Can this really be true? George W. Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover who has no Jews in his cabinet at all and has appointed no Jews to the Federal bench. — Professor Sherman L. Cohn, Georgetown University… Read More ›
Life
Hip hop fo' Hebrews, and three cheers for Goths
Thanks to sashinka for these two links: Hip hop fo’ Hebrews. An article explaining why parents should be happy if their kids belong to the goth subculture.
Who has time to read blogs?
“Who has time to read blogs?” asked one of my colleagues. She went on to guess that blogs can’t have very many readers, since no one has time to read them. “Actually,” I replied, “some blogs have large numbers of… Read More ›
Birkenstocks
According to movie director Jason Reitman: Nothing says “I want to tell you how to live your life” more than Birkenstocks.
George Bush, student of English
One of my students is having great difficulty understanding the abstract ideas of additive and multiplicative inverses and identities, especially in the context of matrix algebra. Finally he’s so frustrated that he exclaims, “I feel like George Bush in an… Read More ›
No driver's license? Something must be wrong!
In a tone of shock and amazement, one of my sophomores asked me, “Did you hear that our new principal doesn’t have a driver’s license?” Several of his classmates chipped in, in a similar tone. Apparently this was supposed to… Read More ›
The Harvard Coup
No, that’s not a typo. I don’t mean the Harvard Coop; I’m referring to the forced resignation of Harvard President Larry Summers, which Alan Dershowitz rightly calls a coup. Definitely read Dershowitz’s column! I do have a certain bias in… Read More ›
Bill Gates Redux
We don’t have to like Bill Gates, and we certainly don’t have to like Microsoft, but we do have to admit that Gates has changed. He’s making an impact by doing fine work as a philanthropist, and occasionally he’s even… Read More ›
The Year of the Dog
You may have heard that dogs have masters but cats have staff. It’s true. Even though Barbara and I are privileged to share our house with five cats — well, actually six at the moment, since we have temporary custody… Read More ›
Law and order and suicide
Catching up on last week’s television shows with the wonders of the VCR — soon to be replaced by the greater wonders of TiVo — I just watched the excellent January 18 episode of Law & Order, Heart of Darkness…. Read More ›
MyLifeBits, Borges, and big ideas
On yesterday’s episode of NPR’s Living on Earth, Steven Cherry interviewed Gordon Bell about his project at Microsoft, called MyLifeBits. Bell is in the process of recording everything in his life in digital form: Gordon Bell has captured a lifetime’s… Read More ›
Getting things done
For several months now, I’ve been determined to implement some version of David Allen’s compelling Getting Thing Done. His book by that title was one of those rare self-help books that immediately grabbed my attention and thoroughly convinced me that… Read More ›
Who buys lottery tickets?
Try doing a Google search on the pair of phrases “lottery tickets” “tax on the poor”; you’ll find surprisingly few hits. Change poor to stupid and you’ll collect a few more hits, but still only 507 (at this moment). I’ve… Read More ›
Dadaism lives
As reported on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday this morning, we will be observing International Dadaism Month for a short month consisting of only 13 days: 4 February, 1 April, 28 March, 15 July, 2 August, 7 August, 16 August, 26… Read More ›
From David Allen
Two quotations (from David Allen’s newsletter): A task left undone remains undone in two places — at the actual location of the task, and inside your head. Incomplete tasks in your head consume the energy of your attention as they… Read More ›
The night before solstice
’Twas the last day for this session’s Saturday Course. The “On Stage” class performed James Finn Garner’s very amusing “’Twas the Night before Solstice,” which begins as follows: Twas the night before solstice and all through the co-opNot a creature… Read More ›
Too funny
A parody of one of those pharmaceutical-company ads for a prescription medicine. A Japanese documentary on how to eat sushi.
An invitation from Tufts Health Plan
The form letter begins as follows: Dear Rosalita Davidson, Do you have a plan for retirement? Remember, there’s more to consider than the size of your pension or 401(K). There’s also your health insurance. Medicare is important. But it may… Read More ›
Anti-Semitism?
Conversation overheard in the Math/Science Office the other day: Ms. X [to Student Y]: I need a babysitter for my kids. Do you babysit? Student Y: Yes, I do. Ms. X: You aren’t Jewish, are you? Student Y: No. Not… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 