Author Archives: Anton

I’m melting!

Without serious effort, I seem to have lost a tenth of my peak mass in three years. I think the main change is that I no longer eat rice most days.

Posted in me!me!me!, medicine | 2 Comments

more movies

Les Bas-fonds (The Lower Depths) (1936). Not much coherent plot, but some engaging characters. The director Jean Renoir said he made a point of moving the story to the banks of the Marne, but didn’t say why he kept the … Continue reading

Posted in cinema | 1 Comment

fortuitious garble

I mis-heard “California Department of Boating and Waterways” as “…Voting and Lotteries,” which makes its own kind of sense.

Posted in politics | Leave a comment

why walk when you can stagger?

I got AT&T DSL because it’s a third the price of Comcast. Suddenly things go wrong: I can’t write here, or back up this site; I can’t save my edits to a Wikipedia article; and an article at the New … Continue reading

Posted in neep-neep | 5 Comments

a guilt-trip down memory lane

When I lived in Oakland, I was twice approached after sunset by a panhandler who announced, “I’m black but I’m not a mugger!” Both times I flinched and, of course, felt guilty. It now occurs to me belatedly that, if … Continue reading

Posted in California, psychology, race | Leave a comment

more meaningless zeros

A quirk in DVD subtitles: a phrase like “ten minutes before seven” is consistently rendered as 10 minutes before 7:00. Why not go all the way and make it 6:50? I am amused to find that 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 … Continue reading

Posted in cinema, language | Leave a comment

mind tools

Someone recently told me that it’s easier to memorize a sequence, such as a text, from the end: when you recite it you’re moving toward familiar ground. Friday I gave this trick a modest test, when I had to copy … Continue reading

Posted in language, me!me!me!, psychology | 1 Comment