Author Archives: aj

Malcolm Gladwell is a well-known writer. He became famous with his articles in The New Yorker and then blew up with a series of pop-science books: Blink, The Tipping Point, and Outliers. His formula for each is essentially the same: … Continue reading →

Hey, guess what? The Decemberists did a remake of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love”: Get the Flash Player to see this player. And oh yeah, Iron & Wine just came out with a remake of Paul Simon’s “She Moves On”: … Continue reading →

A few entries back, I wrote about the Foundation series. Its premise rests on the (imaginary) science of psychohistory, which allows its practitioners, twelve thousand years in the future, to predict the course of human history in aggregate over billions … Continue reading →

Notice anything strange about the following ESPN.com headline from last night? I’ll give you a hint: “it’s” grammar sucks. Now, I’m not a good grammar theorist; frankly, I couldn’t define its more esoteric concepts and have to repeatedly remind myself … Continue reading →

I recently reread Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. It’s a sci-fi classic about the period of time following the Galactic Empire’s collapse. Well, that sounds trite, doesn’t it? But the books introduce an interesting premise: the creation of the science of … Continue reading →

Of all the gorgeous and catchy songs by Girlyman, it’s this simple, poignant reflection that plays in my head the most: Get the Flash Player to see this player. Here are some other great Girlyman songs, if you’re into beautiful … Continue reading →

In my last post, I had a short quiz. If you haven’t taken it yet, do so now! Once you look at the results, your own answers won’t count. View the results! The quiz contained several simple images: 1. 2. … Continue reading →

In its most derogatory meaning, the term nouveau riche describes a person of newfound wealth who doesn’t know how to “be rich”: he acts ostentatiously, spends conspicuously, and surrounds himself with unsubtle signals of his wealth that the “old rich” … Continue reading →

I’ve finally done the dirty deed and switched from LiveJournal to my own WordPress installation. The main reason I’ve been putting this off is the sheer number of friends’ WP installs that have gotten hacked. I figure it’s inevitable, so … Continue reading →

I’m going to try to introduce you to a band called Opeth. Opeth plays progressive metal*, which sounds scary and inaccessible, and is, a little bit, especially because they use growled or grunted vocals in many of their songs. I’ll … Continue reading →