October 2011
2 posts
Takeaways from "Real Steel"
In 2050 there will be no more PETA.
There will be giant robots.
And there will still be Bing.
The best thing about Pacific time is that football...
September 2011
1 post
Actual Harvard Gazette headline / subhed: "In... →
Rejected: “Elitism: Why it’s beneath us”.
April 2010
4 posts
3 tags
“The way I look at it, twenty years from now, who will really remember whether or...”
1 tag
Couldn't find my watch this morning. I feel...
1 tag
Harvard Faculty Club News: Closing Temporarily? →
(via fumeblanc)
Two weeks ago I had a staff meeting (for CS1 with Leitner) scheduled there that got canceled because of the norovirus. Rather glad, come to think, it wasn’t three weeks ago.
3 tags
As noises start up in the adjacent room, I leave...
Me (quietly): Hi, I'm sorry, there's an exam going on next door...
Lecturer: Exam? I don't know anything about an exam. This class is just ending.
Me (quietly): Right, I mean, I'm proctoring an exam right now...
Lecturer: Sure, this class is just ending right now, you can have the room in a moment.
Me (quietly): No, I mean, there's an exam going on right now, and I was wondering...
Lecturer: Oh. I don't know where it is, sorry.
Me (quietly): I mean, the exam's next door right now, and we can hear everyone talking in this room.
Lecturer: Yes, I've just finished class, so I'm done talking.
Me (quietly): Right, but we can hear all the noise from the students talking. Would it be okay if I asked them to be quiet?
Lecturer: So you're saying they're being too loud?
Me (quietly): Yes.
Lecturer: And you want them to be quiet?
Me (quietly): Yes.
Lecturer (to class, at top of his lungs): QUIET, PLEASE!!!
March 2010
5 posts
2 tags
Occupied. E-mail if you need me. Better yet, don't...
5 tags
When We're Done, I'm Done
When we’re done, I’m done —
Giving up won’t be fun,
But it’s easier than convincing myself that you’re not the one.
There’ll be nothing left for you but breaking into a run,
So stick a fork in me, dear, ‘cause when we’re done, I’m done.
When you’re gone, I’m gone —
I’ve been hanging upon
Someone little bit...
1 tag
Dear my students, I am good at replying to...
1 tag
I love my job. I really love my job. :) But I'm...
2 tags
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?"
"Oh, grading."
"What are you up to this weekend?"
"Gotta do some grading."
"Any big spring break plans?"
"Just going home and grading."
"What'll you be doing this summer?"
"Probably grading."
February 2010
7 posts
3 tags
Pedestrian's Cadence
I am a proud pedestrian, and I have the right of way.
I do have, I do have, I do have, I do have, I do have the right of way.
You can run me over if you like,
You can crash into me on your bike,
But it won’t be much of a lucky strike
‘Cause I’ve got the right of way.
I am a proud pedestrian, so listen to what I say.
You’ll listen, you’ll listen, you’ll...
6 tags
Tell Me Pretty Things
I’m just a little...
5 tags
Tell Me Pretty Things
I’m just a little lonesome —
Tell me pretty things.
Tell me that you’ve missed me
Through all my wanderings,
Say you loved my roses,
Say you had them dried,
Say you couldn’t leave me
If you tried.
I don’t know where I’m headed —
Tell me pretty things.
Sigh them sostenuto
Like a lover sings,
Say the spreading sunset
Darkened like the day
You...
1 tag
Update: begging via Gchat-status for the spoon...
Conclusion: Proper foresight entails posting Gchat statuses begging for spoons one day before one forgets to pack one.
1 tag
Thought experiment: what would you do if you were...
1 tag
"Here, I'll do it, hold on."
"What'd you say?"
"I'll take care of that, hold on."
"Oh, 'hold on.'"
"What'd you think I said?"
" 'Here, I'll do it, moron.' "
2 tags
...lost his Internet connection while teaching the...
January 2010
4 posts
2 tags
I Need a Truck, by Warren Zevon
1 tag
My resolutions: 1) Buy a belt. 2) Need it.
1 tag
Functions of my cell phone, by frequency of use:
alarm clock
bookmark
communication device
3 tags
“I’m always hunting for the perfect word. When I find it I’ll shoot...”
December 2009
23 posts
2 tags
Course I've got a healthy ego. What else would...
3 tags
I love subtlety and nuance, except from other...
