- The universe exists
- Math exists
- Math can exist without a universe
- Math can eventually explain the universe
- Everything that has a beginning has an end
- You can’t cross the same river twice
- Actions have consequences
- Nobody is perfect
- The future can hold positive surprises
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker
The Fourth Monkey is a serial killer thriller where a psychopath avenges the past by murdering women. A team of dedicated police officers races with time to save a teenage girl who was kidnapped. Objectively, it’s a good serial killer horror thriller, although it’s unlikely that I’ll dare to read the sequel.
Here’s the TL;DR of the story and an honest ranking:
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
4 orphans are hired by a low-level Brooklyn crook and grow up under his wing to become his employees. One day he’s murdered, and the biggest misfit decides to go after the killer. The only issue is that our investigator has Tourette, OCD, and has severe problems interviewing witnesses as he just can’t stop touching them, barking at them, and yelling profanities. This is not necessarily bad, as long as you know the book is about Lionel’s life with Tourette’s rather than a crime story.
Motherless Brooklyn pushed my boundaries in a variety of ways. It’s an intimate read. It shared information about the characters which I didn’t want to know. At the same time, this is what makes it special. Most fiction writers describe characters with mild flaws, like the notorious missing pinky finger. Lionel’s problem is like missing a head compared to it.
Overall, I enjoyed it. 4*/5.
What do you think gets better with age?
Acne 🙂
Social pressure. As I age, I notice that more and more important milestones are behind me. There’s less and less that bothers the people who care.
The classic fantasy and sci-fi from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The period where enough of the future was clear to release the wildest imagination but not enough to know the constraints. Modern sci-fi is so restricted by physics.
Trees, turtles, crocodiles.
What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?
My goal is to sleep between 00:00 and 07:00. 7 hours of sleep per day keeps the doctor away.
- I read before bed. Not always the planned 2h but even 30 minutes can make me sleepy
- I believe that if something isn’t important enough to do first thing in the morning, then it’s not important enough to do last thing in the evening. This belief eliminated doom-scrolling from my evening routine
- I drink decaf and keep the Coke Zero under 330ml/day
- I don’t watch TV
Overall, this works for now. I feel it’s getting harder to sleep long hours with age.
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