Recently updated blogs

I remember falling in love with David Sedaris. I was staying in a Youth Hostel in the Lake District, having gone there to give a talk on ‘the fantastic fringes of the Bloomsbury Group’ to a room of people who couldn’t hear much of what I was saying. My bedroom was under the stairs, so I could hear people walk up and down throughout the night. But it was nice …

This series listens to the political, gendered, queer(ed), racial engagements and class entanglements involved in proclaiming out loud: La-TIN-x. ChI-ca-NA. La-TI-ne. ChI-ca-n-@. Xi-can-x. Funded by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of the Crossing Latinidades Humanities Research Initiative, the Latinx Sound Cultures Studies Working Group critically considers the role of sound and listening in our formation as political subjects. Through both a comparative and cross-regional lens, we invite Latinx …

Bloomberg Green rounded up Climate Week’s notable events. We’re grateful for the inclusion of our in-person panel and happy hour: The Emerging Landscape of Green Finance in the USTime: 4pm-5:30pmA look at the future of green finance with a panel at the SoHo digs of the Jain Family Institute, which produces a reliably interesting and wonky climate newsletter called the Polycrisis.Further details here. View the story. And join us Tuesday …

Time to be a man and vote for a woman.

September 23, 2024 Tip of the Week The Only Thing That Matters. Weekend Coaching, Tips, Training, and My Right Foot I had a busy week, both coaching and playing. I coached the Intermediate junior group on both Saturday and Sunday, and the Elite Group on Sunday. With the Intermediate group, besides the usual stroking and footwork drills, we did a lot of service practice. One kid, age about eight, had …

HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT A TRAIN IS TO AN ALIEN?How to understand complex concepts & systemsDesigning for complexity — using my train analogy — UX Knowledge Piece Sketch #63As designers, part of our job is to deeply understand complex systems and concepts — so that we can solve problems in that specific problem space. In this article, I explain a simple analogy you can use when you start a …

Figuring out what to do with one dog can be challenging, but trying to come up with enrichment opportunities for multiple dogs can end up being exhausting. Let’s talk about how to provide enrichment for multiple dogs in the same household without it feeling like a second job. Acknowledgment Providing enrichment opportunities for multiple dogs at the same time can be tough, especially if you have dogs with any combination …

Ferroelectric memory (FRAM) is an interesting storage technique that stores bits in a special "ferroelectric" material. Ferroelectric memory is nonvolatile like flash memory, able to hold its data for decades. But, unlike flash, ferroelectric memory can write data rapidly. Moreover, FRAM is much more durable than flash and can be be written trillions of times. With these advantages, you might wonder why FRAM isn't more popular. The problem is that …

Last week I stumbled across an exhibition of photos of Jeff Buckley by Merri Cyr, including the shots she took for the cover of Grace, his only studio album released 30 years ago in 1994. A beautiful man with a beautiful voice, difficult though to approach his music with a clear perspective through the fog of the misplaced romanticism surrounding a tragic early death - in his case of course …

The Fountain of EwCoralie Fargeat's The Substance (2024), about the decline of celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) and rise of her showbiz doppelganger Sue (Margaret Qualley), leans hard-- very hard-- into the idea that beauty is a daily impossible burden for women to aspire to sometimes fail to attain and if they do attain must maintain said beauty for as long as they can-- forever if possible. A lovely premise, …

I set up another account for the Travelall on Instagram last night, wrote an entirely new post, picked a completely different picture, and added completely different links to the profile. It wouldn’t let me use the account name from my first try, so I used a slightly different one. I wrote a long description for my second post and put it up with a new picture this afternoon. Checking the …

Hello You. Been a while since I wrote anything on these pages, but certainly not for lack of incident round these parts. I’ve been beavering away behind the scenes, mostly on mixing and editing audio in more formal environments for the delight and edification of various media empires, while simultaneously trying not to use my powers to fuel the forces of darkness (which in our current political and economic landscape …

A new book has come out about Don ‘s wife, Sunny Sund, who took over the Beachcomber chain and made it a success. Its author is Sunny’s daughter Karen, working with Cindi Neisinger. It is largely a personal account filled with anecdotes, a view of a mother/daughter relationship, celebrity mentions, and some of the harsh realities that shaped Sunny’s life. A drink recipe ends each chapter.

The weather went on holiday last week. It packed its bags and went off to sunnier climes, taking any shreds of warmth with it. Temperatures plummeted – some areas of Scotland had frost – and some considered taking out their winter clothes and others did. I considered donning an autumn jacket, but in the end was glad I hadn’t. The next day, the weather returned from its short break, bringing …

Les vieux cons (ou L’humaine imperfection de la perfection morale) Idéaliser nos idoles L’écrivain de SF John Scalzi réagit au fait que certaines personnes semblent faire de lui une idole, surtout depuis que Neil Gaiman est accusé d’agressions sexuelles. Son argument principal : tous les humains sont imparfaits et vous ne devriez prendre personne pour idole. Et surtout pas ceux qui le souhaitent. Please Don’t Idolize Me (or Anyone, Really) …