2019.07.04 13:00 - Friends of Friends Book Session

The Guardian for this meeting was Bleu Oleander. The comments are by Bleu Oleander.

Bleu Oleander: 's current display-name is "Bleu".
Bleu Oleander: hi Raffi
--BELL--
Raffila Millgrove: hey Bleu.
Raffila Millgrove: I see Tura online so hopefully she too will be here in a second.
Bleu Oleander: yes :)
Bleu Oleander: are you celebrating the 4th?
Bleu Oleander: I just heard there was an earthquake in CA today
Raffila Millgrove: yes.
Raffila Millgrove: we do .. firewords viewing.. because my house balcony overlooks the sky where.. there is a big show every year...so we sit out there and get the show for free. it's so fab.
Bleu Oleander: nice
Bleu Oleander: hi Tura :)
Raffila Millgrove: hi Tura.
Raffila Millgrove: today Tura is.. big holiday in US. so we were just talking about celebrating.
Tura Brezoianu: hi Raffi, Bleu
Raffila Millgrove: from my house balcony....my family.. they all come to sit there and see a fireworks show nearby.. for free.. in the sky.. with all comforts of hoe.
Bleu Oleander: we have a nice group of artists working upstairs on their "connections" projects Raffi
Raffila Millgrove: oh that is cool. will you be celebrating today bleu?
Bleu Oleander: from afar
Bleu Oleander: our dog gets scared
Bleu Oleander: so we stay with her
Raffila Millgrove: ah. we always have greyhounds and it doesn't seem to bother them. they are attuned to human interaction..so because their pack (us) is't scared, they seem ok too.
Bleu Oleander: I can try to claim today
Raffila Millgrove: nice. ty very much for claiming.
Bleu Oleander: yw!
Raffila Millgrove: i think none of us is the technical host of this time session.
Raffila Millgrove: is that Agatha?
Bleu Oleander: we can share the posting part
Raffila Millgrove: i would be happy to do it but I don't know how. Steve was supposed to teach me long ago but he apologized for not being able to do that.
Bleu Oleander: there are instructions on the wiki
Raffila Millgrove: there are?
Bleu Oleander: yes
Bleu Oleander: I have to resort to reviewing them
Raffila Millgrove: Eliza was always fixing me because the wiki.. I am a guest there. i can't log into it.
Bleu Oleander: ah ok
Raffila Millgrove: every yr. she fixed. i got in with log in.. then.. no. we never figured it out.
Bleu Oleander: I'm not sure who adds people to the wiki crew
Raffila Millgrove: i got really embarassed of asking her to fix me... over and over.
Bleu Oleander: no worries, there are many who know how to do it
Raffila Millgrove: any how... Tura. did you make it thru reading that 1973 paper??
Tura Brezoianu: Er, I've forgotten which that was
Raffila Millgrove: lol
Raffila Millgrove: that was about value of weak ties.
Bleu Oleander: hey Aggers
Agatha Macbeth: Evening all
Raffila Millgrove: hey Agatha!
Agatha Macbeth: Was just moving bookshelves
Raffila Millgrove: big job.
Agatha Macbeth: Nah, easy in SL
Raffila Millgrove: oh here. of course! bleu was tellings us artists already at work upstairs on their sculptures for Connections.
Agatha Macbeth nods
Agatha Macbeth: Will need to get to work on it
Agatha Macbeth: Connections give much scope
Bleu Oleander: yes!
--BELL--

Agatha Macbeth: Are you discussing a book?
Bleu Oleander: yep
Raffila Millgrove: yes. we are.
Agatha Macbeth: Oh right
Bleu Oleander: "A Friend of a Friend" by David Burkus
Raffila Millgrove: i sent report in about our first week. last week. in the email.
Agatha Macbeth: Hm, dunno it
Bleu Oleander: we're on chapter 2 and 3
Agatha Macbeth: Who's the author?
Bleu Oleander: I was inspired by chapter 2 to title my sculpture
Agatha Macbeth: Oh nice
Raffila Millgrove: oh? what will you title. is it secret ? can you say?
Bleu Oleander: "chains of aquaintance"
Raffila Millgrove: interresting!
Agatha Macbeth: Oh my
Bleu Oleander: from the 6 degrees theory
Agatha Macbeth: I remember the 3 Degrees
Bleu Oleander: I love Strogatz work and have read some of his books
Bleu Oleander: he's at Cornell
Raffila Millgrove: yes chapter two.. was all about Seeing who is your network (connections) what are they.. the various circels.
Raffila Millgrove: I thought .. I need to read that guy.
Raffila Millgrove: Strogatz. i made a note.
Bleu Oleander: this is also the chapter where the book gets its title, "A friend of a friend"
Agatha Macbeth wonders where the chains come in :p
Bleu Oleander: his new book is "infinite powers"
Raffila Millgrove: i wish he would not use the word rolodex. i ask my kids.. you know what that is.. they did not.
