Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.07.11
Dear friends, I'm playing another round of "is it allergies or is it Covid?" today—I've advanced to the league where you go and take a fancier Covid test...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.06.11
Dear friends, Today would have been Jacques Cousteau's 112th birthday; his grandson is planning an underwater habitat called Proteus. As far as I can tell,...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.05.11
Dear friends, I wish I had some reassuring things to say about the state of the world, but all I have is a set of links. The fact that people are trying to...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.04.11
Dear friends, I've been thinking lately that the opposite of curiosity isn't indifference, but dread. If perseverating over vague fears takes up all your...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.03.11
Dear friends, If you're not feeling overwhelmed enough, may I suggest a quick turn through the List of ongoing armed conflicts page on Wikipedia? Guaranteed...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.02.11
Dear friends, February is the awkward adolescent of months. Everything is the wrong shape; it has holidays that are too important (Valentine's Day) and...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2022.01.11
Dear friends, It feels like the last few weeks have been ones of almost willful unlearning. All the stuff we learned (often the hard way) in 2020 and 2021?...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.12.11
Dear friends, A few days ago we celebrated one of my favorite secular holidays, the day that Said The Gramophone posts their favorite songs of the past year....
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.11.11
Dear friends, If I asked you 'where do you think the relics of St. Margaret of Scotland are?' and you said "Spain, of course," you'd be right (except nobody...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.10.11
Dear friends, In my quest to try every coffee-flavored candy, I did buy the Thanksgiving Dinner candy corn (I only ate a few of the coffee ones, I'm not a...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.9.11
Dear friends, This letter, despite being sent on 9/11, contains no 9/11 content. (Although it would be a good day to recommend reading Matt Ruff's amazing...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.8.11
Dear friends, I talk about this a LOT (uh, as in the very last instance of this 'sletter), but (again) one of my favorite feelings in the entire world is...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.7.11
Dear friends, Well, because things fall apart, center: status: not holding, and so on, what would have been "Free Slurpee Day" today is now some privatopia...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.6.11
Dear friends, Although I shouldn't be, I'm always surprised by what legislators think they can ban outright. For example, after the battle of Cannae (216...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.5.11
Dear friends, Last week I had shot #2 (with only a tiny bit of Pfizer Phlu afterwards). The hardest part has been having to reset my notions of what would be...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.4.11
Dear friends, Mostly what I've been looking up this past month is available vaccination appointments, but luckily my spouse had his first shot this past...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.3.11
Dear friends, One of the most unsettling things (to me) is looking up something and finding ... nothing. As more and more is made available online, it...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.2.11
Dear friends, I am currently obsessed with Reckonings: Numerals, Cognition, and History, by Stephen Chrisomalis. I mean, maybe you think you don't want books...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.1.11
Dear friends, First, because it needs to be said: the problem is white supremacy, and it's everywhere. Googling the phrase "the luxury of attention" I was...
Things I learned while looking up other things, 2020.12.11
Dear friends, I should write something about how 2020 has been a long year, with roughly thirty-seven months jammed edgewise into the calendar since March,...