04 Sep 2006, 1:50 a.m.

Transitive Friendship Failure

The geek social fallacies. Looking back, I've had mild cases of 1, 4, and 5. I can identify at least three past or present acquaintances with symptoms of more virulent strains of all five.

Read More
04 Sep 2006, 1:42 a.m.

Steve Yegge & "Clothes For the Soul"

I generally enjoy Steve Yegge's blog posts; you can find lots of adoring swooning to that effect in my archives from the past year. Recently he posted some thoughts that weren't out of the ordinary …

Read More
03 Sep 2006, 15:43 p.m.

MC Masala on A Day Out

I took a friend to Roosevelt Island. We walked down to the southern tip, where planted and overgrown greenery shaded a ruin from view. It used to house smallpox labs or patients, and now it …

Read More
01 Sep 2006, 14:33 p.m.

Solids & Powders Replace Liquids

Per Leonard's posts, sometimes we use shampoo bars. I also use stick deodorant (Tom's of Maine or other non-mainstream stuff) and chew gum or use those little plastic strips for breath freshening. Thus, my usual …

Read More
31 Aug 2006, 15:58 p.m.

Sort-of-manipulative Tricks

How to handle chronic complainers: actually listen to them and empathize, saying, "I don't know how you put up with it." From the discussion of Joel Spolsky's timeless "Fire and Motion": So, I took my …

Read More
29 Aug 2006, 10:32 a.m.

How To Make Me Steamed

Take some US citizens, don't charge them with any crime, but keep them from returning to their home in Northern California, and deny them their constitutional rights. Especially when one is a teenager, and they're …

Read More
29 Aug 2006, 2:51 a.m.

Dragging Everyone I Know To See

Will Franken! September 7th-28th he tours NYC, including a couple of stops at my usual haunt Rififi.

Read More
27 Aug 2006, 21:46 p.m.

MC Masala on Scars & Marriage

Math teachers, parents, husbands, and tables all get under our skin. I left home for college, cut my hair, and took off my earrings once and for all. But my mom asked me to wear …

Read More
20 Aug 2006, 14:30 p.m.

MC Masala on Tests of Americanness

"Who discovered the USA? Christopher Columbus." "Is this still right?" she asked. Man, oh, man, all the things I wanted to say. Before any white people from Europe came along, indigenous people lived in North …

Read More
20 Aug 2006, 1:38 a.m.

Disturbing Slash Pairing

Keynes/Galbraith.

Read More