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Category Archives: Random Observations

Not-so-serious stuff

No Idea What This Symbol Means

18-Aug-10

I’m in that large minority of folks to whom this symbol means nothing. According to an article on Yahoo! Autos: Do you recognize the symbol here? It lights up in your instrument panel and looks like a U-shaped pictograph with treads and an exclamation point in the middle. Do you understand what it means now? [...]

New York Invaded by Old School Video Game Characters

09-May-10

Hat tip: Chris Motes for posting this on his blog here.

Written and Oral: They’re Both Verbal

16-Feb-10

Sometimes the plea for better grammar isn’t just pedantry, but rather a desire for clearer, more efficient communication. (At least that’s how I’ll justify this post to you, my three readers.) It seems obvious to me that “written” (committed to paper) and “oral” (spoken) are just two more distinct forms of “verbal” (using words). Yet [...]

A Favorite Quote: Taking the Long View

29-Jan-10

I’m no fan of spectator sports, but I often like the writing they inspire. And I love the following sentence, from John Updike’s 1960 New Yorker article about Ted Williams: For me, Williams is the classic ballplayer of the game on a hot August weekday, before a small crowd, when the only thing at stake [...]

My Favorite Funny Signs (Flickr)

18-Dec-09

I started a Flickr set of photos I’ve taken (or that my friends have sent me) of funny signs. As always, I recommend viewing the photos directly on Flickr here – especially in slideshow format here. But I’ve included a small gallery below.

Vienna, Austria: Riesenrad in the Prater: April 2009

19-Aug-09

Vienna’s iconic Riesenrad (giant Ferris wheel) is the central attraction in amusement park in the Prater, a large public park in the Second District. My favorite mention of the Prater is in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, in which the Marschallin tells her young lover Octavian that he may ride alongside her carriage in the Prater. [...]