nutmeg

It's the end of the world as we know it...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:06:00 -0500

Daniel: water on the moon!
me: what?
Daniel: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=29613
me: "created a plume of material from the bottom of a crater that has not seen sunlight in billions of years" what if they stir up some plague that will come kill us all?
Daniel: 2012!!1!1
me: exactly. those scientists. they never think about this stuff.
Daniel: the reason the world will end in 2012 is because the moon dust will filter down into the LHC and allow it to produce a Higgs boson, which is trying so hard not to be produced that it's currently traveling back in time and sabotaging the LHC project to prevent its own genesis
Dan Brown is so naive
me: for real. someone should educate the man.

I love smartcars! (via @loidagarciafebo)

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:57:27 -0400

I love smartcars! (via @loidagarciafebo)

"After 26 long years, I can finally rest easy. Twenty-six years I spent standing in front of a..."

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:09:00 -0400

“

After 26 long years, I can finally rest easy. Twenty-six years I spent standing in front of a camera, gritting my teeth, and shilling the latest works of every hack children’s book author imaginable. For 26 years, I’ve told kids they could open a magical door to another world just by reading a book, when the only door it ever opened for me led to a soul-sucking career in the horrifying abyss of public television.

But now, at last, it is over. I don’t have to lie anymore. I don’t have to live that nightmare.

”

- My Living Nightmare Of Encouraging Kids To Read Is Over by Levar Burton (The Onion)

At this very moment, Dan is in the middle of a 190-mile, 2-day...

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:50:00 -0400

At this very moment, Dan is in the middle of a 190-mile, 2-day bike ride to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the hospital that saved his life. Read a little about his experience, and please, make a donation if you can.

5 Borough Ride / Bike New York I was a bit nervous about going...

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:44:00 -0400

5 Borough Ride / Bike New York

I was a bit nervous about going the whole 42 miles since I haven’t done much training, but it was a great ride, if soggy. My new bike is life-changing.

Getting that new bike to / from NYC has been rather challenging, though, and has required far too many trips to union station.

Sunday Ride Report

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:53:00 -0400

25 miles on the W&OD trail, average speed 12.6 mph, top speed 27 mph (on the flats!). Powered up a few hills. As I hoped, the trail was relatively traffic-free thanks to Easter. Up next: leftover risotto for lunch, laundry.

I’ll be in Bucharest next weekend, so no ride, but I’ve heard there are some places I can use an exercise bike so I can keep getting ready for the Five Borough Ride.

Dan says Boston is still too cold for cycling … I say ha ha now, but know I’ll get my comeuppance In August.

Flying solo

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:35:27 -0500

Today was my first full solo day in DC.

Tomorrow I start my new job… hurray!

Dan won’t join me in DC until July… boo!

(stupid school year)

Live from Seoul, it's Saturday night!

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:22:00 -0500

Ok, it’s not Saturday night. But I am in Seoul. I’m blogging for work over at http://gslis.simmons.edu/blogs/dispatches. Check it out.

Pictures on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/megoc42/

It’s done. This is me with my final assignment, just...

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:25:00 -0500

It’s done.

This is me with my final assignment, just before handing it in.

Thanks to @leonnea for snapping the pix!

An observation on checked bag fees

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:04:00 -0500

United is now charging a $15 fee for the FIRST checked bag on domestic flights. I’ve heard other airlines are doing the same.

Travelers are avoiding the fee by bringing wheelie suitcases as carry-ons. Of course, there’s isn’t enough space in the overhead compartments to accommodate carry-ons for all, or even most, of the passengers. As a result, people are having to check their wheelie bags at the gate (and presumably they’re not paying the fee at this point).

So it takes more time to load the plane as people fight over limited space, more time to load the plane because people have to check their bags at the last minute, and more time to unload the plane because more people are getting things down from the compartments.

Wouldn’t it save everyone a lot of hastle, and wouldn’t we all get where we’re going sooner, if they would do away with these stupid fees?

"While it’s a nice break from all the overwrought sentimentality, these setpieces are hindered..."

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:34:15 -0500

“While it’s a nice break from all the overwrought sentimentality, these setpieces are hindered by cheesy CGI effects and unfortunate styling that makes the vampires look not like impossibly beautiful killing machines, but like a bunch of dorks who fell into a vat of pancake makeup.”

- Twilight | The A.V. Club

Tempting fate…

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:38:39 -0500

Tempting fate…

thinkpol: amyyy: Louis CK “Everything’s amazing, nobody’s...

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:01:09 -0400

thinkpol:

amyyy:

Louis CK “Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy” (on Conan, 10/1/08)

i love this.

(via ledenes)

Library celebrates Banned Books Week with window-display...

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:53:23 -0400

Library celebrates Banned Books Week with window-display featuring volunteers reading banned works - Boing Boing

Unshelved comic strip archive

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:04:00 -0400

Unshelved comic strip archive

thinkpol: This is a pretty rad cycling PSA from the UK.

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:43:10 -0400

thinkpol:

This is a pretty rad cycling PSA from the UK.

"Yet something important is lost when a child’s introduction to fairy tales comes in such..."

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:02:00 -0400

“

Yet something important is lost when a child’s introduction to fairy tales comes in such whitewashed form. It’s not just Rapunzel: In toys, movies, and books, the old fairy tales are being systematically stripped of their darker complexities. Rapunzel has become a lobotomized girl in a pleasant tower playroom; Cinderella is another pretty lady in a ball gown, like some model on “Project Runway.”

“Fairy tale” may be our shorthand for castles and happy endings, but these classic stories have villains, too - nefarious witches, bloodthirsty wolves, stepmothers up to no good. And scholars have come to see the stories’ dark elements as the source of their power, not to mention their persistence over the centuries. Rich in allegory, endlessly adaptable, fairy tales emerged as a framework for talking about social issues. When we remove the difficult parts - and effectively do away with the stories themselves - we’re losing a surprisingly useful common language.

”

- The glossy, sanitized new versions of fairy tales leave out what matters: the scary parts - The Boston Globe

"The Serbian Gypsy band Kal is on a mission to save Romani culture from kitsch, discrimination, and..."

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:10:27 -0400

“The Serbian Gypsy band Kal is on a mission to save Romani culture from kitsch, discrimination, and assimilation. In addition to jaw-dropping musicianship, the seven-piece combo’s primary weapons in the fight against marginalization are rock ‘n’ roll attitude and dogged resistance to stylistic ghettoization.”

- Reviving a culture one tune at a time - The Boston Globe

Heart to McCain/Palin: Back off on 'Barracuda' - Sound Effects - Boston.com

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:34:52 -0400

Heart to McCain/Palin: Back off on 'Barracuda' - Sound Effects - Boston.com

"Personally speaking, as an American woman with a vote, I find Palin’s nomination so insulting..."

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:51:19 -0400

“Personally speaking, as an American woman with a vote, I find Palin’s nomination so insulting that, frankly, I’d like McCain more if he told me not to tax my little lady brain with trying to figure out how to fill in the ballot form.”

- Hadley Freeman: Despite being a woman, Sarah Palin doesn’t get my vote | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk