Things I learned while looking up other things, 2025.08.11
Dear friends,
If you're in NYC in September you can see the world premiere of a new chamber opera about Yiddish linguist Yudel Mark’s unfinished effort to create a comprehensive Yiddish dictionary.
"The block decimal system [of house numbering] [is] mainly used in the USA, where 100 numbers are reserved for the houses of every block of houses; this system is also called Philadelphia system because it was first used 1856 in Philadelphia."
There's a sea slug (Aplysia californica) that has very large neurons: "the largest is about the size of a letter on a U.S. penny". [Quanta]
"She [Donají] is honored by having her severed head as part of the coat of arms of the city of Oaxaca."
"Alpacas and camelids are the only known land animals that make nanobodies [small fragments of antibodies]." [Nature]
"Archaeoindris [the giant sloth lemur] is known from only one subfossil site, Ampasambazimba, in central Madagascar, and all remains date to the Late Quaternary." (How giant are we talking about? Probably about the size of an adult male gorilla, about 350 lbs.) Just let "Ampasambazimba" roll around in your mouth for a bit. I'll wait.
The first thousand numbers in alphabetical order.
I would definitely go see a double bill of Capacitor Plague and Weak Arithmetics. (I couldn't find actual bands using either of those names but I did find at least one song titled "Capacitor Plague" which seems to involve quite a lot of capacitors.)
"His [Alexander Pope's] errands were so frequent and frivolous that the footmen in time avoided and neglected him, and the Earl of Oxford discharged some of the servants for their resolute refusal of his messages. The maids, when they had neglected their business, alleged that they had been employed by Mr. Pope." (Just in case you thought there wouldn't be any Samuel Johnson in this issue ...)
Stay well!
Your friend,
Erin