Congealed

Texture and form congealed
It comprised
Thin boxes
Mysterious blobs
And conical packages
The lighter shades
Were interspersed with
The occasional
Stamps, labels
And addresses

Looking out my window

Only a few hours until we fly to Paris, and as I look out my familiar window, I wonder:

What will I learn?
How will I be different?
What will I know about myself that I didn't know before?
Is there anything new to know?

Confessions of a Sociopath

I just finished reading Confessions of a Sociopath by M.E. Thomas.  It is her own story, along with a lot of quotations from research and from her blog.  I found it completely fascinating to read about a very intelligent person who lacks empathy and self-doubt.  It was a little like reading about autism from the standpoint of a very intelligent autistic person like Temple Grandin.

It is clear to me that a great many literary figures are sociopaths, from Star Trek's Khan to Sherlock Holmes and Dracula.

Thomas makes the case that sociopaths are useful to society and may be no more harmful than empathetic people, and she makes some good points. However, given her descriptions of her own needs and desires, I get the feeling that this may be partly a con. She tells us that she does nothing except in her own interests unless it is an impulse (sociopaths are impulsive). So how does the book serve her interests?

Nevertheless, I'm very glad to have read the book. It was fascinating, and in the end I had empathy for an author who has none herself.