If you like old Bogie movies, Raymond Chandler plots, and good teen movies, you’ll probably enjoy this. Imagine Humphrey Bogart and Edgar G. Robinson translated into high school students … it sounds absurd, but it works.

And then there’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He is a wonderful human being. I got to meet him when the movie Manic, which he starred in, screened at UCLA the night before it premiered. I had taken my son as I was on a panel to discuss the movie (I was the Anger Management EXPERT). Joseph hung out with the Cub and invited him to the cast party. He was a real, honest-to-goodness human being, not stuck up or snotty.

If you don’t know who he is, he played the long haired kid on 3rd Rock from the Sun. As an actor, his range and believability are excellent. In Manic, he made me think he had severe anger problems … and yet he was normal.

Anyhow, watch both movies, watch 3rd Rock.

Thich Nhat Hanh make life sound simple. Every time I find myself struggling with life and turn to this book I end up with advice like “Sit. Smile. Breathe.”

It sounds so simplistic. How could this possibly make things work right in the modern world But in practice, I’ve found that this improves life in the modern world greatly. No matter what is going on, if I stop to sit (and be aware), if I breathe (consciously and deeply), if I let a smile curl itself up on my face – whatever the situation is, I am better prepared to handle it.

Hanh shares some beautiful poetry and Buddhist lore in the book. The book emphasizes positive mental/spiritual growth, not stern austerity. It is a gentle teaching from a gentle (but incredibly powerful) soul.

This book is for anybody, regardless of spiritual orientation, who feels any attraction to the title. It is best read in small pieces and then contemplated and practiced. This is a life changing book.

This is a tremendously touching book about a mother’s love for her son. It highlights how divisive and destructive blind dogmatism can be. Yet, throughout the book is a river of compassion. There is no bile or hatred or rage; just the grief of a mother who mourns for the needless suffering of her son.

I began having severe retro-ocular headaches soon after watching this movie. I guess it was too subjective! As a research engineer and a psychotherapist, I found the movie doubly fulfilling.

I love Russian voices. While I agree with Emma Goldman, that the Bolsheviks betrayed the true Russian Revolution, I love the “soundtrack.”

I’m supposed to be updating charts. That’s done by hand. With pen and ink. Exciting. I look forward to the day when charting is all handled on a computer.

I recently finished reading Cobra II, which was very revealing and interesting, but I ultimately found it very unbalanced – not in terms of prejudiced reporting, but taking in some details and ignoring whole topics. So far (60+ pages), I’m finding that Fiasco doesn’t have that problem. It’s better organized and gives me a better feel for why people did what they did.