Author Archives
In 2018 I semi-retired by retiring from Weston High School after my 21st year teaching mathematics there. This was also my 44th year as a teacher altogether. In 2023 I retired fully, adding in my 18 years at Harvard’s Crimson Summer Academy each summer. For 21 years I had taught at the Saturday Course in Milton, MA, and I used to serve on the board of the Dorchester Historical Society.
I read, cook, and spend a lot of time building my model railroad. For some reason I’m left with less free time than would be ideal, considering that I’m supposed to be retired, but somehow I also manage to devote time to my wife, Barbara, and to our varying number of cats (once up to six, but now sadly down to one).
Larry Davidson
ljd@larrydavidson.com
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If you don’t love this book… what’s wrong with you?
Christine Lavin has been one of my favorite singer-songwriters for forty-odd years (some odder than others). I most recently saw her in concert three months ago, and that inspired me to read her memoir, Cold Pizza for Breakfast. Even though… Read More ›
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JD Vance: A view from the recent past
Now we know who our next VP is going to be. Well… maybe not.. but let’s look back at what I wrote on August 8, 2017, and subsequently on August 28, 2022: Post of 8/8/2017: What an irritating book! Even… Read More ›
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Building a model railroad structure, week 10
Finally, the house and detached garage are done! It will take a few more weeks before we can see them in context, as the surrounding neighborhood isn’t quite complete (it’s missing some streets and most of the landscaping). When all… Read More ›
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Trying new (to us) dishes at Tavolo
So often, it seems, we get the same menu items at Tavolo. That’s because they’re so good! But it was time to try something new. Not to jump right into new things, however, we started with our traditional kale Caesar… Read More ›
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They claim to speak 20… or 50… or even… wait for it… 367 languages!
Me (in front of my geometry class) (Don’t ask): What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Several members of the class simultaneously: trilingual. Me: What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Several members of the class… Read More ›
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Building a model railroad structure, week 9
More progress, as the Goldbergs get close to the scheduled date for their closing. They needed a mezuzah before the closing — and remember that it’s 1969, so they had to look up Mezuzahs in the Yellow Pages (if you’re… Read More ›
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Not just for nerds, not just for geeks.
Suppose you heard from someone (me, for instance) that you might enjoy a book titled Thinking Inside the Box. What would you expect it to be about? Perhaps some sort of pushback against those of us who advocate thinking outside… Read More ›
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Building a model railroad structure, week 8
Porch is done, including the columns, porch roof, and stairway.
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dBar
Lovely anniversary dinner yesterday out on the patio at dBar! (Zeus must have approved, because it stopped raining just before we got there, and it didn’t pick up again until we got home.) It was hard to know what to… Read More ›
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The Mathematical Murder of Innocence
You could call this a non-fiction novel. You could, that is, if that genre name hadn’t been pre-empted by Truman Capote back in the ’60s. Or you could call it historical fiction, if that genre name hadn’t had a long… Read More ›
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Building a model railroad structure, week 7
Right now the contractor claims she’s still on time and under budget! Never heard of such a thing, but let’s take a look at her progress. Here are two views of the house right now, front and back: I’m sure… Read More ›
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Sourdough (a science fiction novel, not a manual for breadbaking!)
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s a current publishing trend. Whatever the reason, I seem to be reading too many dystopian novels these days. Actually, though, Robin Sloan’s wonderful novel Sourdough turns out not to be dystopian after all. It… Read More ›
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Building a model railroad structure, week 6
The four walls and the basement have finally assembled themselves into something approximating a house: The prospective homeowners came by — against the realtor’s advice — to look at the progress. They were unhappy to find that they got wet… Read More ›
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Think globally, shop locally.
My new glasses were ready, so Barbara and I made the brief trek down to Eye & Eye. As we have good parking karma, a legal parking spot opened up for us right in front of Eye & Eye on… Read More ›
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This is not a book review.
Of course I knew I was going to enjoy The Cypher Bureau. As a historical novel about the Polish cryptologists who deciphered The Enigma in World War II, it combines a topic that deeply interests me (cryptology) with an aspect… Read More ›
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Death on the Down Beat
As the title suggests, it’s a mystery novel. As the title suggests, a musician is murdered. But that’s probably as far as your expectations will be fulfilled. Speaking of expectations, as supervisors like to say, the author exceeds expectations. Of… Read More ›
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Building a model railroad structure, week 5
As you know, the focus of this series is on constructing a suburban house on my model railroad layout, using a commercial kit. Before I continue that discussion, I need to point out that there are at least two other… Read More ›
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Red Side Story
Red Side Story is the second novel of a two- (some predict three-) volume series by Jasper Fforde. Back on April 26 I reviewed the first volume, Shades of Grey. Why the delay, you ask? Talk to the Boston Public… Read More ›
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Trying some possibly new menu items at Tavolo
These items were new to me, but may or may not be new to the Tavolo menu. In any case, Barbara and I felt a sudden need to have dinner at Tavolo last night, so of course we had to… Read More ›
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Who is Will Dean? Have you read any of his books?
Recently I read First Born, by Will Dean. Although I had never heard of this author before, the enthusiastic reviews of this thriller persuaded me to give it a try. Admittedly it has no pretensions to being great literature, b… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 