July 2009
38 posts
“A Certain critic — for such men, I regret to say, do exist — made the nasty...”
– The Preface to Summer Lightning, in Life at Blandings, which I found in my book box while unpacking today.
Ways in which I am a grown-up now
Found out my credit score for the first time when the apartment manager was deciding whether to accept my application or not (spoiler: she did, and now I live in the unit above her office)
Signed my first lease after my first real apartment-hunting expedition
Whilst shopping for apartment things at Target, did not look at ‘College Furniture’ section (OK, maybe for a little bit)
...
Holy shit you guys I'm in Nashville
Holy shit you guys I'm moving to Nashville
and flying out in about 24 hours, starting yet another unforeseen but sure-to-be-exciting chapter in my life.
What.
What a millennium of repressed, cock-happy... →
A review of Ananios of Kleitor by George Economou. I had not heard of the book before, but now I want to read it (link via @unmodern):
What lends this book its power and panache, however, is not so much the morsels it claims to preserve from antiquity’s table, but the extraordinary story of Ananios’ razor’s edge “survival” and “rediscovery”. The important question is not what you and I make of...
http://bit.ly/2K63M for the video clip
Hacker: Sir Mark thinks there might be votes in it, and I do not intend to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Sir Humphrey: I put it to you, Minister, that you are looking a Trojan horse in the mouth.
Hacker: You mean if we look closely at this gift horse, we'll find it's full of Trojans?
Bernard: Um, if you had looked the Trojan Horse in the mouth, Minister, you would have found Greeks inside. Well, the point is that it was the Greeks who gave the Trojan horse to the Trojans, so technically it wasn't a Trojan horse at all; it was a Greek horse. Hence the tag "timeo Danaos et dona ferentes", which, you will recall, is usually and somewhat inaccurately translated as "beware of Greeks bearing gifts", or doubtless you would have recalled had you not attended the LSE.
Hacker: Yes, well, I'm sure Greek tags are all very well in their way; but can we stick to the point?
Bernard: Sorry, sorry: Greek tags?
Hacker: "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." I suppose the EEC equivalent would be "Beware of Greeks bearing an olive oil surplus".
Sir Humphrey: Excellent, Minister.
Bernard: No, well, the point is, Minister, that just as the Trojan horse was in fact Greek, what you describe as a Greek tag is in fact Latin. It's obvious, really: the Greeks would never suggest bewaring of themselves, if one can use such a participle (bewaring that is). And it's clearly Latin, not because timeo ends in "-o", because the Greek first person also ends in "-o" – although actually there is a Greek word timao, meaning 'I honour'. But the "-os" ending is a nominative singular termination of a second declension in Greek, and an accusative plural in Latin, of course, though actually Danaos is not only the Greek for 'Greek'; it's also the Latin for 'Greek'. It's very interesting, really.
1 tag
“You’re the fucking shittest James Bond ever! You’re David fucking Niven!”
– Jamie Macdonald, the crossest man in Scotland.
The Philippines and Travel Etiquette →
A little article on dos and don’ts for tourists in the Philippines. This part strikes me as particularly interesting:
Hiya Hiya is the term Filipinos use to describe the concept of shame. In some respects it is similar to the concepts of honour and ‘saving face’. This principle is a fundamental aspect of culture in the Philippines, and forms the basis of most etiquette…
For this...
1 tag
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-7-19) →
The Walkmen (17)
El Ten Eleven (13)
Manic Street Preachers (11)
We Were Promised Jetpacks (9)
Cut Copy (8)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
“I really don’t know who made the call, if it was made, to chase George...”
– Rolf Aldag, Columbia team manager, on Garmin’s decision to chase George Hincapie down and deny him wearing the yellow jersey for the first time since 2006.
I love the Tour. I used to watch it religiously. I find it endlessly fascinating, even if I can’t ride a bike to save my life myself. There’s...
1 tag
Mew - 156
I won’t care for you
like I’m...
1 tag
A short, incomplete list of moments in my life...
When I was 8 or 9, my family and some friends went to an island where one of my mom’s friends had a house. They had a pet monkey tethered to a long post on top of some coconut trees. I decided to feed the monkey by throwing food up at it. It wasn’t able to catch one of the morsels, so I went right below where the monkey was to pick it up and throw it back, thinking it wouldn’t be able to...
The Kübler-Ross model adapted to a wait for the...
Denial - I’m sure she’ll be here in five minutes.
Anger - What the fuck? How can you reschedule my 3:00 PM appointment to 6:00 PM? I am going to eat your children!
Bargaining - I would give my left pinky toe for the doctor to be here already.
Depression - I am so bored I want to die.
Acceptance - [Undocumented: I fell asleep]
1 tag
Red House Painters - Wop-A-Din-Din
The best song...
Who has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and has...
This moi.
Best Job Evar →
A collection of interesting jobs my friend encounters in her post-college job search.
Recent entries include someone needing a taxidermist who watches a lot of Kung Fu and a job posting looking for someone to run a brothel.
Yep, those four years and untold amounts of money spent in Oberlin all boil down to this. Yay college!
“Hello. I recently graduated with a BA in English, and I will be your server this...”
– Caitlin’s ‘about me’. First person to quote the Avenue Q song gets a sock in the nose.
1 tag
We Were Promised Jetpacks - It’s Thunder and It’s...
Gateways to Geekery: P.G. Wodehouse →
I thoroughly approve of this gateway to geekery, since it ties in and/or involves many of my favorite things: Wodehouse’s excellent writing, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, and last but not least, Athenian New Comedy elements.
Much of Wodehouse’s work circles the same basic setpieces and situations over and over; the political meeting/village concert—begun with a dismal speech and frequently...
“wow, eush, your place is like The Birds except with monkeys”
– mabel moments
That is exactly what it feels like! This may be the best description of my neighborhood. I will describe it as thus from now on.
2 tags
Encouraging your brother to be a smartass
11-year-old brother: I want an alarm clock for my room.
mom: That's not a natural way to wake up.
brother: Neither is you banging on my door yelling ‘Wake up!’
me and my sister: We’ve taught you well. (high fives all around)
mom: *death glare*
4 tags
1 tag
St. Vincent - Now, Now
I’m not the pawn...
Apparently I am a giant dumbass
And because I forgot my receipt for my Nonimmigrant Visa payment to the US Embassy, I’m going to have to come back in two weeks.
Which might be too late for my July 26th departure.
Son of a bitch.