Category: Diversions
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Lexical Ambiguity: Fun for few, annoying for most
If you’re part of the small slice of humanity who enjoys sentences like the grammatically correct Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo, you’ll…
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Fix It or Use It: What to do when something brakes
Unlike some other stuff on the inside of bathroom walls, this one is amusing for the intended reasons.
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Modular Ornament: An idea I’m not pursuing, but why isn’t anyone else?
I sometimes have business ideas that seem like someone should pursue them, but no-one is. In most cases, the reason will be that it’s a…
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Two Visions of the Future: Science fiction scenarios that aren’t stories
Scenario 1 We have extensively terraformed a planet circling a distant star. Its atmosphere is breathable and because of its low gravity, trees grow a…
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Santa: Reality is magical
This time of the year makes me reflective and sentimental, so here’s my thought for today: My kids met Santa in front of the supermarket…
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All’s Whale That Ends Whale: Unintentionally amusing
The stuff guys will scrawl on the inside of bathroom stalls…
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Alcatraz: Time to beautify it
Here is one idea for Alcatraz and here‘s another one. Here are some older designs for the island. Any of them would elevate San Francisco…
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Corporate Email: Mostly but not always dreary
Here are two emails from my workplace, normally notable for its lack of quirkiness. Good morning Hope you are all well. Just in case you…
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Modern Cave Art: If we still painted the inside of caves
I’m wondering why we have stopped making cave art and I’m not the only one thinking along those lines. This is a painting by the…
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Wood Swirl: Found art
A piece of wood that reminded me of van Gogh’s Starry Night. Nature imitating art, once again.
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Tom McGuane’s Cameo: He probably made an appearance in a Jimmy Buffett music video
I’m 80% sure that writer Thomas McGuane makes a cameo appearance in the music video for Jimmy Buffett’s 1974 song Come Monday. 70 seconds in,…
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Font Indifference: What’s Helvetica again?
What convinced some typesetters that it’s okay to add a paragraph on the font they chose for a book on the last page? Why not…
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Travel Tools
This is a small bag I keep in my car’s glove compartment. I’ve used the tools and repair materials it contains often enough that I…
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Two Notes
Two notes, one passive aggressive, the other one just aggressive. The passive aggressive I found on a vandalized hiking and mountain biking trail in Tahoe…
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Animal Trick
The animal trick by magician Seth Raphael is mind-blowing, and what’s more, you can try it yourself here. If you have 5 minutes, do yourself…
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The Million Yen Melon
A friend returning from a trip to Japan told me about his experience with the fruit equivalent of Wagyu beef: the Yubari melon, grown on…
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Drafts
According to a pervasive belief in the German-speaking world, it’s essential to avoid drafts. They cause all kinds of diseases, including muscle stiffness and colds.…
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Dairy Products
Milk products are a constant source of confusion when traveling. Too many times have I been asked what Quark is without having an adequate answer.…
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A Bold Choice
Pandemic 2020 is the name of a cafe I encountered recently while walking around Vienna. I wasn’t brave enough to enter, which I now regret,…
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Colloquial States of America
I like maps, but I like this one especially. Here is something else that’s similarly juvenile and great.
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A Canny Eye
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is full of small facts and anecdotes that Dillard encountered in her extensive reading. Here is one that I enjoyed: This…
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Rattlesnake Creeks
My neighbor told me about a swimming hole that nobody knows about. “It’s on Rattlesnake Creek,” he said. Armed with this information, I went to…
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Joseph Höger
I have inherited a number of 19th century paintings and watercolors from my father. I don’t think they’re worth much, but they’re pretty and they…
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Talking of Children and AI
We talk about our children and AI the same way. We say, “Did you notice what they can do now?” and “Can you believe that…
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Relax About Rain
Breathable rain jackets get damp on the inside after a few hours of rain. My solution is to not bring a rain jacket if I…
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Let Us Make You Fat
Being fat used to be something to aspire to. “It Is No Longer Necessary to Be Thin, Scrawny and Undeveloped.” Here are more ads from…
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The Sense for an Era
A few days after graduating from my Austrian high school, I took plane to England and stayed there for most of the next twelve years.…
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Live Demos
For some time I lived in a city in the North of England. It was full of terraced brick houses. When I wasn’t working, I…
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Plain Language
I participated in a corporate meeting this week. The aim was to come up with a mission statement for one of our departments. One of…
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Propaganda Art
Inside the San Rafael post office there’s a mural that depicts a scene from 1851. There are Mexicans, dock workers, pioneers, Indians and a missionary.…
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Unparalleled Misalignments: Nonsense of the best kind
I’m delighted by the list of Unparalleled Misalignments maintained by Ricki Heicklen. Unparalleled Misalignments are word-by-word synonym swaps that result in new meanings. Example: Operating…
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Two-By-Two Matrices
Each of the fields I have worked in – computer science, genetics, management consulting, biotechnology – has its own 2×2 matrices. Computer science and medicine…
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Banning Advertising
Driving around San Francisco, the billboards by the highways advertise enterprise software solutions. In Los Angeles, it’s accident injury lawyers. In the Central Valley, cosmetic…
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X and Y
It’s a remarkable coincidence that the X and Y chromosomes, named that way because those are the only letters that describe their shapes, sit together…
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The Generosity Scam
The four of us went out for lunch. Our company is located two blocks from the main street of a medium-sized California town, providing plenty…
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Hotel Room Monitors
Why don’t hotels provide workstations in their rooms? A good-sized monitor, a full keyboard and a mouse would suffice. If that doesn’t fit, have a…
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Avoiding the Paleolithic
Why are there no movies, TV series or even novels set in the paleolithic? After all, it’s the epoch that made us who we are,…
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Ghost Town Living
Brent Underwood, together with investors, bought the ghost town of Cerro Gordo to the East of the Sierra Nevada mountains and for the last four…
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The Blue Boat
I recently came across the painting below. It beautifully captures what it’s like to paddle through a remote lake. A printout now hangs above my…
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Medium-Message Discordance
There’s something about the medium and the message disagreeing that tickles me. Maybe one day I’ll make signs that say “Brotherhood” in pink, surrounded by…
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Bumper Stickers I’ve Known and Liked
Americans don’t have opinions, they have bumper stickers Rich Hall Last summer, I finally found my favorite bumper sticker on an incredibly dilapidated truck I…
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XKCD
I’ve been following the web comic xkcd for almost two decades now. It’s usually good and sometimes brilliant. Here’s last Friday’s:
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Niven’s Laws: Really just aphorisms, but good ones
There are several laws, or maybe aphorisms, that science fiction writer Larry Niven has come up with. Wikipedia has a good list, and here are…
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Things to Argue About Over the Holidays
Things to argue about over the holidays instead of politics by Dynomight. Also see part II and part III.
