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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This is a democracy. Whoever gets the most votes wins… right?
Here we are, one day after primary elections in Massachusetts, and we see that whoever got the most votes in each race won. Right? Well, it’s not so simple. In the first place, one tenet of democracy is majority rule,… Read More ›
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All or Nothing
Culture. Literature. Memoirs…. Are they all based on Folklore and Mythology? A classmate of mine majored in that field — or should I say it was his “field of concentration” rather than “majored”? I always thought it was surprisingly specific as a… Read More ›
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Vote!
If you live in Massachusetts, be sure to vote tomorrow (Tuesday, 9/4) in the primaries! In most races in this state the primary is more important than the general election.
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A Penny for Your Thoughts
“A penny for your thoughts.” Does anyone say that anymore? Probably not. Part of being retired is that I get to do more sitting and thinking than usual. (“Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits,” to quote… Read More ›
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The Magicians
No, not the television show, which I’ve never seen. Just the eponymous novel it’s based on. And no, I haven’t yet read the two subsequent novels in Lev Grossman’s trilogy, so there’s nothing about either of them here either. You’ll… Read More ›
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Wear Red for Ed
Today would be our first day back. Although I am no longer in the classroom, I still Wear Red for Ed to support public education.
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Is attention to detail important?
You probably haven’t heard of Mark Rooney. He’s running for a seat on the Governor’s Council against long-time incumbent Chris Iannella — who may also be unknown to you, even though his family has been in Boston politics for many… Read More ›
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Did you know that Boston is 53% non-white?
I like this store, but…
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Arrival
It has been nearly two years since I’ve seen Arrival, so why am I just now getting around to writing about it? I have no idea why, but it just happened that way. Anyway, I couldn’t resist this movie, partly (largely?) because… Read More ›
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The Industry, Visit #3
Third time’s the charm, right? That’s what they say. Well, this was something of the reverse situation. Night before last was the third time that Barbara and I had dinner at The Industry. I had already written enthusiastic reviews of the… Read More ›
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What happened to our rear window?
We walked out to the driveway this morning, and this is what the rear window of our car looked like. How did that happen? We do have a large spruce tree that hangs over the car, but no large… Read More ›
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How to subscribe
A couple of my regular readers have asked me how to subscribe to this blog, so that they will be automagically notified whenever a new post appears. WordPress makes this process very simple: in the lower right corner of each… Read More ›
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Eighth Grade
Show of hands: Who wants to live through eighth grade again? I don’t see very many hands there. By now I’m sure you’ve heard of Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham’s all-too-real coming-of-age movie. Billed as a comedy, it’s mostly uncomfortable and… Read More ›
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Who on earth counts in base six?
All cultures count in base ten, because humans have ten fingers. That’s common knowledge — so common that it isn’t even true. It is, of course, true that most cultures count in base ten, with some obvious and well-known exceptions… Read More ›
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Your iPad or your chicken.
William is holding my iPad hostage until I give him some of my chicken:
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The golden meanie
Fellow math nerds: check out Sandra Boynton’s pet, Fibonacci. Of course he’s a golden meanie: She describes him thus: The Golden Meanie is a mythical beast of pleasing proportions but unpleasant temperament. Oh well. You can’t have everything.
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Vincent and Giraffe
Vincent likes his new giraffe rug. (Doesn’t look much like a giraffe to me, but what do I know?)
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Is Chinese a language? (I.e., is Chinese a language?)
Note the subtle use of italics to express emphasis in the title. 😀 Why do people persist in referring to Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, and so forth as dialects rather than languages? Actually, there are a couple of good explanations — “good”… Read More ›
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Weston alum blogs about Ireland and Tanzania.
Take a look at Studying abroad in Ireland and Tanzania, a wonderful travel blog by Weston alum Izzi Lambrecht, currently a rising senior at Holy Cross. For example, read her recent essay “Soooo How Much Agency Do We Have? Pondering in… Read More ›
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Educated
I’m not quite sure how I feel about Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated. Comparisons with Hillbilly Elegy, which I did not like, are inevitable. The stories are actually quite different, as are the attitudes of the narrators. I had referred to J.D. Vance (author of… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 