Last night was spent at the finals competition of a local Poetry Slam. People spilled out onto the street and lined up down the block to hear the poetry being recited. In a way, this seems like a restoration of the natural order; humanity's way of apologizing for Van Helsing being #1 at the box office. Two police paddywagons showed up, ( Read more... )

I think certain sounds are just fun to pronounce. I would probably donate a kidney to hear this read aloud by a Scottish pirate.

Puglothroptic ThumpterglupePuglothroptic thumpterglupe ( Read more... )

This just made my day:

Pediatrician issues warning about cicada-related child injuries.

Hey, if I'd been trapped under the ground for seventeen years, I'd probably want to goad a few kids into idiotic self-injury before mating and dying, too.

Ever wonder what would happen if someone dug up Edgar Rice Burroughs' corpse, extracted his mouldering brain, sandwiched it between two slices of rancid cheese, and then ate the resulting delicacy?

Sure you have; who hasn't? And now this timeless question has an answer.

The Eye of Argon, voted the "worst science fiction story ever written". ( Read more... )

The bus took off from the bay this morning to head up the hill. At the corner, a swarthy old gentleman stood abandoned, five seconds too late, nervously fingering the bus transfer he'd held at the ready. His face looked so forlorn, as he stared longingly at the bus; not with the fiery indignation that would have been the rejoinder of any young ( Read more... )

A loosely connected string of thoughts ( Read more... )

Here's a question for you Englishey types.

The sirens in Greek mythology sang a beautiful song that lured sailors to their doom. An alarm "siren" makes a horrible noise that is supposed to keep you out of harm's way. How the hell did the latter get named after the former?

So, um... yeah. I'm sane, you know?

Day of the WalrusThe day felt laden with a sense of surprise ( Read more... )

Strange how now that I finally have all the time in the world to write, I can't seem to come up with anything. It's like I need the nervous energy of exams to fuel my creativity ( Read more... )

http://moral.wjh.harvard.edu/index2.htmlRead more... )