Books I Read This Year

December is for summaries and lists. I’m not doing any music selections (yet?), but I’ve been keeping track of books I’ve read. I had to recreate the list from memory this November, so I am sure I am missing a 2 – 3 books that I forgot about (not memorable enough? Too much information to remember?)

• Economics of Strategy – that was definitely for the Industry Analysis class I was taking in January. Again, this book features a picture of a pretty painting on its cover. Reminds me of the times I took a statistics class and each chapter in the textbook featured a fragment of this or that modern art work.
• Women – Bukowski’s. Way too repetitive, sad and overflowing with erotic scenes. Got boring halfway through.
• Ghosts – not a bad book by Cesar Aira. A poignant story about young and impressionable hearts.
• I wish Someone Had Told Me That – girls were making fun of the author photo, and I  understand them. The author seems like a solid square, but his publisher and people he interviewed for the book, have both been helpful. Great kernels of experience.
• Housekeeper and the Professor – great book, a lot of math and humanity. Wrote a review.
• A Whole New Mind – positively inspiring, set me on a quest to find a masters program with the perfect blend of art and business. Daniel H Pink is really good, supports his ideas with references, and is an all around fun and important non-fiction writer.
• DeNiro’s Game – it’s not bad, mostly a boys’ book about badass youngsters in another part of the world.
• The Sleeper Awakes – the classic. Interesting vision of 2100. What the heck, Wells was great.
• Bonjour Tristesse – a little self-indulgent, but an important book nevertheless. It’s like an indulgent French movie you watch on a Sunday afternoon in bed
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – hilarity!! I wolfed the book down, especially because I couldn’t be bothered to read the original Pride & Prejudice. Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters are next on the list.
• the medium is the massage – confirms my belief that McLuhan was seriously ahead of his cohort by many, many decades. His statements still ring true. Amazing.
• Choice Theory: A very short introduction – purchased at the Harvard store with the intention of learning to make better, rational choices. I make more rational choices now, but can’t 100% say they’re much better or worse. They’re just rational choice. (Which probably implies that they are indeed “better” than the irrational ones)
• Pnin – and thus my love affair with Vladimir Nabokov started.
• Lolita – serious lust, for little girls, for language. Best written book, ever. Nothing can compete. I felt all kinds of emotions when reading it, deeply, painfully and ecstatically. I’ve yet to write an actual post about it. and I will.
• The Eye – not the best work of Nabokov, but luckily it is short.
• Lunar Park – Bret Easton Ellis did really well in this one. If I read it in 2005, when it came out, I’d probably feel like everyone else who read it then and expected yet another repetitive party story (like his other books); or worse, expected something of an American Psycho saga (since so many people only read that book by him and know nothing more). There is an American Psycho presence there, btw, but also a good blend of real and unreal, of true and false. An intense and rapidly evolving downward spiral that gave me nightmares and even made me terrified of a potential toy in my hallway. Lulz, I told you I was an emotional reader.
• Miro: A life of passion – wrote a blog post about this. An inspiring story.
• Meditations in an Emergency – I can’t believe I let Frank O’Hara slide by for this long. He’s inspired me to write a new series of poems.
• How to talk about books you haven’t read – Pierre Bayard treatise for those who actually love reading. It makes a great gift for someone who loves reading and has a sense of humor. I also felt like I read a lot more books than just one because each chapter explores a particular literary issue in the context of this or that novel.
• Crush It – Gary Vaynerchuk’s high pitched to-do list for a successful persona-driven online enterprise. I was pleased to know that I already knew or did 75% of the things listed here. Learned about new services that I could employ and felt energized. Good guy. Fellow USSR-born import.
• White Out, pt 1 – Consumed this in 1 hour on a plane. I wish I brought part 2 with me, because I spent 3 hours watching TV on a plane instead of exercising my reading muscles. Dang. And on that note:
• White Out, pt 2 - Will read it before the year is over. Just an hour of my life, right
• Speak, Memory – Nabokov’s autobiography. Masterful renewal of Russia lost, of innocence gone, of the society that will never appear again. I love it. I fell deeply into it, and don’t want to raise my head and blink at bleak reality right here. I’ve 40 more pages to go, but I’m positive I’ll complete the tale before the clock hits 12 on Dec 31.
• Eating Animals – hurrying to finish this startling, well-supported case by Jonathan Safran Foer (fiction writer, eh), before the year is over (100 pages left), so that I could dismiss meat in the new year. In fact,  this Christmas I’ve been dealing with agonies over cruelty-full turkeys and cows. Bah. An illuminating read.

Note 1: I am utterly terrified that I haven’t read anything in Russian last year (besides e-mails). Really? This cannot be. I’ve half a shelf of Russian classics in my home, and I better get to them come new year.

