It being December, it will come as no surprise that I have been reading the usual array of Christmas books. Herewith the brief reviews:
1. Dickens, A Christmas Carol. I have read this every single year for I do not know how many years (20?). I love it. This year, following up on the Wind and the Willows experiment, I read it a chapter a night. The book is still amazing, but it is much better to read it all in one night. If you have never read it, then you simply must do so at the first available opportunity.
2. Babes in Toyland. After reading my maudlin tale of this movie, Aimee (who for reasons heretofore unexplained comments on this blog using her son Noah's blogger account) and her family tracked down a copy of the book. I was stunned; it was exactly the same book I had when I was a kid--I haven't seen those pictures for over 30 years, yet as soon as I opened the book, I recognized them. After rereading the book, it is no wonder I wanted to see the movie so much as a kid--it had everything an 8 year old boy would love---maps and mother goose characters and villains and talking trees and toys and soldiers and a big battle. Thanks Gould Family!
3. Wojciechowski, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. A relatively new entry into the Christmas book canon, but a worthy addition. Great illustrations and a wonderful story.
4. The Gospel of Matthew, chapters 1-2. A relatively old entry into the Christmas book canon. The wise men story is the highlight. And Herod is a magnificent villain--the slaughter of the innocents is a part of the Christmas story which really should be more regularly included--it adds much to the amazing fact of the birth and survival of the hero of the story.
5. The Gospel of Luke, chapters 1-2. The best of all the Christmas books. The Magnificat is amazing and nothing can beat the story of the Joseph and Mary and the inn and the manger and the shepherds. This (and Matthew too) are best read in the King James Version at Christmas.
6. The Gospel of John, chapter 1. A nice bit of poetic prose which marvelously puts the point of the previous two books (and, really the whole point of Christmas) into cosmic perspective.
7. Schultze, A Charlie Brown Christmas. The book version of the TV special. When Linus walks out on stage and relates the story of the shepherds, it is always a shock to realize this was made for commercial television. When was the last time a commercial television Christmas special for kids quoted Scripture? The TV show is better than the book.
8. Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. A funny story with a rather nice ending; it is easy to forget the power of the Christmas story when one has heard it so often.
9. Johnson, The Candle in the Window. OK, but not great. The whole story is far too predictable and Gunther is seriously schizophrenic is the story.
10. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A classic.
11. Favorite Christmas Poems. I just bought this book this year. It is a really nice collection of classic poetry relating to Christmas. As of now, it is a yearly staple.
12. Eliot, "The Journey of the Magi." Well, it's not really a book. But, a) it is not included in the previously listed book, presumably for copyright reasons and b) it is my favorite Christmas poem.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Exit Sandman
In The Sandman: Endless Nights, Neil Gaiman returns to tell seven more tales of the Endless. This volume was published 7 years after he wrapped up the Sandman series. I suspect that if one had been reading The Sandman when it was first being published, the return to this world would have been charming. I just read the series this last summer though, and the present volume was...OK. A few of the stories were good, but not great. A few of them were rather tired. I think this is a case of "You Can't Go Home Again, so leave well enough alone." (Hello Hollywood sequel...)
The goal of the book was to have a tale for each one of the Endless, and the tales really do feel different as the character in question changes. Delirium works the best in this way, but that is part of the problem; while the tale certainly feels like a state of Delirium, that doesn't make it the most interesting thing to read. The Despair chapter was a nice try, but in the attempt to paint 15 portraits of Despair only some of them worked. Dream had the best tale, and the Destruction tale was OK. Death and Desire both aim at the 18+ age group and are tedious. Destiny wraps it all up in a short bit which isn't exactly a story and doesn't seem to say much that isn't obvious.
All in all, skip it until a decade after you finish the 10 volume Sandman series.
[As some will know, the blog title is a reference to one of the three good Metallica songs. Why Metallica, whose members obviously have some talent, is not able to consistently produce better music is beyond me. ("No Leaf Clover" and "On the Road Again" is the answer to "What are the other two?" Emma and I have tried to rank those three songs; her ranking is consistent, mine varies by mood.)
The goal of the book was to have a tale for each one of the Endless, and the tales really do feel different as the character in question changes. Delirium works the best in this way, but that is part of the problem; while the tale certainly feels like a state of Delirium, that doesn't make it the most interesting thing to read. The Despair chapter was a nice try, but in the attempt to paint 15 portraits of Despair only some of them worked. Dream had the best tale, and the Destruction tale was OK. Death and Desire both aim at the 18+ age group and are tedious. Destiny wraps it all up in a short bit which isn't exactly a story and doesn't seem to say much that isn't obvious.
All in all, skip it until a decade after you finish the 10 volume Sandman series.
[As some will know, the blog title is a reference to one of the three good Metallica songs. Why Metallica, whose members obviously have some talent, is not able to consistently produce better music is beyond me. ("No Leaf Clover" and "On the Road Again" is the answer to "What are the other two?" Emma and I have tried to rank those three songs; her ranking is consistent, mine varies by mood.)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Did I Like it? Left Hand
I recently finished Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The book was highly and repeatedly recommend to me by one of my former Western Civ Students, who, I will note is eagerly awaiting this blog review of this book. (Side note (and what constitutes a side note in a blog that is nothing but side notes?); what are the ethics of mentioning former and current students by name in a blog post? Is it improper to mention students by name? Is it improper to always refer to everyone in vague terms like "former student"? Would the typical student be glad to be mentioned by name in a professor's blog of seemingly random musings or would said student feel some norm of professional etiquette has been breached to be mentioned by name? Miss Manners is oddly silent on this point.)
The book review: A rather clever and nicely paced book which makes for an enjoyable read after the end of a semester. Foer does the whole "Let's break the traditional norms of a novel by including all sorts of pictures and different page formatting" bit quite well. The oddities do not feel forced, but rather are a natural part of the novel itself. The story was a bit too cute to elevate the book into potential Great Books level--a lofty standard of excellence to be sure--and the plot twists were not all that shocking. There are three narrators in the book, and Foer does a nice job of giving them distinctive voices, in part by formatting the narratives quite differently. There are all sorts of literary touches which may or may not be significant--e.g., one of the narrators has a set of pictures of doorknobs interspersed with the narration--it is not clear to me whether this is merely meant to be quaint and charming or has some hidden deeper meaning. (The same is true of the reference in the title of this post.) That's the problem with a book like this--I enjoyed it, I would recommend it to others looking for a nice read on a plane, but I have no idea if the book merits serious attention to detail.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendation, Maggie.
The book review: A rather clever and nicely paced book which makes for an enjoyable read after the end of a semester. Foer does the whole "Let's break the traditional norms of a novel by including all sorts of pictures and different page formatting" bit quite well. The oddities do not feel forced, but rather are a natural part of the novel itself. The story was a bit too cute to elevate the book into potential Great Books level--a lofty standard of excellence to be sure--and the plot twists were not all that shocking. There are three narrators in the book, and Foer does a nice job of giving them distinctive voices, in part by formatting the narratives quite differently. There are all sorts of literary touches which may or may not be significant--e.g., one of the narrators has a set of pictures of doorknobs interspersed with the narration--it is not clear to me whether this is merely meant to be quaint and charming or has some hidden deeper meaning. (The same is true of the reference in the title of this post.) That's the problem with a book like this--I enjoyed it, I would recommend it to others looking for a nice read on a plane, but I have no idea if the book merits serious attention to detail.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendation, Maggie.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Vagaries of Fortune
Until now, I have never once given Fortune Cookies a second thought.
Last night I was out with Lily on our annual Dinner and Christmas Shopping Expedition. (I take each of the kids out individually every year. (And, yes, I take Janet out too. (Christmas is the only time of year I enjoy shopping.))) As part of our yearly ritual, Lily chose the restaurant. She wanted Japanese food so she picked the Teapot. Now the Teapot is one of those old-style Fusion restaurants where they combine cuisines not by interesting combinations of ingredients, but by having two sections on the menu (Chinese and Japanese). We, as was noted, had Japanese food. Good dinner, good company (Lily is always fun). At the end of our meal, they brought us fortune cookies; not Japanese Fortune Cookies, but Chinese ones. I suppose I should have had culture shock, but I didn't. I opened my cookie to reveal my fortune. My jaw dropped; my heart stopped. Well, OK neither of those happened, but they could have, though if the latter had happened, I suppose I wouldn't be writing this now. (Which, come to think of it presents an interesting puzzle: Is there blogging in Heaven? But, I digress.)
My fortune (to return to the point) read in its entirety, with line break preserved:
Last night I was out with Lily on our annual Dinner and Christmas Shopping Expedition. (I take each of the kids out individually every year. (And, yes, I take Janet out too. (Christmas is the only time of year I enjoy shopping.))) As part of our yearly ritual, Lily chose the restaurant. She wanted Japanese food so she picked the Teapot. Now the Teapot is one of those old-style Fusion restaurants where they combine cuisines not by interesting combinations of ingredients, but by having two sections on the menu (Chinese and Japanese). We, as was noted, had Japanese food. Good dinner, good company (Lily is always fun). At the end of our meal, they brought us fortune cookies; not Japanese Fortune Cookies, but Chinese ones. I suppose I should have had culture shock, but I didn't. I opened my cookie to reveal my fortune. My jaw dropped; my heart stopped. Well, OK neither of those happened, but they could have, though if the latter had happened, I suppose I wouldn't be writing this now. (Which, come to think of it presents an interesting puzzle: Is there blogging in Heaven? But, I digress.)
My fortune (to return to the point) read in its entirety, with line break preserved:
Force equals too much effort equals
too little being equals enough.
.
I am seriously undecided: should I forget the whole thing or spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what that means?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Calamity Physics
Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics
I read this on the recommendation of one of my former Western Civ students--she said that it seemed like the kind of book a Western Civ aficionado would like. It isn't hard to see why she said this--the chapter titles alone are great: the First chapter is "Othello, William Shakespeare;" the last chapter is "Metamorphoses, Ovid." And every chapter in between is titled with the name of a famous book (or at least presumably famous--one book I have never heard of and one book is a fictional book written by one of the characters in the novel).
The story is a standard bildungsroman of a high school girl. The girl, named Blue, is, to put it mildly, bookish. The book is written in first person. I believe this book may have the highest number of book references per page of any novel ever written (and at least some of those references are to real books--I have no idea how many of the scholarly tomes referenced are real). And thus, for someone who is probably over-obsessed with books (Hi, my name is [fill in the blank] and I am a bookoholic") the book does have an immediate charm.
The story itself was fine--it took me until about page 300 to start caring what would happen in the story, but the last 200 pages were interesting. The book ends with what is meant to be a series of shocking plot developments, but after the first big surprise, the rest were not all that surprising. (And, this isn't a mystery novel in which one looks for clues to solve the big surprise before it comes--there is no way to decipher it before the fact.) Even still the last 200 pages are clever.
On the whole, I liked it and I am glad I read it. That being said, I doubt I would rush out to buy Pessl's next novel (assuming there will be a next novel).
And the book has absolutely nothing to do with Physics.
I read this on the recommendation of one of my former Western Civ students--she said that it seemed like the kind of book a Western Civ aficionado would like. It isn't hard to see why she said this--the chapter titles alone are great: the First chapter is "Othello, William Shakespeare;" the last chapter is "Metamorphoses, Ovid." And every chapter in between is titled with the name of a famous book (or at least presumably famous--one book I have never heard of and one book is a fictional book written by one of the characters in the novel).
The story is a standard bildungsroman of a high school girl. The girl, named Blue, is, to put it mildly, bookish. The book is written in first person. I believe this book may have the highest number of book references per page of any novel ever written (and at least some of those references are to real books--I have no idea how many of the scholarly tomes referenced are real). And thus, for someone who is probably over-obsessed with books (Hi, my name is [fill in the blank] and I am a bookoholic") the book does have an immediate charm.
The story itself was fine--it took me until about page 300 to start caring what would happen in the story, but the last 200 pages were interesting. The book ends with what is meant to be a series of shocking plot developments, but after the first big surprise, the rest were not all that surprising. (And, this isn't a mystery novel in which one looks for clues to solve the big surprise before it comes--there is no way to decipher it before the fact.) Even still the last 200 pages are clever.
On the whole, I liked it and I am glad I read it. That being said, I doubt I would rush out to buy Pessl's next novel (assuming there will be a next novel).
And the book has absolutely nothing to do with Physics.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
As I Lay Living
I recently reread As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner for my tutorial (the last book of the semester). I first read this book back in grad school--it was the first Faulkner book I ever read. Not only did I really enjoy it then and now, I think it is probably the best choice for someone who has never read Faulkner and wants to see what he is like. It isn't all that long, has the Faulknerian touches of not explaining what is going on until much later in the book and a prose style that is rather unique. (Cormac McCarthy is the only other author who even remotely reminds me of Faulkner.)
