I’m once again overdue for a blog post. But this time I have the excuse that it’s been an unexpectedly fabulous and eventful summer. So here’s a quick recap: In late May and early June, I went back to the UK. Highlights included: going on a walking tour in North Wales and climbing Snowdon* with […]
It seems to help me move new projects from the “maybe” stage in my head (a.k.a. the “brain crack” stage, to borrow Ze Frank’s unforgettable terminology) to the “out into the world” stage if I say, in public, that I’m going to do them. This doesn’t always work — my NoNaShoStoWriMo project fizzled out, for […]
I’m becoming more and more interested in informal models of education — specifically, in the kinds of informal education that take place outside of educational institutions, and that aim at teaching people skills that aren’t always taught in schools, and providing spaces for community and conversation as well. And, ideally, food. For instance: Someday I […]
Inspired by friends in the blogosphere, I’ve been participating in the January 2012 River of Stones project. The idea is that every day you write a short burst of prose, some sort of observation of the world, and then either blog it or tweet it. I’ve been confining mine to less than 140 characters so […]
Hello again, blogosphere! I'm back from my almost-two-weeks-in-the-UK mostly-vacation, having richly enjoyed nearly every minute of it.* There will be more of a travel narrative before long, with pictures; right now, I'm still catching up after a couple of mostly internet-less weeks. Which means it's time for a quick link-roundup post of things seen here, […]
A semi-frivolous post, because I have a few weightier posts turning over in my head, but I've been too quiet here of late… Several of my friends from Facebook and the blogosphere were passing around links to amazing science-themed and literary tattoos over the summer.* Which got me thinking. I've been intrigued by the idea […]
Sorry for the unannounced blog hiatus. There wasn't really a reason for it; I was just severely lacking in inspiration there for a while. Now I've got a backup of things I've been meaning to post about, which means it's time for a massive link dump: Last weekend's Amazon.com "glitch" (a.k.a. #amazonfail) that resulted in […]
…but it is rather silly, in its own way. Consider: First there was the Facebook Hamlet, at McSweeney's. Then there was the Facebook Aeneid ("Dido changed her relationship status to Married. Aeneas changed his relationship status to It's Complicated.") and the Facebook Pride and Prejudice.* And the college class that reenacted Romeo and Juliet on […]
So where were you yesterday for President Obama's inauguration? I was at work, but we had a bunch of viewing rooms all over campus set aside for the occasion. I wound up in one of the library viewing rooms with several coworkers, commenting from time to time but mostly just sitting and watching history unfold. […]