2xstache 268There is one facial hair style I can’t recall ever seeing: the double toothbrush. This would be a clean-shaven philtrum with a Chaplin-stache on either side. Of all the creative license ever applied to facial hair (and it seems the hirsute male can be very creative), how did this one slip by?

And before you just say that it’s “stoopeed” — well, double toothbrush with a soul patch.

What language you use can matter in a tech society. On twitter, 140 characters divided by 6 (average 5-char word length plus space) equals about 23-1/3 words max per text — emoticons notwithstanding. However, if you write in Chinese logograms, you can achieve up to 140 words (well, more if you are clever with linguistics and don’t punctuate) in a single tweet. Up to 6x more! That’s a few paragraphs for most people.

Similarly, a picture of a sunset or of kittehs being all lol-catty has more meaning in a single expression than a book of words could adequately convey. So, in a way, LOLcats (and pics of cute animals in general) are more profound than you might initially suspect.

On April 18, the vote for H.R. 624 — CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) — was taken in the U.S. House of Representatives. This privacy-eroding bill passed easily. Sadly, all three NM congresspeople chose to vote in the ‘yea’ column: Michelle Lujan Grisham (D, NM 1st), Steve Pearce (R, NM 2nd), and Ben Luján (D, NM 3rd). I expect this sort of idiocy from Pearce but had higher hopes for the other two. Guess not. Let’s hope the Senate gets this one right.

We Can All Be Inventors

Model of da Vinci's helicopter in front a print of his sketch

I’m an inventor. I’m an inventor in the same way most of us are inventors: I have a need and I jury-rig something that will get the job done. It’s not fancy, it’s usually not pretty, but it does what … Continue reading →

If you are so jaded that you are jaded by jadedness, do you level up to being emeralded? Turquoised?

Loyalty isn’t bought, it’s earned — and when it’s earned, we buy.

CJ Carter

For many weeks I’ve been having tons of problems with my mouse pointer skipping across the screen seemingly without rhyme or reason. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth (I won’t admit to the renting of raiment…or the refusing to paint of raiment) I think I found the reason: the color in parts of my mouse pad rendered the laser in the mouse ineffective to the cause. Since changing out that mouse pad for a different one which lacked the offensive color zones, no noticeable problems (so far).

Sometimes it’s the simple things that trip us up the most easily in our complex technological world.

S&L Sad News, But Maybe Not Forever

GnS SnL 480

I”m sad that Sword & Laser is ending its run on Geek & Sundry. That and Table Top are the only G&S shows I eagerly anticipate (also the Flog when it isn’t yet another Felicia-and-Robin-try-to-make-a-food-thing-from-instructions installment). Hopefully, Veronica and Tom … Continue reading →

Busy Little Beaver

Gnawed area of tree felled by beavers

It’s been surprisingly busy around here. Enough so that I really haven’t been very mindful of the blog posts. Novel, art, theme design, life — all have been a part of this conspiracy. Continue reading →

I read the headline: “Cardinals prepare to elect a new pope”. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Reds might steal the series or that maybe the Padres might manage to sneak win in a back-to-back double-header.

Since the only actual qualifications for being named pope are being a baptized Catholic and having a Y chrome, I sit here worried of what might happen since the church never had the foresight to excommunicate me. I don’t much want to have to live in Rome. I have nothing personally against it, but you know the saying “When in Rome…”?, I hate being told what to do. However, if I should win, after I thank the academy, I think my first order of business would have to be to exchange the miter for a definiter, as I don’t want to seem wishy-washy. Second: name David Bowie as a cardinal so we could put on our red shoes and dance the blues. (Yeah, I bet they’re really sorry they didn’t have the foresight to excommunicate me :-)

As the ACC women’s basketball tournament gets underway, I find it bittersweet as this will be Maryland’s penultimate appearance…for no really good reason that I can fathom. Certainly not geography. Certainly not tradition. In 2014, poof, that disappears and Maryland becomes one of the outlier newcomers of the Big 10 conference who will be tolerated more than welcome. No string of tournament appearances. No history of wins. Reduced access for fans and family (road trips are no longer just a trip up/down I-95). Tougher recruiting because the rivalries are gone.

Normally I’d say something half-jokingly like, “But I’m not bitter,” but frankly, I’m bitter as all-get-out. No offense to the Big 10, they are a great and storied conference, but it’s not the right fit for Maryland (or Penn St or Rutgers, either, for that matter). sigh Guess I should enjoy the ACC run for as long as it lasts. Who knows…maybe they’ll change their mind and decide to stay.