I'm working this morning on a section of the book about the idea of "real time"– how the concept got started in computer science, how it's multiplied and diffused through the financial sector and Web and social media to color our perception of time, and finally how unreal it is, compared to spiritual or religious ideas about and experience of time.

I've got Jóhann Jóhannsson's Fordlandia blasting on the stereo, mainly because it's a pleasure to listen to something that's so beautifully crafted and passionate. Jóhannsson has turned into a hero of mine. He composes works about machines (the Ford assembly line, the IBM 1401 computer), and he's technically brilliant, but his work is lush and passionate. You get the sense listening to his best work that nothing of him is held back. That's what I want my readers to feel.