Freakonomics

I just finished reading a book called Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and it is full of provocative discussions about topics that you usually wouldn't think to put together, including:

• What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?
  In which they explore incentives and how it encourages cheating in these two seemingly unrelated professions.

• How Is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents?
  In which they argue that both these groups gain power and profit by controlling information (and abusing it).

• Where Have All the Criminals Gone?
  In which they examine the possible causes for the decline in violent crime and its possible relationship to the legalization of abortion (Roe vs Wade in 1973).

• Perfect Parenting, Part 2; or: Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?
  In which they weigh the importance of naming a baby (Madison or Aaliyah? Jake or DeShawn?).

I really found it interesting how Levitt applies an economist’s techniques to such unconventional topics—lots of "Aha!" moments for me.

Out of Regular (Gas, That Is)

On the way home from work today, I noticed that I was running low on gas, so I stopped at a Chevron. Unfortunately, each of the gas pumps had a handwritten sign: "Out of regular gas."

"Hmm..." I thought to myself. "I've never seen that before." I decided to go to another Chevron closer to home. When I got there, it's the same: "Out of regular gas."

Penny-pincher that I am, I decided to try a Shell station, just in case it was a Chevron thing. But no--it's the same story--"Out of regular 87 gas." So I finally paid my extra 12 cents per gallon and got "Plus" gas.

So what's going on? Is there some conspiracy to make us buy more expensive gas?

Fresh Farmers' Market Fruits

I went to the Sunnyvale Farmers' Market to pick up some fruits and vegetables. I found some sweet strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, nectarines, and plums.


The plums were so good after an hour in the refrigerator. Biting into a plum, the purple skin gives way to the soft yellow flesh, releasing sweet, cold juices into my mouth. Mmm...these plums remind of a poem from high school:

This Is Just To Say

by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold