Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 38

• Twelve Gifts for Writers

  By ljd42 on January 28, 2021

  

  What a refreshing antidote to that horrid book of unscientific advice that I won’t name here. You know which horrid book I’m talking about: that undeservedly famous guide by Strunk and White. The antidote is the little book Twelve Gifts for Writers by… Read More ›

• Nerds, Harry Potter, and Burmese translations: what do these have in common?

  By ljd42 on January 27, 2021

  

  You know those “Common Bonds” puzzles, a.k.a. “What do these three have in common?” Look at the title to this post. The first two items are easy—nerds have a lot in common with Harry Potter—but Burmese translations? Take a look… Read More ›

• Support your local restaurants!

  By ljd42 on January 25, 2021

  

  Barbara and I continue to follow Tara and Michaela’s advice: support your local restaurants! Last night we had fantastic take-out from the Ashmont Grill: bacon-wrapped meatloaf with mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and mushroom gravy; wood-grilled 12 oz. ribeye steak with roasted… Read More ›

• Suppose you lived on a dodecahedron. How would you avoid your neighbors?

  By ljd42 on January 24, 2021

  

  “Suppose you lived on a dodecahedron,” I say. “How would you avoid your neighbors?” “But I don’t live on a dodecahedron,” you claim. “Anyway, what if I don’t want to avoid my neighbors?” Stop! This is mathematics. We make abstractions away from the real… Read More ›

• Lost Yiddish words?

  By ljd42 on January 23, 2021

  

  “Every language changes.” This is a standard response when peevers complain about “bad” English. In fact, it’s appropriate response #1. As you know, peevers file regular grievances about singular “they,” about new words, new meanings, the word “irregardless,” slang, the willingness… Read More ›

• The 99% Invisible City

  By ljd42 on January 21, 2021

  

  “Always read the plaque.” This is getting out of control. I now have 13 books on my list of Top Ten Favorite Books! The 99% Invisible City is now the thirteenth. Something has to be done. And why, you ask, are there 13 books… Read More ›

• Gym Jordan, grammar expert

  By ljd42 on January 19, 2021

  

  Leading Republican congressman Jim Jordan is well-known as an expert on “pronouns“:

• A number theory discovery by a 12-year-old Nigerian boy! And one by an 11-year-old Massachusetts girl!

  By ljd42 on January 18, 2021

  

  Everyone knows the stereotype: mathematical discoveries are made by white and Asian males in their 20s and 30s. Right? Well, like all stereotypes, there’s a certain amount of statistical reality that supports this impression and obscures all examples to the… Read More ›

• What’s wrong with being named Quartus anyway?

  By ljd42 on January 16, 2021

  

  So you’ve never heard of the name Quartus? I’m not surprised. Almost no one, after all, is named Quartus. But why not? Peter Gainsford answers the question—and other questions as well, most of which you didn’t even know you had…. Read More ›

• The road to hell

  By ljd42 on January 15, 2021

  

  Suppose you did something wrong—unintentionally. Does your lack of ill intent mitigate the offense? The issue arose recently in a slightly heated conversation with a good friend of mine. I was upset with her because she had inadvertently done something… Read More ›

• Tavolo

  By ljd42 on January 13, 2021

  

  Barbara and I had a yummy take-out dinner last night from Tavolo via curbside pickup: meatballs, polenta with mushroom, shrimp scampi with fettuccine, chitara amatriciana, and flourless chocolate cake. Plenty of leftovers! I am pretending that it was all low-calorie… Read More ›

• Another sign in Dot

  By ljd42 on January 12, 2021

  

  Spotted on today’s walk in Dorchester, at the corner of Neponset Ave and South Monroe Terrace:    

• Dorchester loves Georgia.

  By ljd42 on January 11, 2021

  

  Spotted on Carruth Street during yesterday’s walk:  

• That’s Life. “Uncertainty is the only certainty.”

  By ljd42 on January 10, 2021

  

  This is life: In a world where truth seems to be at a premium and the future unsure, it’s comforting to know precisely when the sun is going to come up and that when it does, it will do so… Read More ›

• The (apparently) oxymoronic Anthology of Cozy-Noir

  By ljd42 on January 8, 2021

  

  Cozy-noir? Cozy and noir? Hmmm… certainly sounds like an oxymoronic pair of mystery sub-genres! But maybe editor Andrew MacRae has something up his sleeve. Has he managed to combine the two into a seamless whole? It was an intriguing enough… Read More ›

• “Why haven’t I ever been to Petra?”

  By ljd42 on January 6, 2021

  

  That’s what I kept asking myself as I was watching the PBS Nova episode Petra, Lost City of Stone, which I somehow missed when it first aired six years ago. This amazing archaeological site in Jordan competes in quality with… Read More ›

• Should the passive voice be avoided? And what’s wrong with Strunk? And what about White, while we’re at it?

  By ljd42 on January 5, 2021

  

  The bill was signed by the president. The bill remained on the president’s desk for five days. Mistakes were made. All three of those sentences are in the passive voice, right? Actually, wrong. Only the first and third are. So… Read More ›

• A belated New Years Eve feast from Ashmont Grill

  By ljd42 on January 4, 2021

  

  Yes, it was three days late, but it was worth the wait! Barbara and I ordered a huge take-out feast from our favorite restaurant, the Ashmont Grill. It will take us another three days to eat it all. The four… Read More ›

• How many of you are there?

  By ljd42 on January 3, 2021

  

  “There’s only one of me!” you protest. But that’s not what I mean. Co-host of the Unorthodox podcast Mark Oppenheimer discovered (unsurprisingly) that there are others who share his name, and that got me wondering: How many Larry Davidsons are… Read More ›

• Harvard, Homosexuality, and the Shaping of American Culture

  By ljd42 on January 2, 2021

  

  The title of this post is actually only the subtitle of the book, as you can see in the image of the cover. But “Harvard, Homosexuality, and the Shaping of American Culture” is more specific than the book’s main title,… Read More ›

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