyle of sportsmen. A nation of sportsmen is also a nation of warriors where one’s energies are diverted to achieve geo-political goals. The poor youth can further their education with the help of military loans after fighting in the battlefields or the criminals can gain a reprieve from their sentences or the immigrant can get citizenship in a great country. These are the modern sport men who try to gain what ever advantage they can get during the season of their youth so they can be a success during the winter of their lives.

Couples

John Updike’s book ‘Couples’ is like a manual on how to commit adultery – written by a mischievous devil. The book depicts the amazing civility of couples who are indiscreet in a seemingly normal way. Other cultures in Latin America or in South East Asia, people would not be as civilized or well-mannered as the philandering couples in this New England town. Usually, indiscretion results in hysterical emotion, fights and violence that end in a homicide. In Middle East countries, adultery can result in death by stoning. There is usually a resulting emotional outbreak or violent reaction when the indiscretion is known. At least, that’s my impression coming from an Asian society which is not as ‘enlightened’ in terms of adultery as depicted in John Updike’s book.

The book was written in 1969 and portrays a liberal town where everyone seems to be sleeping with each other. I did not enjoy the book as closely as I would have but skimmed through the pages. There is just too much verbiage from his work that could have been reduced or more efficiently packaged. It’s as if Dylan Thomas or Walt Whitman would write a book full of words that appeal more to its sound than its meaning. There is not much sense in much of the work with regards to the impression, syntax and the way the book progressed. But it is not a bad book and one could grasp the tone even if one is part of that milieu – living in an isolated New England town with white Anglo Saxon protestant neighbors.

But the book does not seem silly but in fact logical in the way the characters think and act. It has a well-crafted plot with some interesting scenes and effective in giving the atmosphere of that particular age. What strikes me is the lack of emotionality except in the sexual act amongst the various characters. Everything from adultery, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, abortion, wife swapping is all discussed in a coherent, matter of fact tone as if it’s normal for well-educated adults. Is this the sign of true maturity and graciousness? Is this the peak of a modern liberal society where emotions are subsumed to a well mannered civility? One wonders if this is the way most people behave or just a minor though perverse subset of modern society.

Updike seems to be a purveyor of wickedness unless he is just writing of the way things really are. It seems that committing adultery is just the most normal thing to do around here unlike in other societies. Perhaps that’s the result of the hippie generation, with drugs, free-love and the sexual revolution. But is it an actual description of reality? I am sure these stories play-out in some sections of the populace, in small communities scattered over the country. My predilection for gossip and scandal led me to this book and I strangely felt suddenly free. I guess this is the objective of most folks; to live life and commit whatever indulgence one desires from other consenting adults. It’s like drug use, where repeated consumption corrupts one’s soul. 

Last night, I watched the Woody Allen film ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona.’ It has similar values as Updike’s couples and may be called modern decadence in Spain. I guess it is liberating to have this free spirit, unencumbered with morality or other hang-ups. It’s like the sixties continued on from John Updike’s ‘Couples’ to Woody Allen’s ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ with the latest Hollywood stars appearing in the decline. To the Islamic mullahs in the Middle East, it’s clear evidence that the West has declined with sin and overindulgence. But it’s not so as there are more decent folks around than those who are willing to satisfy there desires to wherever place it brings them. One could say that it’s all in the Declaration of Independence when Thomas Jefferson wrote about the right to one’s ‘pursuit of happiness’. Perhaps it’s the seed that started the decline taking note that Jefferson lived in debt, had slaves, a mistress and illegitimate children.

Pattern Recognition

William Gibson’s book ‘Pattern Recognition’ is considered by most critics to be science fiction. It reminds me of those books by Jules Verne that were considered science fiction as well until progress in technology made those gizmos in his books a reality. For instance, the submarine and the rocket ship which were some of the amazing machines in his works. But William Gibson’s latest books do not seem science fiction but more in the realm of every day possibilities. The heroine in ‘Pattern Recognition’ is a ‘cool hunter’ - someone who has a psychological reaction to company logos – this skill makes her a valuable asset in marketing as she can determine what will work or not work in the market place..

The events of the book, after 9/11, describe guerrilla marketing, surfing the Internet and searching for ‘viral’ videos and a mysterious creator of a film broken down into multiple scenes and uploaded into cyberspace. It’s also about a select group of geeks who meet in chat rooms to talk about these videos and the quest of an advertising company to search for its mysterious creator. So the characters travel to places like Tokyo, Moscow and London in their journey to solve the mystery. There is a backdrop of espionage with characters like a retired spy who disappeared in the chaos of 9/11, a retired cryptographer who used to work for National Security Agency and who worked on a mysterious project called ‘Echelon’ and the Russian Mafia.

