The internet may be a timesucking black hole, but I prefer it to some of the alternatives (like tv) because at least you can feel you’re wasting your time in a productive sort of way. The internet, if you sort of squint at it sideways, suggests an infinity of patterns — harmonic resonances of [...]

Today DCist highlighted as “photo of the day” a scan of a letter about the photography policy of the Department of Transportation. Here in the nation’s capital, there is a lot of conflict between photographers and the various types of security personnel at the various federal agencies, landmarks, foreign embassies, international agencies, etc, etc. [...]

So I don’t watch cable news, but the internet tells me that there is some sort of uproar going on over on the libertarian/right quadrant of the political map. Something about taxes, and tea? Maybe you’ve heard?
It’s interesting to see protest and even hints of radicalism coming from the right. [...]

There is a store on U Street that is named “4NX¢” and the first time I noticed it took me a few minutes to figure it out.
(Here’s a photo of it by Prince of Petworth)

Foreign… ex… cent?… Oh! “Exchange!”
I should have figured it out more quickly. Thinking about, promoting, and [...]

I got an email from school stating that next week, in honor of Constitution Day, there will be a public reading of the U.S. Constitution by students.
Well.
My first thought was that this didn’t sound like something a serious university would do, but was more akin to things we did in seventh grade, like [...]

I’m taking a break from homework to ponder the state of the world and especially the loss of Madeleine L’Engle, the second death this year (following Kurt Vonnegut’s) of an extraordinary author of vaguely-science-fiction books.
I didn’t really know anything about L’Engle, which made the obituaries and appreciations feel strange. But of course, I read [...]

Frequently in life, your interests in converge in unexpected ways, and I guess that is one of the things that keep this mortal existence halfway exciting.
Today I am thinking about Cal Ripken, Jr., and specifically, about the recent news that he has been appointed “Special Sports Envoy” for the State Department, a strange position that [...]

“The years that are gone seem like dreams — if one might go on sleeping and dreaming — but to wake up and find — oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.”    — Kate Chopin, The [...]

This past week, the DC smoking ban went into effect. I was, and remain, opposed to it.
On a personal level, I’m mostly ambivalent, maybe even slightly in favor of the ban. This past weekend was the first to see it in effect, and mostly it was pretty strange, a major topic [...]