Last week, we were on a red flag day for high fire danger... and we now know how that ended up. Today, this is the current scene out my home office window
Thank you for the thoughtful comments regarding my brother's loss of his home. The burn area is similarly covered in snow, so it will be a while before any sifting/ cleanup will happen. The fire investigation has led to a "religious sect" that owns the property where the fire started. Geez.
Hagrid and his wife are intelligent and resourceful people. They'll get through this. It won't happen overnight, but, baby steps.
So now it feels like winter, and while the snow hampers things, nobody is complaining.
I hear people refer to books as "great for a winter day" or "a fun summer read". Do the seasons determine reading tastes? I don't think they do mine. What's a "beach read"?
I just finished Klara and the Sun. It's set in some unidentified future where "AFs" (Artificial Friends) exist - mainly purchased as companions for adolescents.
The story is told from the point of view of Klara - an AF to a teen girl named Josie who has some sort of illness.
I thought the premise sounded interesting as Klara's artificial intelligence makes her very observant as she absorbs the world of Josie's relationships and culture.
“At the same time, what was becoming clear to me was the extent to which humans, in their
wish to escape loneliness, made maneuvers that were very complex and hard to fathom”
The author is Kazuo Ishiguro who is Japanese but grew up in England. I've read other books by Japanese authors and this book feels much like those despite him being "English".
It got a bit tedious and mundane at times, but the overall story was good and kind of creepy. The ending felt dark and haunting, but appropriate for this story.
I read the book in early 2019 when I was rather riveted by this story. Omigosh, the money, the LIES, the manipulation, the whistleblowers, the threats... I just couldn't fathom what the hell she was thinking.
Was/is she delusional? A pathological liar? A sociopath? A scammer? Really really clueless? All of the above?
With her trial just wrapping up after many months, I've been listening to the "The Dropout" podcast.
“The way Theranos is operating is like trying to build a bus while you’re
driving the bus. Someone is going to get killed.”
In my past professional life, I was involved in new product development and product launches. None of that work was for Silicon Valley startups, but still! The way Elizabeth Holmes kept going on about what a life-changing product her blood analyzers were and where they were operating, thus getting billions of dollars in funding while the machines were repeatedly FAILING AT EVERYTHING just baffles me. Did she think no one would notice??
For those not following the story/ case, I won't bore with details. And for those who are following, you already know. Suffice to say, the story isn't over just because the jury reached the verdicts.
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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
5. Book review time! What winter read has you snuggled in and turning pages?
5. Book review time! What winter read has you snuggled in and turning pages?
10 comments:
delusional , not giving other humans any credit for using logic and reasoning rather than being mesmerized by her and her man voice. What a weird chic! The other book sounds interesting, I would love to have an artificial friend who agreed with me on all things and who would teach me how to knit.
Linda Sue, the man voice, the bulgy unblinking eyes, the rich old men with no medical background but big bucks forking it over. Weird is right.
As for Klara, she was a nice friend. Be companionable, then hang out by the fridge when not needed... like another appliance. I'm sure she'd knit with you.
I firmly believed that when a nice looking blonde lowers her voice (not her real voice did they mention that in the book? fascinating shit) men listen. If she were an ugly scientist this would not have gotten this far without a lot of vetting. You can look like Bezo's or Gates because they are men. She was a good con artist but her looks played a big part in this sadly
LOL, I didn't know who Elizabeth Holmes was until I read your post. I knew she was on trial and was guilty but I didn't really follow her case (at all). Interesting. Now I'm a bit intrigued to read more about it!
I'll have to look at Klara and the Sun. Sounds like an interesting plot and I'm curious now about the ending!
Funny, my next post might be about books I've read recently. I was stewing it around in my head in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.
Wow, what a difference a week makes with the temperature/precipitation. Beautiful to look at with the snow! You don't ride your bike to work in this type of snow, do you? Be safe if you do!
Looking forward to read (if you share) what your brother/SIL do in the months ahead with where they will rebuild (if they choose that route).
betty
I'm catching-up on blog-things so allow me to start with positive thoughts for your brother and his wife, along with anything involved in that fire. How terrible!
"Beach-Reads", to me, were always some light-hearted, syrupy, novel that I could skim through while keeping an eye on the kids at our beach club. Could never allow myself to get caught too deeply in what I read and miss some sibling commotion in either the pool or sand.
The first official snow fell here in New York overnight and it's comforting, in a way. We had a bout of bad icing a few days ago and the snowfall this morning seems to have brought a bit of calm. Not so last night as people lined-up at the market for the usual "provisions", most fearing they would not survive the 4 inches that ended up falling.
Peg, so true, right? Her big investors and board members were rich old men who had no medical background. I listen to her voice and look at her crazy eyes and wonder, "that's what does it for those guys?" It's like there was subliminal sh*t going on.
Betty, Elizabeth Holmes wanted to be rich and famous. She's certainly famous now 😆
I think Klara and the Sun would be a good book for a book club (I don't currently belong to one). It would generate interesting discussions.
And no, I haven't ridden my bike since the snow. Hoping it will be clear enough next week.
Patty, thanks for your thoughts regarding the fire. Ah, "Beach reads", I get it!
I remember "bad icing" during the eight years we lived in NY. One of the reasons we decided to move!
Abby! What a beginning to the new year. I am glad you all are alright. I'm sorry to hear about your brothers home. Sending lots of positive vibes his way.
I hope that religious sect is held responsible for all the damage to lives and property. But that's wishful thinking. I was watching instagram stories on what was happening and it was scary just watching.
I am going to look up Elizabeth Holmes now. I am not allowing myself to buy books, but that doesn't mean I can't get it from the library. "Beach Reads" to me are books by Mary Kay Andrews and authors like her. They are light hearted and normally have a beach of some sort in them. I like her books because they don't take a lot of brain power to read and remember things.
Morgan, Thanks, yeah scary stuff, that fire.
I rarely buy books, and then only if I need something for reference and/or I'm gonna mark it up. That's what libraries are for - gotta love 'em.
YouTube has been putting Elizabeth Holmes all over my feed so I actually just learned about Theranos this year! I am totally intrigued by this and cannot imagine how she managed to fool so many people. I can't even get people to believe me when I'm telling the TRUTH half the time!
Kat, better late than never! It's hard for me to fathom, too. Maybe we need to lower our voices and never blink.
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