Magical Thinking is a psychological term for believing that you influence events in ways that you couldn't possibly be responsible for.  It is also the title of a book by Augesten Burroughs that is a collection of short personal narratives.

Burroughs, a former advertising man, was reading from his book on the only day in 2004 that I happened to be in New York City.  In the Union Square Barnes and Noble he held a huge crowd in the palm of his hand while he read an incredibly funny story about turning the tables on a telemarketer.  Burroughs' story was so riveting that I saw people crying while they were laughing -- usually a good sign if you're an author.  He was an odd presence: in a baseball cap and rumpled t-shirt he made no attempt to gain any eye-to-eye contact with those in the audience (despite knowing his story "by heart").  Instead, he simply grabbed the sides of the lectern and, in front of the prop that was an open book, he leaned back-and-forth while he told a delicious story of revenge against those who would use a phone to push a credit card on innocent New Yorkers.

The place was packed to the rafters and genuinely loved this impersonal telling of a hilarious story.  When I left I was sure that I would end up buying and reading the book: looking forward to all the other hilarious stories.

I wonder what we've done to deserve all the gay memorists?  Burroughs is another one with a sad past that he uses as a lens to understand his surroundings.  Each story is tinged with anger or regret about what happened to him as he was growing up, what his parents were like, and about the drugs, sex and alcohol that made him crazy for many years.  The central premises of these little stories are that cruelty to others can be funny and that personal tradgedies should be mined for their comic potential.  A little of that would go a long way: in fact, it's easy for these kind of stories to cross the border into self-pity and self-absorption.  Burroughs has taken a walk beyond the border -- and decided to stay there.

In tweleve semi-comic episodes Burroughs explores events that happened to him.  Some are meant to be funny, some are clearly just telling of good tales.  But the result is too much like one of those Whitman Samplers: many things to try and some that you like -- alas, most you don't (and, too bad, you bought the whole thing).

It's easy to compare this with type of work with David Sedaris.  On the surface they seem similiar: sophisticated gay memorists that mine personal events for their comic effects.  But Burroughs is angrier, meaner and not nearly as engaging as Sedaris.

The result isn't magical -- and I'm thinking it's the last Burroughs I'll ever read.

On Leoville, Leo Laporte reports that:

"AOL is giving its seal of approval to a reworked Microsoft anti-spam proposal. The technology, known as Sender ID, was rejected by the IETF last month because it was encumbered by Microsoft patents. The patent has been restated but it’s not clear whether open source advocates will accept the new proposal."

"rejected by the IETF" is strange wording in this case.  The proposal was soundly rejected by the open source community who disagreed -- not with the technology -- but with the license that was needed in order to incorporate the technology into products.  That AOL has accepted the proposal is an important development because AOL is a major player in the anti-spam effort, it understands the real place of authenticated mail, and it must have worked with Redmond behind the scenes to try to reach a compromise that was impossible in the volunteer world of the IETF.

First of all, happy birthday to John Cleese who was born on this day in 1939.  I'm a fan of Cleese in most things and a natural Phython devotee.  But I'm very fond of his recent work, especially "Face" -- a stunning series that he did for the BBC.  It's out on DVD and if you are suffering through action movie fatigue or too cute and coy comedies it is worth a look.

Second, congratulations to my friend lyric apted who, after long struggles with New Zealand immigration, has secured a work visa in that lovely country.  lyric is a rare being: a refugee from the Internet industry whose sincerity has compelled her to go back to her artistic roots in an adopted country she loves.  The Internet world misses her but Wellington is richer for her presence.  Her work visa is a wonderful story of the triumph of gumption over the dark forces of perpetual bureaucracy.

Finally, my knee hurts.  I know it's whining.  In a compusory parents versus the children soccer match over the weekend, I played defense against a team of nearly 30 children.  Without warmups or preparation I bravely fought the onslaught of teenagers kicking and pushing their way toward my goal.  Naturally, I was a little sort the next day, but I figured that it wasn't significant.  Now, it's three days later and everything is fine except my swollen left knee.  It feels like its been hyperextended and it makes me wish my daughter had taken up chess or bridge rather than soccer.

On this day in 1970, Doonesbury got its start in 26 newspapers around the county.  I have a mixed relationship with the cartoon.  For many years I thought it was trenchant and funny, but in the 1980's and 1990's I thought it slipped into a self-referential coma -- interesting only to those who knew all the inside jokes.  It's funnier and more bittersweet now -- especially with the observations on "family" life and the 2nd war in Iraq.  I've actually taken it up again as a staple for daily reading.

I've returned after a week in Washington DC -- an uneventful trip home through the thunderstorms.  Before I left DC I spent time at the National Geographic Society and Arlington National Cemetery.  The Cemetery is quite awe inspiring once you get away from all the people.  In fact, I wonder just how many people go to pay their respects to folks buried there versus seeing the more famous sites.  My fathre's gravesite is in the far corner of the Cemetery; far from any of the tourist attractions.  It was strange to be in a place where you know that there are many people present, but none near you.  very odd indeed.

Okay, okay: this isn't a post on a great new album.  Instead, Wired News reports on new batteries for the iPod that deliver 22 hours of continuous play.  Needless to say, I want one -- and it seems easy to install.  If I get one and install it I'll post something to the list.  Here's the article that describes the new batteries.

Surprisingly I'm looking forward to a database!  It's a database -- and the dominant database -- for chess players.  It's in a new version and I have it ordered but it hasn't arrived.  A little bit more specifically: I'm in Washington DC and I don't have it yet.  The new version has been worked on for a couple of years and is supposed to be a major improvement on the version I currently use.

One of my problems -- recently -- is that the quality of my chess play has decreased recently.  There are two reasons for that: a sudden, routine, formulaic approach to my play; and, a lack of vision.  I've been reading this book in my attempt to solve the first problem.  Aagard is a engaging author and I've really enjoyed some of his other books -- this one is mostly a collection of positions to solve.  I'd like to see publishers take books like this and find a way to make the problems available in digital format.  I know that I'm talking to myself here, but still it would be nice to combine hard copy with problems and exercises for Fritz or other game playing programs.

Here is an article about making sure that your car runs Windows.  Lots of people have cars, so it makes sense that Microsoft would like to have a Windows license for each one.  To me, even Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded seem too heavyweight for a car.  Does that mean that we further split the Windows family to deliver it on further devices?  That means that Windows development is split -- does that mean that there are fewer people to work on the features and bugs in the platforms that I really use?

This is on my iPod and while I've loved Keith Jarrett's work since my 20's -- this has to be the best album in a decade.  The Trio has been wonderful, especially in the Standards work, but in this album something positively wonderful happens.  DeJohnette is especially amazing this time: he elicits a huge pallette of different timbres from the variety of instruments that he plays.  The album seems fun for the participants: you can hear them chatting between the songs, for instance.  In the end, the combination of lyrical impulses and strong rhythms is well worth listening to -- over and over.  And so: I have.