It’s a strange title because there is no hint of pattern recognition except in the deciphering of the public mind to determine the next cool thing. But it’s not related to a logical sequence or pattern or conspiracy or code breaking but in the subconscious desires of today’s consumer. I guess the book is trying to say that modern advertising and marketing is like a shadowy world similar to espionage or industrial spying where today’s war to capture the consumer’s mind is the key to victory. Similar perhaps to propaganda; to change one’s mind deliberately or surreptitiously in order to achieve a certain end. Something like a 9/11 event to alter the public mind to go to war and overcome past inhibition brought by the disaster of Vietnam.

I will be reading his next book ‘Spook Country’ which also refers to espionage and spying but more in the world of advertising. Is Gibson implying that modern espionage has moved to the corporate work of marketing? Perhaps that is why his work is considered science fiction but like Jules Verne will eventually move into the mainstream. Maybe the characters and their lifestyle (i.e. cool hunting) concern arcane activities that require special skills not available to ordinary folks. So most people think its fiction. But most techies and so-called ‘knowledge workers’ can identify with his work. Gibson is a seer who can envision a certain futuristic lifestyle still unknown to the general public. Like most writers, he is ahead of the curve.

There is an increase in these themes in television. For example, shows like ‘Rubicon’ (i.e. ‘not all conspiracies are theories’) and ‘Mad Men’ a show about 1950’s advertising. Both these shows come one after the other on Sunday and it’s a joy to watch. I am one of those folks inclined to see conspiracies everywhere like my pattern recognition abilities are going overboard. It is a cognitive mistake actually that I have identified in my thinking that I try to fix with cognitive therapy. I even take supplements like fish oil to help improve thinking skills following Amen’s book ‘A Great Brain for Every Age’. I guess working with one’s mind makes it difficult to slow down and stop after work.

Today, I did my Toastmaster speech which I was preparing for the past several weeks. I thought I did not do well because I was out of breath a few times although recovered during the question and answer session. I was awarded the best speech but only 2 of us spoke during the meeting. I spoke about the Philippine-American war in the early 1900’s in contrast to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I became emotional because it concerned my country and I perceived it to be a delicate topic. But it turned out well especially with my visual aids. It was related to current events as last week President Barack Obama declared the end of American combat mission in Iraq. I guess my mind was in overdrive again considering all these wars and their relation to 9/11.

Due Considerations

John Updike is one of the smartest persons I have ever read. His collection of essays cover a wide range of subjects from literary authors like Marcel Proust, Sinclair Lewis, Orhan Pamuk, Harayuki Murakami and old world artists like Durer and Brueghel. His criticism opened a whole different perspective in understanding writers like Salman Rushdie, Hemingway, Garcia Marquez and the authors mentioned earlier. His breadth of experience and knowledge is like Zeus proclaiming his knowledge from Mount Olympus when compared to writers like Zadie Smith. She is like a young smart boxer similar perhaps to Mike Tyson during his formidable early years but John Updike is like Muhammad Ali confident in his established legend.

John Updike is a smart writer and an earlier essay labeled him a White Anglo Saxon Protestant, New England Brahmin who worked hard in his writing craft and delivering like a thoroughbred.  The article compared him with other American writers of his generation who had Jewish roots and sensibilities; writers like Saul Bellow, Philip Roth and Norman Mailer. John Updike did not have their underlying angst derived from their heritage but wrote more from a perspective that was more John Kennedy – like in its Boston bred voice. I had read only a few of his books such as the ‘Widows of Eastwick’ and ‘Roger’s Version’ which provide an erudite but overflowing avalanche of words. His photograph in the article showed him relaxing near a beach (Martha’s Vineyard?) wearing a striped t-shirt, white pants and blue canvas sneakers. He looked like an investment banker rather than a striving writer.

John Updike is also one of the most erotic writers one has read with his sparse but explicit passages. His romantic scenes read like one of those lurid Penthouse letters but combined with a touch of Shakespeare. It’s probably the product of the 60’s liberal attitudes carried down into the present age. His work seems to embody the Kennedy contradiction – souring, noble rhetoric and actions but combined with garish sexual escapades. Come to think of it, it now seems more like Bill Clinton and his milieu, too. Some of his passages are quite good but there is an overindulgence of prose that one is often tempted to skip these parts and move to the juicy bits. Most of his works seem to focus on life in suburbia and the decline of family life by excessive overindulgence.

