HIDWtS: Dance with me.
Previously, I confessed my deep and abiding affection for sitting in The Pocket while on Muni, as well as my irritation with the Blockit No Pocket phenomenon. But a few people showed me the error of my ways. The Pocket can be hard on the knees, and it is the most cramped seat on the train. The Blockit has a nice one-knee freedom, plus it faces the middle accordion section, which is nominally exciting as it twists through turns while above ground. Last week, while enjoying the rebellious luxury of my own Blockit No Pocket, I spotted an older woman having some trouble getting seated before the train started up again. She was holding onto the bar in the middle accordion section as she tried to walk to the baseball seats. From the looks of her grip and the...
Read MoreImpressionist Jim Meskimen Does Shakespeare in Celebrity Voices
Everyone has already linked to this, but I am linking to it in the voice of Madeline Kahn. Now, please excuse me while I complete the rest of my homework in the voice of Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Read MoreOslo bombing and Utøya camp shooting.
In the midst of an unrelated family crisis at the moment, but here are a few links about the Oslo bombing and Utøya camp shooting (sorted from most recent to least): At least 80 dead in the Utøya camp shooting, seven in the Oslo bombing [BBC News, NY Times, Views and News from Norway, Guardian] Photos and videos from the Oslo bombing [Christian Aglen] Oslo terror suspect: Anders Behring Breivik, 32, links to right-wing extremism [Boing Boing] 2011 Oslo attacks [Wikipedia] What just happened in Oslo, Norway?[Mother Jones] Photos: Deadly explosion in Oslo [National Post] (WARNING: GRAPHIC) Pictures, videos, and tweets from the Norway attacks [Globe and Mail] Washington Post’s Twitter list of people to follow Live coverage [BBC News, Al Jazeera, Guardian] I...
Read MoreHIDWtS: Home run.
Between the middle accordion section of a LRV and one set of doors are four seats. Because they face inward instead of forward or backward, passengers who sit in them often slide to and fro with the braking and accelerating of the train. These seats are named, in order from the middle to the doors, after the bases of a baseball diamond because of their exquisite sliding powers. They are usually filled up in the following order: First Home Base Second or Third, depending on how inoffensive the people sitting in First or Home happen to be whatever is left On less-filled trains, I like to keep score. I once saw a very inebriated and slippery person get a home run. I ride a shuttle to work. It is a really nice shuttle and the first time I have ever had this...
Read MorePlain Sunday supper.
FunkyPlaid and I are having a plain Sunday supper tonight: three-ingredient red sauce over pasta and freshly-baked bread slathered with roasted garlic. I would love to take elaborate photos of our home-cooked meals. Instead, I am slogging through homework. But that is okay, yet another thing to look forward to after graduation. Until then, I direct your eyebulbs to Claudine and Danny’s delicious home-cooking adventures.
Read MoreA quote and no shuttle.
In light of the fatal crash Thursday morning, I haven’t felt like writing about shuttles. Instead, I thought I might write about something else. I watched the Twilight movies while I was very sick last weekend, and I really wish I hadn’t. While it might be fun to tear apart some mediocre storytelling peppered with truly offensive stereotypes and gender interactions, others have done so already and with panache. And then a few days ago my friend Gary posted this on Google+: “Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding inner strength, and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.” – Stephen King That is all I really wanted to say about it, anyway. Now I am off to...
Read MoreHIDWtS: Cheek to cheek.
[Ed. note: This is almost a week overdue, thanks to the ridiculous summer cold I caught. Lucky for me, seating is timeless!] Let’s talk express. Let’s talk hard facts and numbers. Or let’s just talk about rear ends, because that is all I remember from my first experience with Muni’s Nx bus. With all of the nightmare-laden nights I have experienced lately, I am beginning to ponder the efficacy of a routine nightcap. Nothing too heavy, mind, but something that will knock me the hell out until morning. Last night’s theatrical production was a garish parade of grotesquely-exaggerated characters from my past. They weren’t doing nice things like sitting quietly on a luxury shuttle, either. By the time I left the house, I was...
Read MoreLinkdump for 8 July 2011
STUDY SAYS TECHNOLOGY COULD TRANSFORM SOCIETY – NYTimes.com Shared by Halsted Mencotti Bernard Just so good. (via DK and Hawk) A report commissioned by the National Science Foundation and made public today speculates that by the end of this century electronic information technology will have transformed American home, business, manufacturing, school, family and political life. The report suggests that one-way and two-way home information systems, called teletext and videotex, will penetrate deeply into daily life, with an effect on society as profound as those of the automobile and commercial television earlier in this century. It conjured a vision, at once appealing and threatening, of a style of life defined and controlled by videotex terminals...
Read MoreI get knocked down, but I get up again.
This is the perfect antidote to the day I’ve had. They Might Be Giants covers Chumbawamba, via Matt, et al.
Read MoreHIDWtS: Holiday catch-up edition.
The past few days have been spent in a homework daze peppered with obsessive Google+ fidgeting, and then I actually left the house on Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday to do offline things, which was weird and also good. But now there is catching up to do! This morning, I boarded a mostly-full shuttle and beelined for the newspaper-reader. Yes, that’s right, crinkly, smudge-prone pages and all. My reasoning is simple: every time I sit near someone reading a physical newspaper, I get the news. Either the reader tells me something interesting (to them only, maybe) that is happening, or I peep the pages myself. Sure, I could buy a paper, or read the news on my phone, but I have extremely low initiative when it comes to things that are boring and repetitive. Both of...
Read MoreNestcam
The cam was last on Friday, May 4.
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I am Halsted, a/k/a cygnoir, and I do stuff with words.
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Tenacious D
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