tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286328562012-01-21T15:09:40.749-05:00Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.comBlogger2271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-49597856574091154412012-01-21T15:09:00.001-05:002012-01-21T15:09:40.753-05:00

Yes. This is what people in DC say. Go to any cocktail lounge, any pub, any brunch spot. You'll hear them.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-45216523160008686032011-11-11T20:46:00.001-05:002011-11-11T20:47:21.425-05:00

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-17315600068083535452011-09-14T18:47:00.000-05:002011-09-14T18:47:03.900-05:00

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-88901354841805325062011-08-27T19:12:00.002-05:002011-08-27T19:12:45.908-05:00

I am sooooo glad someone got this video! I was watching when it happened. Tip o' the hat to BoingBoing for posting it. You were expecting a post with "random guy's junk" in the title to be safe for the kiddies?

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-64973393509757457582011-08-26T09:16:00.003-05:002011-08-26T09:16:43.273-05:00

People who have bumper stickers are more aggressive. The more bumper stickers, the more aggressive. A quote from a Washington Post article on aggressive drivers: Social scientists such as Szlemko say that people carry around three kinds of territorial spaces in their heads. One is personal territory -- like a home, or a bedroom. The second kind involves space that is temporarily yours -- an

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-83877999879001607842011-08-25T08:37:00.000-05:002011-08-25T08:37:11.591-05:00

LivingSocial has an ad on DCist that is inadvertently timely. Check out the art for the ad. We hear a lot about Robyn Gardner's disappearance in Aruba because she was from the DC area. Natalee Holloway's disappearance helps up the newsworthiness, too. It could be that because of the news coverage, I'm more sensitive than I would be otherwise. And if you talk to any of my college buddies,

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-24553942767370825152011-08-22T12:04:00.001-05:002011-08-22T12:04:45.609-05:00

It takes you twice as long to burn a banjo. Interesting event at the Strathmore, near DC: UkeFest 2011. I must admit that I can't think of a ukulele without seeing Tiny Tim playing it.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-30712559729616663102011-08-14T21:03:00.000-05:002011-08-14T21:03:48.808-05:00

Space Station astronauts capture Perseid Meteor Shower - TheWeatherSpace.com

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-20184784781750577292011-08-13T07:30:00.011-05:002011-08-13T18:21:32.199-05:00

Okay, not really.  That statement would hack off Lovecraft, I think, but I'd hope he'd laugh.  Here's a quote from an excellent interview on BoingBoing by Maggie Koerth-Baker with John Hoopes, an authority on ancient Mayan culture and one of MKB's former professors at the University of Kansas. Think the 2012ists are crazy? You're right, and here's why. There's more to it than you think.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-89231588981448121642011-08-02T19:06:00.000-05:002011-08-02T19:06:31.210-05:00

Say what you wish about Russell's beliefs, lack therof, and attitudes, this is the sort of advice from which we all--yes, I mean everyone--could benefit. I find myself wishing more frequently that I had people like this in my life as I was growing up. If you're not familiar with Sir Bertrand's work, be careful about dismissing his words too easily, and be especially careful about quoting

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-16621646645832848272011-08-01T07:31:00.002-05:002011-08-01T07:36:09.199-05:00

Haters gonna hate. Love me some scientific nerdliness first thing in the morning. Post updated with image; link goes to original source (sort of).

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-45102212669540913062011-07-27T16:51:00.001-05:002011-07-27T16:51:22.262-05:00

In DC, it's touron season (I will leave that neologism to the student). It occurred to me just now, from the bar of Hill Country on 7th in Penn Quarter, that tourists dress in light clothing more often than not because the new environment reduces their situational awareness, and that's why they are easy marks. Discuss.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0The Capital Grille, 601 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC, United States38.89302 -77.020131tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-74054945003463998432011-07-27T14:46:00.001-05:002011-07-27T14:46:06.251-05:00

PC Magazine et al have articles today about how our Russian friends are going to scuttle the ISS in 2020. So why aren't we planning a moon base? If we need something to fire human imagination, I can"t think of anything better.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0District Yacht Club Inc, 1409 Water Street Southeast, Washington, DC, United States38.875576 -76.986108tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-56244811715418973702011-07-26T19:41:00.000-05:002011-07-26T19:41:17.053-05:00