Agatha Macbeth: A watch?
Bleu Oleander: ha!
Raffila Millgrove: they are in mid to late 30.. the last two.. they should know.
Raffila Millgrove: but they totally don't know.
Raffila Millgrove: i bet no one in 20s every even saw one, let alone know its name.
Agatha Macbeth: I'm presuming an index of sorts
Raffila Millgrove: er. you attach cards to this revolving... thing. gosh .. it's hard to describe it..
Bleu Oleander: index cards on a wheel
Raffila Millgrove: it is a way to contain .. cards with info.. index cards small ones. with info.. person name, address, phone.
Agatha Macbeth: I get the picture (I think)
Raffila Millgrove: it's lie a giant phone/address book of everyone you know.
Bleu Oleander: now we have contacts files
Tura Brezoianu: Yes, a contacts list. On cards. On a wheel.
Agatha Macbeth: Pre-Micro$oft then I suppose
Raffila Millgrove: where you can.. turn the wheel and get to any card really fast
Agatha Macbeth: I getcha
Raffila Millgrove: and you can have like 1000 people on the big ones.
Agatha Macbeth: Probably still faster than some peoples' computers
Raffila Millgrove: your personal giant phone book. it matches up to landlines. phones.
Bleu Oleander: :)
Raffila Millgrove: actually it is super fast.
Agatha Macbeth: Must be fun if you spin it too fast
Raffila Millgrove: but its like useless now cause no one has any landline.
Tura Brezoianu: I guess today you could have the entire world population on a smartphone.
Raffila Millgrove: the construction was strong metal.. the thing was unbreakable.
Agatha Macbeth: Index roulette
Raffila Millgrove: made to last.
Bleu Oleander: cut and paste is much easier on computers
Raffila Millgrove: i guess the match is a contact list in the smart phone.
Agatha Macbeth: True dat
Raffila Millgrove: but.. mine goes slow to get around my contact list which is short. nothing like what i ahd in a rolodex of 500 or more peoples.
Raffila Millgrove: that's my other point.. that it makes me sad i guess.. that if I looked in my old rolodex, so many are no longer with us. this getting old business.. it shrinks your world if you don't go out and keep moving with making new friends all the time.
Bleu Oleander: yes
Raffila Millgrove: I am thinking of moving to a community where old people is only six percent of population.
Raffila Millgrove: i think this would be a good idea. no other old people. forced to .... be friends with younger people if they will accept one.
Bleu Oleander: I like a mix of ages
Raffila Millgrove: also hi number filipino.. and they are so respectful of older people.
Raffila Millgrove: in their culture, they really care for the elderly at amazing level.
Raffila Millgrove: personally care.
Bleu Oleander: the university near us is trying retirement housing that is right on campus with the idea that older people can mentor younger ones
Raffila Millgrove: i lived there... in P.I. as very young bride. I think it would be like returning to wonderful culture I knew.
Agatha Macbeth: Sounds great
Raffila Millgrove: when I meet Filipino and say I lived there.. they are very interested.. they are so gracious and.. big deal with hospitality.
Raffila Millgrove: also many Mexicans and I can speak Spanish. I am thinking.. a new life.. with young people who might like me.... as old lady.
Bleu Oleander: :)
Raffila Millgrove: i thought of it when I was reading these two chapters.
Raffila Millgrove: how could i make new circles? where would I be adventurous and happy.
--BELL--
Raffila Millgrove: definately not with bunch of old people who will die on me.
Bleu Oleander: although they need their circles too
Bleu Oleander: we all benefit from connections
Agatha Macbeth: Indeed
Raffila Millgrove: i should have said.. join new circles... if you know what i mean. not exactly being Making any. I am a broker. always have been.
Bleu Oleander: a superconnector?
Raffila Millgrove: hugely so. yes.
Raffila Millgrove: i have jumped thru five different career areas.. in my work life.
Raffila Millgrove: and it was thru making the connections. between them. that i would .. get invite to move..
Raffila Millgrove: it wasn't my intent to do this career wise at all. but it is what happened... to move up.
Raffila Millgrove: it was a benefit I didn't know... i just was always that person. even as a child.
Bleu Oleander: that's more the norm these days
Raffila Millgrove: yes it is.
Bleu Oleander: I think you could do an interesting sculpture on that theme Raffi
Raffila Millgrove: that's what i thought reading.. no one who is in 20s is going to find this a new idea.. to jump between fields. to have many jobs. author seem to think it's some new idea.... in fact I wish he'd pondered over.. how can everyone do this.. what's going to happen, cuase many people do it nowdays.
Raffila Millgrove: did you think that too?
Raffila Millgrove: what year is this guy living in.
Bleu Oleander: :)
Agatha Macbeth: One with rolodexes it seems
Bleu Oleander: not taking into consideration AI yet
Raffila Millgrove: between rolodex and putting nose to grindstone climbing ladder. he seems very antiquated believing other people reading him would nod.
