After sorting through the overwhelming mass of spam comments I’ve been getting, I figured out that most of them were attached to one of two or three old posts — presumably posts with keywords or PageRank that the spammers liked. It didn’t look like closing comments on those was going to be a huge issue, […]
Monthly Archives: December 2008
Ups and downs of the car-free life
I’ve had a post draft sitting in my WordPress box for a while about the ups and downs of bike commuting, because I wasn’t convinced I had anything substantive and new to say about that subject. Today I had an experience that integrates what I was trying to say into a larger context. When I […]
Ending the 101
In other goal-related news, I decided last night that I’m ending my 101 in 1001 (which should go until November 9, 2009). Why? When I started the 101 in Febuary 2007, I was in something of a life funk. I’d been doing the same basic thing for almost a year — same job, same apartment, […]
The loose ends, still fraying
I was reading an old post of mine from my LiveJournal, Oops, the loose end fell out again. Coincidentally, I read it just after reading a post by a LiveJournal friend about her goals for 2009. I usually don’t start thinking about my goals for the next year until after Christmas, but the two posts […]
SKS Raceblade fenders
The Terry website, when I bought Meg (and still — also, wow, it costs $750 now?!), said that there is enough wheel/brake clearance to allow the installation of fenders. I’m honestly not sure what Terry was thinking of when they wrote that, because although there is more wheel/brake clearance than a normal road bike, every […]
Autoanthropology
But what would be so awful, I asked each of my informants, about a brief friendly chat with a fellow commuter? This was clearly regarded as an exceptionally stupid question. Obviously, the problem with actually speaking to a fellow commuter was that if you did it once, you might be expected to do it again […]
Back to happier news
Language Log extols Edinburgh Uni’s results in the UK’s RAE “But with these figures out, even these shy people will have to admit, if pressed, that if you want to study in the biggest language sciences community in the U.K., and the best one as judged by volume of work judged to be of world-leading […]
Does anyone have Staythesame.gov yet?
I haven’t generally been extremely hopeful about Obama as president as far as “Change” goes — my feelings tend more to the “intelligent, self-reflective, moderately liberal guy? okay, that sounds pretty good” sort — but I am fairly disappointed that he’s appointing a Secretary of Energy who thinks the problems are on the supply side […]
Sun-kissed frost
When I left the house this morning, an hour earlier than usual, it was bright but not light: the sun had risen, but wasn’t yet shining directly onto the roads and buildings. The air was crisp and cold, the sky pale blue and orange, the hills clear and purple, the clouds a golden mass on […]
Things not to put in mashed potatoes
Many things are excellent additions to mashed potatoes, but vanilla-flavored soy creamer is not among them, especially not when you want to put them on top of a lentil-vegetable base and make vegetarian shepherd’s pie. (Be quiet. I was out of soymilk.)