#judgment calls

I wanted to start a book log on here to keep track of what I read with brief reviews.

The first book for this log is 'Judgement Calls' (2003) by Alafair Burke which I got from a "blind date with a book" packet at a thrift store back in August; because of school and me being a slow reader, I didn't get to finish it until now.

CW: Sexual assault, child prostitution, and drug addiction; This book goes into heavy topics, and my review and summary mentions these topics.

My impression of this book was that it was a bit generic in flow and dialogue, but it wasn't something that took away from the immersion. It was an entertaining read, though it's not a book I would recommend nor read again. [Summary and Review below cut]

(snicker) No, not single combat against an alien race. (...jots down the title anyway)

Something else, though. This again! Seriously, I thought I had this business pretty much settled.

It's a Middle Kingdoms food problem. Briefly: We already know that some of the Solanaceae are present in the Kingdoms. Chiles like the whitefruit, and bell peppers, have already explicitly appeared in both prose and in various recipes at the Food and Cooking of the Middle Kingdoms site.

But not potatoes. They were purposely excluded from the Kingdoms, a good while back, with extreme prejudice.

Until the filmed version of Lord of the Rings, you could sort of get away with including Solanum tuberosum in a fantasy novel. Only fellow print-format geeks were terribly likely to have noticed their appearance in LOTR (or cared about it). Nonetheless, my writer-conscience had been itching me about this issue for a while, as regarded The Door Into Fire... nagging me about lazy worldbuilding. And then, of course, this happened:

So I was glad to have made a judgment call regarding this when republishing the first three Middle Kingdoms works, and continuing them in the Tales of the Five group. (Because why include something in your work that's inevitably going to forcibly drag people out of your narrative and into somebody else's universe?—be it ever so beloved. Not least by me.)

Now, though, here comes another judgment call!—because this whole damn genus plainly has it in for me.

Solanum lycopersicum, ffs! That is to say, tomatoes.

Because the venison dish I was auditioning at the time of posting (as a candidate for the spiced venison that appears on the Goddess's autumn-festival table* at the Darthene embassy in The Door Into Sunset) suggests that it ought to have tomato puree in it. And this didn't really register until I was three-quarters of the way through making the dish.

(eyeroll) Now I have to sit down for a bit and decide whether this is going to be allowed... and if it's not, what to substitute for it. And what the further implications are likely to be if I allow this inclusion.

(wanders off muttering) ...It'll be eggplant next, I'm sure.

I can understand why this chief was suspended; you should have just cause to pull somebody over however,

Profiling goes both ways doesn’t it? The police profile everybody based on experience because that’s part of making the crucial judgments that keep us all safe. I find myself wondering if it’s useful. 

I suppose that the problem aside from the fact that it is illegal to profile is that profiling met with bias is simple racism, not intelligent judgment. Profiling is far too vulnerable to negligence and human error and the consequences are serious.

Everyone’s a critic, but nothing is effortless

I was just thinking the other day that everyone’s a critic, but if you don’t try to do it, you can’t understand what it feels like. CRITICIZING IS THE EASY PART As someone who watches a lot of reality shows and competitions like Top Chef among others, it’s easy to say: She should have done this! He should have done that. You totally missed this!! ..but hindsight is 20/20. I get that in the heat…

Judul : Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams that Got Them Right Penulis : Thomas H. Davenport dan Brook Manville Penerbit : Harvard Business Review Press (3 April 2012) Tebal : 288 halaman ISBN : 978-1422158111 Harga : US$ 30

Bagi para praktisi dan pemerhati manajemen pengetahuan, Thomas Davenport bukanlah nama asing. Davenport telah lama dikenal sebagai salah satu pemikir manajemen pengetahuan yang berpengaruh di dunia. Kecintaannya pada ranah keilmuan manajemen pengetahuan terbukti dengan produktivitasnya menghasilkan berbagai karya di bidang ini. Kali ini, profesor tamu di Harvard Business School ini berkolaborasi dengan Brook Manville, mantan Direktur Manajemen Pengetahuan McKinsey, merangkum kisah 12 organisasi yang berhasil mengelola data dan pengetahuan yang mereka miliki menjadi alat penilaian dan pengambilan keputusan yang efektif.