Liza Achilles

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How to Go Viral and Spread Social Change

April 12, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

This blog post is about how to go viral and spread social change. When you read the above sentence, were you thinking that these are one and the same thing? Were you thinking that to spread social change, you have to go viral? If you were thinking that—as is entirely logical, and as the prevailing view has been for decades—you...

Reading time: 3 min

Incidental Musings

To Beg the Question: Meaning, Please?

April 9, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

The great David Foster Wallace went on a mini-rant about this topic somewhere. And he’s right. In common parlance, people regularly fail to use the term “beg the question” correctly. The meaning of “beg the question” is not generally known. I myself did not know it, until I was informed of it by the great DFW. But now I know....

Reading time: 11 min

Incidental Musings

Carved My Name Into His Leather Seats

April 7, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

Our culture is so weird. I was listening to the radio, and the DJ, in a peppy voice, said something like, “This is such-and-such station, and here’s some music for your workday!” Immediately thereafter, they played a song about a woman who gets so pissed at her philandering boyfriend that she goes psychopath on his swanky, upscale vehicle—totally destroys the...

Reading time: 2 min

News & Events

My Silent Book Club Began to Lead Itself

April 5, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

I have a new post up on the Silent Book Club blog. It’s called My Silent Book Club Began to Lead Itself. Enjoy! Tomorrow on Patreon for Tuesday-Thursday subscribers: reflections on the Dr. Seuss hullabaloo. . . . Will you support this blog by becoming a Patron? For as little as $3 a month, you will be rewarded with extra,...

Reading time: 1 min

Incidental Musings

How to Find Love Again After the Passing of a Spouse

April 2, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

How are modern widows handling the multifaceted challenges of reentering the dating scene and finding love anew? Two co-authors recently researched this question. They discovered that modern widows are approaching the process of finding love in uniquely modern ways. Their book, Finding Love After Loss: A Relationship Roadmap for Widows, by Marti Benedetti and Mary A. Dempsey, will be released...

Reading time: 2 min

Incidental Musings

Don’t Hit the Dog

April 1, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

I was on a run yesterday, and in front of me I saw a man walking a dog. The dog was pretty far ahead of the man, and I thought to myself, That’s a long leash. I considered turning and taking a different route. It wasn’t clear that the man could rein in his dog in time, if I passed...

Reading time: 3 min

woman in forest with red lipstick and red nails holding her face in pain

News & Events

I Lost the Ability to Talk

March 29, 2021 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments

Hi, blog readers. For real, I have lost the ability to talk. There has been some confusion among some of you over the past couple weeks. I’ll try to dispel it; but, honestly, it’s hard to explain. And I’m afraid some of you might not believe me. But it’s the truth. The brain is a strange place. Two-and-a-half weeks ago,...

Reading time: 2 min

phone showing Instagram Facebook and Twitter icons

News & Events

Bookshop Is Featuring Little Ole Me!

March 26, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

I maintain a curated list on Bookshop called Books Previewed on the Blog About Seeking Wisdom. This is the ever-growing list of all the books I have previewed on this blog. Visiting this list and purchasing a book (even a book not on this list!) supports both this blog and independent booksellers. I’m excited to announce that, today, Bookshop is...

Reading time: 1 min

Book Previews

Just Stop Pretending

March 24, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

After a particularly harrowing sequence of events in small-town America, the narrator makes a profound decision: “I was going to stop pretending that I felt like an American.” Wow. What a statement, . . . coming from an American! This quote is from the novel Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar. The narrator, like the author, is a second-generation Pakistani-American. The...

Reading time: 3 min

Book Previews

Walking the Thin Line

March 22, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

Ayad Akhtar must be a very brave man. As a second-generation Pakistani-American, his entire life must be a balancing act. He is an American raised in American culture and the American value system. He also has deep, familial roots in Islam and Pakistani culture. Everyone must find ways to cope with the conflicting aspects of being a modern human being....

Reading time: 3 min

woman in black hijab scarf by chain link to tennis court

Book Previews

How to Live in America

March 18, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

The task of living in America, after 9/11, as a Muslim-American, sounds daunting. News reports in the “aughts” were particularly bleak on the subject. Then there was the moment in 2017 when President Trump instituted a travel ban affecting several Middle Eastern countries. I haven’t heard much about Muslim-Americans in the news recently, as the #metoo and #blacklivesmatter movements have...

Reading time: 3 min

Tales

The Inquisitive One Breaks Out of Prison!

