Worst Science Movie Plot
Science is usually done terribly in movies. I know a little bit of science, I think. Enough to make a couple of good scripts. But that’s boring. What I want to see is the opposite. This is a synopsis of…
The Journal of Half-Baked Ideas
My friend Hagop once came up with the idea for a “Journal of Half-Baked Ideas.” I wasn’t actually there to witness it, so I don’t know any of the details wanted to include in it, but I’ve decided to run…
“I’m just really sad I won’t get to have an interstellar pen-pal”
I’ve been watching all the movies I should have seen in my childhood but didn’t. Yesterday I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind.1 I saw it because I had this thought pop into my head this week that made…
Sequel Space
(Prequels are earlier in the z-space, but that’s hard to represent here.) Whoo. For an example and an explanation of how graph space works, read on.
Quite simply the worst bluff… ever.
There are reasons to like this clown. He’s got gumption. Most people don’t try to take on the Batman. (This statement is factually false. Everyone and their grandmother seems to want to take on the Batman.) … or is it…
Nominations open for my Personal Person of the Year
Nominations are now open for my 2010 Person of the Year. Usually these assignments are determined internally, but there’s not a very obvious candidate this year as there have been in years past. So I’m opening it to the general…
Happy Blogoversary!
My website would be starting first grade this year if not for the fact that it was born after September 1st. It’s okay, though, because I want it to be bigger and badder than all the other blogs on the…
Just another six-word story for you
You wish you had my BFF.
Rules for Promises
I haven’t broken a promise in the past ten years. It’s very important to me. Probably more important than my life or other silly things. My moral outlook is somewhat inconsistent with this, but I find that I need to…
This is a prologue to a post
Working at a center for ethics has its advantages. (By the way, I work at a center for ethics now.) One of these advantages is the ability to work next to – and be on first name basis with– internationally…
I helped bring you into this world, I can help take you out of it.
Here’s a memory: Before I start grad school, two of the people I know here ask if anybody wants to join them for a concert in two months. I respond ‘yes’ and ask them to buy me two tickets, as…
We need new verb tenses, guys
I had this idea a long time ago, wrote a draft, then let it sit until now. Now I stand it up because my friend Iris insists that English would be a terrible language in which to discuss time travel. …
How Guys Can Avoid Getting Mugged
A friend of mine recently told me that the best thing to do when someone tries to rob you is whatever they want. They’ve already broken the social contract. You don’t know what else they’re capable of, so you should…
The Sarah Project
My good friend Sarah is leaving the country for two years. This is sad for a lot of us, as she is a good friend. It’s hard to be away from a person that is a social bedrock and a…
The 10-Point Public Bathroom Grading Rubrik
I’ve told people about my 10-point rubrik for public bathrooms. Here it is, for the first time ever. Each item present earns the restroom one point. A Perfect 10 is a restroom worth planning trips around. What does the restroom…
What is your life even for?
(cross-posted) These are the seven themes of my life. Things I strive for whenever I’m not decompressing. Trust. I’d rather die than break a promise. I haven’t broken one since I was 15. I have lied many times in that…
¡¡oo!
I’m… 25? I wouldn’t repeat 24 if you paid me, but I’m looking forward to the festivities tonight. Drink Potluck! Dessert Potluck! White Elephant Gift Exchange! Huzzah!
29 things to do before I turn 29
Not hang myself with a belt Be happy with where I live and who I live with Some times choose to stay home. Write most of a dissertation Publish something original Cowrite a paper with someone I respect Have all…