As I Lay Dying also has one of the best chapters in all of literature:
"My mother is a fish."
[That is not the title of the chapter--that is the chapter.
In addition to a rather memorable cast of characters and plot developments, the book is an interesting meditation on life--what does it mean to be alive? There is a chapter in which Addie speaks after she is long dead--it is probably a flashback to when she was alive, but in the chapter she talks about how Anse is already dead and he doesn't know it, when Anse is most obviously alive. Darl tries to figure out if he exists. Varadman thinks Addie is alive when she isn't. Dewey Dell--similar issues (but that is a spoiler). Now, this isn't a zombie book or anything--these are real people and only Addie is really dead. But, when we say someone is alive now, what do we mean? Are they also alive in the past? Do I exist only now or also in the past? Does the person who is writing this still exist when it is done being written? Where and when does that person exist? Do the past me and the present me and the future me all exist simultaneously or only one at a time?
All this also has a nice relation to Augustine's meditation on Living and Dying: What is the opposite of Living? Dying? If one is living, one is alive. If one is dying, one is...alive. So the state of living is exactly the same as the state of dying. (We are all dying with a little patience?) So how do you move from Life to Death?
At any rate, the book is still quite enjoyable even if you don't want to follow Darl into madness by thinking too much on these things.
As I Lay Dying also has one of the best chapters in all of literature:
"My mother is a fish."
[That is not the title of the chapter--that is the chapter.
In addition to a rather memorable cast of characters and plot developments, the book is an interesting meditation on life--what does it mean to be alive? There is a chapter in which Addie speaks after she is long dead--it is probably a flashback to when she was alive, but in the chapter she talks about how Anse is already dead and he doesn't know it, when Anse is most obviously alive. Darl tries to figure out if he exists. Varadman thinks Addie is alive when she isn't. Dewey Dell--similar issues (but that is a spoiler). Now, this isn't a zombie book or anything--these are real people and only Addie is really dead. But, when we say someone is alive now, what do we mean? Are they also alive in the past? Do I exist only now or also in the past? Does the person who is writing this still exist when it is done being written? Where and when does that person exist? Do the past me and the present me and the future me all exist simultaneously or only one at a time?
All this also has a nice relation to Augustine's meditation on Living and Dying: What is the opposite of Living? Dying? If one is living, one is alive. If one is dying, one is...alive. So the state of living is exactly the same as the state of dying. (We are all dying with a little patience?) So how do you move from Life to Death?
At any rate, the book is still quite enjoyable even if you don't want to follow Darl into madness by thinking too much on these things.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Babes in Toyland
When I was quite young, I had a book. (Well, truth be told, I had more than one book, but this tale is just about one of those books.) I don't remember the title of this book, nor do I remember most of the contents of this book. I do remember that I liked this book. I assume it had pictures as well as words. It might have been a collection of Disney Stories. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck both have some sort of harmonic convergence with my memories of the book, but that may just be Projection. There is just one thing related to this book about which I have an actual vivid memory. At the end of the book, there was the story of Babes in Toyland. That story had pictures from the movie Babes in Toyland. The pictures were neat. There were real people and toy soldiers. I do not know whether I ever read the story accompanying those pictures, but I do remember the pictures. [Now, I can't form a mental pictures of the images from the book--I seem to completely lack the ability to form mental pictures--I discovered a few years back that this is an oddity--I really cannot close my eyes and bring a sharp picture to mind. But, my mental deficiencies are not the subject of this post--so, I'll save that for another day.]
Because of this book, I really wanted to see the movie Babes in Toyland. But, I grew up in the pre-VCR days. So, I never saw it. When VCRs became all the rage, one went to these video stores to rent VCR tapes. I never found the movie at one of them. When Netflix entered my life, I looked for the movie. It was not out on DVD.
Until now.
Last night, I sat down with Clara (and truth be told, Lily--but Lily left after 10 minutes--Lily almost never watches movies--I think she lacks the attention span to watch a 2 hour movie--she would rather be on Facebook (sigh)) to watch Babes in Toyland.
I had no idea what to expect from the movie. It turns out it is a standard Disney movie--think Bedknobs and Broomsticks or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I have always had a soft spot for that genre of Disney movies--they are charming in a sort of desultory way and the randomness and cuteness of it all amuses me a bit. The big take away moral of the movie? I don't know...toys are good? The way to a woman's heart is not killing off her fiance and stealing her sheep? You can return from the Forest of No Return? Vital lessons to be sure, but even still.
Clara's evaluation of the movie: "It was weird." She didn't like it too much. That fact interested me. I suspect with two changes she would have loved it: 1) The main characters were of the type "Beautiful People in 1960." So change 1 is: Switch that to "Beautiful People of 2009"--get Zach Efron and Selena Gomez as the leads. (Similar changes would have to be made with the other characters.) 2) The special effects were state of the art Disney Special Effects of 1960. So change 2 is: make that LucasArts special effects of 2009. Keep everything else the same, and I'll bet Clara loves the movie.
In the end, I would highly recommend the movie to anyone who had that same book I had when I was a kid and has also been wanting to see this movie for over three decades.
Because of this book, I really wanted to see the movie Babes in Toyland. But, I grew up in the pre-VCR days. So, I never saw it. When VCRs became all the rage, one went to these video stores to rent VCR tapes. I never found the movie at one of them. When Netflix entered my life, I looked for the movie. It was not out on DVD.
Until now.
Last night, I sat down with Clara (and truth be told, Lily--but Lily left after 10 minutes--Lily almost never watches movies--I think she lacks the attention span to watch a 2 hour movie--she would rather be on Facebook (sigh)) to watch Babes in Toyland.
I had no idea what to expect from the movie. It turns out it is a standard Disney movie--think Bedknobs and Broomsticks or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I have always had a soft spot for that genre of Disney movies--they are charming in a sort of desultory way and the randomness and cuteness of it all amuses me a bit. The big take away moral of the movie? I don't know...toys are good? The way to a woman's heart is not killing off her fiance and stealing her sheep? You can return from the Forest of No Return? Vital lessons to be sure, but even still.