Two things. 1. David Lynch and Eraserhead. The emotion in the performance struck me as being something like joy squeezed through a toothpaste tube. 2. Remix not of remix culture. It's overlay, not appropriation and revision. I found the urgency unsettling at times. I know I'm a weirdo at times with some pop culture stuff (I think Disney is like The Prisoner, for instance), but this was one

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-84272085745642957362011-07-25T17:14:00.001-05:002011-07-25T17:14:20.484-05:00

I stumbled upon The Labyrinth of Genre just now, thinking it'd be about literary genres. Not only is it about music, which is awesome, it plays an example of the genre you just clicked and expands the genre tree with related genres, both of which make it awesomesauce. They even have mathcore as a genre. Who's not going to love that? Other than my mom. And your mom.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-241659666292155842011-07-21T08:17:00.001-05:002011-07-21T08:17:33.998-05:00

I'm posting this while I still have the resolve to do so. I can't write about her yet here on the blog. I've started a remembrance book, though, and I did want to mark it in some way online. I can't deal with posting it on Facebook or anywhere else just now. She was the sunshine in my life, the most wonderful companion I could have asked for. Sweet baby girl, I did everything I could for you

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-19562001605025486562011-07-20T18:33:00.003-05:002011-07-20T18:33:55.943-05:00

Nothing to do with Islamic fundamentalism (at least on the part of the United States), the Taliban, or terrorism. This article makes more sense: The development of the Russian oil industry in Salkhallin, an island almost the size of Japan and other areas of the Russian Far East, combined with Central Asia's oil reserves, will be more than sufficient to replace Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-49905021871985913462011-07-14T19:56:00.000-05:002011-07-14T19:56:04.686-05:00

And if not, if the words of a narrator cannot be trusted because they are too "subjective" (difficult to reconcile how a nonexistent being can be subjective), then can the words of the author be trusted? Part of the conventions of reading is to ignore the author when the author is not being deliberately intrusive. One of the signs of a conventionally "good" author is self-obliteration (thus the

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-30253557319666247172011-07-11T21:39:00.001-05:002011-07-11T21:39:51.053-05:00

Let Be: An Answer To Hamlet's Question - NYTimes.com

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-32412795749392492822011-07-11T20:56:00.001-05:002011-07-11T21:04:07.160-05:00

NYT: In Robotics, Human-Style Perce Why don't we figure out a way to interface these robots with people who are in near-vegetative states--the ones whom we know are locked inside their bodies yet likely conscious? They regain the ability to act in some ways, not to mention communicating again, and we learn from them about both their condition and the robot interface.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-69115245338595136582011-07-10T11:55:00.001-05:002011-07-10T11:55:33.500-05:00

Still reading this (longish) article, but I can tell already that there's lots to pull from it. The responses on the  Gen-X list are both predictable in some instances, which is fascinating within the context of the article, and helpful in formulating counterarguments. Here's to brain chemistry.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0Washington Yacht Club, 1500 M Street Southeast, Washington D.C., DC, United States38.876545 -76.988799tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-48503337831246356102011-07-08T19:58:00.001-05:002011-07-08T19:59:36.835-05:00

Just downloaded the app for my phone. How'm-I-doin'?

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-25709495438495023862011-07-06T20:31:00.000-05:002011-07-06T20:31:34.077-05:00

Something I found today and am musing about: What happens when busyness and sociability leave no room for solitude? The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude. They took this in for a second, and then one of them said, with a dawning sense of

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-64590382111150083672011-07-05T20:37:00.000-05:002011-07-05T20:37:13.856-05:00

I frequently tell people who don't live in the District that it's easy to meet people here, but it's not a good place to make friends. There are easy-to-list reasons for that: a transitory population, people devoted to a cause rather than to a community, and neighbors who are high IQ and high income. I think there's more to it than that. My sense is that people who do well in DC are those who

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-76726180969131190052011-07-02T10:09:00.000-05:002011-07-02T10:09:16.937-05:00

