Thank you, Lisa Simpson!
Last week marked the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons! Wow. That makes me feel rather old! I love so much about The Simpsons, but my favorite thing about the show is and always has been Lisa. Lisa was the first television character that I could truly relate to. She’s smart, bookish, nerdy, shy, passionate, a [...]
The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas!
I forgot to post this before Christmas! Oops! Anyway, I highly recommend the lovely and wonderful The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas. It’s smart, inspiring, engaging, and fun, and the proceeds go to a very worthwhile charity. Also, ordering it at the link I posted above benefits the British Humanist Association. An all-around win! :)
Rabbit is the question
Saturday’s edition of The Guardian‘s Comment is free ran a piece by Mark Vernon, called “God is the question: What does it mean to accept that God is not the answer to anything, but remains the unanswerable question?” I have zero patience for this kind of rambly, meaningless, intentional obscurantism, this “God is an unknowable [...]
Unintentionally detrimental effects
I find the phrase “real women,” when it is used in a discussion of female body shapes, to be both problematic and frustrating. (I realize that the phrase is also used in other ways that may also be problematic and frustrating, but I want to focus on “real women” in the context of the discussion [...]
Poem of the Week #1
Poem of the Week- T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, part one Each week, I’m going to choose one of my favorite poems, discuss it, offer up an interpretation, analyze it, comment upon it, etc. I’d might as well put those degrees in English Literature to good use ;) If you’re so inclined, I’d love to [...]
Liebermeme 2.0: CNN does something awesome for once
Although I didn’t think it possible, Joe Lieberman has become even more pompous, self-important, dishonest, and manipulative: now he’s refusing to vote for the Senate health care legislation unless Medicare expansion and any sort of public option are taken out of it. Yep, Joey’s feeling relevant! Joey loves that the Democrats need his vote. Joey’s [...]
How, exactly, is he a Nazi? How, precisely, is he a dictator?
Word choice matters. Usually without even realizing it, we pick and choose the best words to use depending upon the situation we’re in and the purpose of our speech and/or writing. If communication is to be effective, it’s important that the participants choose the most precise and apt words possible. It’s apparent, though, that effective [...]
It’s a marshmallow world in the winter!
Sorry for the dearth of substantive posts this week. I’ve had (and still have) a miserable cold. Sniffle. It’s slowly going away, though, and hopefully it’ll be gone soon. It’s also finals week, which equals grading, grading, grading. Anyway, for now, a Christmas-y post! I’m not a big fan of Christmas, to be honest. Even [...]
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