The Boston Globe recently published an interesting article on the benefits of boredom as a prelude to creativity and introspection.

Boredom’s doldrums were unavoidable, yet also a primordial soup for some of life’s most quintessentially human moments. Jostled by a stranger’s cart in the express checkout line, thoughts of a loved one might come to mind. A long drive home after a frustrating day could force ruminations. A pang of homesickness at the start of a plane ride might put a journey in perspective…

Paradoxically, as cures for boredom have proliferated, people do not seem to feel less bored; they simply flee it with more energy, flitting from one activity to the next. Ralley has noticed a kind of placid look among his students over the past few years, a “laptop culture” that he finds perplexing. They have more channels to be social; there are always things to do. And yet people seem oddly numb. They are not quite bored, but not really interested either.

More at the article: The Joy of Boredom.

And on that note, I plan to finish a few more e-mails and then go finish reading War and Peace.

The first thing I do when I receive a copy of Wired is to tear out the ever-growing stack of useless ads and business replies they put in.  Here’s a photo of the latest stack:

This waste of paper makes it all the easier to cancel the magazine.  I’ve noticed its covers have gotten less and less tech-oriented, and way more Hollywood – you can browse their covers here.

The worst was the Pam Beesley “Get naked and…” cover – not necessarily because of the photo, but because the cover was describing an article on a modern “transparent business” (where the business reveals its internal workings) which had absolutely nothing to do with The Office.  The last issue (with an expose on “Manga in America”) seemed a bit light on content and heavy on graphics as well.

One less piece of reading material in my backpack.

I’m into the last 300 pages of James Clavell’s Noble House: “A Novel of Contemporary Hong Kong” according to the inside page. The numerous plot threads are beginning to interweave and twist together nicely.

It’s been a while since I read a good page-turner. I read Whirlwind (a sequel of sorts to Noble House) but sort of lost interest about halfway through; with Noble House Clavell manages to keep interest in the various characters while using examining the unique character and flavor of Hong Kong.

Looking forward to finishing this and moving on to Gai-Jin and King Rat; the last 2 books in Clavell’s Asian Saga that I still have to read.

Hands Across the Water offers a free outlet to donate old books to:

Our Concerns–are they yours also?

Hand Across The Water delivers an effective solution to two problems: the domestic problem of excess books and the global problem of not enough books. We collect books from schools, libraries, and individuals who no longer want them, and send them to schools and libraries which desperately need them. We care about less affluent people who do not have enough books to sustain educational and intellectual growth and are condemned to ignorance, illiteracy and poverty. We are dedicated to cultural bridge-building on a local, national, international scale by providing the tools of literacy and education.

http://surplusbooksforcharity.org/whoweare.html

A noble cause, but hopefully the books they receive will be of high quality rather than old cookbooks or books so bad that nobody wants to read them.  Their blog does offer uplifting tales of where the books go and why they’re appreciated.

They do have a drop-off center in Allston, which is not too far away.  Think I’ll use them the next time I feel like cleaning out my bookshelf.

Stumbled upon an article about the Godfather and America, which I recall reading from Slate but lost track of.

 About five years ago, Paul Rahe, the author of the acclaimed Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution, penned an essay, “Don Vito Corleone, Friendship, and the American Regime.” With the possible exception of Paul Cantor’s essay on The Simpsons, it’s the best essay on the significance of a movie or TV show I’ve ever read.

More at the National Review.

Unfortunately, I misremembered the review and sought out “Republics, Ancient and Modern” by Paul Rahe instead.  However with this interview in hand I bought a book with Rahe’s essay in it.

The original article also referenced an essay on the Simpsons by Paul Cantor which sounds interesting (see edited version here).