Continuing with my 50th reunion, check out this map of Pennsylvania’s second Congressional district, which is actually not the most gerrymandered in the country, although it’s in the running. It illustrates what I had expected when I decided to go… Read More ›
“True-blue American Yalie George Bush versus pinko-Crimson Harvard Mike Dukakis.” That‘s what some Republicans were saying back in 1988 when George H.W. Bush was running against Michael Dukakis. The color prejudices are understandable, and maybe even the college prejudices, but… Read More ›
Not everything went wrong. In many ways we did change the world. Continuing to describe my 50th reunion of the Harvard Class, let’s move on to a Tuesday symposium titled “We were going to change the world. What went right?… Read More ›
No, it wasn’t a political rally. It was a reunion: the 50th reunion of the Harvard Class of 1969. One speaker, Bob Hughes, exemplified a running theme of the entire reunion by pointing out what we can do: “Vote early… Read More ›
Exhausting and overwhelming! That’s what the first day of my 50th Reunion was like. Not so much for the usual reason that exhausts and overwhelms us introverts — too many people — but because of the intensity of the experiences… Read More ›
Did you hear that they’re teaching Arabic numerals in public schools? I’m shocked, shocked. In America, no less! What is this world coming to? A recent poll showed that 56% of Americans don’t want public schools to teach Arabic numerals…. Read More ›
My former student Julia Metraux is a staff writer for The Tempest, an online magazine that describes itself like this: The Tempest is the guide for diverse women to share, feel, and claim their voices – and power. We’re the… Read More ›
William is helping with the iPad:
It’s a dark panel in a dark elevator, so I’m not sure how well you can see the details, but this is the elevator panel in the hotel where Barbara and I have been staying in NYC. The puzzle is… Read More ›
Two days ago I wrote about my favorite linguistics podcasts. Now check out my five favorite non-linguistic ones, especially the first two: Pod Save America Stay Tuned with Preet Hidden Brain Serious Eats Unorthodox
Yikes! My 50th college reunion is coming up! (You already know this if you happen to have read a certain post that I wrote a couple of months ago.) What was the famous class of 1969 like? “All happy graduating… Read More ›
Six topics in a single blog post? How can that be? Well, it’s all because those are six of the topics discussed in a single blog post in Scott Aaronson’s interesting blog, Shtetl-Optimized — all being examples of things that make… Read More ›
Coleman Road, Arlington (corner of Wildwood Ave). That looks like a first-rate job, safe and secure, doesn’t it? Excellent carpentry, Verizon!
Douglas peers down over the edge of a scary cliff:
In my naive youth, I had no idea what a “friend of Dorothy” was; in-group descriptors, after all, are always known to members of the in group (and allies) long before they are known to the general public. “Friend of… Read More ›
That tiny little Mollie doesn’t look quite so tiny when she’s stretched out on her kitty couch:
For more reasons than one you need to read Angela Clarke’s story from six years ago. Shoutout to my sister-in-law Brenda for alerting me to this excerpt from Clarke’s account: My own fragility revealed that a library is not just… Read More ›
Schools in this entire area (not just Roxbury Latin!) are closed today in honor of Ἐξελαύνω (Exelauno) Day. Or maybe there’s some other reason.
Yesterday I posted this problem: Great Fermi problem that I just heard on the Ask Me Another quiz show on NPR: Estimate how many Tater Tots were consumed in the U.S. during all of 2017. The answer (from CBS News)… Read More ›
Great Fermi problem that I just heard on the Ask Me Another quiz show on NPR: Estimate how many Tater Tots were consumed in the U.S. during all of 2017. Correct answer will be posted in this space tomorrow.
Learning Strategies 