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Sprouts
Sprouts is a two-player game that only requires pen and paper. A number of nodes (“Sprouts”), but at least two, are drawn. The players take…
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Reality-Memory-History
An attempt at visual expression. Perception-Memory-History would’ve been a better title.
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Headless Mike
Chicken who keep running around after their heads have been cut off are a common story told by people who have grown up on farms,…
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Yearning From Above
I’m on a plane. This morning, I woke up in a Sheraton hotel room and this afternoon I’ll be in a corporate office with a…
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Spend it Wisely
Last week, my wife and I packed our kids into the car and drove four hours to a cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Early…
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Phantom Time and World Ice
Of the many, many conspiracy theories out there, here are two less known ones that I quite enjoy for their entertainment value: In 1991, Heribert…
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Ice Cream for Lunch: You should try it
In this post, I’ll try to convince you that having ice cream for lunch is a good idea. In the 1999 movie Ghost Dog, there’s…
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Wikibibliography
I wish there were a website that curated the best resources to learn about any topic. For example, if I want to learn about the…
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Drinking, Smoking and Drugs
Here’s writer Hunter S. Thompson’s daily routine, as reported by E. Jean Carroll. It’s likely made up, but of course the truth is a poor…
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The Five Salad Dressings
Something about being an immigrant to the United States I wish someone had told me: You need to know the Five Salad Dressings. Being asked…
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California Anthem
I’ve lived in the state for 10 years and only recently learned that California has an anthem. I’ve never heard it performed anywhere, for any…
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Madaus
A few years ago, my uncle gave me an old book created by the German pharmaceutical company Madaus, which is nowadays part of Rottapharm Biotech, to celebrate their…
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I Put my Toaster in the Dishwasher: It was fine
Holding a toaster while immersing in a bath is considered a dramatic way to end one’s life. But is getting a toaster wet really suicidal?…
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Happiness Only Real When Shared
Interstate 80 crosses the Sierra Nevada at Donner Pass. One semi-trailer truck follows the next in a near-continuous train, connecting the mighty economy of California…
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Bulwer-Lytton 2024
The 2024 winners for the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which challenges participants to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written, have been…
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Ads from 1909
Here are some ads from the March 1909 edition of Sunset Magazine. This poor fellow doesn’t get attention from the ladies because they prefer to…
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Tim’s Vermeer
This is how I want to spend my retirement: Work on projects of my choosing, without having to consider financial constraints or whether others approve.…
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Sauerkraut Westerns
You have probably come across spaghetti Westerns: Movies set in the Old West but made by Italians, starring Italians or filmed in Italy. The Good,…
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Kokopelli
He pops up in the most unexpected places. I’ve seen him on rocks, on traffic signs, on clothing. Here he is on the side of…
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Free Bumper Stickers!
I’m worried that people could assume that I’m insecure, even though I’m confident and self-assured. To preempt this, I’ve designed bumper stickers that declare “I’m…
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Time Well Wasted
There are probably better ways to waste your life, but Twitter’s at least pretty efficient Eric Jarosinski Based on the many years of experience I…
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All the Magic
Sandra’s seen a leprechaun, Eddie touched a troll Laurie danced with witches once, Charlie found some goblins’ gold. Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied…
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Two Very Good Movies
A Man Called Otto: This is an example of a genre I enjoy. The genre is Grumpy old man with new neighbors. Other examples of…
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Early Bird
Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird And catch the worm for your breakfast plate. If you’re a bird, be an early early…
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The Battle of the Bulge
To hell with you, ignoble paunch, abhorrent in my sight! I gaze at your rotundity, and savage is my frown. I’ll rub you and I’ll…
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The Alphabet of American Animals
The armadillo, the armadillo has armor above but not below The bear, the bear has a lot of hair everywhere The coyote, the coyote can…
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