Clara's evaluation of the movie: "It was weird." She didn't like it too much. That fact interested me. I suspect with two changes she would have loved it: 1) The main characters were of the type "Beautiful People in 1960." So change 1 is: Switch that to "Beautiful People of 2009"--get Zach Efron and Selena Gomez as the leads. (Similar changes would have to be made with the other characters.) 2) The special effects were state of the art Disney Special Effects of 1960. So change 2 is: make that LucasArts special effects of 2009. Keep everything else the same, and I'll bet Clara loves the movie.
In the end, I would highly recommend the movie to anyone who had that same book I had when I was a kid and has also been wanting to see this movie for over three decades.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
RMV woes
Last night, I was at Home Depot with Janet buying a door for the new greenhouse. In order to get it home, we ended up needing to rent the Home Depot pickup truck--not a big deal. I went to get it and was told that there was a problem. My Driver's License had expired on my birthday. I had no idea. It turns out that our current Governor has decided to stop telling people when their Driver's Licenses are about to expire, so you actually have to look at your license periodically to figure out when you need to renew. So, Janet got to drive the big pickup truck--she wasn't thrilled.
When I got home, I went on-line to renew my license. It turns out if your picture is over nine years old, you can't renew online.
So, this morning, I had to go the RMV. It opens at 9. I got there at 8:45. There was already a line.
But, it an amazing turn of events, the way the RMV now works is that when they open the door, you go in, pick up the form to get whatever you need, fill out the form and then get a number to see a person who will help you out. If you fill out the form faster, you get in the second line faster. I filled out my form very quickly, completing just enough so that it looked completed, got my number and then looked to see if I had checked all the relevant boxes--sometimes being an economist is good because I am always looking for the production function and then maximizing. I was out of there by 9:15 with my new temporary license in hand.
But, here is the puzzle for the day--in an e-mail age, it would cost almost nothing to set up a reminder system which automatically notified you when your license was about to expire. And, lo and behold, there is such a reminder service. But, the Powers that Be don't seem to have told anyone about it. And, when I signed up for my license renewal, there was nowhere to put my e-mail address to sign up for this service. You have to go to the RMV site, and then look down the long list of options to see that there is, in fact, an automatic reminder service. So, what is the point of having such a service but not automatically signing people up for it?
The moral: Governments are not the most efficient organizations in the world. Shocking, I know.
But, then again, if we just have the Audacity to Hope that the government will do things better, then, by golly, they surely will. Can we do it? Yes, We Can.
When I got home, I went on-line to renew my license. It turns out if your picture is over nine years old, you can't renew online.
So, this morning, I had to go the RMV. It opens at 9. I got there at 8:45. There was already a line.
But, it an amazing turn of events, the way the RMV now works is that when they open the door, you go in, pick up the form to get whatever you need, fill out the form and then get a number to see a person who will help you out. If you fill out the form faster, you get in the second line faster. I filled out my form very quickly, completing just enough so that it looked completed, got my number and then looked to see if I had checked all the relevant boxes--sometimes being an economist is good because I am always looking for the production function and then maximizing. I was out of there by 9:15 with my new temporary license in hand.
But, here is the puzzle for the day--in an e-mail age, it would cost almost nothing to set up a reminder system which automatically notified you when your license was about to expire. And, lo and behold, there is such a reminder service. But, the Powers that Be don't seem to have told anyone about it. And, when I signed up for my license renewal, there was nowhere to put my e-mail address to sign up for this service. You have to go to the RMV site, and then look down the long list of options to see that there is, in fact, an automatic reminder service. So, what is the point of having such a service but not automatically signing people up for it?
The moral: Governments are not the most efficient organizations in the world. Shocking, I know.
But, then again, if we just have the Audacity to Hope that the government will do things better, then, by golly, they surely will. Can we do it? Yes, We Can.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Climategate
The fashion to add the suffix -gate to everything to indicate a scandal has really worn out its welcome, but I think we are stuck with it. The most interesting thing about the whole set of e-mails from Climatologists in which it is obvious that they have been manipulating data and the public debate is that everyone is acting so surprised--it is a Casablanca moment--I'm Shocked! Shocked!
Anyone who has paid attention already knew this was happening. I once was in a forum with local professors on this topic in which one of them said, "You have to present the global warming disaster scenario because that is the way to get grants"--and the person saying that thought this was a good thing rather than a bad thing. (For more on this, see this nice article.)
Meanwhile in actual scientific news, the Science of Climate Change is as uncertain as always. Of course nobody ever believes an economist when he talks about it--what do you know?--but in this case I actually do know something. I have spent a lot of time thinking about modeling. Climate models are just like economic models. And Climate models are not very good models.
But, you don't have to take my word for it.
Here is a really nice article on the actual science of climate change by an MIT meteorologist.
By the way, the clever change from talking about "Global Warming" to Talking about "Climate Change" was an implicit acknowledgment that the world hasn't actually become any warmer in the last decade. But the climate changes every day, so that is a great new catch phrase because the evidence of climate change will be obvious tomorrow.
Anyone who has paid attention already knew this was happening. I once was in a forum with local professors on this topic in which one of them said, "You have to present the global warming disaster scenario because that is the way to get grants"--and the person saying that thought this was a good thing rather than a bad thing. (For more on this, see this nice article.)
Meanwhile in actual scientific news, the Science of Climate Change is as uncertain as always. Of course nobody ever believes an economist when he talks about it--what do you know?--but in this case I actually do know something. I have spent a lot of time thinking about modeling. Climate models are just like economic models. And Climate models are not very good models.
But, you don't have to take my word for it.
Here is a really nice article on the actual science of climate change by an MIT meteorologist.
By the way, the clever change from talking about "Global Warming" to Talking about "Climate Change" was an implicit acknowledgment that the world hasn't actually become any warmer in the last decade. But the climate changes every day, so that is a great new catch phrase because the evidence of climate change will be obvious tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Giving Thanks
I have always had a certain fondness for Thanksgiving. I was born on Thanksgiving. So, I always tell my kids that the whole nation is gathering to give thanks for me. My kids seem to think this is a bit egocentric.
For what am I thankful? That question is hard to answer--does one list the things for which one is truly thankful, but which don't change from year to year, or does one give the list of things for which one is thankful only in this particular year? Those are quite different lists, with the former being the more important and the latter being the more idiosyncratic.
The things for which I am really thankful:
1. Jesus Christ. Once one realizes that debt, it is hard to list anything else as second because the gap between 1 and 2 is necessarily immense.
