Justice

You wake up in a strange room, you remember that you are a serial killer, you have killed countless people. Indeed you are surrounded by the paraphanalia of a serial killer, bloody knifes, photos of corpses, the whole room is splattered with blood.

Do you

(a) continue your life as a serial killer

(b) stop killing people

(c) immediately go to the police and confess to your crimes.

You wake up in a strange room, you remember that you are not a serial killer, you see a jury of your peers before you. You chose option (c), they congratulate you on your high moral standards and release you back into the community where you will live for another hundred years.

:59 Seconds by Professor Richard Wiseman

A thoroughly entertaining book about self help with a scientific perspective that attempts to answer the challenge of providing you with real techniques that you can understand in less than a minute to make yourself happier.

Not only that, reading the book manages to make you feel happier, it is light and positive with just the right element of challenge. Like having some helpful older relative offering you some decent advice.

There is an exercise towards the start that takes a while to complete, but it is definitely worth working through, and does not require a major investment of time and energy.

innuendo

isn't it apt that the word innuendo, is actually, a bit, like, well, you know,

a bit of an innuendo itself,

BLDG BLOG by Geoff Manaugh

I have just finished reading the BLDG BLOG by Geoff Manaugh, named after the selfsame blog at

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/

I was really excited to get it as a Christmas present, and it was perfect reading fodder for a lazy and largely sofa bound Christmas break. It is brim full of architectural conjecture, full as only something drawn from a blog can be. The author shoots off on a myriad of conjectures, moving cities, floating cities, weather as a weapons. These are conjectures, sketching out possible futures, possible fictions.

Manaugh seems to care more for buildings than for people, but he is a warm and witty writer. This book is good company.

All in all the book is an attractive and enticing package, well illustrated throughout, episodice and endearing. Even if you are familiar with the blog, the book is a much better book than you might imagine, being much more than just a collation of blog postings. It hangs together well and reads smoothly.

Altogether recommended.