I was in a reeeeelly boring business meeting the other day. I was just about to nod off, as everyone was enjoying the sound of their own voice and saying little of substance.

Then someone said “to fully Grok this issue, we need to have another meeting.” “Grok”??? I couldnt believe it. Maybe I had underestimated this particular manager! he had obviously read one of my favorite books, “Stranger in a Strange Land”! But no. I found that the word had just entered into the managerial vernacular, and had lost all of its core meaning and power. He was asking for another pointless meeting for people to speak over eachother and not listen.

I loved “Stranger…”, and it informs my love life.

I am a sucker for the human world viewed from an alien perspective in science fiction, unembedded perception (Why I like Terry Bisson’s Short Story, “Meat”), and allows for comment on the weirder customs (the observation about “flappers” is hilarious).