2. Janet. I honestly don't think I would be a functioning member of society without her. She has been my best friend for over a quarter century now--in fact, she has been such a friend to me that I have never really felt any strong need for other friendships. She is an amazing wife and mother, truly the most wonderful person I have ever known.
3. Emma, Lily and Clara. All three of them make me smile. Yeah, they test my patience at times, but that is what kids are supposed to do, after all. I really hope they know deep down inside that I love them an immense amount and I only want what is best for them.
4. The United States of America. The greatest country on Earth. Period.
5. Stony Brook Community Church. The best extended family one can imagine.
6. Mount Holyoke College. Not only did Mount Holyoke hire me, thereby providing an income (which is something naturally thank-inducing), but I have met so many fascinating students there. All those conversations in my office and over lunch and on Skinner Green and in classrooms and lounges around campus have never ceased to teach me and amuse me. I don't think many of my students have ever known how much I appreciate the fact that they talk to me about the most interesting and random things imaginable.
That list never changes.
I meant to move to the list of things I am grateful for this year, but they all seem so trivial compared to the list above.
For what am I thankful? That question is hard to answer--does one list the things for which one is truly thankful, but which don't change from year to year, or does one give the list of things for which one is thankful only in this particular year? Those are quite different lists, with the former being the more important and the latter being the more idiosyncratic.
The things for which I am really thankful:
1. Jesus Christ. Once one realizes that debt, it is hard to list anything else as second because the gap between 1 and 2 is necessarily immense.
2. Janet. I honestly don't think I would be a functioning member of society without her. She has been my best friend for over a quarter century now--in fact, she has been such a friend to me that I have never really felt any strong need for other friendships. She is an amazing wife and mother, truly the most wonderful person I have ever known.
3. Emma, Lily and Clara. All three of them make me smile. Yeah, they test my patience at times, but that is what kids are supposed to do, after all. I really hope they know deep down inside that I love them an immense amount and I only want what is best for them.
4. The United States of America. The greatest country on Earth. Period.
5. Stony Brook Community Church. The best extended family one can imagine.
6. Mount Holyoke College. Not only did Mount Holyoke hire me, thereby providing an income (which is something naturally thank-inducing), but I have met so many fascinating students there. All those conversations in my office and over lunch and on Skinner Green and in classrooms and lounges around campus have never ceased to teach me and amuse me. I don't think many of my students have ever known how much I appreciate the fact that they talk to me about the most interesting and random things imaginable.
That list never changes.
I meant to move to the list of things I am grateful for this year, but they all seem so trivial compared to the list above.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Life is too short to drink bad coffee
At long last, my life has now adapted to my motto in the title of this post. The Economics department has rather bad coffee--not instant coffee bad, but still it isn't good at all. For 16 years, I have been drinking it because it is there and bad coffee is better than no coffee and having a coffee pot of my own in my office is messy and a hassle. But, today, my wonderful family gave me one of the Keurig single serve coffee makers as a birthday gift. (Yes, as the Reader has cleverly deduced, today is my birthday (and, yes, as the Reader has also deduced, I am old, but I was old yesterday too, so that fact hasn't really actually changed all that much (yes, for the pedantically inclined, it has changed by exactly a day, which in some cases is a non-negligible unit of time, but in the present case, we may take it as approximating zero)).) So, tomorrow, my work habitat will have good coffee. Life is good.
And, yes, I did get my annual new shirt from my mother and father in law--if they didn't give me a new shirt every year, I would be living my Thoreauvian ideal of having just one shirt which I would wear every day. Those of you who are glad that I own more than one long-sleeved collared shirt may thank my in-laws.
My mother sent me a new Raiders T-shirt and Raiders Calendar. My mother is well acquainted with my love, deep, deep love, for the Raiders.
Janet made Indian food for dinner. Emma and I watched another episode of Twin Peaks--we are getting near the end, but I am not sure if she knows the show ends with Season 2--and I suspect she isn't going to be very happy with the way the show ends--but, I will be amused at her reaction.
And, yes, I did get my annual new shirt from my mother and father in law--if they didn't give me a new shirt every year, I would be living my Thoreauvian ideal of having just one shirt which I would wear every day. Those of you who are glad that I own more than one long-sleeved collared shirt may thank my in-laws.
My mother sent me a new Raiders T-shirt and Raiders Calendar. My mother is well acquainted with my love, deep, deep love, for the Raiders.
Janet made Indian food for dinner. Emma and I watched another episode of Twin Peaks--we are getting near the end, but I am not sure if she knows the show ends with Season 2--and I suspect she isn't going to be very happy with the way the show ends--but, I will be amused at her reaction.
Monday, November 23, 2009
The State of First Things December 2009
Next in a continuing series documenting the state of First Things
1. Well worth Reading
1. Mary Eberstadt, How Pedophilia Lost Its Cool
Pedophilia had begun to gain some respect on the Left a few years back (Eberstadt gives the examples of New Republic, Vanity Fair, Nation (of course), and the American Psychological Association's, Psychological Bulletin). Suddenly, however, the Left has stopped defending pedophiles. The cause of the change? The Catholic Church Scandal. Faced with a chance to bash the Catholic Church, the Left discovered that pedophilia is bad, really bad. Welcome to the rediscovery of morality on the Left.
2. Wesley Smith, Pulling the Plug on the Conscience Clause
A very nice account of the continuing advance of the Culture of Death. Can a doctor refuse to perform an abortion? Can a pharmacist refuse to provide drugs designed to cause an abortion? Can a doctor refuse to euthanize a patient who requests it? Depressingly, many say no.
3. John Sutherland's review of Nabokov's The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun)
The Nabokov book isn't really a novel; it is a set of notecards which were the start of a novel. The notecards have now been published and there is enough of them to figure out the rough storyline. In other words, the book sounds like a mess. Sutherland's review did nothing to convince me to want to look at the book, but it did convince me that there is a good reason for the book to exist. It also has some nice reflections on the idea of publishing a manuscript against the will of the author (Nabokov wanted the thing destroyed when he died) and the way Nabokov worked in thinking about crafting a novel.
2. Flawed, but worth the time
1. Thomas Berg's review of Gilbert Meilander's Neither Best nor God
The review wasn't that interesting, but it started with an interesting question that Berg has posed to the other members of the Empire State Stem Cell Board. Is there anything that you would say should never be allowed to be done with a human embryo? "One colleague conceded he would not want them served in an upscale restaurant as a kind of caviar; another, that she would not want them used for cleaning floors or for powering cars." The interesting question, which Berg does not discuss (he is reviewing a book after all) is what is really wrong with those sorts of uses for a human embryo? If a human embryo is a human, then I get it, but then of course killing them is wrong for any reason. But if the human embryo isn't human, what is wrong with eating them or using them in a cleaning fluid?