Many thanks to Ryan Barrett for taking this pic for me last night on the way back to the Hilton Portland from Ping. Yes, the sign really says that. The food at Ping is awesome--Asian small plates. I had a lamb skewer, two Kobe beef skewers over which I nearly wept, and a pork shank. One of my dining companions had a vinegar soda (really kind of a vinegar Rickey, but without alcohol). It

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-50721943105905216062011-06-28T16:18:00.000-05:002011-06-28T16:18:29.500-05:00

Anyone on this yet? Looks like Google's pulling together some current functionality, renaming parts of it, and creating a platform for connecting with people. Also looks like the emphasis is on f2f interaction, unlike Facebook, which emphasizes Facebook interaction. Hard to say if the pendulum is swinging back toward f2f activities yet. My Paint skills are UNRIVALED.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-73433505711255967282011-06-27T20:22:00.000-05:002011-06-27T20:22:22.816-05:00

Quote from BoingBoing writeup by Maggie Koerth-Baker: WITS is best described as the very nerdy, slightly tipsy, younger cousin of A Prairie Home Companion. There are authors, there are musicians, there are the creators of MST3K heckling from a balcony seat. In other words, you'd love it. I very much miss this kind of environment. Aye, DC, I love you, but you're a bit dull.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-39864923620417165292011-06-26T20:43:00.000-05:002011-06-26T20:43:09.869-05:00

In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might Beware my power...Green Lantern’s light!

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-69913457606406538152011-06-24T11:21:00.000-05:002011-06-24T11:21:56.174-05:00

On the one hand, I see its value. Looks like some good core strengthening work. Then they start galloping and jumping verticals. All I can think of are ponygirls.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-85789063154208716942011-06-23T20:27:00.000-05:002011-06-23T20:27:34.830-05:00

What a tragic life you led, Dr. Turing. I know you not so much through your own work, but through your characterization in Cryptonomicon. I would have liked to have known you.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-61007602661164190692011-06-22T18:01:00.000-05:002011-06-22T18:01:50.315-05:00

This gallery (totally NSFW) on BoingBoing has me confused. They're supposed to be naked, right? So why are they wearing clothes, body paint, and/or masks? And shouldn't the gentleman in this image be mindful of that bike seat? Scratch that. I might find out that he's feeling inviting.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-9097639500030361952011-06-21T09:45:00.000-05:002011-06-21T09:45:11.135-05:00

Reassurances about your delicates courtesy of Rob Zombie. Now, if we could just get Treyarch to make commercials for Walmart....

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-33330703526274393502011-06-20T20:02:00.000-05:002011-06-20T20:02:54.183-05:00

Link is to an excellent, though brief, article in The Scientist about the first NIH researcher. Yes, there was only one. James Kinyoun was the NIH Highlander. He was such a badass that he did not require a sword to decapitate his foes. Corollary 1: Scientific thought, as derived from rigorous examination and the scientific method, will lead us to ideas that will eventually become axioms.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-88522770151343584572011-06-19T07:40:00.000-05:002011-06-19T07:40:26.967-05:00

This comment was posted by commenter Johan(tm) Strandberg in a discussion of a Richard Dawkins piece on preferential sex selection. Unlike numerous other Internet venues, on BoingBoing there's remarkably little Bible thumping and irrational sky gazing. Like numerous other Internet venues, though, there's a good bit of narrow or otherwise selective argumentation. Johan(tm) Strandberg makes some

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-54648100091252115552011-06-18T11:16:00.001-05:002011-06-18T11:16:31.205-05:00

Who couldn't love these lollipops? After the cold I've been nursing for the past 10 days, I think Doctor Muñoz would give me one. Strange, I suddenly feel a draft in here...

