I made it to page 8, and by then I had probably written 16 pages of notes. It's probably better for all of us if leave off permanently.
As18 April 2025
I made it to page 8, and by then I had probably written 16 pages of notes. It's probably better for all of us if leave off permanently.
As with so much of modern life, there seems to be a strong tendency to speak of autism as if it were one thing. It's not. Not only is there a full spectrum of diagnoses, which may reflect different levels of support, but there is a full spectrum of if you will under the spectrum of presentations for each of the criteria. We use "autistic' the way we use "athletic:" we know there are innumerable activities, and a vast range of time commitments both during a given year and over a lifetime, and so on. We use "autistiv" or "athletic" to skip over the hours-long conversation we could have about what fits our definition and go straight to the point we want to make. You can legitimately argue for the inclusion of everything under "sensory issues" or "routine" but let's skip from diagnostic criteria to therapy kinds of supports. And then, 5 minutes into that topic we quit in disgust because you can't talk about support out of context, you have to talk about what works best for 5 year old kids with speech delays who don't want to share in kindergarten, seperately from how to help adults with full time jobs who have trouble making new friends.
What happens is, someone looks at their own life and assumes other lives are the same (doesn't everyone have visual snow? doesn't everyone imagine in photorealistic detail?) or a researcher looks at a small sample of people and sees in unusual interest in train schedules crops up and assumes (everyone who is autistic has a deep interest in trains, rather than, as often seems to be the case, a deep interest in everything.
There isn't one autistic gene, there isn't one autistic brain, there isn't one kind of autistic sensitivity (although tags in shirts seems quite common). A book like this is out of date before the first copies hit the shelves because 8 billion people have a lot of variation, and unless one is systematically documenting things in a very detailed sort of way, no one knows how much this trait on average differs from a neurotypical average, nor how much it differs on average between any other two groups, although it's a safe bet that the ingrown range is greater than the difference between two group averages.
There, see? This is why I couldn't get past page 8. Your mileage will almost certainly differ.
When reading fiction, one knows that the plot was contrived by the author. One of the things that adds depth and reality to the characters is setting When reading fiction, one knows that the plot was contrived by the author. One of the things that adds depth and reality to the characters is setting it up so that one, or both, of the leads, creates a trope to achieve their own ends. It is more interesting if someone exaggerates the other's faults and exaggerates their ire because they find the other attractive and are worried about that. Rather than, say, they just both take offense for no good reason. It is also more interesting if a situation plays out in an unexpected way: if each are vexed because the other questions their expertise and they are both wrong, say.
Nothing by chapter seven has surprised me, so I'm stopping here....more
Norton writes well, but, ugh, such sadness! So not the reading mood I'm in just now.Norton writes well, but, ugh, such sadness! So not the reading mood I'm in just now....more
This should have been just the thing for Halloween read. A horror script about ecological payback by Curtis sounds awesome, but isn't presented appropThis should have been just the thing for Halloween read. A horror script about ecological payback by Curtis sounds awesome, but isn't presented appropriately, or even, comprehensively, here. I disliked the art and was having trouble following the story, so my son cleared that up for me: the awatd-winning artist is no doubt brilliant in his usual mode, but comic books are not it. In comparison to the Marvel Voices: Identity #1 I understand that the portraits of characters are static, that the location of characters within a scene changes randomly, and that the few bits of character action shown aren't clear.
The prestige artist was just not a good decision, despite the ability to capture Lee's face in many emotions. A comics pro would have been a better fit. ...more
Five chapters in I became distracted by other books: all the requests at once. Kenny makes a strong case, and I find his research enco04 February 2023
Five chapters in I became distracted by other books: all the requests at once. Kenny makes a strong case, and I find his research encouraging, but realistically I am unlikely to pick it back up. It's nice to know development works, and where it's most effective. Wouldn't it be cool if development were actually given out in an evidence-based way?
One might be tempted to read more of this in instances of insomnia, but Plato's understanding of society and humanity is so egregiously faulty that I One might be tempted to read more of this in instances of insomnia, but Plato's understanding of society and humanity is so egregiously faulty that I cannot get through a single sentence without outrage or at least an attempt at mordant humor. File this under What Not to Read. It does make me wonder, though, what one author from today will still be in print and possibly even read 2500 years from now, and how embarrassed would we all be to be represented by that body of work? ...more
I don't enjoy memoirs generally, so why the hell so I keep picking them up?
Well, this is an interesting concept, annotating one's published memoir. BI don't enjoy memoirs generally, so why the hell so I keep picking them up?
