What I Read -- Courage Under Fire

Somehow - and right now I can't remember how this happened - Stoic philosophy came into my consciousness recently.  I took a couple of philosophy classes in college but, as a political science minor, they all leaned more towards political philosophy and ethics of governance rather than the management of oneself. 

By chance, I mentioned Stoicism to my very smart friend M, and she right away offered me up some reading material from her personal collection. Among her offerings was Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior, which is actually more of an essay than a book, but still worth a mention here.

James Bond Stockdale had been a wing commander in Vietnam when his plane was shot down. He spent over seven years as a prisoner of war in various North Vietnamese institutions, often tortured for information. He fell back on his earlier studies of Stoicism to see himself through those hard days. In his speech, he walks the reader through the application of certain Stoic principles to his circumstances to demonstrate how they look in action. 

As a newcomer to the ideas, this was a good introduction to some of the basics of Stoicism in a concrete form. I find that philosophy, broadly speaking, can be a challenging subject because so much of it is only ever discussed in the abstract, never applied.  This is applied.

Chop Fry Watch Learn -- Take 2

Chop Fry Watch Learn was E's latest pick for our Postal Book Club. I am sorry to admit that, prior to reading this, I didn't know much about Chinese food except what we can commonly get here in the U.S., which in so many ways is far from actual Chinese food.

This book served as an education in that regard, including culinary, cultural, social, and political history in the development of the story of Chinese and Taiwanese food in the 20th century.  This was all told through the lens of the life's work of Fu Pei-Mei.  She was a revolutionary home cook who gained notoriety through her popular television program and series of cookbooks which published recipes side by side in both Chinese and English. She was referred to over the course of her career and in the book as the "Chinese Julia Child," though the author makes a point to explain how and why that undersells Fu Pei-Mei's reach and importance. 

If you're interested in food history, Chinese and Taiwanese history, or ideally both - or if you just love eating Chinese food and want to know more about it - this is an enlightening and surprisingly quick read.