Homo Sum:
humani nil a me alienum puto

Children’s books that are fun for both the parent and the child to read are a definite boon. While there is a cornucopia of great stuff out there for older kids that I would love to read to someone–hell, I often read them for myself–it’s a little slimmer pickings for picture books. And the problem [...]

OK, I have a problem, and I am looking for some creative suggestions for dealing with it.
Here’s the problem:

Essentially, my CDs are taking up too much space. I have this same problem with lots of other things–I have hundreds and hundreds of linear feet of bookshelves, etc–but CDs are a special case in that I [...]

Since moving to the woods five years ago, my social schedule is a pale shadow of what it once was.
However, the next couple of weeks will have me back to the level I used to be at, and I’m not sure if I can handle it anymore, when combined with fatherhood and additional work [...]

First, we need to make sure you understand the concept of a ‘bespoke’ item. This is one that I had to go to the dictionary for when I first ran across it in some British fiction a few years back, so I shall arrogantly assume that not everyone is familiar with it, rather than assuming [...]

So, what does it say about your poker skills if you place further back in the tournament ranks than this guy? Someone who is clearly approaching the lethal dose of marijuana?

Actually, I had a good time at the tournament on Saturday night, not least because of the not-poker-in-any-way antics with the rubber stamps.
Sunday was also [...]

Veisalgia: The sober medical term for a hangover.
“There is no consensus definition of veisalgia (’alcohol hangover’….)” (Ann Int Med, 2000)
From the Norwegian kveis (uneasiness following debauchery) + the Greek algia (pain).
Yes, it has been a very long time now since I’ve experienced the pain from uneasieness following debauchery. The last time I actually drank enough [...]

This story on its own is just a kind of amusing “life imitates cliche” thing:
Man Says Bibles in Pocket Stopped Bullet, Florida Man Says Two Small Bibles in His Shirt Pocket Stopped Bullet, Saving His Life - CBS News
A 54-year-old Orange Park man credits two small Bibles in his shirt pocket for saving his life [...]

If you see a crazy guy in the street punching himself in the face with both fists, how does it make you feel?
What if he’s got a big nuclear bomb strapped to his chest?
Now, how would you feel if after watching this for SIX YEARS, the man stopped punching himself in the face WITH ONE [...]

A little link-blogging of some things that have caught my attention over the past week…

Benjamin Franklin explains why men should take old women as mistresses:
Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the [...]

So, I’m back.
A great vacation. Seeing the various aquariums, zoos, museums, etc through the eyes of a two-year old really brightens them up. Hell, just riding the Red Line from Alewife into downtown Boston suddenly becomes an adventure.
As I’m catching up on all this stuff that happened while I was away, I see that my [...]