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When Appliances Weep
In his standup-comedy days, forty-plus years ago, Woody Allen did a routine called “Mechanical Objects.” It was a narrative about the highly mixed blessings of living at the tail end of the Machine Age, at the start of The Age of Electronicus. I found the following transcript of the routine on the Web; I can’t [...]
Have a Computer-Fascinated Cat?
Like, one who insists on being in your lap as you work? Plays with the keys? The (ha ha) mouse? Remind him or her who’s boss. Instructions from aBowman’s site, where I found this (via the wide-ranging Froog): This lively pet hamster will keep you company throughout the day. Watch him run on his wheel, [...]
Our Own Little World
From whiskey river: Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit. (William James [source]) Not from whiskey river: I Live in Music i live in music is this where you live i live here in music i live on c# [...]
Paying Attention to What It Means to Write
An epic-fantasy computer game which The Missus and I play every now and then lets your character acquire any of a variety of cool, vaguely medieval-magic weapons. One property which some of these weapons have is called “vampiric regeneration”; while I’m hazy on the details, I think this means (for example) that if you shoot [...]
Real-Life Dialogue
[The scene: a small quasi-hallway between garage and kitchen in a suburban house somewhere in North Florida.] She: [pointing to weird, waist-high structure made of woven twigs and/or sticks, with four legs, a torso, and a head from which antlers sprout] Why is that still here? He: [studiously ignoring the obvious] Why is what still [...]
Everyday Heroes (Update #2)
Things continue to pop on the real-life superhero front. A few days ago, I posted an update to an earlier post about real-life people who don costumes, fight crime, have secret identities and sometimes superpowers, and so on. In that first post, from January, I featured (among other crusaders) one Entomo, a “Crime-fighting/Environmentalist/Detective” who “patrols [...]
Dogs, Lions, and Fish (Oh My!)
From whiskey river: When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. (Milarepa) Not [...]
WIP Serendipity
In a side conversation on a recent post here, my pseudonymous occasional correspondent known as “Froog” recently undertook some research for me. I’d come across this extremely cool wallpaper (well, I think it’s cool; that’s it at the right, and you can click the image to see a larger version); alas, I knew nothing about [...]
Everyday Heroes (UPDATE)
You may remember my post from a couple months ago, about the real-life superheroes who have identified themselves via a site called the World Superhero Registry. I’ve recently heard from one of the superheroes featured in that post (or at least, from someone claiming to be that superhero): Entomo, the “Crime-fighting/Environmentalist/Detective” who “patrols the streets [...]
The Dog Owner Pinpoints the Onset of Dementia
Out for morning walkies, the dog owner says, aloud: No. (Very good. The dog needs to understand No, and has even at times hinted that she does so.) And then comes: Uh-uh. No way. (Hmm. Well, all right: it’s said in the same tone as No, and immediately follows it. So yes, within the limits [...]
