November 8, 2009
Costa Vasca, 06/09 Is it Skull Rock?  Is it a giant horse snuffling in the sea?  I never get tired of thinking about what’s in those caves.

Costa Vasca, 06/09

Is it Skull Rock?  Is it a giant horse snuffling in the sea?  I never get tired of thinking about what’s in those caves.

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November 6, 2009
You know what i like about this kid?  He loves me so much he’ll sleep on my damp bath towel.  What is my damp bath towel doing on the couch, you ask?  This is the part where i change the subject.

You know what i like about this kid?  He loves me so much he’ll sleep on my damp bath towel.  What is my damp bath towel doing on the couch, you ask?  This is the part where i change the subject.

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October 16, 2009
“ I see you as an innocent country girl making cookies and quilts and asking me, ‘Is it weird that I’m making cookies and quilts? What do people think about me?’
Another city boy quote.  Mostly true. •
“ Oh look! One car. With four tires. That’s modern! Mom, where are the cookies?
My backwoods childhood according to a born-and-bred city boy. •
February 19, 2009
“ Kate,

thanks for the info. Appreciate your interesting in our general knowledge. Please, next lesson, “whorehouses around the world: Potential demand”

See you tomorrow!
E.
An email from one of my students, in response to information I sent him regarding marijuana laws in the United States.  I love my job. •
January 15, 2009

Vocabulary from Today's Class, an absolutely true story

1. Rinky-dinky

2. Hoity-toity

3. Hanky-panky

4. Jibber-jabber

5. Nitty-gritty

6. Itty-bitty

7. Fuddy-duddy

8. Willy-nilly

9. Dilly-dally

10. Fishmonger

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szymon: light installation in Madrid - luzinterruptus My own city, and i had no idea!  Shows how much i get out.

szymon:

light installation in Madrid - luzinterruptus

My own city, and i had no idea!  Shows how much i get out.

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October 2, 2008

Obviously i was on drugs, part III

I have no idea where these things come from.  Today, in the bottom of a drawer, i found this list with no explanation attached:

- 2,000 weasels escape from somewhere

- In a kitchen, there is a big pile of dead dogs

- A gay man vacuums his house

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Tampon Crafts

“Your period comes every month, but Xmas comes only once a year.”

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October 1, 2008
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Paul Curreri & Devon Sproule - Two Sleepy People [Hoagy Carmichael]

I was sitting in Café & Té this morning when a familiar phrase of music caught my ear.  I thought, “Wait a second, is that… Hoagy Carmichael!?”  And it was!  It was so incongruous, sitting in a café in modern, business-like Madrid (and in the Serrano neighborhood, no less*) and hearing Hoagy Carmichael.

This is my favorite arrangement.

*Which, according to my source, is the most expensive place to live in Europe after London.

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September 28, 2008
Mapa del Mundo, Jek Larson I saw a print of this the other night hanging in the Basque House in Madrid. It’s quite funny, and we spent a long time looking at all of the details. Click for better resolution.

Mapa del Mundo, Jek Larson

I saw a print of this the other night hanging in the Basque House in Madrid. It’s quite funny, and we spent a long time looking at all of the details. Click for better resolution.

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I just happened to stumble across the Wikipedia article for Dewey Decimal Classification this morning while i was looking for who knows what. I suppose i learned about the DDC when i was in elementary school, before the advent of online catalogues*, but i’ve never really given it much thought before this morning. The article says that the purpose of the DDC is “to classify all human knowledge”, which is just amazing to me. Now that the Internet has replaced libraries as the repository of all human knowledge (and then some), when is someone going to invent an Internet Classification System like the DDC? I suppose you could argue that this has already happened and it’s called The Google, but i don’t buy it. I want some numbers. I fantasize about the day when i can go to my local Internet branch and flip through a card catalogue the size of the Large Hadron Collider to find the website i need. The Wikipedia article on Melvil Dewey is disappointingly sparse, but i am heartened by the fact that the article lists two biographies under “Further Reading”. I’m sure they’re scintillating. *Incidentally, for someone who likes to collect, sort and label miscellany as much as i do, a card catalogue is the ultimate piece of furniture. Like an old-fashioned zoo, it keeps all of my things in orderly little cages, whereas they usually roam all over the house before crawling under the bed to die. If only i had one!

I just happened to stumble across the Wikipedia article for Dewey Decimal Classification this morning while i was looking for who knows what. I suppose i learned about the DDC when i was in elementary school, before the advent of online catalogues*, but i’ve never really given it much thought before this morning. The article says that the purpose of the DDC is “to classify all human knowledge”, which is just amazing to me. Now that the Internet has replaced libraries as the repository of all human knowledge (and then some), when is someone going to invent an Internet Classification System like the DDC? I suppose you could argue that this has already happened and it’s called The Google, but i don’t buy it. I want some numbers. I fantasize about the day when i can go to my local Internet branch and flip through a card catalogue the size of the Large Hadron Collider to find the website i need.

The Wikipedia article on Melvil Dewey is disappointingly sparse, but i am heartened by the fact that the article lists two biographies under “Further Reading”. I’m sure they’re scintillating.

*Incidentally, for someone who likes to collect, sort and label miscellany as much as i do, a card catalogue is the ultimate piece of furniture. Like an old-fashioned zoo, it keeps all of my things in orderly little cages, whereas they usually roam all over the house before crawling under the bed to die. If only i had one!

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September 27, 2008

Today on the internet i saw the Son and Father parts of the trinity referred to as “Dual Citizen and The Intergalactic Dad”.  And i thought, “hmm.  That’s something i’ve never heard before”.

(In the interest of citing my sources, the website is here, though i don’t think it’s particularly good linkage.  [As if i have standards for that sort of thing.])

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September 26, 2008
People Getting Punched in the Head

Absolutely the best thing i’ve ever seen in my life.

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September 25, 2008

Between the two of us we have enough kidneys to pay the deposit, but i don't know where the first month's rent will come from.

  • Me: FOUR MONTHS?! I about shat my pants.
  • Jennifer: no kiddin, i asked if we could pay in intervals..he's like..no way jose
  • Me: Maybe we can also start looking for some nice bridges. You know, or parks, too.
  • Jennifer: i saw a sweet box on the street today, i thought about saving it
  • Me: You should have! Was there a deposit on it?
  • Jennifer: actually no, i was totally impressed. and it was a month-to-month lease
  • Me: Do you think the box was big enough, though? I want to be able to have people over for dinner parties and stuff, you know.
  • Jennifer: that's true, well i was thinking maybe we could get the one i saw, although, we have to decide fast before someone snatches it. so we could also always put on an addition in case we have people over
  • Me: That's true. It wouldn't be hard; a little duct tape, some staples, and voila! A breakfast nook!
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