What? Ian McEwan writes science fiction? News to me, but I had to give this book a chance. It’s Ian McEwan, after all. Machines Like Me falls into the alternative-history subgenre, in which the author postulates that one or more… Read More ›
Month: June 2019
Bella Luna
It may not look like much in the picture, but it sure was yummy: grilled sea scallops with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, and peaches (that’s a peach, not an egg yolk, in the picture), all served over parsnip puree. This… Read More ›
Virginia Woolf: “On Not Knowing Greek”
What did I know about Virginia Woolf? Not much. I knew that she wrote about needing “a room of her own,” and that she had written something about a lighthouse, and I had long ago seen Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid… Read More ›
The most commonly spoken language in your state
What’s the most commonly spoken language in your state? (We’ll exclude the two obvious ones, of course — English and Spanish.) This map shows the surprising answer, at least if we trust Business Insider: Absolutely fascinating, but I’m not completely… Read More ›
Barcelona (the restaurant, not the city)
Four out of five stars, IMHO, for the Barcelona restaurant in Brookline. Barbara and I went there last night as a change of pace for our anniversary dinner. A major motivator was that we both love Barcelona, the city, and… Read More ›
“Why Chinese is so damn hard”
I just read a provocative essay by David Moser entitled “Why Chinese is so damn hard.” Is it really that hard? And are we talking about speaking Chinese or reading it? Hard compared to what? Hard for a foreigner or… Read More ›
Not a very large fraction of the whole world
By the way, MapLoco, someone should tell you that Puerto Rico is part of the United States and not a separate country, no what what Donald Trump thinks. Other than that (and a couple of other similar gaffes), this is… Read More ›
Yellow Door Taqueria
Barbara and I had an excellent dinner last night at Dorchester’s Yellow Door Taqueria, easily found by looking for… of course… the yellow door. I know that many people consider this a bar rather than a restaurant, but it’s successfully… Read More ›
Untranslatable words
One of the first things any article about sisu will tell you is that this Finnish word is untranslatable. (https://finland.fi/arts-culture/sisu-within-finnish-key-life-love-success/) ‘Sisu’ in Finnish means strength, perseverance in a task that for some may seem crazy to undertake, almost hopeless. (http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180502-sisu-the-finnish-art-of-inner-strength)… Read More ›
Teacher comments by race of student
Hmmm… Math teacher Bowman Dickson has gathered some statistics on the frequencies of various words used by teachers of various subjects in their report-card comments on high-school students. Here’s one of his charts: The phrase “more common” in the data above… Read More ›
Andrew Yang
It’s too bad he isn’t a very plausible candidate: look at that hat! (If you don’t recognize him, that’s Democratic candidate for president Andrew Yang.)
Those reviewers on Amazon are ____________ [fill in the blank]
As Tom Lehrer famously said, “the reason most reviews on Amazon are so atrocious is that they were written by the people.” Actually, that’s not quite what he said. He actually said “the reason most folk songs are so atrocious is… Read More ›
Babel
Read and enjoy this book! Don’t argue: just do it. You’ll learn a lot and will have fun along the way. As the subtitle to Babel — Around the World in Twenty Languages — suggests, Dutch linguist Gaston Dorren takes us… Read More ›
What kind of lies does he-who-shall-not-be-named tell? Bald-faced or bold-faced?
“I’m starving! I haven’t been fed in days!” says William. “Just look at that face!” That’s a typical cat lie. But is it a bald-faced lie? Or even a bold-faced lie? When I was a kid, interested in both language… Read More ›
Tones, Hmong, sounds, and spelling
The Hmong are a well-known ethnic group, right? Well, not exactly. They’re probably not well-known to you, unless you are particularly interested in southeast Asia or happen to live in Minneapolis or Fresno, even though there are about 15 million… Read More ›
Doing Justice
We all know that justice is blind. “And deaf and dumb,” many a commentator has added. But what is justice, and how do we ensure that it is done? Please don’t get your knowledge of our justice system from television! Read Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s… Read More ›
Rationality vs. Intelligence
What do IQ tests measure? Intelligence? Something else? Some of us think they measure how well you do on IQ tests… …and nothing else. Is that the same as intelligence? And how does intelligence differ from rationality? Read this article,… Read More ›
Computer Lib
What? A popular book about computers was published in 1974? “How is that even possible????” you ask. Computer Lib, by Ted Nelson, was indeed published in 1974, way before the World Wide Web, and it is undeniably and explicitly a popular… Read More ›
An outstanding vocal recital by a Weston student
Five years from now, when she’s nationally known, I’ll be able to say “I knew her when.” Yesterday I had the privilege of attending an outstanding vocal recital by Weston junior Kayla Silverman, one of my former geometry students. For… Read More ›
Is it even possible to have an intergenerational dialogue? Is that really what we had on Wednesday?
So, finally, it’s Wednesday, the last day of the reunion. (Well, the last day for me. I just don’t have the stamina to go to the afternoon session today or to hear Angela Merkel tomorrow.) Today’s symposium is an “intergenerational… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 