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A lovely Friday cocktail, Bill Cunningham, the anti-gay vote, David Brooks’s...
How nice it is to have a cocktail and relax at home on Friday evening! Of course, strong drink must be handled with care. A glass of wine with dinner is certainly a pleasure, but the habit can sneak...
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Great N.C. wreck diving, compassion for sea creatures, and collective...
For Labor Day weekend, Sally and I went down to Wrightsville Beach, NC, for some wreck diving and extended our lucky streak of exceptional coastal dives. Our trip was organized by our friends at Down...
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Sleepwalking and critical thinking
Some weeks ago I hurt myself sleepwalking when I wandered into the shower in the middle of the night. I remember not knowing where I was. I felt confused and frightened. Then I fell and hit my head on...
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A new novel about AI and the Turing test
Sally’s re-reading Anna Karenina, which seems to me both admirable and exhausting. The recent movie version with Keira Knightley was highly stylized, but reminded me of what I enjoyed about the book...
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Is it 1984, with the NSA as Big Brother, or will Watson come to the rescue?...
What to make of the federal government’s massive program for gathering telephone and social media data? My first reaction was fear and horror. Is 1984 finally here? Is the Fourth Amendment a quaint...
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Hammering nails, my sweet cable repair robot, privacy concerns, and some...
On Friday afternoon the Red Hat legal department in Raleigh worked on a Habitat for Humanity house in Apex. We met the owner to be, who sounded like he might have originally been from west Africa, and...
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Fireworks, new bluebirds, right-wing NC Republicans, and bees at work
Sally fixed chilled cucumber soup and two salads for our July 4th dinner, with homemade coffee ice cream for dessert. From our condo on the twelfth floor we had a good view of the fireworks show at...
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Skiing in Virginia, and considering, has the NSA ended privacy as we know it?
My nephews Josh and Adam, humoring me with a short pause on Sunday Last weekend I went skiing at Massanutten Resort, near Harrisonburg,l Virginia. I thought it would be good to see my brother and...
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Warning: contains political content, and flowers
There was a triathelon in Raleigh this morning, and the route included a road I was planning to take up to Raulston Arboretum to see the blossoms. So no go. I tried again in the late afternoon, and...
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The neverending war against terrorism: some questions
Having learned this week that our leaders have committed our military once again to fighting in the Middle East with Islamic fundamentalists that have not attacked our country and so far as is known...
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Is delusional thinking driving us once again to war in the Middle East? And...
I used to think that mass delusions were historically rare and unlikely to recur, but I’m coming to think they’re common and unlikely to ever cease. We seem to have largely gotten over ideas like...
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My happy Thanksgiving: racing, reading, camera tinkering, eating, and seeing...
Lately I’ve been consciously trying to cultivate an attitude of increasing gratitude. As is traditional at the Thanksgiving holiday, I’ll note that I have a great many things to be grateful for. For...
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Rectal feeding???
This week I was quite shaken by the new Senate report on the CIA’s program of “enhanced interrogation techniques” used on those suspected of Jihadist terrorist intentions. I had, of course, already...
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Could Bernie Sanders be for real?
At Crabtree Swamp, July 11, 2015 I’m starting to like Bernie Sanders. If you haven’t heard, he’s running for president, and the pundits agree that he has no chance. He’s a Senator from Vermont, a...
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A photo contest, getting shoulder therapy, trying fasting, and not debating...
Sally spotted a notice in the local paper of a nature photography contest at Raulston Arboretum. The theme was gardens and plants, which you may have noticed I have an interest in, and so I decided I...
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Hitting the little white ball, the appalling debate, ocean concerns, and...
At Raulston Arboretum, September 18, 2015 On Wednesday after work, I went over to Raleigh Country Club and practiced on the range for a bit. Lately I’ve been trying to get out to practice a couple of...
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Spinning, credit card fraud problems, and the tax system for the super rich
On Saturday morning I had a particularly good spinning outing led by Heather at Flywheel. The previous week was a disappointing one, when I tried hard to reach 300 but finished with a total score of...
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Justice Scalia’s passing, Beethoven quartets, and Reich on the problem of...
Raleigh at sunrise Yesterday we were getting ready to head for Durham for dinner and a concert when I learned that Justice Scalia had died. The news was unexpected, and disorienting. I spent an intense...
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Foolish LGBT discrimination in NC, more spring blossoms, and an excellent...
North Carolina is my home, and I love it very much. There is a lot of natural beauty, and there are a lot of smart, warm people. But boy, we’ve got some really ignorant political leadership. It is...
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A surprise flower, Salgado photos, Mahler symphonies, stone-age brains, and...
Earlier this week Sally was eager to show me a flower: the first we’d ever seen on a houseplant we’d had for 20 years. It was completely unexpected, delicate, and lovely. You never know what amazing...
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