• What I’m reading: Red Sonja

    2 volumes of red sonja on a table

    Two words: Chainmail bikini.

    (more…)
  • A weekend away

    I spent a couple days in Pacific Grove, near Monterey, to wrap up my end-of-semester reflection.

    (more…)
  • marath-on sentence

    marath-on sentence (maruhth-on sen-tns), n. 1. a written sequence of four or more independent clauses that are not separated by a period or semicolon or joined by a conjunction. 2. any ungrammatical sequence of clauses or phrases that is characterized by great length and that requires exceptional effort or endurance on the part of a listener or reader. Also, con-fused sentence.

    Ex.: Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump, at MIT; good genes, very good genes, okay? Very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you’re a conservative Republican. If I were a liber—if, like, okay, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you’re a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortu—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear d—the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are— nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power, and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right—who would have thought? But when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so—and they, they just killed, they just killed us.

  • “The Paranoid Style”: Déjà vu and something new

    Trump, Conway, Sanders, and Giuliani

    Trump’s endless tweeting , Conway’s epistemological contortionism, Sanders’s snowfake outrage, Giuliani’s media Blitz (Fox isn’t worried…): Is this all déjà vu, or something new?

    (more…)
  • bother-in-law

    bother-in-law (bahth er-in-law), n. an annoying, irksome, irritating, or troublesome member of one’s spouse’s family.

  • The examined life

    Assortment of paper journal covers

    I took a hiatus from my daily journal, hoping that it would open up some time for other writing projects. It did free up some time (this blog is partly the result of that) but I think it was a mistake. So I’m jumping back in, using the same tool I’ve used for the past decade.

    (more…)
  • misdenunciation

    misdenunciation (mis-dih-nuhn-see-ey-shuh n ), n. the act or habit of using a word incorrectly for false public censure or condemnation. Ex.: the misdenunciation of all unfavorable news as “fake.”

  • Pet peeve: Introductions

    "Ugh" written in the margin of an introduction.

    I hate introductions.

    I know; that first sentence is an introduction. It’s probably inevitable, since every essay has to start somewhere.

    (more…)
  • alteruism

    alteruism (awl-ter-oo-iz-uh m), n. the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to changing others for their own good.

  • Whence “Oh, ick”?

    License Plate that says Oh Ick

    I’ve had the same license plate for something like 25 years—on my last five vehicles, at least. OH ICK.

    It still sums things up perfectly.

    (more…)

ABOUT ME

Mildly introverted. Mostly harmless.


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What I’m Reading

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Cover of JP Fraser's Death in Pligrims' Wood

Death in Pilgrims’ Wood

J. P. Fraser

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Cover of Volume 6 of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Fables and Reflections

The Sandman, Volume 6: Fables and Reflections

Neil Gaiman

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The Transgender Studies Reader

Susan Stryker and Stephen Whittle (eds.)

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