A weird crystal.
The notorious difficulty of breeding hyenas.
The Sasquatch of Minecraft.
An interview with James Ellroy.
Glitch!
Impending closure of one of my very favorite New York restaurants, La Lunchonette.
Bad electronic health record software and the handling of the Dallas Ebola patient.
Stephen Fry on the battle for gay rights in Estonia. (Courtesy of Tarvo.)
Finally, something amazing: most epic bike ride ever? I would NEVER do this, but it is lovely to watch....
Showing posts with label air. Show all posts
Showing posts with label air. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Closing tabs
A very good day in many respects, but tiring.
In the morning I had a gorgeous short run along the river (excessive humidity, though).
In the afternoon I taught my first class of the semester, in a strikingly beautiful third-floor room at the Union Theological Seminary. Lots of familiar faces, which is always nice, and a syllabus full of books I particularly enjoy - this one should be good.
Four exciting pre-ordered books appeared on my Kindle, and one of them is the new Lee Child novel.
I have printed out final versions of all course materials for tomorrow's lecture.
Now I am going to shut down my computer and go and read Never Go Back!
(The only other thing I have to do tonight is my back stretching exercises, or I will regret it come Sunday evening, and perhaps a spot of meditation: but all other minor bits and bobs can wait till tomorrow, things like allergy doctor visit - I haven't been for way too long, I need to get back on the weekly habit of shots! - and booking a car for the airport trip Thursday and writing a conference paper abstract and getting various start-of-semester logistics sorted out and finishing the utterly complex triathlon organizing and packing that must be done before I leave.)
Also:
Secret fore-edge book paintings!
Philip Pullman is a yeoman. (Via Monica E.; FT site registration required.)
A dispiriting but fascinating story about the U.S. demographic changes that have led to a huge drop in life expectancy for poor white women lacking a high-school diploma.
The lost sausages of WWI.
In the morning I had a gorgeous short run along the river (excessive humidity, though).
In the afternoon I taught my first class of the semester, in a strikingly beautiful third-floor room at the Union Theological Seminary. Lots of familiar faces, which is always nice, and a syllabus full of books I particularly enjoy - this one should be good.
Four exciting pre-ordered books appeared on my Kindle, and one of them is the new Lee Child novel.
I have printed out final versions of all course materials for tomorrow's lecture.
Now I am going to shut down my computer and go and read Never Go Back!
(The only other thing I have to do tonight is my back stretching exercises, or I will regret it come Sunday evening, and perhaps a spot of meditation: but all other minor bits and bobs can wait till tomorrow, things like allergy doctor visit - I haven't been for way too long, I need to get back on the weekly habit of shots! - and booking a car for the airport trip Thursday and writing a conference paper abstract and getting various start-of-semester logistics sorted out and finishing the utterly complex triathlon organizing and packing that must be done before I leave.)
Also:
Secret fore-edge book paintings!
Philip Pullman is a yeoman. (Via Monica E.; FT site registration required.)
A dispiriting but fascinating story about the U.S. demographic changes that have led to a huge drop in life expectancy for poor white women lacking a high-school diploma.
The lost sausages of WWI.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Aerialism
Tom Keymer on Samuel Johnson and ballooning.
I've had this one bookmarked for some days: it's appealing to me in its own right, because I love Samuel Johnson and I also love the early history of ballooning, but it also caused me to think very intensely of Wendy, who would have turned fifty-three today.
Wendy had cherished for many years a plan to have breakfast near Tiffany's, namely an expedition to the famous Manhattan jewelry emporium! There we saw, among an inconceivable array of wonders, one very lovely piece of jewelry that has stuck with me. I will quote from Wendy's own description of it, because she had a precision of observation and notation that I cannot command when it comes to such things: "A pear shaped peacock tahitian mounted upside down inside a gold netted framework — it was a hot air balloon pendant." It really was extraordinary - it was the most delicate and beautiful thing, very much in the spirit of the Faberge eggs which are the only jeweled thing I could say I actually have an emotional relationship with (they, too, represent a twentieth-century reimagining of an eighteenth-century tradition), and powerfully evoked that strange science-fictional spirit of early aerialism.
I've had this one bookmarked for some days: it's appealing to me in its own right, because I love Samuel Johnson and I also love the early history of ballooning, but it also caused me to think very intensely of Wendy, who would have turned fifty-three today.
Wendy had cherished for many years a plan to have breakfast near Tiffany's, namely an expedition to the famous Manhattan jewelry emporium! There we saw, among an inconceivable array of wonders, one very lovely piece of jewelry that has stuck with me. I will quote from Wendy's own description of it, because she had a precision of observation and notation that I cannot command when it comes to such things: "A pear shaped peacock tahitian mounted upside down inside a gold netted framework — it was a hot air balloon pendant." It really was extraordinary - it was the most delicate and beautiful thing, very much in the spirit of the Faberge eggs which are the only jeweled thing I could say I actually have an emotional relationship with (they, too, represent a twentieth-century reimagining of an eighteenth-century tradition), and powerfully evoked that strange science-fictional spirit of early aerialism.
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