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-85134693299639093432011-06-10T19:53:00.000-05:002011-06-10T19:53:07.156-05:00

I read a fair bit about blogs, blogging, and how to do more/be better/all that. Reading about productivity is one of the biggest time sinks I practice. Ever since I got onto Twitter, which mind you was in June 2006 (yowza five years ago), I've been drawn to the production of social media. Early debates about Twitter versus blogs had to do with audience. Some argued that a good tweet could sum up

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-60474525829646092332011-06-09T19:05:00.000-05:002011-06-09T19:05:53.178-05:00

Contrary to what most people think, HP Lovecraft was not a horror writer. In fact, he considered horror to be hack writing. Instead, he wrote weird fiction, and defined it thus in his essay, "Supernatural Horror in Literature": The true weird tale has something more than secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains according to rule. A certain atmosphere of breathless and

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-51961355758702078312011-06-07T19:41:00.000-05:002011-06-07T19:41:51.739-05:00

Holy crap--part of the sun just freakin' blew off. Tip o' the hat to Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy fame (@BadAstronomer).

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-79943458768737066352011-06-06T20:58:00.000-05:002011-06-06T20:58:40.781-05:00

Providence has dropped wonderful things into my lap once again. First up is Time magazine's list of The Best Blogs of 2011. I'm not going to debate blogs, or the legitimacy of their list, because what's important to me is the descriptions of what makes these blogs interesting. Want to know why anyone should read a given blog? Peruse and adapt. Second is a list from Famous Writers about the

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-91005275582496018412011-06-05T12:24:00.000-05:002011-06-05T12:24:29.033-05:00

It's been a crazy two days, with a multicelebrant birthday party most of yesterday and last night, and the Washington Post Hunt today. I'm holding down the fort at Corner Bakery (14th and G NW) while the rest of our group of about 25 solves the puzzles. This year's format is different, it seems; no opening puzzle to determine coordinates, no list of extensive red herrings mixed in with a few

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-80487300174789006442011-06-03T07:07:00.000-05:002011-06-03T07:07:41.788-05:00

I'm a fool for scientific and geekly pics. And I'm going to ask the GE tumblr out on a date this weekend. They've even got a pic of an electric car charger from the 1900s. This, however, is my favorite: As of this post, the "GE Instagram" (as they're calling it) has only two tumblr pages. Best get on it early to stay caught up. Happy drooling!

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-29432479749392604812011-06-01T16:20:00.000-05:002011-06-01T16:20:11.350-05:00

Now this is snappy. While watching this, I concluded that the one message I would send those in our collective past would be, "Thank you." What was normal for them seems insurmountable to me. It's not just that we're soft today; I don't have the skills needed to make my way in that world. They're just as smart, crafty, and innovative as we are, yes, but still, there's something about the world

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-27717638876392900052011-05-31T19:36:00.000-05:002011-05-31T19:36:36.463-05:00

Curio shops--are they even called that any more, I wonder, or are they now all lumped under the sign "antique and resale shop"--are something that I've loved since I was a kid. My mom and stepfather used to visit one in Gulfport, Miss., called The Purple Lantern. I was enchanted with it; the interior was done in a vaguely Arabian manner, with flowing fabrics covering the walls and dividing the

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-30497859555347513652011-05-29T13:40:00.000-05:002011-05-29T13:40:28.920-05:00

The hubby made a batch of these for a party we're got this afternoon. They should make a big splash; the hosting couple have their own regulation-size beer pong table, so it's going to be one of those kinds of parties. And frankly, it's about time. Important safety tip: Cut the jelly slab into 1"/2.54 cm squares, no matter what the devil on your shoulder urges. The shots are potent. I used

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-62224909405341528352011-05-28T16:13:00.000-05:002011-05-28T16:13:31.987-05:00

I confess that I am devoted to vintage cocktails, and for a couple of reasons. One, I remain a bit miffed at bartenders today who repackage vintage cocktails and call them something new. Who can trust a bartender practicing such trickery? Someone needs to be present who can call them out when they've taken a sidecar and renamed it a "Belly Button Licker." Two, I find myself still reeling from the

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-74387369257708934552011-05-27T14:10:00.000-05:002011-05-27T14:10:55.146-05:00

Tip o' the hat to Sam Waltz on the GenX-Ms email list for this one. A sample: Gauss can get to the other side of a Möbius strip. Gauss can colour any map using only one colour. There are no postulates, only theorems Gauss believes are unworthy of a proof. Gauss disproved Godel's Incompleteness Theorem by exhaustion. The Wikipedia article on Gauss is here.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-16412283874729674652011-05-27T09:43:00.000-05:002011-05-27T09:43:59.515-05:00

Corruption is one of those words that's been cheapened through overuse. Still, with regard to some subjects, there's no better way to describe it. This article by Stratfor gives a good overview of the broadest context of corruption within Mexico today. Here's a quote: The example of the Guatemalan DOAN (and of more recent Mexican police reform efforts) demonstrates that even a competent,

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-46204970033260331002011-05-25T19:58:00.000-05:002011-05-25T19:58:09.080-05:00

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value--you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-64578742084742597162011-05-24T14:03:00.000-05:002011-05-24T14:03:57.299-05:00

Flirty aprons. Highball glasses with inexplicable designs. Polynesian themes. Safe exotica. Men and women playing subtextual games with cool intensity. That was my childhood environment; I watch Mad Men with a feeling of both pleasure and surprise, as I'm sure a lot of us do, and marvel at what it recalls. But that was then. I think we've inverted all those behaviors, despite the recent (and now

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-53253559760171200392011-05-23T19:33:00.000-05:002011-05-23T19:33:12.952-05:00

Multiple links behind this idea: Here is an interesting blog post about context by Stijn Debrouwere, and here is the source for the quote below, an article by Jay Rosen of the NYT about where journalism may be headed: Long ago, something went awry in professional journalism the way the Americans do it, and it left these visible deformations. In my own criticism I have given various names to this

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-70029698860574758122011-05-22T19:51:00.000-05:002011-05-22T19:51:03.464-05:00

I've never quite been sure how LEGOs create a world once they're assembled. Maybe it's the strength of the image on the box; maybe it's the detail that the LEGO builders manage to include despite the essential clunkiness of the blocks. Maybe it's wishful thinking. This exhibition is running until September 5. I'll be there with my microscope.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-81450714176095091892011-05-21T20:07:00.004-05:002011-05-21T20:25:15.521-05:00

Is civility relative? Given that by its nature, civility is about common ground, do we have a sense of what that is? Is our generation--and by "our" I mean mine, GenX--the last generation raised with the duty of civility? Is it possible that civility is something that we truly hold in common?I ask this because Washington's rules of civility strike me as being just as apt today as they were when

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-16513334899723162972011-05-20T14:45:00.005-05:002011-05-20T14:58:23.289-05:00

Hitchens is undergoing treatment for throat cancer. If it overcomes him, it will be a great loss to the world of writers. This essay is a simple, fine example of that. I don't mean that statement to be a pre-emptive eulogy, either; it'll be a damned bloody loss if the cancer takes him. We do not have enough Hitchenses to replace him.In this essay, Hitchens's topics range from the painful

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-75209082900159803832011-05-19T06:51:00.005-05:002011-05-19T06:58:51.161-05:00

When I first read the Stratfor article linked above five years ago, it fundamentally changed the way that I looked at immigration in America. Here's a quote."Sicilians might remember Sicily, they might harbor a cultural commitment to its values and they might even have a sense of residual loyalty to Sicily or to Italy — but Italy was thousands of miles away. The Italian government could neither

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-75635506254013237262011-05-18T15:13:00.003-05:002011-05-18T15:19:52.721-05:00

For a bit, the CDC servers crashed from the traffic, but the post title link above should work now. Meanwhile, the debate on DCist over proper home defense supplies is raging. I am in favor of a flamethrower for perimeter control and possible group control should retreat to another safe house be required, but others are adamant about its lack of efficacy.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-60265699107578216112011-05-18T06:10:00.006-05:002011-05-18T06:29:26.941-05:00

I've been reading and thinking lately about people who live life according to the principles of improvisation. The title link above is to the blog I found this morning; looks like it's got good insights, or at the very least foundational ones. So the questions are, do changes really happen when people shift to a "yes, and..." way of doing things; do those changes reflect only a different inner

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-85348049510693255892010-03-16T15:02:00.002-05:002010-03-16T15:06:07.772-05:00

Fire-based visualization of the sine wave in sound. I'd not heard of a Ruben's tube, which really doesn't mean much given that my background is in literature, but still. Less than 3 minutes long, well worth a look.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-13361791341052751272010-02-13T14:18:00.001-05:002010-02-13T14:20:12.748-05:00

