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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It Happened One Night
Romcoms have never held much appeal for me, not even when they were made in 1934 and were called screwball comedies, and not even when they starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Nevertheless, I watched It Happened One Night, since… Read More ›
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Before I Go to Sleep (the book, not the movie)
It’s obvious that author S.J. Watson had seen the movie Memento before writing his first novel, Before I Go to Sleep. What isn’t obvious (at least to me) was that a mediocre movie of the same title was made from… Read More ›
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William says…
“Tessellations are meant for sitting on,” says William, “as long as there’s a soft rug between me and the tiles.”
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Three ways to rescue writing assignments from the curse of AI
Following up on my post of December 16: the internet has been atwitter recently (no pun intended) with news about the first artificial intelligence that is likely to pass the Turing Test. (If you don’t know what that is, you… Read More ›
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That feeling when…you’re trying to enjoy Venice during a pandemic
I mean Venice, Italy, of course. Not Florida or California or Las Vegas or any other inauthentic place. Not that I visited Italy during the pandemic—at least not IRL—but I did manage a virtual visit by reading Give unto Others,… Read More ›
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Returning (again!) to the Grill—this time for NYE
Completing our Dining in Dorchester holiday week trifecta, Barbara and I followed up Sunday’s Christmas dinner at Chau Chow and Wednesday’s baked stuffed lobster from Adams Fish with New Year’s Eve dinner at our local favorite, the Ashmont Grill. We… Read More ›
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BSL@AFM (mmm…lobstah!)
Dr. Google seems to think that BSL stands for either British Sign Language or Breed-Specific Legislation or maybe even Biosafety Level. “But what,” you ask, “do any of those have to do with lobster?” Nothing, of course. That’s because BSL… Read More ›
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A very traditional Christmas dinner
In accordance with tradition, Barbara and I had our Christmas dinner yesterday at a Chinese restaurant: Chau Chow in Dorchester. It was more a feast than a dinner, leaving plenty of yummy leftovers. Unfortunately they were sold out of roast… Read More ›
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They say that Christmas is for everyone—even Jews. But is it?
Julie Golick posted the following observations to Facebook in 2018. In response to several requests, she then made the post shareable by all . Every year, I run into a discussion about how Christmas isn’t REALLY religious anymore and about… Read More ›
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Fantastic ______s and Where to Find Them
This book reminds me of the caller who asked the Magliozzi brothers a question about his Volkswagen Quantum: he couldn’t get it repaired because he didn’t know any Quantum mechanics. What’s the connection? Well, first you need to know what… Read More ›
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Answers for linguistics quiz
Six days ago I gave you a linguistics quiz that Lynne Murphy designed for the holiday season. The quiz is reprinted below so you don’t have to flip back and forth. Here are the answers, with annotations in some cases:… Read More ›
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At holiday time…
…we always want to return to our local favorite where everybody knows your name. In our case, that’s the Ashmont Grill, with excellent food, first-class service, and the feeling of being home. So Barbara and I had our penultimate 2022… Read More ›
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Hints for linguistics quiz
Four days ago I gave you a linguistics quiz that Lynne Murphy designed for the holiday season. The quiz is reprinted below so you don’t have to flip back and forth. Full answers will be posted on Tuesday. For the… Read More ›
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ChatGPT from OpenAI
Apparently I’m late jumping on the bandwagon. Everywhere I look, someone else is trying out ChatGPT and commenting on it. This app is supposed to respond like a real human being, given any particular prompt you may type. So I… Read More ›
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Flicka naps in the sun.
Flicka is feeling Turkish and has found the best place to nap on a sunny day:
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Your lingquiz for the season
You have been selected to take this language/linguistics quiz written by an American-British linguist. No fair asking Dr. Google or anyone else for help! Hints will be posted on Sunday, answers on Tuesday.
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Did Hemingway write in short sentences? You probably think so. But you’re wrong! Science wins again.
You can believe actual data. We’ll call that Door #1. Or you can believe your general “impression.” We’ll call that Door #2. Or you can believe what other people tell you—the “common knowledge” that everyone “knows.” We’ll call that Door… Read More ›
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Why are there so many Thai restaurants when there are so few Thai Americans?
According to the U.S. Census, far fewer than one tenth of one percent of Massachusetts residents identify as Thai. So why are there so many Thai restaurants? For instance, on Dorchester Avenue alone we have three: Just Thai, Thai Oishi,… Read More ›
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Searching for Italy in Dorchester
Pizza and pasta: that’s what 72% of all Americans think Italian food consists of. But we know better here in Dorchester. There’s no need to drive to the North End, where it’s impossible to park. Just go to Chris Douglass’s… Read More ›
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“Dear parents of math geniuses…,” writes Tanya Khovanova
As a teacher, would you prefer hearing from Parent A or Parent B? Parent A: “My ten-year-old finished her calculus course: here is her picture to post on your blog.” Parent B: “My daughter can’t do math, but I told… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 