“Too Much and Not the Mood” by Durga Chew-Bose

I don’t usually read collections of essays, but this was recommended to me by a friend who showed me relatable passages, and there really isn’t a better word for this work. As a young female living in a city, it is inherently “relatable.”

Chew-Bose writes the way that I could wish that I could write, short, easily understood sentences, and yet it all seems very profound. Her thoughts weave between various related memories and shows a thread of interconnectedness through it all. She writes about hearts, about living alone, about being the daughter of immigrants, about being a daughter in general. She just seems to get it, it being contemporary life.

Most of her essays are rather short (the exception being the first one, which is 93 pages funnily enough) but I think the most memorable one is the one on sounds that she cannot forget. This includes passing sounds, like an athlete saying “practice,” and some more serious. It made me think of sounds that I cannot forget, because despite being a musician I actually have a hard time keeping sounds in my brain. The first note of “Day Tripper” maybe. Or a meme. Definitely nothing as cool and put together as what she has.

Really great memoir writers somehow find a way to make it not about themselves (because anyone can write about themselves). Here Chew-Bose finds a way to turn her writing on its head and make it all about the reader instead, which is quite a feat. In reading it you start to think about your life and your experiences, and how they relate to hers. It is a rare and heart opening experience indeed.

This Is Beautiful: Phone Calls

I know that no one these days likes to talk on the phone, but just hear me out on this one. The other day my friend called me up just because they were bored and wanted to talk. NO ONE DOES THAT ANYMORE it's all texting and messenger. Hearing someone else's voice is so important, you can pick up on emotion and emphasis and all of those crucial things that you misinterpret over text.

I think there's something beautiful about the human voice, that's why singing exists, heck that's why podcasts exist, there's something there that you can't get anywhere else and can hold a medium on its own. It's lovely and beautiful, and I wish we called each other more often. Not like marketing calls, but calling just to talk. We've lost that to text, and there's something there that we lost as well. I'm not sure what it is, but I challenge you this week to call someone, just to talk. See if you can understand what I mean.

“A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman

Found this book through a local book club and thought that it looked interesting. It’s a real feel good story about an old man being ornery in his neighborhood in Sweden. As the book progresses we learn more about both his backstory and how a new family that just moved in fills his life again.

Ove is one of those characters where you kind of hate him at first, then are rather amused by him, then slowly learn to love him. He’s old and angry, but he accepts the immigrant woman across the street just fine. And he takes care of a boy thrown out of his father’s house for being gay (although he does insist on calling him “bent” instead of anything politically correct).

There isn’t a whole ton to this story, but the most interesting part I thought was the inclusion of color. We are repeatedly reminded that Ove’s wife Sonja was all of the color that he had. Yet when Ove meets the two little girls across the street, the three year old consistently draws him in vibrant colors, surrounded by black and white. I would say that colors here represent new beginnings, which is what Sonja gave to everyone she met, and what the family across the street is for Ove. Because his personality certainly hasn’t changed between then and now.

It's a quick read, and one that makes you smile. Would definitely recommend!

This Is Beautiful: Baking

There are many hobbies that I wish I had more free time to pursue, but one of my chief ones is baking! Cooking in general seems like a pretty sweet hobby to me because you get to eat what you make and eating is wonderful. And if you're good at it you can make tasty things and give them to your friends and it's a great time for everyone.

I've always been the sort of person who really only cooks because I have to eat, not because I enjoy it, and even then it's just a certain few recipes that I know really well by now. But we had a bake sale for this group that I'm in last weekend and it was nice to take some time out of my day to bake. Because it isn't that hard, you just follow the recipe, and it makes the place smell good and it looks good and you feel accomplished when you're done! It doesn't get much better than that.

So take some time out of your busy lives to bake a lil somethin somethin, I bet you'll enjoy it.

“Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain” by Michael S. Gazzaniga

I picked this up because I found a reference to Gazzaniga’s work in another neuroscience book that I was reading (I’ve been reading a lot of pop science books recently, in case you couldn’t tell). It seemed like Gazzaniga was getting to the heart of something that I had been feeling on my own for a while. Namely the conflict between free will and determinism. He takes this to the next level and examines its implications for the legal system as well. The argument that he is making in this work is that free will is an illusion, but we should still be held accountable for our actions.

