http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts A bit of this, some of that, and a whole lot of something else entirely. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:31:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en San Diego State University has an article by Kurt Vonnegut up titled 'How to Write with Style'. It's simple, straightforward and really quite a good example of what he's talking about. His most important piece of advice? Sound like yourself. Which, incidentally, is something people like Penni and Jen and ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/07/21/vonnegut-on-style/ Having people over that you'd really rather not? Or just feeling a teensy bit, you know, vindictive? Trust the New Yorker to be able to tell you what to do: 4. Blend fresh crabmeat with diced avocado, scallions, and a dollop of mayonnaise for a canapé topping so delicious that it ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/07/21/fourteen-passive-aggressive-appetizers/ Yes, I'm alive. Just busy and lazy when I'm not busy. This is Beirut, a band a friend of mine recently made me aware of. The song is called 'Nantes'. http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/07/17/thursday-music-14/ One of my favorite dancers of all time, Cyd Charisse, died today. Here she is dancing to 'Frankie and Johnny' in the movie Meet Me in Las Vegas. They sure don't make 'em like that no more. http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/06/18/any-questions/ In his article May 11 article for the Boston Globe titled Measure for Measure, Johnathan Gottschall writes: We literary scholars have mostly failed to generate surer and firmer knowledge about the things we study. While most other fields gradually accumulate new and durable understanding about the world, the great minds of ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/05/14/science-and-literature/ If you've known me any length of time and if we have ever spoken about Nepal, I have probably told you about that moment when you look out the airplane window and realize that those white things out there aren't clouds but the snow-capped tops of the Himalayas. At ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/05/03/mountains-in-the-clouds/ Siouxsie's back, baby. OK yeah so actually she's been back a while and I've been slow to react. The album's called Mantaray and though it's got mixed reviews (and the videos have a distinct 80s nightmare vibe), mostly we just love it because it's Siouxsie. http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/05/01/thursday-music-13/ The Online Etymology Dictionary has been around quite a while, but I've only just come across it. Ten minutes ago, in fact. Browse alphabetically or search for specific words, related words, or only natural language terms - if you have even a passing affection for words, you'll find it hard ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/04/24/online-etymology-dictionary/ The Discovery Channel has a beautiful new ad out. Given the crap that's happening in the world - and is likely to keep happening - it's actually quite refreshing to take a moment to look at this little planet of ours in a positive light. Is it just me though or ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/04/20/so-much-for-misanthropy/ I strongly suspect that all the real news is to be found in comedy and that the stuff passed off as straight news is actually a huge joke. Anyway, this made me giggle. Novelists Strike Fails To Affect Nation Whatsoever Nor has America's economy seen any adverse effects whatsoever, as consumers easily ... http://insanityworks.org/mixednuts/2008/03/18/the-onion-gets-it-rightagain/