Note 2: I may be missing a book or two, because I forgot I read it this year. Some books aren’t as memorable as others, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something.

What have you read this year?

Filed under: literature , 2009, books, learning, lists, literature, nabokov, product, russia

Slow Art Toronto

I want to tell you more about Slow Art Toronto, taking place on Saturday, October 17, at the Art Gallery of Ontario at around 11am. I’d like you to join me. Art viewing starts around 11:30am (I know you like your sleeps ), lunch and discussion starts at 1:30pm.
The event is “Slow Art” and it’s designed to help all of us perceive art in a new way – to exercise our seeing, thinking and listening muscles. I see it as a springboard for newbies to art, and a discussion board for those familiar with the art or design world. Considering that, on average, a person spends 8 seconds (!) looking at an artwork in a museum, challenging someone to devote between 10 and 60 minutes to a work of art may lead to unexpected art discoveries. This October, there are slow art events happening all over the world. Boston, Copenhagen, London, New York, Los Angeles and more. I’m thrilled to be hosting the Toronto one! Register here!

Slow Art was originally started by novices in NYC to invite other novices (and connoisseurs) to come, to feel welcome, to not worry about what experts say but rather to take the time to see and explore what is possible when gradually viewing art. It’s a perfect opportunity to see what one can discover with a few guiding paragraphs and considerable amount of time.

Having gone back to my art history training and theory, I’ve pre-selected a collection of interesting pieces; I will be emailing those on the Slow Art TO guest list soon.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about the pieces you see, and I’m excited to meet you all. If you know of others who may find this interesting, please extend the invitation.

Filed under: art , art, event, learning, pop culture, society, toronto

My Toronto Ignite Talk

Last week I put all my courage in a bundle and took it on stage to quickly and – luckily, – entertainingly to tell about my passion for art, especially the conceptual variety. My previous Ignite post addresses the issue of nervousness as well as general fears of a first time speaker.

It went well I think. Aside from me looking and acting like a squirrel on crack (I was nervous after all!), I did well. Didn’t mess up my lines and communicated the point in a comprehensible fashion! I hope you all are now inspired and spending more time with Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth in galleries of your cities.

PS. Stay tuned for my Slow Art Toronto 2009 post. If you enjoyed this talk, and love art, then you should really pay attention to what I’m going to write and curate for Slow Art Toronto.

Filed under: art , achievement, art, ignite, learning, oreilly, toronto, video

Toronto Ignite

So I wanted to tell you that I’ll be speaking at Ignite Toronto on August 25, 2009 at the Drake Underground. Michele Perras asked me to participate, and since I’m a Yes woman, I went for it.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Ignite, you should know that these talks happen globally. Speakers go on stage in front of hundreds of people and tell a story in 5 minutes and 20 slides that auto-rotate every 15 seconds. That’s some pressure. O’Reilly Media is behind all this, and I should say that I’m really excited to participate.

Now, I’m nervous. I’m hella nervous – I haven’t really done any public speaking before, and although I’m quite outspoken and have no problem presenting in front of a class (given that I prepared, of course), this is going to be a lukewarm shower welcome into the world of speaking on stage. I’ve got a couple of strategies I want to test out, and – wow, – even a couple of jokes. If all else fails, my slides speak for themselves, I just need to do a jig.

Oh yes, I am speaking about art, one of my most favorite topics. I had to do a bit of reviewing and lecture notes-digging before compiling the presentation to assemble crisp and easy-to-grasp points down. After all, it’s more important to drive home key points instead of trying to explain everything. Conceptual art does not necessarily come in 5 minutes, but I will try to spread the love anyway.

The event is at the Drake Hotel, and unfortunately for my friends who haven’t RSVPed, it’s sold out. But perhaps I can bum a video off organizers.

Filed under: moving up , achievement, art, development, event, learning, toronto

Searching For Words

Originally uploaded by brandis78

Yesterday I was passing by Umbra, because I needed to buy a present for someone, and I slowed down considerably because I forgot the word “dragonfly” in English.

(For those that don’t know, I’m originally from Russia, and speak her language fluently, and write and read it with no problem; a few years after I moved to Canada I started thinking in English and most of my schooling was in this language as well). I remembered it in Russian of course.

Then I realized that when it comes to language and expressing myself, the simple words come to me quicker in Russian – that is, words I learned when I was a child, words that are hardwired in my brain. They come to me in my native tongue first, so that I sometimes have to think hard before naming a ladle or watermelon to an English speaker.

On another hand, words that I learned later in life, that I used most or originally understood in English, arrive in my brain in English, and take enough seconds to mentally locate their Russian counterparts. That is why I struggle when explaining bigger concepts involving brand management, mergers & acquisitions or exasperation in Russian to my parents. Takes forever to translate the big ticker words to them.

