Sprezzatura
A few weeks ago, I came across a word I'd never seen before. That's not really a reason for a post, you might say. True, but since it happened two times on the same day, in two very different books, I present to you: sprezzatura – the art of casually hiding artfulness. I like that notion; ars celare artem, and all that...
Sprezzatura Sighting #1
A reprint of Paul Ford's "Processing Processing" in "The Best Software Writing I", a collection of essays on software. It's quite a varied collection, and definitely not all of it was to my liking. My favourites: Paul's article and Eric Lippert's "How many Microsoft employees does it take to change a lightbulb?". And of course, Chunky Bacon...
You can find the complete list of essays at Joel Spolsky's site. Most (if not all) of the articles are available online, but I prefer reading books.
Sprezzatura Sighting #2
"The Meaning of Tingo", a fun little book with interesting words from all over the world. Something to read in small doses, but very entertaining.