William, Flicka, and Vincent — as you can see — were observing proper social distancing as they lined up six feet apart, waiting patiently for their dinner last night. (BTW, William isn’t quite as large as the perspective makes him… Read More ›
Life
Masks
Barbara and I have new masks, hand-made with love by our niece Aviva. (Unfortunately the cats think that they’re cat toys because of the dangly straps.)
Apart-ment
You will want to read a longish poem just published by my favorite Canadian linguist, James Harbeck. Before then, note what he has to say about words: Words are delicious and intoxicating. They do much more than just denote; they have appearance,… Read More ›
William thinks he’s on TV.
He thinks he’s on TV. He doesn’t realize he’s just sitting in a box from BJs.
High-school graduation photo
Everyone seems to be posting their high-school graduation picture on Facebook these days. So, I guess I have to join ’em. Here we are. P.A. 1965:
Math and cats
(This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post. I suggest reading it first, if you haven’t done so already.) A quote from John Horton Conway in today’s MathBlab: You know, people think mathematics is complicated. Mathematics is the simple bit. It’s… Read More ›
Wiggins is self-isolating.
This is Wiggins. She peers through the bars because she thinks that quarantine is like jail. No, she’s not one of ours; her human is our friend Meredith.
No social distancing?
Apparently they don’t understand about social distancing.
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 ›
You probably think this song is about ___________________ (who? not you).
Which picture shows Christine Lavin? Anyway, listen to her song about a certain someone:
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 ›
“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.
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.
They know how to keep warm…
…even when the furnace isn’t working.
Listen and vote!
“The Day Democracy Died”: vote for whichever candidate the Democrats nominate! But first listen to this song. (Thanks for the link, David Schwartz!)
Iowa and Ireland: election math
What happened in Iowa? Well, we don’t really know for sure how Mayor Pete managed to astonish everyone, but that’s not what I’m writing about here. And what does it have to do with Ireland anyway? The issue is one… Read More ›
We need a respite from xenophobia.
Our xenophobic president is about to be acquitted of the high crimes and misdemeanors that he committed. His “alleged” actions have been proved, even according to Mitch McConnell’s good friend Senator Lamar Alexander (R, TN), who voted against additional witnesses… Read More ›
“There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.”
Leonard Cohen, Louise Penny, and Michael Connelly have nothing to do with each other. Nothing obvious, at any rate. But there’s an important connection that all these artists share, embodied by the quotation in the title to this post, which… Read More ›
Our War
This novel is strictly fictional. It’s just fiction, I tell you. It’s purely coincidental that Craig DiLouie’s Our War is about a Republican president who is impeached by the House, and then is convicted by the Senate (!), and then… wait for it…… Read More ›
Why do so many girls and women leave STEM?
No, I’m not going to mansplain the situation. I just want to draw your attention to a pair of essays about it, one by Karen Morenz, embedded within another by Scott Aaronson. My expectation is that nobody will disagree with… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 