Metamorphosism

“Who would write phone numbers on a book in invisible ink?”

It just dawned on me that I ought to have taken a picture of one of the stripey furry things playing with a ball sold at most Prague souvenir shops, since it was the thing that most impressed me about the city, but you always think of these things when it’s too late.

I had thought it would be Kafka, but Prague turns out to be sort of like Disneyland if Disneyland were based on a tubercular Jewish writer instead of a mouse, so although I found myself walking across the Charles Bridge1 quite often, I could never actually be arsed … Continue Reading

The world’s funniest joke, now with added Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin takes John McCain hunting in Alaska. McCain collapses. Palin places an emergency call on her cell phone.

Operator: May I help you?

Palin: This is Sarah Palin. John McCain isn’t breathing and his eyes are all glassy. He might be dead. What should I do?

Operator: Calm down. We can handle this. First thing, let’s make sure he’s dead.

(Pause, then gunshot)

Palin: Okay, now what?

Or, no, wait, hang on:

McCain’s campaign advisor gets a call from McCain in the middle of the night:

McCain: My campaign’s dead, what should we do:

Advisor: Hang on, first we … Continue Reading

have changed your life?

PS: The article about reading mentioned in the comments is located here.

Left five minutes earlier this morning because Beta had to get to work, and traffic was so much lighter we got into town fifteen minutes earlier. I’m generally happy to have the chance to drive her places, because since she’s moved out and only comes home for visits such drives are the only chance we get to hang out.

Which is fine. I hear it’s good for kids to have their own life.

I’ll see her again on the weekend, she’s coming home to visit our new kittens. Our old cats are very huffy at the moment, but they’ll get over it … Continue Reading

I am watching this talk by Clay Shirky in which, among other things, he points out that inconvenience can have value, an idea I have been talking about for over ten years now, the differences being I talk about the evils of efficiency, and no one pays me to do it.

Who would think that efficiency could be bad, or inconvenience good? Yet, this is how all security measures (among other things) function, by increasing inconvenience, slowing things down, reducing efficiency. Locks, fences, passwords, democracy, brakes, parachutes.

Just ask Wall St. what happens when things get too convenient.

Brilliant, right? Up there … Continue Reading

1. Mig is wearing Dr. Martens.
2. Mig has a headache.
3. Mig may need new glasses.
4. Mig lives in Austria.
5. Mig is married.
6. Mig spent his lunchbreak eating sushi and plotting a prank with one of his daughters.
7. Mig likes grapefruit juice, so it is a good thing he’s not on any medication at the moment.
8. Mig is sometimes depressed, but not as often as before, and not right now. Ideally, he would not be depressed at all, and he is working on that, but he wouldn’t want to give up melancholy.
9. Mig is easily seduced by an optimistic belief in the transforming power of gadgets, and therefore owns several … Continue Reading
   

I will be changing hosts shortly. After many years of satisfying service and prompt and competent support, my current host is sort of going out of business, at least the business of hosting this site, and all the related sites. I have already made new hosting arrangements, and am in the process of moving. If all goes well, the most that regular readers might notice is a day or two of wonkiness as the new numbers resolve. There are, like, seven or more years of archives here, and I am trying to get them moved intact, but that turns out … Continue Reading

Sigur Ros is having a contest. The details are here. It sounds like fun.

Psychological test: when you see this picture, is your first thought, “Sarah Palin”?