2. Julie Stoner's poem "Advent Carol" is clever and funny and decent poetry.
3. Jody Bottom's end of magazine column was also good.
1. Well worth Reading
1. Mary Eberstadt, How Pedophilia Lost Its Cool
Pedophilia had begun to gain some respect on the Left a few years back (Eberstadt gives the examples of New Republic, Vanity Fair, Nation (of course), and the American Psychological Association's, Psychological Bulletin). Suddenly, however, the Left has stopped defending pedophiles. The cause of the change? The Catholic Church Scandal. Faced with a chance to bash the Catholic Church, the Left discovered that pedophilia is bad, really bad. Welcome to the rediscovery of morality on the Left.
2. Wesley Smith, Pulling the Plug on the Conscience Clause
A very nice account of the continuing advance of the Culture of Death. Can a doctor refuse to perform an abortion? Can a pharmacist refuse to provide drugs designed to cause an abortion? Can a doctor refuse to euthanize a patient who requests it? Depressingly, many say no.
3. John Sutherland's review of Nabokov's The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun)
The Nabokov book isn't really a novel; it is a set of notecards which were the start of a novel. The notecards have now been published and there is enough of them to figure out the rough storyline. In other words, the book sounds like a mess. Sutherland's review did nothing to convince me to want to look at the book, but it did convince me that there is a good reason for the book to exist. It also has some nice reflections on the idea of publishing a manuscript against the will of the author (Nabokov wanted the thing destroyed when he died) and the way Nabokov worked in thinking about crafting a novel.
2. Flawed, but worth the time
1. Thomas Berg's review of Gilbert Meilander's Neither Best nor God
The review wasn't that interesting, but it started with an interesting question that Berg has posed to the other members of the Empire State Stem Cell Board. Is there anything that you would say should never be allowed to be done with a human embryo? "One colleague conceded he would not want them served in an upscale restaurant as a kind of caviar; another, that she would not want them used for cleaning floors or for powering cars." The interesting question, which Berg does not discuss (he is reviewing a book after all) is what is really wrong with those sorts of uses for a human embryo? If a human embryo is a human, then I get it, but then of course killing them is wrong for any reason. But if the human embryo isn't human, what is wrong with eating them or using them in a cleaning fluid?
2. Julie Stoner's poem "Advent Carol" is clever and funny and decent poetry.
3. Jody Bottom's end of magazine column was also good.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
New QB, New Result
Raiders 20 Bengals 17! The Raiders bench Russell, start Gradkowski--yeah, that Gradkowski--and what do you know, the Raiders win. Life is good, very good.
The Raiders next play on Thanksgiving. It is times like this that it is not very fun being the only football fan in the extended family. Janet offered to rearrange Thanksgiving Day so I could watch the game, but I felt too guilty to take her up on the offer. So, I'll record it and watch it after everyone has gone to bed. Hopefully, my joy-filled screaming at the Raiders new-found winning ways will be so loud that everyone wakes up from their slumber.
I am ridiculously optimistic about the game this Thursday against Dallas. I think this is called Irrational Exuberance.
In other football news, the Sunday night game between Philly and Chicago is painful--the Raiders could beat either one of these teams--come to think of it, they already beat one of them.
At least I wrote two midterm exams during football games today. Tomorrow, I have to give both exams--it makes for an odd day--two classes, no lectures. And, since it is Thanksgiving week, that means I have no lectures all week. But, I do have a lot of grading to do on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaking of Sunday Night football, Chris Collinsworth is really, really good. I never would have imagined that Madden would be so ably replaced. The MNF crew this year is finally good again--getting rid of the resident joker and replacing him with Gruden was a great move--finally ESPN/ABC realized that people who watch MNF want to watch football.
I love football--why doesn't anyone else in my family love football? Seriously. I have three kids--why couldn't I get any of them addicted to watching football with me? Janet used to watch football with me every Sunday before we were married. I think there is an explanation of such phenomena in the literature on dating.
But, the Raiders won, so right now, everything is good.
The Raiders next play on Thanksgiving. It is times like this that it is not very fun being the only football fan in the extended family. Janet offered to rearrange Thanksgiving Day so I could watch the game, but I felt too guilty to take her up on the offer. So, I'll record it and watch it after everyone has gone to bed. Hopefully, my joy-filled screaming at the Raiders new-found winning ways will be so loud that everyone wakes up from their slumber.
I am ridiculously optimistic about the game this Thursday against Dallas. I think this is called Irrational Exuberance.
In other football news, the Sunday night game between Philly and Chicago is painful--the Raiders could beat either one of these teams--come to think of it, they already beat one of them.
At least I wrote two midterm exams during football games today. Tomorrow, I have to give both exams--it makes for an odd day--two classes, no lectures. And, since it is Thanksgiving week, that means I have no lectures all week. But, I do have a lot of grading to do on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaking of Sunday Night football, Chris Collinsworth is really, really good. I never would have imagined that Madden would be so ably replaced. The MNF crew this year is finally good again--getting rid of the resident joker and replacing him with Gruden was a great move--finally ESPN/ABC realized that people who watch MNF want to watch football.
I love football--why doesn't anyone else in my family love football? Seriously. I have three kids--why couldn't I get any of them addicted to watching football with me? Janet used to watch football with me every Sunday before we were married. I think there is an explanation of such phenomena in the literature on dating.
But, the Raiders won, so right now, everything is good.
Friday, November 20, 2009
No Plot, No Character, No Problem
I recently finished 'Noh' or Accomplishment: A Study of the Classical Stage of Japan, by Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound. It is, as the title suggests, a treatise on the Noh Plays, complete with numerous scripts for such plays.
I knew quite little about Noh plays before reading this book. "Quite Little" means: I had heard the word "Noh" before and I knew Noh plays were Japanese.
The conclusion after reading a book about Noh plays: to put it mildly, Noh plays are horrible. Even the best of them are barely worth reading.
But, the Noh play is supposed to be more than just a written play--it is a combination of play and music and dance--and of those the dance is far an away the most important. In other words, what I am reading is a book about a form of dance but the bulk of the book is not about the dance at all, but rather some "plots" of a dance in which the words are in translation, and so the music and visual aspects of the whole Noh experience is completely absent. Is it any wonder the scripts are terrible?