I'm not sure how I feel about this. The 17-year-old author of a white-hot novel in Germany has admitted to lifting large parts of other works and inserting them into hers. She claims it's remixing rather than plagiarism. From the NYT article:“There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity,” said Ms. Hegemann in a statement released by her publisher after the scandal broke.Are we

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-61167680421577582472010-02-04T21:53:00.001-05:002010-02-04T21:53:23.572-05:00

The material in quotes was taken from one blog comment by another commenter, whose response follows.--"Just further evidence of global warming." Just further evidence of how cuts in education benefit the radical right. They get elected because they keep the population ignorant. If they adequately funded schools, more people would know the difference between climate and weather, between

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-82548651001831530042010-01-19T19:54:00.002-05:002010-01-19T19:54:42.076-05:00

"Who are the people you respect most? And what if you did things with the intention of gaining their approval instead of Cousin Cletus’s?"Good question for anyone, even those of us who don't have a Cletus in our lives (and aren't looking to gain one). I especially like the idea of loving one's family and friends, but choosing one's peer group.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-16993922771583287462010-01-03T15:33:00.002-05:002010-01-19T19:57:16.328-05:00

Normally I am not a big fan of Parade articles--largely fluff but for Marilyn Vos Savant's column--but this is worthwhile reading. I came across it through FlyLady. I especially appreciate the Elephant and Rider analogy:"Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be in charge. But because he is small, he’ll lose to the Elephant whenever they conflict. You experience this

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-55684329420771972752009-12-15T12:54:00.001-05:002010-01-19T19:55:45.644-05:00

Interesting stuff about canine learning and perception in this article, but one sentence struck me as almost out of a novel of manners:"Our...cousins are simply too distracted by their aggression and competitiveness to fathom gestures easily."It got me to thinking about the relationship between increased social status and increased surveillance. One of the characteristics of someone living within

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-26597250935493999072009-12-12T14:29:00.000-05:002009-12-12T14:30:12.120-05:00

A striking quote:"...a few small men with outsized rage..."Indeed, Obama.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-61556079859429966712009-12-10T14:17:00.000-05:002009-12-10T14:18:05.898-05:00

A doggy Christmas surprise - Karácsonyi kutyás meglepetés

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-63965086432182843412009-11-22T13:17:00.000-05:002009-11-22T13:18:02.833-05:00

Rugby Kick Hits The Jackpot £250,000

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-54593642261414084062009-11-11T17:51:00.001-05:002009-11-11T17:51:33.762-05:00

I ask myself, “What would the person I want to be do?”from here. Tip o' the hat to Kate Dreadhawk and her Facebook news feed.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-86189699388712806062009-11-11T12:39:00.001-05:002009-11-11T12:39:13.515-05:00

Excellent interview. An excerpt:"I have a hallway for literature that's 70 meters long. I walk through it several times a day, and I feel good when I do. Culture isn't knowing when Napoleon died. Culture means knowing how I can find out in two minutes."

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-72612405645995519602009-10-11T14:47:00.001-05:002009-10-11T14:47:32.034-05:00

This may be the best definition of character that I've ever read:Modern life is rubbish | SMLXL - Engagement Marketing and Communication principles from Alan MooreFor Sennett, “character” is defined as the capacity to construct and keep commitments – not just in marriage, but also in friendships, communities, and workplaces – and the ability to provide continuous, coherent narratives of personal

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-84028522971086998302009-05-22T09:00:00.002-05:002009-10-11T14:49:16.182-05:00

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-52518325020197196712009-05-15T19:17:00.001-05:002009-05-15T19:17:41.072-05:00

"A baseball pitch is 300 feet by 300 feet , which is like 1000 square feet."

