Yesterday I opened a box from the State's Attorney. Among other things, it contained a black wallet, a first-generation iPod, and a cellphone. I felt like I was handling the contents of a time capsule: people used these things? iPods were this big?

The objects, of course, are the impounded evidence from my mugging on August 8 2004. At the time I ( Read more... )

1. happy anniversary to robert and Angela, and belated congratulations to the Horstings and Van Opstals ( Read more... )

Don Randel will be leaving to become president of the Mellon Foundation, effective June 2006. Expect a formal press announcement sometime soon ( Read more... )

although geared towards those seeking academic appointments, an article in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education is relevant for anyone with an upcoming job interview (i.e., all of us).

Bloggers Need Not ApplyThere's been plenty of negative reaction to this piece-- everything from "why would you want to work at a place where people are so ( Read more... )

After watching a DVD in which a diary figured prominently, I've realized an additional benefit to journaling. When we do something deliberately, whether it's take a new job, move someplace different, or agree to care for a new person in one's life, we need to remember the reasons and motives that led us to these decisions ( Read more... )

[WARNING: whiny entry ahead.]

( why my job is slowly killing me )

[obligatory rant about the LJ comment system quoting the entire journal entry in email. Yeah, I know it's my own dumb fault for doing super-long posts.]

the barcode-bin method: Yup, we're using that--aka "Automated Storage and Retrieval System," or ASRS. For those just tuning in, a quick recap ( Read more... )

If you haven't seen it yet, this was on the front page of the Trib's Metro section last Sunday. (In some locales/editions, we were even above the fold. Sweet.)

Library set for grand new chapterU. of C. facility will be nation's largest ( Read more... )

Yesterday--and today--I was Gyro Cheez Fries. Take a flaky bowl of pastry crust (normally intended for, say, taco salad). Fill with an ENTIRE POUND of French fries. Toss on several strips of gyro meat, then ladle artificial liquid cheese over all. For best results, wash down with a milkshake ( Read more... )

"The thing I just wish so fervently is that after Shiloh, both sides would have said, "Wait a minute." They had 24 percent casualties at Shiloh. That’s the same as Waterloo. There were 100,000 men on that field, and 24,000 casualties. We should have said "Whoa, wait. We’re going to kill all the young men in the country if this keeps on." -- ( Read more... )