Uh, so I accidentally posted some of the below last night when it was only meant to be a work-in-progress. Oops. Anyway, now for the explanation of what it is.

I recently finished reading One-upmanship: How to Win Life's Little Games without Appearing to Try, written by an Englishman named Stephen Potter and first printed in the Fifties. It's a ( Read more... )

"A friend in need is a friend indeed". It only recently occurred to me that this must mean "A [person who is a] friend [to you while you are] in need is a friend indeed ( Read more... )

The other day I was in a taxi and the cabbie had a classic Noo Yawk accent. The photo ID in the partition separating the front seat from the back looked unusual -- I guessed that he was one of the rare cabbies who owned his own cab and asked if that were true. "Yeah," he said, then, "Well, I used to," and finally finished with a bemused, slightly ( Read more... )

In the course of my observations of Earthlings, I have noticed curious variations in the behavior they call "applause". Please note that these observations were made of Western societies and thus may not be true of other human societies.

( Read more... )

This phrase has always seemed overly dramatic to me.

"Where were you yesterday? Working from home?"

"No, I was sick. I had... food poisoning"Oh my God! Are you sure ( Read more... )

On our way to work this morning, Kendell and I stopped at a Kinko's-like shop to scan some documents. The store's owner was an outgoing older guy with a '70s copstash, who was listening to '70s music and singing along from time to time. A song came on that sounded to me really groovy yet contemporary -- black guy on acoustic guitar -- and I asked ( Read more... )

Today's Pepys entry mentions a "Lord Mordaunt". I've clearly read way too much fantasy, because I instantly thought of a heartless archvillain plotting to take over the whole of the Nineteen Realms and plunge them into Eternal Shadow, etc.

He seems to have been a little evil at least. Wikipedia says he was impeached by the House of Commons for ( Read more... )

I'm sure I wasn't the only person to think over this New Year's, "Hey, we made it to another of Arthur C. Clarke's years." This year, we can expect the planet Jupiter to implode and become a minor sun, bringing forth life on its former moons.

Hope to see you all in 2061...

What if God were... a vampire???

What if some aliens made contact with humanity and turned out to be... vampires???!

What if Deep Throat had revealed to Bob Woodward that the Nixon White House was... composed entirely of vampires??!!?

What if Charles F. Dowd and the entire assembly of the General Time Convention of 1883 proved to be... nothing ( Read more... )

From my co-worker John:

"Wal-Mart is evil, until you need to buy a TV and fruit at the same time."