October 2007 minutiae

  • "Opus33" summarizes the ending of Green Eggs and Ham on Wikipedia: The triumphant conclusion of Seuss's tale occurs when Sam's friend, standing in shallow water after a train crash, surrounded by various people and beasts, finally agrees to try the dish and turns out to be a great enthusiast. Dr. Seuss I can take or leave, but if Opus33 ever starts writing children's books, he or she can count on at least one customer.

  • In 2002 I was in a comics shop in Massachusetts when I heard a song on the store radio. I thought, "I like this song!" and tried to remember as many of the lyrics as I could. When I got home I searched for them on Google. No hits! Eventually I forgot all about it.

    On October 6, 2007, that song came up on Pandora! While it wasn't as good as I'd remembered, I was still very impressed that Pandora was able to pull it up, especially given that it was obscure when it was released and has been out of print for ages now. ("Die Now Pay Later" by Jane Wiedlin, if you care.)

  • My wallet doesn't have a coin pocket, so I keep all my change in a small compartment in my car. It's handy for parking meters. The thing is, I keep going to stores, seeing the price come to $7.33 or whatever, and then realizing that all my change is still in the car. So I pay with a ten and get even more change, and soon the compartment is nearly overflowing.

    So one recent afternoon I go to a pasta shop. I am very proud of myself as I remember to fill my pocket with nickels, dimes and pennies. I am prepared for all monetary eventualities. I get a scoop of ditalini and a scoop of radiatori from the bulk pasta bins and head to the counter. The cashier weighs the pasta. Total price: $4.00. Then I go to another pasta shop and get some fresh-cut fettuccine. Total price: $2.00. I can't win.

  • It is interesting how we absorb memes. I saw a girl with her hair covering her right eye and thought the words "Veronica Lake." I didn't even know who Veronica Lake was! I did an image search on her, and sure enough, she was some actress known for photos in which her hair covered her right eye.

  • This image here on the right made the rounds this month. Supposedly the direction in which you see the figure spinning tells you whether your left brain or right brain is dominant: clockwise means right and counter-clockwise means left. I find that I never know which direction it'll spin for me any time I look at it — it's about 50/50. What gets me is that whichever way it happens to be, it feels like it's totally obvious that it's only spinning in one direction and that anyone who claims to see it spinning the other way is lying or insane. Until I shake my head and see it the other way, and then the "lying or insane" part applies equally strongly to the other direction.

    I wonder how many people have masturbated to this.

  • Ha ha ha ha ha! Tim Horton was a hockey player! I had no idea! That's like finding out that Hungry Jack was an Aussie rules football star.

  • latimes.com headline on the Malibu and San Diego wildfires: Bad day for fires, great day for surfing.

  • Time had an article on what people took with them when they evacuated. On the list: "grandfather's ashes." Because if there's one thing you want to save from a FIRE, it's ASHES.

  • Webcam chat:

    Elizabeth:
       I like the smile you get when you are thinking of a joke
    Elizabeth:
       I can always tell when you are about to type one
    Adam:
       It is a good thing I am not a professional poker player
    Elizabeth:
       You could be a professional online poker player
    Elizabeth:
       You could just make this emoticon over and over
    Elizabeth:
       :|

  • An apartment listing on Craigslist notes that right nearby is the French Hotel Café — A hip gathering place for coffee and pastries. Pastries saunter in all morning long to hang out, relax, and eventually jump down somebody's gullet.

  • The brief medical appointment at which I got told I had high cholesterol cost me more, after insurance, than a full month's rent. I would emigrate to Canada except that my money is now basically worthless there.


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