Now, if only I learned all kinds of words when I was younger – in whichever language came first, – then I’d have less mental pauses… Nah, it’s not so bad, really. But I do struggle with occasional vegetable or grain naming, and I completely suck at naming birds.

As Sally says, “There are two kinds of birds in Karin’s world. Ducks, and birds.”

Filed under: memories , interests, lang, languages, learning, memories, word

Monopolist Half The Time

We return to you once again. In the past week our orders skyrocketed and we couldn’t manufacture enough to meet the demand. Process innovation, in which we engaged,now allows us to produce more, faster and at a lower cost.

Speaking of which, I’m enjoying my Industry Analysis class. My professor, a former art director, is an eccentric, socialist wine connoisseur Dr Richard Michon, well-versed in creative positioning. I’m loving the class, despite originally wincing at the Economics of Strategy text. You see, I didn’t really like to listen during econ lectures back in the day, but it came back to me.

Strategic thinking and seeing the big picture are my strengths. I kinda drool over the military terms that we deal with, and I learn useful things on positioning and sustainable competitive advantage. I’m eager to do the best job I can on the class project which involves a novel-long analysis of a particular industry and maybe more.

One line I’m going to remember for a while and possibly invite into my fleet of mottos, came from a discussion of early mover advantage. Some firms may not want to move in first only to share space with other, possibly improved products of competitors. But! “It’s better to be a monopolist half the time than oligopolist all the time.” I’m running for the market! Bye for now!

Filed under: moving up , changes, learning, plans, ryerson, self, strategy

On Learning

Originally uploaded by dreamtiger

When I was about 6 or 7 years younger when it was the time to choose some kind of a profession, I used to say: “If I could just learn for the rest of my life, and get paid for that, I’d do it.” And I suppose I can become an academic, but the second problem that occurred was the choice of the subject to become an expert on.
Eventually, I gave up that idea, but I still possess this hunger for learning. I’m lucky to have a job where my task is to actually seek out new knowledge and amazing content. Some of the greatest educational video blogs of priceless information are Fora TV and TED Talks. I recently found Change This, which is just full of amazing documents. And of course Wikipedia is there for up-to-date information.
But learning for me is not just about keeping up to date with the blogosphere and fads, it is also learning about music (that includes visits to the symphony orhestra), culture, language, film, scientific advances, fashion collections, dancing (see photo), literature of the past and present. The list can go on forever. I want to know everything there is to know about the world, and I want to learn as much as possible. Self-development ends on a deathbed.

Filed under: simple life , learning, memories, self

Literary Escapades

“Equal parts biting satire on neo-Russian consumerism, drug-fuelled muckabout, sci-fi adventure, love story, literary in-joke and mystico-shamanic treatise on the nature of enlightenment. Disruptive, transporting and very funny, it’s one of his best.” – The Daily Telegraph

I started reading Victor Pelevin’s (more about the author) “The Sacred Book of the Werewolf” (NY Times review, read if you don’t speak Russian). I wolfed down 330 pages in two days, and I am sad to say that the book will be over today by 1pm PST. Not only is the main character a red-haired fox-woman (who looks like me on the cover of my edition), there is also an irresistible wolf, and myriad other crazy events all over Moscow and the north, from ketamine-taking guards to howling at the skull of a cow to discover oil, from thousand year old foxes hunting occult-loving English aristocrats to silver bullets. I suppose by an apt stretch of imagination, I can say it’s the 21st century Bulgakov on LSD. Something like that. The book is engrossing not only because of its characters, but also because of a healthy dose of political discussions, social issues in Russia and in the capitalist pigsty, as well as a handful of Eastern influences. Pelevin at Amazon, take a look please.

The next book I will be tackling is Dostoevsky’s “Demons”. I cannot wait. Reading Russian literature, as well as reading anything in Russian, makes me so much more susceptible to learning and taking the work seriously. It’s funny, whenever I read something in English, I take it half-heartedly, as if it was a comical thing, reading in English. To me, English is such a technical language that I cannot believe I can enjoy Jane Eyre in the original (I read it in Russian). Hence reading marketing texts and Michael Porter’s Competitive Strategy is very educational, but only in English.

Russian language is so poetic. I find the best poetry is written in that language, as well as the most obscure linguistic acrobatics are possible in that language. Love it. Reading Russian literature makes me feel so much more alive, much more… thinking. I think I understood that this April when I was reading Dostoevsky’s Humiliated and Insulted and really felt the author’s love for the less fortunate people in this world, as well as his healtfelt kindness for them. Same way with reading Pelevin these past couple of days, I felt sadder for my mother land, for my fellow Russians trapped in there, for this dirty world in general. Sigh.

Filed under: Quotable , books, dostoevsky, learning, literature, pelevin, review, russia