The science behind this is spelled out incredibly clearly, I am not a quantum physicist, but I understood his discussion of those principles anyways. At odds here is neuroscience and how we make decisions before we are conscious of them (meaning that our brains construct a narrative after the fact to make sense of everything) versus physics principles like the uncertainty theorem (meaning that measuring one aspect of a subatomic particle influences other aspects, so you can never know everything about it accurately). Everything is pre-determined versus wiggle room. Where do our actions fall?

The heart of his argument lies in how our social interactions determine our actions. It may be impossible to determine who will do what accurately, but there are functions in the justice system that deter others from committing crimes. He examines all of the different functions of punishment (deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution) and comes to the conclusion that just because our lives may be predetermined, that does not mean that we should get rid of the justice system. Because our social interactions with it still have value through its intended purposes.

I thought this was a great discussion of the different arguments for these two views on life, and all explained incredibly well. I’m sure that as science progresses we will see whether he is correct or not (in fact, someone has probably already poked holes into his work) but for now I am fascinated by his thought process and ideas.

This Is Beautiful: Snow

Every kid knows that magical feeling where you wake up and there's a blanket of white all over everything outside. Despite the fact that I've lived in the northeast of the US my whole life I have never really lost that joy, that excitement, of seeing snow on the ground.

It just looks so pristine and full of possibilities out there. Snow that's been stomped all over definitely does not have the same quality that the even blanketing does. Even the air feels different, it's not so cold that it's frozen, just enough that you can feel it and it energizes you somehow. Not to mention the satisfying crunch that walking around outside makes from the boots and the snow being packed. Nothing else really makes a noise like that.

And then there's also the anticipation of playing in the snow and sledding and whatever, but just looking and being out in the snow? I could do that for days. It's gorgeous.

Variations on a Theme: Science

I mainly picked this theme because I am a scientist and wanted an excuse to look at science songs. Turns out that most songs about science are the same, it’s mostly that science explains a lot but can’t explain love and attraction yada yada. Or it’s silly songs about scientific concepts. So here’s a mix of both!

1. “Science is Real” by They Might Be Giants

How is this still relevant? Louder for the people in the back “SCIENCE IS REAL!”

2. “The Element Song” by Tom Lehrer

This is just silly, but here’s all of the elements of the periodic table in case you were curious.

3. “NaCl” by Kate and Anna McGariggle

The lyrics to this song are quite creative. Instead of using science to discuss human love, here they sing about the love between the two atoms within NaCl. It’s very cute, putting human emotions on the small particles of the universe.

4. “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby

Some good ol disco for you. It’s got a great beat for bopping your shoulders to, and it’s basically an anthem for any nerd who has tried to flirt and mostly confused the other person. SCIENCE!

5. “Science and Faith” by The Script

A classic example of the “science can’t explain love” trope. It contrasts science, where you only trust the facts, with faith, where you just have to believe sometimes. And that doesn’t mean that one is more real than the other! It’s also a good song, with a very singable melody and catchy chorus.

6. “Science Fiction” by the Arctic Monkeys

Fresh off of their most recent album, this is a bit of an odd song. I never quite feel like I “get” what it is. Which is an interesting sensation, usually you can place songs almost instantly. I think it’s worth a listen, and possibly a look at the lyrics.

7. “The Scientist” by Coldplay

Classic Coldplay, before they sold out and went to shit. I mostly remember everyone on American Idol performing this at some point, but it remains a good song and a good throwback. Again, it’s about a scientist trying to make sense of a relationship.

8. “Quantum Theory” by Jarvis Cocker

Here’s an interesting take on a scientific concept. No you won’t learn that much about quantum mechanics from it, but it’s got a good beat and the lingo it uses is accurate.

9. “Blinded by Science” by Foreigner

Hmm title is remarkably similar to an earlier song on the playlist… Similar theme here too funnily enough. Foreigner’s take on it though is less campy and less disco and more rock n roll.

10. The CRISPR/Cas-9 song by A Capella Science

This is probably my favorite science song. I just hope to someday make something this beautiful. CRISPR/Cas-9 technology rocked the genetics world when it dropped and it really hasn’t been the same since. The lyrics (a parody of “Mr. Sandman”) are genius and very accurate to what is actually happening, and the arrangement is beautiful. Show this to all of your science friends!

That’s all for this month folks! Stay tuned, next we will be covering Cover Songs! This will be an entire playlist of songs performed by people who did not originally put the song out! (I'm fascinated by covers, mainly because it pushes the boundaries of originality and brings up some cool questions, but this will just be fun songs to listen to.)