But his essays are a different matter. His criticism is precise, insightful and erudite that reveals deep reading and understanding. His pieces on his visit to China for example is one of the most penetrating ever but delivered in an off hand casual American manner. His essays betray a worldliness and thoughtfulness that is far from his usual oeuvre. His literary work reeks of middle-class suburban comfort, easy living, intellectual aristocracy and discretion and without the hint of Mailer like life of hard drinking, womanizing and political posturing. It’s more like a retiring academic’s life, in college teaching class, clam bakes in the beach, sailing and a few sexual indiscretions along the way; covered in a tint of elegant artistry.

These are a few sentences of his that bring an insight in the American mind that few writers can deliver. For example, in his piece on John Kennedy’s assassination, he wrote that he was angry at his country upon hearing the news; that his countrymen could kill their president in this manner; like shooting a rat in a bin. Brutal, effective and better in conveying the exact feeling of shock and outrage than anything I have ever read. I have seen a lot about the killing in both books and films and documentaries, both elegant and poetic but these works never expressed the plain brutality and feeling of helpless anger. I guess this is the charm of John Updike who is like Sinclair Lewis in his workman like devotion to writing but did not have the usual writer’s demons that may have produced great world wide masterpieces but instead churned out an elegant output of prose that effectively serve to entertain and educate. Perhaps his works is not for the multitudes but for elite pondering their decline.

Blank Page

One cannot help but flit from one subject to another like an insect from one flower to the next. The problem is not the delight that one gets from having many choices but lost of attention due to the myriad distractions. There’s too much going on that one cannot keep one’s peace of mind. Is this the attention deficit syndrome that most psychologists talk about?  Some like the Amen Clinic say it’s a biological problem that can be cured by vitamin supplements like St. John’s Wort or Omega 3 fish oil capsules. Supplements help manage the section of the brain that is over excited or under excited. Sleep and vigorous exercise also help in brain health. These days one would agree that sleep is important and subtle improvements in brain function do occur with more sleep.

But the myriad distraction and information overload are never ending stimuli that perhaps the healthy options mentioned above either block the stimulus or force the brain to be less excited and more focused. Alcohol is the common remedy of most that are not aware of the latest studies on brain health. Others would focus on Eastern remedies like meditation, Yoga and Tai Chi. People like me would combine everything just to make sure; just like Pascal’s wager if God exists. Following the Buddhist principle of an empty mind is not a solution as well. This result in a blank page that’s just as open to external influences as well. One would flit from one subject to another if one does not have a grand plan or strategy.

What are the normal week’s activities of the insect flitter? Go to the gym at least 3 times a week for 30-40 minutes of alternating exercises of running, swimming and doing weights. A simplified Tai Chi – Qigong session every morning for 8 minutes at the start of each week day. Journal writing 1 or 2  times a week after work. But on the reverse side, go to the library each week to borrow 5-10 DVDS, 2-3 music Cd's, 2-3 magazines, 1-2 books and 1-2 audio books. Surf the Internet nearly everyday for about 1-3 hours. Sleep late at about 11 – 12:30 am most days without afternoon naps in the weekend. Occasional cocktails of gin, bourbon whiskey, wine or beer most days of the week. Tinker with the latest gizmo like Idea Pad and Sony Dash that provide additional access to the Internet, fiddle with web sites and download more movies or borrow from the local shopping center.

A case of healthy activities and distracting nonsense with the goal of keeping up to date with the latest news or technology or learning about how to be a great investor, writer, speaker or photographer. One must not forget the time spent attending free webinars and library seminars now and again. A sad tale of frenzied modern life in the suburbs where there’s more free time and money to spend unlike in Asia where one squanders most of the time trapped in traffic, riding a public bus or train to get to work or home. A decline to mediocrity but one gets to go to movies or plays now and again with the family. All is not lost because one does have time to write, discover and learn new things. Perhaps it’s the realization that one has too much free time which cannot be focused to a meaningful activity. Instead, time is wasted.

In the past, one can work long hours in the office and get the job done. These days with most work outsourced to folks in India or Ohio, waiting for input, respecting time zones and work culture (i.e. diversity), work life balance and so on, it’s now impossible to spend one’s free time working.  One has to learn to work in an orchestra than being a lone cowboy. One spends time in distractions or indulgences or perhaps joining clubs like Toastmasters or PMI chapters to engage with the community. At least it’s better than shopping and spending money or going into debt to buys all these stuff in a misguided attempt to bring meaning to life. Maybe that’s the true cause of the financial crisis – finding meaning in gambling and materialism. In this case the solution is timeless: take a hike, smell the flowers and return to nature. Maybe buy a boat, camping equipment and GPS while you’re at it.