Two interesting notes from the book.
1. "But in Noh everything comes down by tradition from early Tokugawa days and cannot be judged by any living man, but can only be followed faithfully." That is a genuinely interesting idea--what if there was an art form that literally nobody on earth found meritorious--is it sill art simply because someone in the past thought it was Art? Is it worth watching today?
2. "Our own art is so much an act of emphasis, and even of over-emphasis, that it is difficult to consider the possibilities of an absolutely unemphasized art, an art where the author trusts so implicitly that his audience will know what things are profound and important." I suppose if that is true, it is no wonder that I have a hard time appreciating the Noh play.
I did YouTube "Noh" and saw some clips which I can only hope were horrible amateur imitations of a genuine art form.
I knew quite little about Noh plays before reading this book. "Quite Little" means: I had heard the word "Noh" before and I knew Noh plays were Japanese.
The conclusion after reading a book about Noh plays: to put it mildly, Noh plays are horrible. Even the best of them are barely worth reading.
But, the Noh play is supposed to be more than just a written play--it is a combination of play and music and dance--and of those the dance is far an away the most important. In other words, what I am reading is a book about a form of dance but the bulk of the book is not about the dance at all, but rather some "plots" of a dance in which the words are in translation, and so the music and visual aspects of the whole Noh experience is completely absent. Is it any wonder the scripts are terrible?
Two interesting notes from the book.
1. "But in Noh everything comes down by tradition from early Tokugawa days and cannot be judged by any living man, but can only be followed faithfully." That is a genuinely interesting idea--what if there was an art form that literally nobody on earth found meritorious--is it sill art simply because someone in the past thought it was Art? Is it worth watching today?
2. "Our own art is so much an act of emphasis, and even of over-emphasis, that it is difficult to consider the possibilities of an absolutely unemphasized art, an art where the author trusts so implicitly that his audience will know what things are profound and important." I suppose if that is true, it is no wonder that I have a hard time appreciating the Noh play.
I did YouTube "Noh" and saw some clips which I can only hope were horrible amateur imitations of a genuine art form.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Welcome to Gopher Prairie
The report on the next installment of my tutorial's tour of the Gilded Age: Sinclair Lewis' Main Street. Before now, I had only read one of Lewis' books; Babbitt is an interesting portrayal of a type of middle manager from the early 20th century. Mencken uses the term Babbitt to refer to that entire class of people frequently in his writings, so I read the novel back when I discovered Mencken.
Main Street came right before Babbitt; same general idea, different class of people. This novel mocks either 1) small town America or 2) those who want to reform Small Town America to make it more sophisticated. Or maybe it is mocking both. It is hard to tell.
It's an odd book; I would have said that it was terribly tedious--nearly 500 pages of Carol, our protagonist, alternating between whining about how small-minded the citizens of Gopher Prairie are and deciding to enjoy life in the town--but interestingly, Main Street was a best-seller in its day. So, obviously, at the time people thought it was great reading. Why? I am not entirely sure, but I suspect it appealed to the Eastern Elite of the day as a vehicle for confirming their prejudices about how terrible life was in Middle America. Read that way, it is a mocking satire on small-town life. On the other hand, Carol was a horrible bore; perhaps I have too much sympathy for the fine citizens of Gopher Prairie--despite the fact that I have a hard time imagining being friends with anyone who lives in the town.
The most fascinating thing from the tutorial discussion was that nobody in the room had much patience for Gopher Prairie; everyone seemed to think the people in the town were rather small-minded and dull. But, the last book we read was The Age of Innocence, and nobody thought the members of the New York Aristocracy about whom that book revolved were small minded or dull. Yet, it is very hard to figure out any difference between the New York Aristocracy and the Gopher Prairie yokels except that former are richer and dress in more glamorous clothing. Elitism runs deep.
On the whole, I think Babbitt is the better book.
Main Street came right before Babbitt; same general idea, different class of people. This novel mocks either 1) small town America or 2) those who want to reform Small Town America to make it more sophisticated. Or maybe it is mocking both. It is hard to tell.
It's an odd book; I would have said that it was terribly tedious--nearly 500 pages of Carol, our protagonist, alternating between whining about how small-minded the citizens of Gopher Prairie are and deciding to enjoy life in the town--but interestingly, Main Street was a best-seller in its day. So, obviously, at the time people thought it was great reading. Why? I am not entirely sure, but I suspect it appealed to the Eastern Elite of the day as a vehicle for confirming their prejudices about how terrible life was in Middle America. Read that way, it is a mocking satire on small-town life. On the other hand, Carol was a horrible bore; perhaps I have too much sympathy for the fine citizens of Gopher Prairie--despite the fact that I have a hard time imagining being friends with anyone who lives in the town.
The most fascinating thing from the tutorial discussion was that nobody in the room had much patience for Gopher Prairie; everyone seemed to think the people in the town were rather small-minded and dull. But, the last book we read was The Age of Innocence, and nobody thought the members of the New York Aristocracy about whom that book revolved were small minded or dull. Yet, it is very hard to figure out any difference between the New York Aristocracy and the Gopher Prairie yokels except that former are richer and dress in more glamorous clothing. Elitism runs deep.
On the whole, I think Babbitt is the better book.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Economics in the Morning
I gave a talk at the South Hadley Chamber of Commerce's annual economic forum this morning. It was a breakfast meeting in which they asked a financial planner and me to talk for 15 minutes or so and then we took questions. The topic was the State of the Economy. Here is my take:
We are recovering from a textbook recession. Despite all the fear and angst a year ago, this is not the Great Depression and the world did not end. GDP fell, and now it is rising. The people who are doubting that the recession is over note that things are still bad; but that is the point--the recession ends and growth starts by definition at the lowest point. The recovery will take some time--nobody is sure how long.
There are many things going on that are interesting, but there are two which particularly intrigue me. First, the lack of a financial regulation bill. When I spoke at this event last year, I noted that we could be certain that there would be a new set of financial regulations in 2009. I was wrong. Washington has been obsessed first with the Stimulus Bill and then with the health care bill, so this rather important bit of legislation has not been discussed at all. The lack of action on a new regulatory bill is certainly slowing down the recovery of the financial markets--financial firms have no way of knowing what sort of activities will be prohibited or encouraged in future regulation.