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-82430799663062527202009-04-24T12:09:00.002-05:002009-04-25T05:54:37.642-05:00

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-25525320537525174232009-04-08T14:44:00.001-05:002009-04-08T14:45:31.072-05:00

Forest Haven, Maryland. Wow. These Flickr photos from Kasia Swierczek are amazing. I've got to check this place out.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-73395272797232112842009-04-07T05:02:00.002-05:002009-04-07T05:08:45.150-05:00

Got this from @Thandelike: Obama tells Turkish uni students that friends give each other honest opinions and that's a benefit of friendship between statesWhile I totally agree with Obama on this, I don't know how it'll be received. When a country or a group places honor above all, the rule of law disintegrates and the rule of subjectivity replaces it (or in the case of a group, the willingness to

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-82492328549965837842009-04-06T14:47:00.000-05:002009-04-06T14:47:00.456-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-14782886814149671762009-04-04T17:44:00.000-05:002009-04-04T17:45:36.504-05:00

Balia1 oz Pimms No. 1 Cup (a gin-based spirit)3/4 ounce citrus vodka1 ounce pomegranate juice1/2 ounce orange bitters (optional)Orange twistShake all ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-71448174393029337022009-04-03T13:27:00.001-05:002009-04-03T13:27:33.980-05:00

My powers, like my underpants, are Ancient and Terrible.via @warrenellis, and if you're not following him, it's worth it to join Twitter just to do so. Check him out at www.warrenellis.com and his work at www.freakangels.com.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-58465340632171179592009-02-26T16:12:00.001-05:002009-02-26T16:12:31.850-05:00

Okay, so it's not the Death Star. It is, however, a video of the most tolerant cat alive.I can't tell if that's a chihuahua puppy. I mean, who can? Like how big are they? A teaspoon or something?

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-75692699220108595892009-01-28T16:01:00.002-05:002009-01-28T16:07:14.997-05:00

Literary criticism today works the same way that medical research would if every researcher arrived with an entirely different approach to medicine. Like one guy's homeopathy, another one is faith healing, another one is ancient Vedic, etc. And they're all talking and using the same tool set, but their ways of evaluating what they see are so different that there's effectively no dialogue. No one

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-16748815366257092712009-01-25T16:36:00.000-05:002009-01-25T16:37:10.699-05:00

Twitter / Home“Our doubts are traitors & make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” ~Shakespeare

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-60556067867233598472009-01-23T21:55:00.002-05:002009-01-24T05:15:16.750-05:00

Got this from someone around me who was on BrightKite. Amazing shot. I wish I knew where it was; for some reason, I can't find it on BK now because of all the inauguration photos (difference between what I get on my cell and what gets posted to the BK page). Things like this get me thinking about a Call of Cthulhu blog.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-16977235167084162212009-01-23T19:03:00.001-05:002009-01-23T19:03:24.332-05:00

The first boot on my neck was McCrory's. I worked at a small-chain department store. I lasted there about four months making minimum wage. Christ, what a shithole.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-59426541337381268132009-01-23T19:01:00.001-05:002009-01-23T19:01:15.165-05:00

Accelerating on the autobahn as the soldiers' boots crunch-crunch against the pavement. Red by Junkie XL Links 234 by Rammstein Im Rhythmus Bleiben by Front 242

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-44319234017028702212009-01-03T06:48:00.003-05:002009-01-03T07:23:43.426-05:00

How much knowledge of a foreign language is enough to make a fellow Twitterer a good follow? And is a good follow the same thing as a reasonable follow? In going through emails re: new followers, I came across one person who tweets in Portuguese. (This isn't the first one, either.) I studied several languages as an undergraduate, French was my language in graduate school, and I did some

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-23663939141370461382009-01-02T08:53:00.004-05:002009-01-02T09:18:25.752-05:00

Is there anyone left younger than 50, or maybe 40, who isn't online 24/7? Being online has a different sensibility now. It's not that one lives before a computer so much as one is in some way there and participating. For instance, Twitter is an aggregator for me as much as it is a microblogging tool. Each morning I start at page 12 and read forward. That doesn't catch me up by any stretch (it

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-14557867512400844042009-01-01T09:05:00.003-05:002009-01-01T09:14:16.024-05:00

How wonderful can one's world be if it only exists on the interior? In reading Chris Brogan's awesome blog post about his three goal words for 2009, I started thinking in a preliminary way about privacy. As a rule, I do not reveal much of myself on this blog; that's partly because I'm a GenXer and thus more individualistic, and partly because I'm an only child who issues press releases, not