Well, this is an interesting concept, annotating one's published memoir. Brave enough to tell the world embarrassing incidents from your life, but I am particularly impressed by the courage it takes to stand up in front of the world and say you were wrong. Or sexist, or whatever. Because if we're good people we are trying to learn and improve and at least make different errors.
But to point out this thing you wrote 20 years ago that makes you cringe now, to acknowledge the cringing you experience, damn, that'shardcore. Where I, to take an example at random, read my former writing on anything other than books and then shred it, burn the shreds, and wash my eyes with bleach at the horror of it all, Wheaton instead offers complete apologies to the world at large. Not those fake "I'm sorry if you were offended" apologies that refuse to acknowledge the insult, let alone offer any sort of recompense or improvement plan; these are full-on and extensive examinations of fault and harm and humble plans. Good on you, Wheaton! You come across as a truly decent person.
I only made it 46 pages in. The book reads a lot like those of [[author:Inglis Fletcher|1243269]] that I've been working through lately. But I could sI only made it 46 pages in. The book reads a lot like those of [[author:Inglis Fletcher|1243269]] that I've been working through lately. But I could see every development coming a mile away and I didn't have the sense of "well, isn't this a pleasant way to fill in a gap in my knowledge of history."
Dona is a loving uppperclass mother by 1940's standards; she cares about her children but doesn't really spend any time with them. Other than that she's pretty and awful, spoiled and shallow and impulsive and temperamental. I quit before she had a chance to meet the French pirate who's been using her house the years she never visited. He's a reader of poetry, and smart enough to outwit the locals, so no doubt a fine, upstanding, dashing sort of pirate. It feels like a hundred old movies I've seen. I just didn't have the interest to stick around to see "fiery" and "bewitching" deployed.
I have known of the works of Murakami for at least three and a half decades. At this point I can’t recall if I ever tried to read any of his books preI have known of the works of Murakami for at least three and a half decades. At this point I can’t recall if I ever tried to read any of his books previously, or if I have always known that they would not appeal to me and accordingly shunned them. Whatever, I should have maintained that distance. Really, it was only the Chip Kidd illustrations that tempted me this time.
But after 40 pages I just couldn’t go on. Never mind that my eyes have been wearing out hours before I’m ready to stop reading (or coloring; I have got to find hobbies that I can pursue in the evening while hanging with my family that don’t rely on vision and/or carpel tunnel-aggravating motion, because I am getting old and I am wearing out the most used bits, and it is a drag. Feel free to leave suggestions) and my tolerance for books that don’t absolutely grab me is low at the best of times, what with always having 5,000 other books listed on my Want to Read shelf and a fair few lingering around the house that I never got around to reading before something else newer showed up and they got pushed aside. I really couldn’t take any more. The beautiful girl who serves the hero but can’t speak (fortunately the guy seems to know sign language) was just too much. I expect more subtlety than that from Disney. And I wasn’t enjoying the art, either. Pleh.
So not worth it to me to hang on to hit 51%.
Well, at least now I know Murakami isn't my cuppa.
I can only imagine that the adaptation of the original for young readers is at fault here, because reviews of that book are full of prais17 April 2021
I can only imagine that the adaptation of the original for young readers is at fault here, because reviews of that book are full of praise. Certainly I can't believe that the real book is so condescending and patronizing: "imagine if only half of the students in your school got to make all the decisions for everybody: what school clubs you could belong to, which sports teams were allowed to play, who could attend dances, who could write for the school newspaper."
Possibly I am just in a bad mood, but it seems like an 8-12 year old student has a keen grasp of what it feels like to have no autonomy, no legal rights, and no voice in the public realm.
"People were having trouble making ends meet."
Children lack historical knowledge. Give them actual context: are we talking homelessness, hunger, no new shoes this year or dropping out of school in 4th grade to get a job in a factory?...more
I might come back and give it a try some day. It wasn't bad, but Henry was too much like Billie in the first Rokesby book, which I read quite recentlyI might come back and give it a try some day. It wasn't bad, but Henry was too much like Billie in the first Rokesby book, which I read quite recently
I am not having good luck absorbing new material. Reading along, enjoying it, everything's grand. But something interferes after I put it down, and thI am not having good luck absorbing new material. Reading along, enjoying it, everything's grand. But something interferes after I put it down, and then it goes from being an enjoyable book to a book I actively avoid. Fear of the unknown? ADHD? The damnable spring allergies?...more
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