Today as I was walking down to the G Lot, I saw a car zooming down the hill towards me. When he chucked a giant styrofoam cup out his window and kept speeding up towards me, I just stood in the crosswalk and stared, absolutely appalled. He swerved into the other lane and avoided hitting me, instead of stopping as he's supposed to ( Read more... )

We just picked up some chicken and fries at Steak-N-Shake. On our way out of the drive-through, I noticed a small plume of smoke rising from the parking lot of the Extended Stay America hotel in the next parking lot over. We drove over, I got out, went into the office, and told the guy about it. By the time we got out, there were small flames in ( Read more... )

Last week one of my modernist friends and I were commiserating about grad school and housework. She said she hadn't done laundry in weeks. I said mine was clean but needed to be put away. I told her about the dozens of shirts on my dresser that still needed to be ironed. "Gatsby's nightmare," I called it. She laughed and said she'd write me a ( Read more... )

Bill Richardson just said something like, "John McCain may pay hundreds of dollars for his shoes, but we're the ones who will pay for his flip-flops." Zing!

On Friday night we saw Swing Vote, which we thought was terrific since it was set (and largely filmed) in New Mexico. Though it was about the political process, I wish it had been more overtly political, that it had really taken a side. There were some truly hilarious moments, and we'll probably buy the DVD when it comes out ( Read more... )

Today I spent an hour lecturing my students on what it means to be an "educated person."

Then I let them go 15 minutes early, inviting those who had actually done the reading to stay to discuss Herbert Hoover's "Rugged Individualism." Only three students stayed, and only two seemed to have actually read it.

Assume that subway stations A and C are exactly one mile from station B in opposite directions.

An express train leaves station A at 2:04pm at 74 MPH towards station B. It does not stop at station B but instead blows past it at maximum speed.

Another train leaves station C at 2:05pm traveling at 35 MPH, coming at station B from the other ( Read more... )

I think somebody should sell a special shampoo for people with hairy legs.

They should call it "Knees and Toes."

....just broke a glass sitting on the coffee table....the glass was empty, but the cat was full of mischief....

Last night, we learned a fancy word for synechdoche.