Sincerity: Finally talking with my manager about being frustrated and unhappy at work. Months of tension and anxiety transformed by openness and honesty and valuing my perspective into calm realism in the face of an imperfect world.

Universe: Big bright moon tonight. At some point in highschool, the terrific Dermot O'Reilly gave us an astronomy test with the True/False question "The moon is a hole in the sky through which sunlight appears." That beautifully absurd notion often surfaces when I'm confronted with a full, and shining moon--the magic-eye moment when it looks true is awesome. All my best, Mr. O'Reilly.

Deception: Remembering that despite the powerfully sexy look and feel of Monocle magazine, I have yet to be wowed by its content after four issues--and not snatching one up immediately, like I usually do.

Courage: Reading a preview copy of Pierre Bayard's new book How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. This brave and serene Frenchman, no less than a professor of literature, has written a book-length essay on the virtues of skimming and not being ashamed all in the service of experiencing literature as a whole rather than in fractured parts. The emperor doesn't read. Long, live the emperor.


image credit Jason Ku and Brian Chan [link]