Monthly Archives: March 2010

grammar girl: between you and me


When a song with a grammatically incorrect title becomes a smash hit, that’s a catastrophe. English teachers everywhere were surely gnashing their teeth as students sang along with “Between You and I” by Jessica Simpson in 2006. But she can be forgiven; it’s a hypercorrection heard sputtering from the mouths of many educated people. The

the paris review interview: nadine gordimer


Since 1953, when the first issue of The Paris Review appeared with an interview of E. M. Forster, the magazine’s Q&A encounters with the great writers of our times have come to be recognized as a sort of literary genre unto themselves: The Paris Review interview. Nadine Gordimer (c) Dan Porges There are other interviews

wolfram|alpha – artificial intelligence


Once, in an intimate moment, my sister looked at me and said: “Don’t judge me.” She followed this with: “I think Donald Trump is Sexy.” I didn’t, of course. Judge. How could I? Growing up, Walter Matthau was my Backstreet Boy. I also think Stephen Wolfram is all kinds of hot. If you don’t already

one of mine


On Friday night I cried because I was so overwhelmed with packing and moving and packing some more and because The Euro broke the crystal plate my grandmother gave me as a wedding gift. He looked worse than I did, when it happened, and I know things are just things but… I sat in the

on my prana. and how i almost lost it.


Last night I almost broke my neck while doing dolphin pose in the shower. I realise how ridiculous this sounds, now. But at the time aqua-yoga seemed quite reasonable. And I nearly died. There was no voice. No shining light. No reflection of any kind. But there was a considerable imagining on my part of

jet streams and things


This week has been about trying to get my head on straight. To organise. Clear clutter. Regain some kind of semblance of system. My brain’s been in overdrive this week. When I lay down last night, my head throbbed from the beat beat beat of it. I watched this brilliant documentary on the jet stream.

the theory of everything


If I were born calm and, you know, smart, I would have wanted to be a physicist. It would have made for nice balance. But I wasn’t. I came into the world hyper and full of stress. So I write. It’s where I find my peace. When I was a kid I loved Einstein, because