History
I find these quotes from Bernstein fascinating because popular history books so often mention money, but so rarely describe what that money was. [The eight-real "Spanish dollar"], which flooded the European currency markets in the sixteenth century, was approximately the same size and weight as the Bohemian
Life
Several weeks ago, I bought a tarot deck and checked out a book about it because I was intrigued by the idea of learning how to give readings. The book's author recommended going through the deck and reflecting on how the archetype of each card relates to my
Politics
People who accept positions with the federal government are supposed to serve the American people. According to a report by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (as relayed by the blog Talking Points Memo), the Gonzales Justice Department had something more specific in mind when
Music
* The Best of the Columbia Years, 1943-1952 by Frank Sinatra (97 songs for $9.99! I just wish it included the infamous "Mama Will Bark"...)
Life
I picked up the mothership of all Brita pitchers from the Deadhead Fred a couple of days ago. Yep. Brita calls it the "Ultramax", I suppose because it is the largest they could make a pitcher and still have it fit through the Panama Canal. No more of
Music
The song that this blog is named after, "Superficial Cat" by Edwyn Collins, is now available on iTunes.
Life
After eight years with it, I closed my io.com account today. I opened the account shortly after I moved to Houston to take my first professional job, and realized that the college I went to work for did not provide dialup access (how spoiled Ohio State and Texas had
Communication
A formative and humbling experience of my life was spending 10 weeks as an undergraduate teaching assistant in a math class for at-risk college freshmen. These freshmen had gotten good grades in their high school math classes, but had scored poorly on the math section of the SAT. They
Life
Some say that we need to focus on teaching students computer skills. Some say that we need to focus on teaching students basic science. Some say that we need to focus on teaching students how to get along with each other. But that woman on the 15 this morning with
Life
So I'd been putting off writing a Visual Basic macro for months. "I don't know where to start". "It'll be hard." "It'll take hours and be really frustrating." This afternoon, I had about an hour and
Music
* "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller * "Pennsylvania 6-5000" by Glenn Miller * "Near You" by Francis Craig & His Orchestra * "Frenesi" by Artie Shaw * "The Breeze and I" by Jimmy Dorsey
Portland
I have one new review on Yelp!: Laughing Planet Cafe in Belmont