Category

Humor

Who’s your Daddy?: Cack-Handed Genealogies, Seashells, and Right-Angled Lines

Reflecting on the titles of Charles Darwin’s most famous books, Origin of the Species and The Descent of Man, the narrator in The Door-Man is drawn into a reverie about their inferences for the Tree of Life. He imagines the first book as celebrating the
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Flirting in Science Class: Boys, Bunsen Burners, and Bad Thought Experiments

It is with not inconsiderable risk that a fellow chooses to weigh in on the Tim Hunt faux pas, but it was the following article from The Guardian that caught my attention and emboldened me. It was not that I too attended a “single-sex school in the 1960’s” as Hunt’s wife, the immunolo
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Nitpicking in Pandora’s Box: Schroeder on Page 20, ‘I’ Tunes, and Julie Andrew’s Solfège

Do you like to sing? I do. My singing voice is not great, but it’s serviceable enough for the local chorale. A few years back, we were working on Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Frankly, that tune is a bitch. Did you see page 20 in the picture? Absolutely no place to take a breath.
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The Chebarkul Meteor, iRobot Vacuum Cleaners, and A Prius in Flatland: The Atmosphere of Objects

In a previous post, I wrote about “Things“. This week, I want to make some points about a certain class of Things, namely…Objects. Why?…On Saturday, I will be moderating a panel at an interior design conference, entitled Aftertaste: The Atmosphere of Objects. T
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Cracking Wise with Seneca, Eyes That Hear, and Jack London’s Boat: Bell Labs meets The Pleasure of the Text

You might consider this Part II of Ruminations…explaining itself to itself. A few followers have questioned the tone I’ve taken in my weekly mull.  Comments have ranged from “your tone is a bit snappy for my taste“, then gone downhill to “it’s
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Good Beaches, Palladian Villas, and Lyle Lovett: Square Dancing with The Terrible Master in Borges’ Attic

I live in my own mindAin’t nothin but a good timeNo rain just the sunshineOut here in my own mind…L.P.L. A few weeks back (see Ruminations…01.03.13), I wrote about the difference between minds and brains. This week’s topic is once again about the inside of one&
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The Little Drummer Boy and The Former Secretary of State: A Quest for Grace

Last week in Ruminations…I mentioned The Sound of Music. Big mistake. My Favorite Things…don’t even go there. Besides the stuck tune, I’m sure, by now, you know how I feel about “Things” (if not, see Ruminations…10.25.12). In truth, I like the
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