2 tags
1 tag
Things that happen when you get your eyes dilated:
You attempt to deposit a check. “Enter check amount,” says the ATM. You squint at the check, hold it up to your eyes, and decide to do it tomorrow.
You conduct Gchat conversations by wriing everything in a different window with ridiculously huge font sizes (and ignoring the other person’s remarks).
You pay the co-pay for the eye dilation by credit card. The receptionist...
1 tag
Characteristically, the thing that makes me feel...
2 tags
note to self: elegiac mood != too many commas
(You may see the result of this experiment. You may not.)
2 tags
“You’re too tolerant and too acquiescent.”
“Yes, I am.”
“People think they can walk all over you.”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“And you’re too nice to refuse.”
“Am I?”
“You can’t keep giving in to everything.”
“You’re right.”
“You need to stop making yourself into a...
3 tags
Thought Experiment
You’re “The Lady or the Tiger?”, I’m the reader who groans,
You’re the stem cells differentiating, I’d be the clones,
You’ll throw Scissors, you’ll throw Papers, but I’m sticking with Rocks,
You’re a Heisenberg electron, I’m a cat in a box.
You’re a quarter as it’s spinning in the air when it’s tossed,...
3 tags
Hey, wow, I'm finally done with college! Awesome!...
2 tags
...is running out of towels to throw in.
3 tags
...is throwing in the towel. Stupid Pop China.
(I had a Pop China exam Friday afternoon, and then Math 21b in the morning Saturday.)
Chelsea: soijusttookoffmyspacebar
andit’sclearwhymyspacebarwasn’tworking10%ofthetime me: hmm, have I got an air canister Chelsea: craphowdoireattachit me: hahaha (sorry) Chelsea: greaaaat me: no luck?
I’ve got a USB keyboard if you want it [2 minutes pass] Chelsea: yessssss
it STILL fails 10% of the time me: hm
(I can convince [a mutual friend] that I know something...
1 tag
“…but sometimes it’s a recipe for awesome disaster.”
3 tags
"Anything I don't agree with in this message was...
I’m just gritting my teeth as I’m waiting
For an end to this Survey campaign;
It’s the first thing I’ve found that’s as grating
As the e-mails from Barry S. Kane.
If you’re wanting an accurate rating,
You had really much better refrain,
Or you might find it slightly… deflating.
(I hope I shan’t have to explain.)
Some may...
4 tags
That's not true, I say no all the time! "No...
1 tag
...just knocked the bottle of toilet bowl cleanser...
5 tags
Airplane Standard Time
Flew from Honolulu to the US mainland,
Jolted from my slumbers when I feel the plane land,
Can’t remember if I’m stopped at LAX or SFO.
Stumbling off the skybridge and I check the screen,
Tells me my connecting flight’s at 5:15,
Don’t know if that’s now or in an hour or an hour ago.
You know why I’m disoriented?
...
3 tags
Plan: Wake up at 5 AM PST, scout around online for interesting things to do for the morning, get the new GPS installed and drive out somewhere and watch the sun rise, then just meander through downtown until airport time.
Reality: Wake up at 5 AM PST, scout around online for interesting things.
3 tags
I hate having to sell people on the idea that I'm...
4 tags
Oh, Christ!
Oh, Christ,
Everyone’s so underdressed and overpriced.
So what’s the use of struggling,
Oh, Christ?
Oh, hell,
Everyone’s all dressed to kill and priced to sell.
So what’s the use of struggling?
Oh, hell!
Oh, damn,
They’re upon me now like slaughter to a lamb.
So what’s the use of struggling?
Oh, damn!
1 tag
“When you said in front of him [i.e. Caesar]: ‘Valerius has never quite...”
– Letter XXXVII, C. Valerius Catullus to Clodia, in The Ides of March, by Thornton Wilder.
3 tags
Still not entirely sure I should've sent this to...
Subject: I love you, Santa!
Dear Santa,
I figured when I mentioned ostriches on my form that you’d have to be a little creative, but I’d love to know what kind of creativity went into finagling a real, live ratite into my bedroom this morning! I didn’t even mind that the cassowary was too small for me to ride — it was still delicious. Thanks, Santa!!!
Brian
(Helps...
2 tags
My favorite dangling modifier today: "[... Kiran... →
November 2009
23 posts
2 tags
Can't find my cell phone, so I can't set my cell...
1 tag
Every time I take my suit off the hanger, I'm a...
4 tags
I love challenges! There's nothing else in my life...
4 tags
Most of all I am thankful for the holiday. If...