Short Books for Busy People.

I loathe listicles, even though I frequent Buzzfeed a lot. But here's a listicle I really loved. This definitive list of short books covers everything from sci-fi shorts to non-fiction from lit giants to classics from Hemingway. Do give it a look. And, use it to cheat a little, if you have an impossible reading resolution for the year. I'm closing at 13 right now. I've to finish 44 by the end of the years. Here's to impossible dreams and reading.

https://ebookfriendly.com/best-short-books/

Ian Abramson Takes Stand-Up to a Shocking New Height.

One small trick is all it took to make this simple enough stand-up set very, very memorable. Check it out. And, remember when you're doing the usual chore/trick/gig at work, or in life, think of ways in which you can do it differently. Also, if you don't get any ideas, just throw in the dog collar.



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Such a Cool Portfolio Site.

http://getcoleman.com/

Cats make everything better. Well, at least on the Internet.

Kinda the Sweetest Birthday Gift This Year.

I'm not big on birthdays. (It's another day, another rotation around the sun, another year where you've taken baby steps towards the big plans.) Plus I've like 5 friends. Or possibly 7, on a good day. They know I'm not big on birthdays, so even the celebrations are a little low-key. But this year, was different. I was completely surprised by this colleague who wrote this (impromptu) poem to wish me. Even inspired me to do it for other people. Sharing it here. It put a smile on my face, and will make you smile too.

Today you were born many years ago,
Your parents brought you home from the hospital.
They think you will grow up to be great same day,
Maybe you will write a book, maybe a play,
Maybe you will figure out if unicorns really exist,
Or invent flying cars to take good folks around. In either case, that day ain't today,
So buckle your shoes and go on by,
Make a big birthday wish and onwards fly,
Towards making many more millions laugh,
And sometimes be sad and cry but always,
Through your words, the little characters
Make them feel a unique new way, in thoughts and action. Peace!

No Flame Burns Forever...

I only ever told you one lie,
When it could have been a thousand.

Introduce yourself, or someone else to Mumford and Sons. Even a stray single verse from Mumford and Sons contains so much depth, beauty, and poetry that The Chainsmokers (or any other contemporary band) would've to drop at least a thousand singles to catch up with them. For reasons beyond me, I forgot to play this song to someone who would have really, really loved it...so I'm just leaving it here. Not for nothing, it will at least find its way to you.

PS: Always remember this one from Marcus Mumford.

But no flame burns forever, oh no
You and I both know this all too well
And most don't even last the night

Tom Stoppard Breaks Down Love.

And, it was glorious. Well, decidedly more glorious than your dating prospects.

It’s to do with knowing and being known. I remember how it stopped seeming odd that in biblical Greek, knowing was used for making love. Whosit knew so-and-so. Carnal knowledge. It’s what lovers trust each other with. Knowledge of each other, not of the flesh but through the flesh, knowledge of self, the real him, the real her, in extremis, the mask slipped from the face. Every other version of oneself is on offer to the public. We share our vivacity, grief, sulks, anger, joy… we hand it out to anybody who happens to be standing around, to friends and family with a momentary sense of indecency perhaps, to strangers without hesitation. Our lovers share us with the passing trade. But in pairs we insist that we give ourselves to each other. What selves? What’s left? What else is there that hasn’t been dealt out like a deck of cards? Carnal knowledge. Personal, final, uncompromised. Knowing, being known. I revere that. Having that is being rich, you can be generous about what’s shared — she walks, she talks, she laughs, she lends a sympathetic ear, she kicks off her shoes and dances on the tables, she’s everybody’s and it don’t mean a thing, let them eat cake; knowledge is something else, the undealt card, and while it’s held it makes you free-and-easy and nice to know, and when it’s gone everything is pain. Every single thing. Every object that meets the eye, a pencil, a tangerine, a travel poster. As if the physical world has been wired up to pass a current back to the part of your brain where imagination glows like a filament in a lobe no bigger than a torch bulb. Pain.

Hat-tip to Brainpickings for this.

Don't Ignore the Semicolon.

Maybe having colon in it doesn't do the poor semicolon any favour, but semicolons are nice, useful, and when used right; essential. Don't take my word for it, or my semicolon. Hear the copy chief of Random House sing praises of this humble punctuation mark. Also, use it, for kicks, and punctuation.

https://medium.com/@penguinrandomus/shirley-jacksons-sublime-first-paragraph-in-hill-house-annotated-14834632fc61#.xrd65e95l