Five days ago I wrote a brief review of E.J. Copperman’s third mystery novel in his Jersey Girl series. I pointed out that I had inadvertently skipped the second novel in the series, Judgment at Santa Monica. I commented that it… Read More ›
Month: July 2022
We have hope for the future: My students’ interdisciplinary presentations
👏 We just finished listening to the interdisciplinary presentations from my students’ end-of-summer projects. As you know, the course is an applied math course called Quantitative Reasoning; these rising sophomores showed just that with passion and commitment. In the words… Read More ›
Books with linguists
Read that title again: it’s books with linguists, not books for linguists. This thought came from a post on Language Log, in which Barbara Phillips Long asks whether “there are books with linguists as major characters.” Commenters came to the rescue, with… Read More ›
Two different worlds: my students’ favorite musical artists
Yesterday we conducted a mock election to determine my students’ favorite musical artists using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). The purpose was to let them experience RCV first-hand by going through a simulation. I think it accomplished that goal. What most… Read More ›
Great fun! This is a truly enjoyable mystery novel!
I am not a big reader of cozies. But this is a worthwhile exception. I’m talking about Witness for the Persecution, by E.J. Copperman. Or is it by Jeff Cohen? Anyway, yes, the word is persecution, not prosecution. You’re probably… Read More ›
Too hot to cook!
Yes, I know. Going out to eat twice in one week is decadent. But it’s just so hot. Definitely too hot to cook. So we went to our usual favorite, the Ashmont Grill. Barbara started with what used to be… Read More ›
A European view on languages
Seven Languages in Seven Days! That sure sounds familiar. Four years ago I taught a four-day course that was somewhat misleadingly called Five Languages in Five Days (check out the link), so my eye was certainly caught by a description… Read More ›
Tavolo
Too hot to cook last night! So we just had to go out to eat at Tavolo. It was quite a sacrifice, but someone had to do it. Unfortunately, they were understaffed. Poor Chris was the only server! But he… Read More ›
Atrius/Harvard Vanguard acquired by a for-profit company
Not that I’m worried or anything…I’m sure that the quality of my health care will continue to be just as good, now that the non-profit medical practice I have used for half a century has been acquired by a for-profit… Read More ›
შემომეჭამა
There might be a typo in that title! Did you catch it? No, this not just a bunch of squiggles! It’s a real word, written in a real script, in a real language—one that is spoken by four million real… Read More ›
Three steamed lobstahs
Freshly steamed take-out from George at Adams Fish Market. The cats are very curious.
224 again (does that make 448?)
A delicious dinner last night in an outside umbrella’d booth at 224 Boston Street. Barbara started with kung pao calamari, followed by a southwest salad. I started with pork dumplings, followed by a pan-seared duck breast with roasted carrot purée,… Read More ›
The Oxford Brotherhood
If you’re interested in academic mysteries, read this novel. If you’re interested in Lewis Carroll, read this novel. If you’re interested in mathematical logic, read this novel. In all these cases, the novel in question is The Oxford Brotherhood, by… Read More ›
Julia Metraux on “How queer Jews reclaimed Yiddish.”
My former Weston High School student, Julia Métraux, has published a really interesting article about the reclaiming of Yiddish by queer Jews. As you know, I’ve written several posts that mention Yiddish, most recently one about the Yiddish-German connection. You… Read More ›
Miriam and Alan explore Scotland.
Which two actors are these? Yes, Alan is Alan Cumming, as you suspected. And Miriam is Miriam Margolyes, who has appeared in dozens of films but is best known (in certain circles) as Professor Sprout in several of the Harry… Read More ›
Don’t shoot off fireworks in residential neighborhoods…
…where they scare cats and dogs, trigger PTSD in war veterans, and are illegal.
42: From crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life
Another exciting book from A.J. Jacobs! 42: From crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life is not the title of the book. As Lewis Carroll might say, it’s not even the name of the book. Nor is it what… Read More ›
Can you pronounce dBar as one syllable?
Barbara and I had a lovely dinner at dBar, outside on their beautiful patio…but we forgot to take pictures! ☹️ I suppose that means it didn’t happen. So we’ll settle for a photo from OpenTable. Barbara started with a “jumbo… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 