The other day Liz showed me a new book that she got, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Pretty interesting book discussing how to take what you see in the world and put it down on paper.

Then today O'Reilly sent me a link to their new website based off of their new book, Beautiful Code. I've looked at this book at Border's and want it... it seems really cool. Well on their website they have articles about code, and one called Design Sense by Michael Feathers mentions the drawing book that Liz has.

This follows a general observation I've seen: when you are first exposed to an idea or fact, the odds of you recognising it around you significantly (exponentially?) increase. I learn about this book and I pick it's title out of the article. You learn a new word and then see it a dozen times in two days. I figure it's either of two things. First, the thing is suddenly popular. Maybe Liz saw her book on TV and the author saw it too, which made him think of it. The second way is pattern matching. Once you've noticed the new word, picking it out becomes natural.