Friday Four

1. I've enjoyed many beers after their clever names first caught my eye from the shelf: Hoptimum, Fin du Monde, Blithering Idiot, Old Rasputin, and Arrogant Bastard, to name a few.

Last week, I found another, Modus Hoperandi, by the Ska Brewing Company. In the process, I do believe, I have found my new local beer emporium. The store's selection is small, but well thought-out, and they had Hoptimum! See Beer Advocate for reviews of Ska's tasty IPA.

2. Even with my mother-in-law's help, setting up the new place in St. Louis has taken lots of time with the baby around, but we love the place. Based on square footage per dollar alone, our housing costs have plummeted by seventy-five percent. For barely over half our previous rent, we have about two and a half times the space. And a basement. And a garage. And a yard. And a deck. (But I do miss many things about Boston, especially being able to walk almost anywhere I needed to go.)

3. An article titled, "When You're Visited by a Copy of Yourself, Stay Calm", about a type of hallucination, was an interesting read. Better yet, it bears news of a new book out by my favorite science writer, Oliver Sacks.

4. Don Wakins finds a clever way to promote his and Yaron Brooks's new book, Free Market Revolution: by offering advice on how to recommend books in general.

You can most effectively create word-of-mouth buzz for Free Market Revolution (or any other book you want to recommend) if you can tap into people's values in a way that provokes their curiosity.

I was already interested in the book, but now I am intrigued: If the book itself follows this same recipe, it is sure to be outstanding.

-- CAV