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-4937616751505360852008-12-27T09:24:00.002-05:002008-12-27T09:27:40.636-05:00

Thanks to all of you who sent me messages about the cake experience (just about everyone went to Twitter to do so, which was very cool). I do not intend to turn this into a recipe blog, nor will it become a celebration of postmenopausal visceral fat...uhhhh, I mean, a website validating the experience of women of a certain age. Besides, I'm not there yet.Today is our first anniversary of wedded

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-57057302846836475212008-12-25T12:22:00.001-05:002008-12-25T12:22:13.476-05:00

The finished cake.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-81341366261877288252008-12-25T07:15:00.027-05:002008-12-25T12:23:44.713-05:00

This year's baking adventure was a Bûche de Noël, also known as a Yule log cake. It's an old French tradition. Some elements are constants: meringue mushrooms, knots made from the ends of the rolled and filled cake. I suspect that whether one rolls the cake from the short end or the long end is a matter of cake religion.@kellysue (Kelly Sue DeConnick) and I decided to make this a joint adventure.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-25623765050449425812008-12-25T00:05:00.001-05:002008-12-25T00:05:39.863-05:00

The cake is done; finale pic tomorrow.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-65804744800398917792008-12-24T16:00:00.001-05:002008-12-24T16:00:05.523-05:00

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-25175267754898746762008-12-24T15:40:00.001-05:002008-12-24T15:40:34.283-05:00

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-186124655426835172008-12-24T15:39:00.001-05:002008-12-24T15:39:43.951-05:00

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-84920996624046970952008-12-18T18:14:00.002-05:002008-12-19T05:19:16.407-05:00

This reads "Fertilizer: Life's main ingredient."I've decided to believe that the wry tone is intentional. Somehow, that makes my day a little brighter.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-64681178221235235862008-12-04T21:52:00.000-05:002008-12-05T16:37:14.832-05:00

Write about Ratko Mladic and Poe's The Purloined Letter.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-59061859402942343642008-12-03T17:55:00.001-05:002008-12-03T17:55:41.979-05:00

Back to Reality - Olivia Judson Blog - NYTimes.comThe distortion and suppression of science is dangerous, and not just because it means that public money gets wasted on programs, like abstinence-only sex “education” schemes, that do not work. It is dangerous because it is an assault on science itself, a method of thought and inquiry on which our modern civilization is based and which has been

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-72416090692903763682008-11-30T08:24:00.003-05:002008-11-30T08:28:41.216-05:00

Louis CK on Conan O'Brien. My appreciation of GenY/Millennials changed after seeing a presentation on them in Denver this past summer, so I can't say that I agree with every single statement he makes. However, I agree with his call to a sense of wonder. And this is a very funny clip, so don't worry, you're not going to sit through hectoring.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-81902315883044386202008-11-22T20:44:00.001-05:002008-11-22T20:46:26.328-05:00

The link in the title goes to Wil Wheaton's blog, where I found the video below. His blog comes highly recommended; he's @wilw on Twitter.This video is Star Trek/Monty Python mashup goodness. Enjoy.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-2144116589732091622008-11-19T09:49:00.000-05:002008-11-19T09:49:00.895-05:00

I do like the way @chrisbrogan et al on Twitter phrase their requests for comments:Can you help with some thoughts about _____? Comments and new ideas greatly appreciated. (bloglink)Your comments will help provide context for others reading the post. (bloglink)That's how it's supposed to be done. Social media and social networking are supposed to create thoughtful connections with people.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-62590529032450910452008-11-15T16:23:00.004-05:002008-11-15T16:24:43.854-05:00

NB: This is for documentation. I leave politics to those more interested in blogging about it.

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28632856.post-34588053917348776602008-11-09T14:19:00.005-05:002008-11-09T14:58:59.832-05:00

After a three-day weekend of strategic planning for American Mensa, I've been spending today thinking about my core values, i.e., the values I hold that I would not give up, even in the face of severe or crippling penalty. What got me thinking about core values is Twitter.I follow some amazing people on Twitter; I was blessed early on by finding @xenijardin and started following the people she

Heather Poirierhttps://profiles.google.com/100948224412715018425noreply@blogger.com11