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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Which non-Anglophone countries speak English most fluently?
I’ve known lots of non-native speakers of English who speak English fluently. Some of these are friends of mine, some are friends of my family, some were my classmates, some are my students. But is there any pattern to the… Read More ›
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A Very Stable Genius
As you know, the U.S. is currently being led by “a very stable genius,” as our dear leader calls himself. I finally finished reading A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, written by two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from… Read More ›
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Unorthodox Quarantine Bonus
I was trying to avoid writing anything about the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, because that’s of course what everyone is talking about. But, sitting here in self-semiquarantine, I have just listened to a special 16-minute bonus episode of the Unorthodox… Read More ›
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Don’t Believe a Word!
Do you want to get a serious look at linguistics from an author who writes clearly for a general audience? If so, read David Shariatmadari’s Don’t Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth about Language. When I say it’s for a general audience, you… Read More ›
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Which states have you visited?
I’m not quite sure why this has been going around the Internet, but people are understandably reluctant to travel right now, so maybe it’s a good time for a visual representation of where you’ve been (USA only, unfortunately). Link is… Read More ›
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The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols
The perennial Sherlock Holmes strikes again! Nicholas Meyer, author of the famous The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, follows that up with another Holmes pastiche, this time with much more serious content: debunking the antisemitic hoax The Protocols of the Elders of Zion…. Read More ›
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Quidditch in Yiddish, etc
Surely you want to read the Harry Potter books in their new Yiddish translation, don’t you? “But I don’t read Yiddish!” you exclaim. That’s admittedly a handicap. But you can make some progress by sounding out the Hebrew letters (with… Read More ›
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You probably think this song is about ___________________ (who? not you).
Which picture shows Christine Lavin? Anyway, listen to her song about a certain someone:
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Bay State Model Railroad Museum Open House
So you’ve never heard of the Bay State Model Railroad Museum? Well, it exists, even if you haven’t heard of it. It’s very small — but yes, it does exist and seems to be thriving, right in the heart of… Read More ›
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What difference could a few zeroes make? Zero is nothing, isn’t it?
Bloomberg spent $500 million on ads. The U.S. population is 327 million. He could have given each American $1 million check and still have money left over. I feel like a $1 million check would be life-changing for most people…. Read More ›
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Which is better, having or wanting?
“After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.” — Mr. Spock in “Amok Time.” I’ve recently been watching various recommended episodes… Read More ›
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“Any Dem will do.”
Vote Blue, no matter who! And here is the inestimable Randy Rainbow: In case you don’t know the original for this song, check out how Randy compares to Donny Osmond.
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Dim sum at Chau Chow
During a brief break from her 14-hour stint as an election warden at the polls yesterday, Barbara and I had a delicious dim sum lunch at Chau Chow on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. Since it’s a weekday, there were not… Read More ›
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Words for Granted
Don’t take words for granted. But do take Words for Granted. What can that possibly mean? Words for Granted is a pop-linguistics “podcast about how words change over time,” in their own words. They’re going strong at 83 episodes so… Read More ›
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Tsundoku: The practice of buying more books than you can read
The Japanese have a word for it. According to Melissa Breyer, “tsundoku” describes piling up books to save for later… even if you’ll never actually read them. Thank you, Betsy Miessner, for this link. I don’t speak Japanese (despite a few… Read More ›
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What’s wrong with grammar.com?
Apparently there’s one four-letter word that “does great damage to way too many people.” No, not that word. This one is “like.” So says Edward Good, the developer of grammar.com; check out the excellent (and very short) article on this… Read More ›
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Wrong address?
Somehow I suspect that they sent this to the wrong email address. Should I fill out the form? I do meet three of their criteria, after all.
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Gaslight
Barbara and I had a special dinner last night at Gaslight, a “classic French restaurant in the South End of Boston” in their own words. The first thing to say is that they have free parking in their own parking… Read More ›
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They know how to keep warm…
…even when the furnace isn’t working.
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Can a man write a good novel? Or can only a woman do that?
I only read women. I know that men write books. But their lives are so limited. It’s such a small and narrow experience. That’s what famous author Marian Keyes says (in the Daily Mail of all places). It startles us in… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 