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 ›
Life
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 ›
Are men malingerers?
According to the Boston Globe: Men are twice as likely as women to play hooky by calling in sick, according to a recent poll. The 11th annual Attitudes in the American Workplace poll, reported by the Marlin Co., a workplace… Read More ›
Bullet voting, pro and con
On Tuesday, Boston voters will go to the polls in the “preliminary election” for City Council. Something like a primary, the preliminary election narrows each race down to a number of candidates equal to twice the number who will be… Read More ›
No bad puns
In this week’s New York Times Magazine, language expert William Safire observes that there are no bad puns: Remember, there are no “bad” puns — all plays on words are good, and the louder the groans they elicit, the better…. Read More ›
Unitarians and Catholics
From the continuing saga of the Library Committee of the Dorchester Historical Society: I come across an issue of the First Parish Church newsletter from 1956. One page includes an annotated reproduction of an ad that the Catholic Church had… Read More ›
Such a well-qualified ambassador
It’s nice to know that our president appoints such well-informed ambassadors, isn’t it? Here is an excerpt from a CBC interview with our new ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins: Q: Have you ever been to Canada before? A: Ah, many… Read More ›
Distribution of U.S. incomes
Check out this interesting visual representation of U.S. income distribution. Try zooming out and out and out…
Chris Lydon redux
Yesterday Christopher Lydon returned to NPR with his new show/blog called Open Source. Day #2 concluded a few minutes ago. Actually, of course, it was only the broadcast portion that concluded a few minutes ago. The Internet portion — the… Read More ›
William of Orange
The newest member of our family: William of Orange
Why start now? First thoughts…
For a year now I’ve been thinking of starting a blog. But there was never a reason to start it today. Tomorrow would do. Or the next day. Or the next day. So why start one now? The proximate reason… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 