Lathe machines in my head

An empty mind is a devil's workshop. If that is true, I have a lathe machine, a griding machine and numerous other instruments right inside my head. Apart from brief spells of urgent deadlines, I have mostly had the luxury to spend time doing some of things I like to. Like reading up special reports - articles on Industry sectors, Economics articles etc, watching TV - the Euro Cup in particular and so on.

CoffeeMate's parents had come over and they stayed at our apartment for a little over a week. Therefore, we had a treat of tasty food - Aloo parathe, kheer etc. but aunty having left, we have to go back to our old ways. The new handblender is turning out to be handy though. Visualise me drinking mango shakes everyday. Also visualise me going to shop for new trousers every weekend.

These days I am reading Freaknomics. This I started after I stopped reading "Manias Panics and Depressions - A History of Financial Crises" party because I lost interest and partly because my flatmate took it with him on his trip to KL. I dislike the style of writing used in this book and would have loved it if it were structured more like a pleasant read than a PhD tome. I want to read about financial crises and learn as well - I have not been forced to read this book. That is why, I place greater emphasis on the pleasantness and interest-evoking capability of a book than on its pure technical information content.

Freaknomics scores somewhat lower on pure technical content. Sure it applies economic models to mundane social situations. But at times it fails in those very manners that it criticises the most. Like mixing causation with correlation. In other instances, the authors propose alternative explanations, but present in a manner as if they are estabilishing a truth. The presentation is bereft of arguments estabilishing the causative link, however. Apart from these, the book is a very interesting read. And a quick one.

--No songs tonight--