The second intriguing thing is the possible inflation in the future. The Fed has increased the monetary base (essentially bank reserves) by a substantial amount. In normal times this would lead to a very rapid increase the money supply and thus a high inflation rate. At present banks are hoarding reserves, largely because they are still nervous about the financial and regulatory climate. The Fed is promising to act before the money supply has a chance to go up. This sounds nice--and this is certainly possible to do on a chalkboard. But, no country in the history of the world has ever done what the Fed is pledging to do. So, either they will pull off the greatest act of monetary management we have ever seen or we are going to see double digit inflation at some point in the next few years.
The questions ranged all over; the comment I made that seemed to arouse the most opposition is that there is nothing in this recession that is fundamentally different than what we have seen before. I have seen this before--many people really want to believe that this recession or the reaction to it are completely without precedent. I have no idea why people want to believe in the novelty of the economic events of the last two years.
We are recovering from a textbook recession. Despite all the fear and angst a year ago, this is not the Great Depression and the world did not end. GDP fell, and now it is rising. The people who are doubting that the recession is over note that things are still bad; but that is the point--the recession ends and growth starts by definition at the lowest point. The recovery will take some time--nobody is sure how long.
There are many things going on that are interesting, but there are two which particularly intrigue me. First, the lack of a financial regulation bill. When I spoke at this event last year, I noted that we could be certain that there would be a new set of financial regulations in 2009. I was wrong. Washington has been obsessed first with the Stimulus Bill and then with the health care bill, so this rather important bit of legislation has not been discussed at all. The lack of action on a new regulatory bill is certainly slowing down the recovery of the financial markets--financial firms have no way of knowing what sort of activities will be prohibited or encouraged in future regulation.
The second intriguing thing is the possible inflation in the future. The Fed has increased the monetary base (essentially bank reserves) by a substantial amount. In normal times this would lead to a very rapid increase the money supply and thus a high inflation rate. At present banks are hoarding reserves, largely because they are still nervous about the financial and regulatory climate. The Fed is promising to act before the money supply has a chance to go up. This sounds nice--and this is certainly possible to do on a chalkboard. But, no country in the history of the world has ever done what the Fed is pledging to do. So, either they will pull off the greatest act of monetary management we have ever seen or we are going to see double digit inflation at some point in the next few years.
The questions ranged all over; the comment I made that seemed to arouse the most opposition is that there is nothing in this recession that is fundamentally different than what we have seen before. I have seen this before--many people really want to believe that this recession or the reaction to it are completely without precedent. I have no idea why people want to believe in the novelty of the economic events of the last two years.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Update Again
While straight cut and paste still isn't working, a web search indicates this may just be an intermittent problem with blogger--so maybe, just maybe, Windows 7 is off the hook on this one. In any event, I can cut and paste into the hyperlink box on blogger and thus, you can now directly go to the aforementioned (please refer to the aforementioned explanation of the use of this word in blog postings) video clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk4FIIkKXdw
This leaves only the printer problem, which past experience suggests may not be the sort of problem best tackled at 12:30 AM, and the antivirus problem which fairness compels me to acknowledge is due in part to Windows 7, in part to Dell, and in part to my own failure to anticipate that this could be a problem. On the other hand, the antivirus problem is probably fixable with 4 hours of my time or certainly fixable by spending $40.
Pity the poor Mac users who don't get the thrill of fixing all these problems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk4FIIkKXdw
This leaves only the printer problem, which past experience suggests may not be the sort of problem best tackled at 12:30 AM, and the antivirus problem which fairness compels me to acknowledge is due in part to Windows 7, in part to Dell, and in part to my own failure to anticipate that this could be a problem. On the other hand, the antivirus problem is probably fixable with 4 hours of my time or certainly fixable by spending $40.
Pity the poor Mac users who don't get the thrill of fixing all these problems.
Update
The aforementioned (which given the ordering of the posts on a blog, the aforementioned actually follows this, thus the "afore" is temporal, not spatial) problem of Word not working in Windows 7 has been remedied with the help of the handy Microsoft Office Diagnostics tool, buried in the list of programs I did not know I owned.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Winders VII
I do believe Mr Squeers designed the new Windows 7.
I installed it today. The upside--it does seem faster and simpler than Vista. That's good. The bad side? In order to install it, I had to uninstall the virus protection program, so now I have to buy a new one of those. And, I just noticed that Microsoft Word isn't working--that would be a Microsoft program showing incompatibility problems with Windows. Go figure. The printer is also not working, but I probably just have to reinstall the printer drivers. Cutting and pasting into this blog entry also doesn't seem to work. New computers are such marvelous fun, no?
Cue the Mac Vs PC ad, Broken Promises: I'd link to it, but, well, I can't cut and paste the link.
I installed it today. The upside--it does seem faster and simpler than Vista. That's good. The bad side? In order to install it, I had to uninstall the virus protection program, so now I have to buy a new one of those. And, I just noticed that Microsoft Word isn't working--that would be a Microsoft program showing incompatibility problems with Windows. Go figure. The printer is also not working, but I probably just have to reinstall the printer drivers. Cutting and pasting into this blog entry also doesn't seem to work. New computers are such marvelous fun, no?
Cue the Mac Vs PC ad, Broken Promises: I'd link to it, but, well, I can't cut and paste the link.
Of course I still think Macs are for wimpy people who can't handle problems...
Friday, November 13, 2009
A Wired World
Last year I received a free subscription to Wired magazine after buying something on Amazon (I forget what). I knew little about Wired, other than that it had technology articles; I'd never even seen a copy of it, but there is little reason to refuse a free subscription. I got my first issue earlier in the year, and after reading it a) I enjoyed it and b) I had no idea what connected all the articles--a seemingly rather bizarre set of topics--some of the articles were about new technology, but most of them were not. The next month I again read straight through the issue--same seemingly random set of articles. The weird thing was I enjoyed reading almost everything in the magazine--and it was not immediately obvious why I would enjoy a randomly selected set of articles. It took me a few issues to figure out the theme: Wired is a magazine for Geeks.
My free subscription is expiring. It costs $8 to renew for another year. I didn't hesitate to renew. I really like Wired.
So, if you are looking for a great Christmas gift for a Geek in your life: $8. Done.
My free subscription is expiring. It costs $8 to renew for another year. I didn't hesitate to renew. I really like Wired.
So, if you are looking for a great Christmas gift for a Geek in your life: $8. Done.
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