What I’m reading: The Book of Basketball
Could this be the best 736 pp. book on the diversity of human talent ever written? It starts slow but eventually picks up steam. It’s also devastatingly funny. That said, if you don’t know a lot about the NBA, it is incomprehensible. (I could not, for instance, understand the section of Dolph Schayes because that was not the NBA I know.) In the historical pantheon, he picks David Thompson, Bernard King, and Allen Iverson as underrated. The 1986 Boston Celtics are the best team ever, he argues. And so on. I found this more riveting than almost anything else I read and yes I think it is very much a work of social science, albeit in hermetic form.
What I’m listening to: Just been shuffling around in iTunes. But the battery on my iPod (I only use it in the car or on plane-flights) is dying, so I’ve ordered a battery replacement kit and will soon attempt a feat that ifixit.com classifies as “very difficult.” Fun!
What I’m watching: Yankees playoff games, although not to the end, since they’re past my bedtime.
What I’m drinking: Blue Moon Belgian White ale.
What Rufus is up to: Celebrating Halloween in style and going on his first greyhound-hike in weeks and weeks.
Where I’m going: Los Angeles next Sunday, for the annual AAPS meeting.
What I’m happy about: No one seems to have paid attention to the Oct. 30 “receipt of final materials at the printer” notice on our production schedules, giving me an extra day or two to wrap up the Nov/Dec issue.
What I’m sad about: Not getting to see Pee-wee Herman’s stage show when I’m in LA next week, as it’s been postponed until January. I’m likely going to a Clippers game to make up for it, but somehow that seems like adding insult to injury. Grr.
What I’m worried about: Burnett in game 5.
What I’m pondering: Participating in National Novel Writing Month!