Month: June 2023
42
Was “42” ever a Jeopardy clue? If so, I suspect that most readers of this blog would respond with “What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?” or maybe just “What is the meaning… Read More ›
Where do you go for that special occasion?
It used to be easy. We always went to the Ashmont Grill. Sadly, the Grill is no more. Happily, there is Tavolo. Same owner, same manager, some of the same staff. So we went to Tavolo for our special occasion… Read More ›
What happened in Peekskill? And why have I never learned this?
All across the nation the people heard the taleAnd marveled at the concert, and knew we had not failedWe shed our blood at Peekskill, and suffered many a painBut we beat back the fascists and we’ll beat them back again!… Read More ›
Listen to Me
No, not the movie by the same name. I’m talking about Tess Gerritsen’s excellent new Rizzoli and Isles novel. As you expect from a Rizzoli and Isles story, there is a medical angle to the plot of Listen to Me…. Read More ›
Rethinking grading
“You got an A in Algebra One in your previous school, but you clearly don’t know very much algebra. How did you get that A?” was my question to a certain high-school freshman I was teaching. No, it was not… Read More ›
The Freedom Caucus shouts “Ban these books! It’s the American Way! Freedom!!!”
What does it remind you of? 1984? Fahrenheit 451? I don’t mean that people want to ban those particular books (though I’m sure they do); I mean that both of them are cautionary tales that remind you of the dangers… Read More ›
Don’t forget to make reservations!
So here we are, eating a delicious dinner at our third monthly visit to Via Cannuccia, and we look out the front window. We see three reservationless couples on the sidewalk waiting patiently for a table to open up; they… Read More ›
Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English
If you enjoy the English language, but aren’t a professional linguist, you will definitely enjoy this book. If you are sometimes, often, or (yikes) always a prescriptivist, but have an open mind, you’ll not only enjoy it but will also… Read More ›
Finland is part of Scandinavia, isn’t it? And Finnish is a Scandinavian language, isn’t it? Well…no.
More than 90% of Americans believe that Finland is part of Scandinavia and that Finnish is consequently a Scandinavian language. Actually, I made up that “more than 90%” claim. But it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it turned out… Read More ›
Among mysteries, novels are usually better than short stories. In science fiction, short stories are most often better than novels.
IMHO, the claim in the overly long title to this post is correct. YMMV, of course. If you agree with my conclusion, the natural question is to ask why this should be so. Here we have two similar, occasionally even… Read More ›
A new Agatha Christie? How can that be?
What have we here? It’s apparently a new collection of short stories by Agatha Christie (who died 47 years ago). Something is amiss! Midsummer Mysteries, subtitled Tales from the Queen of Mystery, is indeed marketed as a new collection of… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 