Editor asks me: Will you review That Pandemic Antho?

I say: Maybe. There are a lot of disabled writers in it, right?

Editor: ............

I say: Like, obviously?

Editor: ............

Otherness and Power: Michael Jackson and His Media Critics is a rather short book by Susan Woodword but it does a lot to expose "progressive" hypocrisy in the media and academia.

It analyzes three works:
- A 1985 book by Dave Marsh called "Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream"
- Maureen Orth's MJ articles in Vanity Fair
- And a 2009 book entitled The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson, edited by British music critic Mark Fisher

I went back to the latter part today because I heard Fisher's name again in a completely different context (he was also a philosopher) and it kind of ringed a bell, so I checked back if he was really the dude who wrote some horrible book about MJ?

Well, he didn't write it alone (he personally wrote only one chapter), but he edited it. As per Woodward the book is short on actual facts and research on MJ's life, but high on opinionated and dehumanizing hatred based on tabloid information and their perception of him.

What Woodward does is making lists of the adjectives the books' authors use of Jackson. That in itself shows the out of control, irrational hatred.

My daughter has just finished reading 'Atomic Habits' and I have started to observe a few changes in her behavior, most notably, she is now better prepared for Sat 7AM swim session. Her swim bag and costume are right by her bedside the night before. I was impressed by this tiny

change so asked her to summarise the book for me. I found it very impactful for behavior change and building new habits so sharing here
@dmuthuk @unseenvalue @nishkumar1977 @connectgurmeet @ishmohit1 if you find it useful, kindly like or RT so that it reaches the wider audience.

1. A large portion of our daily actions are influenced by our automatic habits, habits that have been formed through repetition over the course of our entire life. There are healthy and productive habits that serve us and negative ones that work against us.

2. We are what we repeatedly do and the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits.


Lesson 1: Tiny changes lead to big improvements


“Atomic habits” is all about showing how small and seemingly unimportant changes and adjustments can lead to a massive

3. transformation. If you make a tiny 1% improvement to something on a daily basis in the course of just one year, you end up being 37 times better...37 times better health, 37 times better finances or relationships, even a fraction of that will significantly transform your life

A pie thread. Send the children out of the room.

Know how you're eating something so good that you hunch over it, damn the utensils, go full Altered States proto-human, baring your teeth and flailing at anybody who gets too close?

Let👏Me👏Tell👏You👏About👏The👏Sweet👏Potato👏Pie👏I👏Made Yesterday praise gawd.🙏
That pie achieved consciousness long enough to know true love.

First off, I didn't have any brown sugar. I realized that Wednesday evening. Was I about to go to the CDC testing center to get some? Hell no, Kroger was hella crowded. So Thursday morning, I take inventory. No cane sugar, no white sugar, no Alaga syrup. Started to lose hope.

Then I remembered.

I had mother-loving lemon honey. It's not super sweet, it's got a ting-tang of lemon, and--I swear to this--when I put it in my tea my 3rd eye opens in appreciation. So I do the math: brown sugar is just about the sweetness; 1/2 a jar of lemon honey should do.

And it did. You wouldn't think the combination of cinnamon, sweet potatoes, butter, eggs, and lemon honey would make you stomp a Smurf if it got too close to your pie pan, but yeah, it does.

My top books I read in 2020

A thread...

Almanack of Naval Ravikant
What a stunning and thoughtful compilation of @naval's work and words.
I predict that this is going to define a new industry - curating public content of thought leaders and converting them into

Waking Up: Search for spirituality without religion
@SamHarris provoked me through this book and offered me, an atheist, a lot to think about.
Pick up his works!

Psychology of Money
My most awaited book of this year, since the day @morganhousel announced his book.
A must read for all ages, especially those in their 20s.

I predict this to reach levels of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" over the next 10

Courage to be disliked
What a stunner! Challenges most of our tightly-held beliefs and I found myself nodding more often than not through the book.

Not for the