My Commonplace Book

beaglesjudgingyou: “The worst part about all of this is I don’t...

Sun, 13 May 2012 14:28:15 -0400

beaglesjudgingyou:

“The worst part about all of this is I don’t even remember where you came from, nor do I really care. Leave.”

Photo

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:44:11 -0400

Photo

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:01:29 -0400

You can't judge a wave by its prose.

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:47:34 -0400

shitmystudentswrite:

The text of the poem is like a surfboard; you cannot understand what surfing means by just looking at a surfboard.

For once they got someone who understands.

washingtonpoststyle: discoverynews: jakefogelnest: Whitney...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:26:57 -0500

washingtonpoststyle:

discoverynews:

jakefogelnest:

Whitney Houston’s isolated vocal track on “How Will I Know.”

RIP

Yes.

Salt on a vibrating table. (Apparently it’s showing a...

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:54:24 -0500

Salt on a vibrating table.

(Apparently it’s showing a visual representation of the harmonic nodes? I don’t know either. Pardon me while I go google….)

tamburina: The best moments of Christopher Hitchens.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:13:24 -0500

tamburina:

The best moments of Christopher Hitchens.

“Christopher Meloni Joins ‘True Blood’ As A...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:08:31 -0500

“Christopher Meloni Joins ‘True Blood’ As A Vampire”

Time for Star Peace! Star Wars and Star Trek need to unite to...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:36:34 -0500

Time for Star Peace!

Star Wars and Star Trek need to unite to battle their common enemy … Twilight.

"Oh! it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t...."

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:20:05 -0500

““Oh! it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read.” — Oscar Wilde”

"Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.” — Plato"

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:12:06 -0500

““Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.” — Plato”

"A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little..."

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:08:06 -0500

““A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.” — Samuel Johnson”

Useful German

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:06:43 -0500

Feierabend: a festive frame of mind at the end of a working day
Drachenfutter: (“dragon fodder”) a peace offering to a wife from a guilty husband
Erminenfloh: (“ermine flea”) a sycophant to the powerful
Fachmensch: a narrow specialist
Fingerspitzengefühl: (“fingertipfeel”) intuitive sensibility, confident sureness of touch
fisselig: nagged and flustered to the point of incompetence
pomadig: “like hair oil,” resourceful, confident, able to slip through difficulties
Schlimmbesserung: an intended improvement that has made things worse
Stammplatz: a favorite, usual spot, as a table at a café
Torschlusspanik: (“gate closing panic”) fear that time is running out to act
Wundersucht: a passion for miracles
Zivilcourage: courage to express unpopular opinions
Zwischenraum: the space between things

From the awesome Futility Closet.

BP has a radio commercial emphasizing their focus on "the little things" and how it's important to do that in order to be a good company. Not among "the little things" are "Not killing our own employees and almost destroying an entire underwater ecosystem by ignoring basic safety practices on our oil drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico."

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:03:35 -0500

“Not killing employees” and “destroyers eco-systems” are big things. BP focuses on the little things, like radio commercials.

odetodeadspiders: Perchtenand Krampuslauf The other side of...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:01:15 -0500

odetodeadspiders:

Perchtenand Krampuslauf

The other side of Christmas

Delegation of duty. St Nick rewarded the good kids, while Krampus punished the naughty ones.

Sir David Attenborough’s What a Wonderful World

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:49:19 -0500

Sir David Attenborough’s What a Wonderful World

An Excellent Visual Comparison of Earthquake Strength

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:07:05 -0500

An Excellent Visual Comparison of Earthquake Strength

R.I.P., Col. Sherman T. Potter

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:57:57 -0500

R.I.P., Col. Sherman T. Potter

HMS Ocean doing a lipdub of Mariah Carey’s “All I...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:43:28 -0500

HMS Ocean doing a lipdub of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas”

Their deployment was supposed to have been 7 weeks. Turned into over 7 months.

From the description:

Realities of deploying:

15 babies born while the ship has been away (fathers did get home to see mum and baby)
5 people were sent home so they didn’t miss their own weddings.
1 sailor whose son’s third birthday is on homecoming. Family meeting ship

Photo

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:39:31 -0500