Crafting the refined and elegant and simple is a sloppy, messy, consuming business. 

Maybe winds of change are amoral. Maybe they seek only change, oblivious to good or bad. Who would’ve thought a year ago the Cubs would win? 
Or he would win, this week?

“If one lights a fire for others, it will also brighten one’s own way.”  The Dalai Lama writes brilliantly about selflessness and the desire to help for the @nytimes http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/dalai-lama-behind-our-anxiety-the-fear-of-being-unneeded.html

Tell me a story.

What a personal and private invitation that is. What an intimate way of inviting someone into your mind, a way of saying, “Hey, I’m dropping my guard. I’m suspending disbelief. I’m going to let you in and I will, for a short while, believe all you say. Mess with my head. I don’t even care if it’s truth or lies, fact or fiction. It just needs to be plausible, and not even plausible in my real world! It just needs to make sense in its own context.”

Tell me a story.

Optimism embodied is a blank sheet of paper and a good pencil. 

I fear more and more I don’t have enough life left to live all the lives I want to live.

I’ve learned to accept everything but my own failures. 

I’ve discovered the #SciFi writings of Ted Chiang and can’t believe I didn’t discover him sooner. 

The upcoming movie “Arrival” starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner is based on Chiang’s amazing”Story of Your Life.” It’s a mind bending exploration of language and how we perceive time and I feel like I pulled a muscle in my head trying (and failing) to get my head around it. 

Here’s a good start: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1101972122

The world is a harsh place for those who value ideas over money. 

OMG
So..I really want this movie to be everything I want but mostly because it’s about a favorite theme (smart women working in the space program!) but I’m worried the movie will only appeal to those who already believe in the themes, while others might be blinded by what looks like deep southern themes – or worse, watch the trailer and not see the misogyny and racism.

I wonder if the filmmakers are caricaturizing, or portraying as close as possible the people and times?

I imagine that if the movie inspires some (many?!) to read the book or others to pursue a career in math or science or engineering, then it doesn’t matter how or why.

Read the book!
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

Here’s the trailer:
Hidden Figures (2017, 20th Century Fox)