Random post-Nepal thoughts

Lots of good ideas from browsing the latest "Daedalus Books" catalog.

- The lesson from "Timbuktu, The Sahara's Fabled City of Gold," is that a city that prospered 600 years ago by trading in everything from salt to gold, and which then led to impressive schools and libraries, and which then gave the city a wonderous repuation, resulted ultimately in "invasions and plunders that precipitated its decline," according to the book's summary. And there's a lesson for us all. Fly too high, and the bastards will inevitably come after you. It happened in Timbuktu, which today is a sad outpost, even as its reputation for exotic magnificence lingers on in our collective consciousness. I think that's another lesson: with the right name, a reputation can last a lot longer than reality. Take note, marketers.

- Paradox alert: A book titled "The Well-Made Book" is all about an American printer, Daniel Berkeley Updike, who set the standards for book design in the 20th century. So who designed this? What kind of experience was that? Also, kinda sad to see "Outwitting History," a book about a guy who saved a gigantic number of Yiddish books from being lost, now in the remainder bin for $5.98. (Published price $24.95.) We just don't read books anymore, do we? Archaic form.

- With that in mind, I would like to follow through on the notion of creating an extended work of fiction in Twitter, and see how that goes. Add it to the list!

- I am becoming fond of instant coffee. This can't be good.