March 15, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

****BREAKING NEWS**** WASHINGTON—The inquisitive one, who stormed the U.S. Capitol in early January, has escaped from prison. Prison authorities say this occurred late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. A guard found the inquisitive one’s cell empty at 5am Sunday morning. A hole was discovered in the corner of the cell, hidden underneath a blanket that had been given to...

Reading time: 2 min

Book Previews

Don Quixote: What’s the Best Translation?

February 10, 2021 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments

I have read the masterpiece Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, twice in my life. The two experiences were quite different. This was in large part due to the fact that I read two very different translations of the book. Don Quixote Reading #1: Bargain-Bin Translation The first time, I was in my early 30s. I had picked up the...

Reading time: 4 min

Incidental Musings

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

November 4, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments

I recently met a guy who disclosed to me that his personal motto is “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Despite this expression having been popular for a number of years—it’s all over the Internet—I did not remember hearing it before. But I instantly took to it. What lovely imagery. And what lovely meaning: so metaphorical, yet so obvious. At...

Reading time: 4 min

Baker Street - London Underground - London Tube

Incidental Musings

Mind the Gap: British Slang in an American Mind

May 22, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

Mind the gap! This I will do. Yes, sir; yes, ma’am! It would be a shame to drop a personal item between the platform and the train—or, God forbid, a body part. I am finding that the gaps here in London are more irregular than in Washington, D.C., and truly do require some minding. Sometimes the train is flush with...

Reading time: 4 min

tall stack of chocolate bars . . . to eat in moderation

Incidental Musings

Everything in Moderation, Including Moderation

April 22, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments

Everything in moderation, including moderation. Heard that before? Now you have, in any case. Feel free to attribute that quote to me. After all, I wrote it. (Look above, if you don’t believe me.) Take it and run with it, Internet! Origin of the Quote Oh, so you require more persuasion before quoting me on that? You wish to know...

Reading time: 3 min

Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneaker shoe

Book Previews

The Comfort of Your Clothing

January 20, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments

I got into a minor Facebook spat with a friend. I had posted an image of Kamala Harris wearing the Converse sneakers she has become famous for wearing. And I wrote that I was excited about this clothing choice by a woman at the top levels of government. My friend objected. She said, why are people commenting on a female...

Reading time: 3 min

A difficult book to read may be a book worth reading - published in Bologna, 1694

Incidental Musings

How to Read a Difficult Book

April 10, 2019 by Liza Achilles No Comments

Humor me for a moment, and mentally discard all those books that are, in your opinion, page-turners. Any reads that you find to be quick, easy, fun, fascinating, lovely, exciting, or otherwise engrossing are irrelevant to this discussion. Next, add to that discard pile all those books that lack redeeming qualities, as far as you can tell. You’ve read a...

Reading time: 7 min

Incidental Musings

A Young Woman With Spiky Purple Hair

December 18, 2019 by Liza Achilles 12 Comments

One A tall, paunchy man stood next to the wall. No one could see him, except for me. I was afraid of him. I tried to stuff him into a large trunk and close the lid. The lid would not completely close. I was afraid, knowing he would emerge again. Later, I was in a bedroom packed with people. The...

Reading time: 6 min

sending an email for the purpose of business communications can result in if vs whether grammar pitfalls

Incidental Musings

If vs Whether: Grammar at Work

February 20, 2019 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments

The following is a true story about if vs whether grammar pitfalls that can happen in business communications. The First Email A few weeks ago, one of the leaders of the company I work for sent all employees an email announcing an upcoming company event and listing possible dates on which it might be held. The leader also wrote this:...

Reading time: 4 min

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Books previewed

Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf

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Seeking wisdom through books and elsewhere.

What is this blog about?

What is this website about?

How to Go Viral and Spread Social Change

To Beg the Question: Meaning, Please?

Carved My Name Into His Leather Seats

My Silent Book Club Began to Lead Itself

How to Find Love Again After the Passing of a Spouse

Don’t Hit the Dog

I Lost the Ability to Talk

Bookshop Is Featuring Little Ole Me!

Just Stop Pretending

Walking the Thin Line

How to Live in America

The Inquisitive One Breaks Out of Prison!

Don Quixote: What’s the Best Translation?

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

Mind the Gap: British Slang in an American Mind

Everything in Moderation, Including Moderation

The Comfort of Your Clothing

How to Read a Difficult Book

A Young Woman With Spiky Purple Hair

If vs Whether: Grammar at Work

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