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Chesterton’s Fence
Few things are easier to ridicule than a regulation. Republicans have made a meal out of this since Ronald Reagan mockingly said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” Nobody wakes up in the morning excited about fire codes. No one tells friends…
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The man who almost destroyed the planet… twice
This is a cautionary tale. History is full of inventors who changed the world. Thomas Edison gave us the light bulb. Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone. The Wright brothers taught humanity that flying was not just for the birds. Then we have Thomas Midgley Jr.: environmental historian JR McNeill said of him that he may…
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The day fish was cancelled
We had fish for lunch yesterday. To be more accurate, I should say they served fish for lunch yesterday. I had an egg salad sandwich. Around here, the kitchen always offers an alternative when seafood is the entrée. It’s usually chicken. But yesterday James whipped up a batch of the most delicious egg salad I’ve…
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In Defense, and Praise, of Bread
Few things in life are more satisfying than bread. And when it comes to bread, there really is only one choice: the baguette. The baguette is one of the simplest breads in the world, yet it is also one of the most beloved. Made from only a few basic ingredients — flour, water, yeast, and…
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Schrödinger’s Cat
One of the most famous thought experiments in modern science and philosophy is Erwin Schrödinger’s cat, a paradox that captures the strange and counterintuitive nature of the microscopic world, brought to our modern consciousness by the Caltech physics nerds on the hit television sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Introduced in 1935, the idea was not…
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A round of a’paws
Dogs are among the most socially connected animals we interact with on a daily basis. Their behavior reflects the deep bond they form with us, particularly when it comes to moments of separation. Yesterday, in the midst of a game of Rummikub during our “Games with Chuck” activity in which I finally beat Betsy at…
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Why February Has Only 28 Days
At its simplest, most basic level, a calendar is a way to organize time. Now, we could take that statement and go “deep,” having a philosophical discussion of the concept of time itself. However, after last night’s cavalcade of mirth and misinformation known as the State of the Union, my inclination this morning is to…
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Please make it stop!
As a joke, I texted my friend and his wife a clip I saw on YouTube over the weekend. The clip begins with a Tammy Faye Bakker-esque woman with her hand on the shoulder of a young boy who looks to be about eleven or twelve. The boy is totally kitted-out in late 80s gear: …
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Who knew?
A little over a year ago, I was referred to a nephrologist. If you don’t know what that is, you’re not alone – neither did I; when I first got the referral, I assumed a nephrologist was a historian that specialized in ancient Egypt, specifically on Nefertiti, queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt…
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From berries to bubbles
Let’s have some fun, shall we? Let’s forget, if only for a moment, that we have a president who is actively angling to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while simultaneously overthrowing the leader of one country, threatening military intervention against the hostile and notoriously anti-American regime of another, openly (and quite seriously) floating the…
Your mileage may vary.