Life
During the summers when I was a kid, I would watch two old television shows every weekday: Perry Mason and The Twilight Zone. The first one would have been no surprise: I loved mysteries and puzzles, and had an unhealthy fascination with Los Angeles. The latter one, though…I have
History
Newspapers have a much greater importance in America than they do in Europe. You must not conclude, however, that the press is more free in the New World than in the Old. With us it is the government that watches over and controls the newspapers; in the United States, the
James Evans, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, writes about his research into the costs of having more research materials available online. The benefits of having the materials online are obvious: Ease of finding, ease of searching, ease of printing. Evans wondered whether there were costs along with those
Music
All available from iTunes: 1. "Waters of March" by Cassandra Wilson 2. "Mout me fut grief" by Ensemble Anonymous & Claude Bernatchez 3. "Far Away, By My Side" by Peter Bjorn and John 4. "Torture" by King Khan and the Shrines 5.
Food
When I lived in Texas, I heard that there was nothing like drinking a glass of iced sweet tea after a couple of hours in the yard under a hot sun. I can now verify this remark. I'm almost ready to go out for another hour. Almost.
Chapbook
[Gustave Flaubert's comic characters Bouvard and Pécuchet] discovered through their friendship a common purpose: the pursuit of universal knowledge. To achieve this ambitious goal […] they attempted to read everything they could find on every branch of human endeavor, and cull from their readings the most outstanding facts and
Life
My next day at work will be September 2, the day after Labor Day. I will be staying in town, working on projects around the house and starting to get ready for Portland-to-Coast 2009.
Music
I was up early both days this weekend to weed the backyard before the sun cleared the neighbor's trees (9am, more or less). Too hot this weekend to weed in the sun. I time my weeding by using the Steely Dan albums on my iPod. A short weeding
Life
When I was in 1st and 2nd grade, I would look at the kids who had allergies—struggling to breathe, wrestling with their inhalers—and think, "I'm so glad I don't have allergies." It seemed like the most miserable fate in the world. Somewhere
Yardwork
Pulled ivy that has sat in 100-degree heat for a couple of days smells like tea.
Life
There seems to be a hierarchy in the computer world, with the elite programmers as the superstars and the help desk and documentation folks as the untouchables. The principle seems to be that those who can make the machines do their will are those most worthy of our applause. In
LIS + DataSci
On July 20, I renewed my membership in the American Library Association online, and had that renewal confirmed by e-mail. On August 11, I got a letter and a renewal form from the ALA, urging me to renew my membership soon. The letter asks me to "renew online…