Source Code; People Pleaser

 

I have been obsessed with Bill Gates since I was a teenager. I have no idea why. I didn't have my first computer until I was in college many years later, we didn't have one when I was growing up. I had very limited experience using them at friends' houses. But in the early 90s, Bill Gates and Microsoft were everywhere. I was fascinated by this world I didn't understand in the slightest but was clearly groundbreaking. I went to the library and read everything I could find about Bill: magazine articles, newspapers, a few books (I distinctly remember two: one not very nice and the other one fawning). I read Bill's book "The Road Ahead" when it came out, again, not understanding much, but delighted to hear from such a genius. And he clearly is a genius, with an amazing brain. 

So to say I tore through his autobiography in record time is a bit of an understatement. He writes about his early years before Microsoft took off. Bill was an active kid: he was in the Boy Scouts and loved to camp and hike. From the beginning, his parents and teachers realized he was different. He said it himself in the end: had he been born today he would have been diagnosed with some form of autism, due to his hyperfocus on any one particular subject (in elementary school, he turned in a nearly 200 page report on the state of Delaware). Once he got started he couldn't stop until he learned everything there was to know (and, as I type this, it occurs to me that I share some of that trait as well. Too bad being obsessed with Richard III isn't a path to becoming a billionaire). Bill got hooked on computers early and learned to code at 13 while he was at Lakeside school. He and a core group of friends (including his future business partner Paul Allen) had access to a teletype machine that connected to a computer in California, where they could write simple codes and test them out. I think I understand computers a *smidge* more now than when I was 14, so even though he got pretty technical at times, I was able to keep up. And he did a great job of explaining things in layman's terms. 

I really hope he continues his autobiography. I would love to hear about the early days of Microsoft. What an amazing ride it must have been, to be on the cutting edge of something so important, something that changed our world. It's one of those books that I wish I could go back and reread for the first time. 

I'm not much of a people pleaser, honestly. I speak up for myself when I need to (in a completely nice, polite way, of course 😀). Jinger's advise was really aimed at people who never speak up for themselves, never express an opinion but just go along with whatever everyone else wants (also not me. But in my defense, I'm usually with a group of people who can't make a decision. Since making decisions is a big part of my job, I just do it). Still, there were some aspects I could relate to, such as being too hard on myself. I struggle with this one a lot. As she (and lots of others) have pointed out, would I talk to my friends the way I talk to myself? No, of course not. So why do I do it to myself? I need to work on that. And I do. Perpetually. 

Giant Love

 

I love the movie "Giant". What's not to love? Texas and horses and cattle and oil and James Dean. It's a great story. I read the book when I was a teenager (I have it around the house somewhere). I bought it at a used bookstore, and I was so excited to find it. My local library didn't have it, and none of the bookstores I went to had it, either. 

Which brings us to one of Gilbert's questions: why has everyone forgotten about Edna Ferber? She was an extraordinarily popular writer in her day. She won a Pulitzer for one of her first books. So what happened? It's hard to say. "Giant" is the only book of hers I've ever read, and while I really enjoyed it, I doubt I would have sought it out if I hadn't seen the movie first. 

"Giant Love" was divided into two sections: the book and the movie. Gilbert also sprinkled in lots of biographical details about her great-aunt. It was entertaining and fascinating, and I really wish I knew why her books aren't still popular today. 

Billy the Kid

 

A coworker saw this book on my desk and asked "Haven't you already read that?" and I said "No, I've read many books about Billy the Kid, but not *this* book". Honestly, I don't remember reading a fiction book about Billy before, it's all been biographies. (**checked my blog and I did read one fictional account back in 2017, so there you go). 

So it was fun! Coleman saw "Young Guns" around the same age I did, and he was (like me) inspired by Billy the Kid's story. I checked out and bought every used book I could find about him. Did Pat Garrett really kill him, or did he live on anonymously? That's a tough question. When I was younger, I was firmly in the "no way did Garrett kill him" camp, but now that I'm older, I think it's most likely that he did. I can't imagine Billy, barely twenty-two, going on to live a life of quiet solitude and never again causing any problems. From all accounts he killed recklessly and often without thinking. Coleman did a great job of humanizing Billy while also showing his more ruthless side. He did find himself in a lot of terrible situations where killing was the only way to survive, but he also killed because it was convenient. I really liked it, I couldn't put it down.