This made my day:
“We regret to inform you that because of unexpectedly extended duration of a teleconference, the vast majority of our household’s strategic supply of chocolate-covered pretzels was accidentally destroyed due to an equipment malfunction. An expert team is investigating the exact remaining amounts of this precious and rare resource, but preliminary findings cause considerable amount of skepticism regarding ability of the remaining supply to outlast the investigation.”
Aside: It has taken me long enough, but I finally added a “subscribe to my idiocy by email” feature. Feel free to sign up on the right hand side if you’re that kind of glutton for punishment.
The book, by Jonah Lehrer, discusses how the work of some artists seems to have predicted later scientific discoveries. For example, that Proust wrote about how tastes and smells evoke strong memories 90 years before a psychologist first demonstrated the same. Whether there is a causal link may be another story. I’m certainly no scientist, but it seems to me that artists may observe a pattern by intuition or long experience that may be later proven scientifically – which could only mean that the same original data is of interest to both parties and sometimes the outcome is bound to be similar, even if by chance.
The book sounds like an interesting exploration, and the author is apparently as bright as he is talented. I’d like to give it a go. Also, to save you the correction I got from my mother, Proust is pronounced “proost.”
I’ve been slow to get back to books because I’ve been trying to reduce the number of old, unread New Yorker magazines that are piling up in my dining room. I didn’t realize how much I relied on my metro commute to get me through those in a timely manner. As it happens, Bethesda to Metro Center five days a week is apparently roughly one New Yorker long. Especially if you skip the fiction. But the pile is a total waste and the magazine is just so damn good. I was thinking they should make it possible to buy a subscription for someone who can’t afford it, but would really love to read it cover to cover. Like, a New Yorker grant. I’d be into that.
I’ll ask for comments towards the end of June and plan to post something shortly thereafter.
As always, any purchases of anything made through links on this site will generate a small donation to the American Cancer Society (via my Cancer is an Asshole campaign).
This mother’s day, my dear child, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your mother.
It’s been an honor to be a part of your life. Nurturing you, protecting you, teaching you, and above all, loving you endlessly.
You, brilliant, strong, funny, fearless you, have taught me so much about life, learning, love and family.
As quickly as you grow and as swiftly as each day passes, I’m trying not to waste one precious second mourning the passage of time, but to experience every moment we have together and look giddily forward to each day ahead. I hope they are many.
Thank you.
purchases made through this site generate a small donation to the American Cancer Society.
