There are at least two parts to sexual arousal. The mental part, where we likes what we sees. And the physical part, which happens more or less on its own. An old-ish article from Seed Magazine tells us that men and women both report little to no arousal when watching monkeys have sex. But when […]
Business-Speak
I know that everyone jokes about the idiotic and purposely hyper-syllabic jargon in the business world. I’m on a conference call right now. RIGHT NOW. A colleague was asked, in nicer language than that below: “Did you do what you said you were going to do?” And she responded in exactly the following words: “To […]
Pissed
I have a friend who was robbed at gunpoint last year, a couple of friends who narrowly escaped a mugging a week ago, and another couple of friends who moved out of the city because they were sick of the crime. So this is small potatoes and non-violent, but it hurts. I was strolling down […]
Avast, ye scallywag!
I’m reading Under the Black Flag, by David Cordingly. It’s a nonfiction look at pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. Pirates! I’d guess I’m on page 2 or something, and I’ve already learned the difference between buccaneers, corsairs, and privateers. I bet you don’t know the difference. But I do! Flipping through it a […]
Ouch
Sunday, I was supposed to leave for a business trip on the west coast. But that day, my wife felt ill and had great pain in her leg. That night and the next day was worse, so we went to the doctor. The diagnosis? SPIDER BITE. Well, bug bite of some kind, anyway. Fever, chills, […]
TV, the Big Bang, and Schrödinger
A few of my friends have gone on (and on) about the TV show, The Big Bang. So I watched a couple of episodes on the computer. It’s ok, I guess. The finale, which I’m about to rant about, was actually pretty funny, and ended on a satisfying note. I liked it. But. It’s supposed […]
Giddyup
Every once in a while, someone will mention “the teamsters,” and I’ll wonder… How did they come to be called “teamsters”? Tonight, as I read a bit of the early section of U.S. Grant’s memoirs, I get to a point where he says, “… it is not probable that any of the men who reported […]
Goose, Gander, etc.
It’s not a new claim that maybe Shakespeare was someone else, or a collection of other people. How could it be, people wonder, that some under-educated rube from the provinces could write such beautiful, witty, universally acclaimed stuff? Ok. Whatever. Now, out comes a book claiming that Mary Shelley couldn’t have written Frankenstein. She was […]
Music is Language. Part Three.
Due to a recent confusion I had about “perfect pitch” (also known as absolute pitch), I looked it up and found that it means being able to “identify the letter-name of a sounded note.” I play a note, you tell me what it was. Of course, if you don’t know the letter names, then I […]
Expenses
While contemplating a move to San Francisco a few months ago, I checked out a few “cost of living” calculators to see how much of a hit my lifestyle would take. The short answer: A ton. Calculator #1 says that I’d need to earn 83% more to keep me in the opulence that I now […]