Bleu Oleander: who do you think his target audience is?
Agatha Macbeth: Maybe he was a yuppie back in the day
Raffila Millgrove: exactly. .. i thought. he needs a young guy/gal to get him into the right decade. his audience is like over 50 the way he wrote.
Tura Brezoianu: Is that his age?
Raffila Millgrove: yeah aggers.. he seems stuck in the 80s ... at most.
Bleu Oleander: LOL this always makes me feel cooler
Raffila Millgrove: i dunno. i meant to check on that. what's his age.
Agatha Macbeth grins
Raffila Millgrove: ut
Agatha Macbeth: Don't even know who 'he' is
Raffila Millgrove: is it hot today where you are bleu. it's nice here in L.A.
Raffila Millgrove: author.
Raffila Millgrove: i am speaking of this Author,, David Burkus.
Raffila Millgrove: the book.
Agatha Macbeth: Ah thx
Bleu Oleander: 105-ish
Raffila Millgrove: we are. hahaha.. discussing the book Aggers. just teasing you. but we really are.
Raffila Millgrove: all this stuff. is in these two chapters.
Bleu Oleander: he's 36
Raffila Millgrove: what? wow.
Raffila Millgrove: that's just crazy.
Bleu Oleander: born in 1983
Raffila Millgrove: how can that be. wow.
Agatha Macbeth: He doesn't look that old
Raffila Millgrove: i got kids older than that. he's so antiquated .. I can't believe it.
Bleu Oleander: internet is great!
Agatha Macbeth: Only 36
Raffila Millgrove: that's just weird... really weird. why would he talk rolodex.. man that is amazing and odd.
Agatha Macbeth: A time traveller perhaps
Raffila Millgrove: he sounds so old when I read him. like in his 50s for sure.
Agatha Macbeth: Some people are older than they are, some younger
Raffila Millgrove: yeah aggie. maybe he's channeling from a past life or soch. lol
Bleu Oleander: maybe he does that because his audience is 50's
Bleu Oleander: the older ones buy books
Raffila Millgrove: well good grief. why is he writing to people in that age.. cause their careers. it's a bit late for all this career advice.. to anyone in 50s
Raffila Millgrove: oh!
Agatha Macbeth: Right
Raffila Millgrove: book buyers.
Bleu Oleander: well social media is it now
Agatha Macbeth: Wouldn't do me much good
Raffila Millgrove: don't younger people read any books anymore. l
Bleu Oleander: nope
Raffila Millgrove: didn't know they dont read.
Tura Brezoianu: He also has a website with a blog
Agatha Macbeth: Maybe they kindle
Raffila Millgrove: this is not good news.. i thought they used amazon.. to download..
Bleu Oleander: I don't think they do that either
Bleu Oleander: books are too time-demanding
Raffila Millgrove: i have a horrible sense that you are right, bleu.
Agatha Macbeth: The world has a serious problem!
Bleu Oleander: university professors complain that the students don't read anymore
Raffila Millgrove: well that's been my whole life. Reading.
Bleu Oleander: me too
Raffila Millgrove: good thing I was born then.. when I was born.
Agatha Macbeth nods
Raffila Millgrove: i guess we're lucky. never realize it.. til you say this. imagine a life without reading. i can't actually. imagine mine without it.
Bleu Oleander: well we are all here on sl on our computers :)
--BELL--
Agatha Macbeth: Reading
Bleu Oleander: but at least we're discussing a book LOL
Raffila Millgrove: yeah but we are discussing a book we're reading. that is the only reason I am sitting her on July 4.. to visit with others who are reading the book.
Bleu Oleander: yes
Agatha Macbeth: It's like Farenheit 451 without the Firemen
Raffila Millgrove: I wonder if these Mexican peoples and Filipinos are reading. maybe cookbooks. they love to cook. Maybe i bring my cookbook collection to give them some books?
Agatha Macbeth: There have been some good Mexican authors I think
Bleu Oleander: I must get going ... nice to see you all and to discuss books!
Agatha Macbeth: Aww
Raffila Millgrove: I just read a really good Filipino cookbook. I am now reading one of first.. home cooking Korean cookbooks in english. Koreans always want restaurant food to be special. not what they eat at home. it's not easy to get recipes on Koreans cooking at home.
Agatha Macbeth: Be cool Bleuji
Bleu Oleander: take care and hope to see some fab projects upstairs!!
Bleu Oleander: ciao :)
Raffila Millgrove: bye Bleu. coming upstairs soon.
Raffila Millgrove: Happy 4th!
Agatha Macbeth: And 5th
Raffila Millgrove: well i better run off. Bleu claimed the session Aggers.
Agatha Macbeth: OK great
Agatha Macbeth: Nice to see you again
Raffila Millgrove: I gotta get set up for the viewing party of the fireworks. see you next Thurs. hopefully.
Tura Brezoianu: ok, bye Raffi, Ag
Agatha Macbeth: TC