Category Archives: humanities

place-names and personal-names

In my county there’s a village named Van —–. I think that if my name had a Van or equivalent, and someone proposed to name a town for me, I’d prefer they drop the particle. On another hand, Jan van … Continue reading

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how {e|p}lastic was my valley?

If you had never seen a nonhuman mammal, would a dog’s face fall in your uncanny valley?

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the British succession

A change to the law of royal succession has been enacted by some of the 16 Commonwealth Realms, to become effective when all of them have done so. Its most conspicuous feature is removing the preference for male heirs, but … Continue reading

Posted in heraldry | Leave a comment

love or nothing

In Watch on the Rhine (1943; screenplay by Dashiell Hammett from a play by Lillian Hellman) the penniless Count remarks, Blecher, we do not like each other. The Nazi to whom he hopes to sell information replies, But that will … Continue reading

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dream geography

In a dream, while strolling among bookshops and the like, I chance to meet someone who hates me but is constrained to be polite. With a venomous smile that person asks, the better to avoid them, on what streets one … Continue reading

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yeah, that makes me a total hermit

Yesterday I relayed a message from the local humane society, which contained an email address and a phone number; and the first response I got was “Is she on Facebook?” Phooey. Apparently it’s no longer possible to delete my Facebook … Continue reading

Posted in society | 1 Comment

do you speak my calendar?

In MacBSD, the command cal 9 1752 shows the shortening of that month in the British Empire. If I reinstall MacOS and choose Italian as its default language, will the shift show up instead in October 1582?

Posted in calendars, history, neep-neep | Leave a comment