Leigh > Recent Status Updates

I've been somewhat ambivalent about this so far, but "Earthling" is so so good (all the trigger warnings though). Ahh!!

Lol just gonna skip through these self-mythologizing childhood chapters...

Tilikum, my heart ❤️❤️❤️

Omg chapter 6 is great and INFURIATING. the willful ignorance of "human diversity" and "population" scientists (and any and all "intelligence" researchers) to their own assumptions and to the racist implications of their work, and their arrogant (and delusional) belief in their own "not-racist" virtue is beyond all logic. Take ONE humanities class, just one, I beg you. Or just listen to a podcast! Something!

Just started this and it already made me cry 😭😍😍

It should be no surprise to learn that the natural birth movement emerged from "feminist" biological essentialists, i.e. terfy terfy terfs! This book is exactly my favorite combination of science and rant. I feel like the "paleofantasy" discourse of birth has insidious influence that extends well beyond mothers and parents, so this is an interesting read.

It is frustrating how most all academic critiques of the university are fundamentally conservative. This book wants to "remember vital aspects of academic life which are in danger of becoming relics of the past." PLEASE, the "academic life" of the past was just as racist, hierarchical, and exploitative as it is now. Stop trying to save an ideal university that never existed. We need a NEW university, not the old one.

Okay I don't agree with some of the internet that Ali shouldn't have done stand-up about her relationship and that her marriage/cheating/husband material contributed to her divorce--like, things change, people get divorced, it's fine. It doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about your personal life on stage. But that said.... this book is A LOT about her marriage. Which now seems like maybe a bad move.

The author talking about the first time she saw a group of women at an ADHD conference, not trying to mask: "I stood in delighted wonder as I watched them throw things on the floor in search of that certain piece of paper or phone number they couldn't find." This is the second time I've encountered "throwing things on the floor" mentioned as an ADHD trait, and I have never felt more seen.

I just started this and it is already so, SO good. I overuse these words, but they describe so much of German literature -- brutal and devastating.

I want to read this because I'm interested in the structure of prions for my academic work, but my god, autobiography has got to be the WORST way to organize a scientific narrative. Researchers need training in effective scientific communication, otherwise they tell us about their childhood and feelings as if that is at all relevant! See also Neorotribes, which also suffered from unnecessary biographical detail.

I'm enjoying this so much more than I expected to! Some unintentional money mindset gems: "the [wealthy] look at money not as a limited resource that they need to maximize [...] but as a fungible tool that can be used for any purpose."

Okay I think there is going to be some good stuff in here but the tagline - "change what you do, not how you think" - is ridiculous. The whole introduction is about changing your thinking (your attention) in order to change your behavior. What the hell?

Goddaaaaamn. This book--and all of Coates' writing--is a gift.

"in most of our nation, the car is no longer an instrument of freedom, but rather a bulky, expensive, and dangerous prosthetic device" yes!!

"Vancouver is not ranked number one for livability because it is so sustainable; the things that make it sustainable also make it livable."

Also there is too much driving in these books. Walking places is apparently also Extremely Wacky. F*cking California...

I love Jasmine Guillory, but this is the second time in a week I've seen people act like making fresh margaritas (instead of using a mix) is so WACKY and OVER THE TOP and means you're a snobby hipster weirdo. It's a THREE INGREDIENT COCKTAIL, people! Why would you buy a mix for that! (Okay most people probably want sugar, so four ingredients, but just use agave and you don't even have to make simple syrup!)

Regarding the overused writing advice to "murder your darlings": "What if... practicality and beauty can be soul mates rather than enemies? What happens when we invite positive emotions and language into our writing practice - and encourage them to make themselves at home?" (148)

"At the heart of much of the [writing] self-help literature lurks a puritanical belief that productivity is a mark of personal virtue, while failure to publish denotes a deep-seated character flaw." Yup.

I was about to dnf this as an audiobook, but I got the hardcover from the library and I'm now finding it delightful! The narrator was fine, so maybe this just works better in print.

It's so refreshing how Burnett continually points to potential holes in his argument and always outlines the limits of the cited studies. Popular science and science journalism would be SO much better if other writers follow his lead (are you listening, COVID reporters???).

I love that there's a camel who named himself Onion because he likes to eat onions 😂.

I'm so sick of reading on my Kindle and I still haven't gotten my physical books at the library bc covid, so I'm choosing from books that I already own... Pretty sure I've already read The Princess Diaries twice in the past year, so Hunger Games it is! It's past time for a re-read anyway.

Thankfully Vitti does include a note about the usefulness (or not) of her recommendations for trans and non-binary people. It seems well intentioned but it feels pretty inadequate, especially for a book that goes on to talk about "inherently female" biochemistry, etc. I get what that language is trying to accomplish but it feels exclusionary and could be easily co-opted by TERFS. Gonna keep reading but am a bit wary.

This book is kicking my ass already. I thought I knew the basics of growth/fixed mindsets, but to hear my own limiting thoughts/feelings described so precisely is eerie.

"About the middle of the sixteenth century there lived beside the banks of the River Havel a horse-dealer called Michael Kohlhaas, the son of a schoolmaster, who was one of the most honourable as well as one of the most terrible men of his age." I mean. No Kleist story will ever live up to Michael Kohlhaas in my book. The humor and rage and senseless injustice. It's astonishing that this was written in 1808.