Category Archives: general

Craigslist to the rescue

offers of housing for the displaced

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it ain’t easy

On a list devoted to systems of writing, the subject of repetitive strain injuries came up, and Peter Daniels remarked: Why do you suppose there are so many works for piano left hand? They didn’t stop being written after the … Continue reading

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back from Berkeley Bowl

“Why did you bring me thyme?” “Because you told me to get thyme.” “Did I say thyme? In future, if I ask for thyme, just get me basil.”

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adventures in fruit

New experience of the day: I found a little white spider in a bunch of Mexican grapes.

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accelerando

When Netflix sends me a movie, up to now it has usually told me to expect the disc in two days — longer if the nearest copy is somewhere other than San Jose (I’m in an adjacent county). In a … Continue reading

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longchanged

Yesterday I received in change an Irish €.02, whose resemblance (in size and color) to US $.01 is striking.

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number nerdery

The expansion of the universe manifests in odd ways. From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979): . . . two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand, seven hundred and nine [276709 = 17·41·397] to one against. By a … Continue reading

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