06 Dec 2010, 11:13 a.m.

Showing All The Light We Give / And Showing Where The Light Extends

Today my husband called me up and read to me from the barnburner epilogue to The Psychology of Computer Programming by Gerald Weinberg, and another friend talked with me about relationship problems and the importance …

Read More
01 Dec 2010, 23:17 p.m.

Arbitron Says They Didn't Mind

Evidently all I need is someone around who understands my English and follows the news, and I'll blabber on for ten minutes about Wikileaks, basically regurgitating the best insights from MetaFilter.

Read More
30 Nov 2010, 17:56 p.m.

Charity

Today my mom again made me some churrimurri -- a light snack mix of puffed rice, freshly grated carrot, diced onion, masala, etc., etc. It's delicious. As we ate she said it reminded her of …

Read More
29 Nov 2010, 22:55 p.m.

Longbows & Longboxes

Read some Amar Chitra Katha comic books today. The Vivekananda biography starts: "Nineteenth century India. The spirit of Hinduism lay hidden under a debris of rituals -- rituals disowned by the Indian intellectuals and scorned …

Read More
29 Nov 2010, 10:38 a.m.

Backscatter, Backlash, Blowback

Security expert Bruce Schneier has a nearly complete roundup regarding the superlatively counterproductive new restrictions on US commercial air travel. If you recently flew on a commercial airline in the United States, you can document …

Read More
26 Nov 2010, 12:07 p.m.

Speculative Filk & Short Fiction

As with The Autograph Man, I have a couple book titles that now fall into melodies in my head. Billy Joel's "Great Wall of China": We coulda gone all the way to The Left Hand …

Read More
26 Nov 2010, 10:58 a.m.

Strings

Because of this book recommendation request, I spent a few hours yesterday going back and categorizing my old blog posts that mention my book-reading (and sometimes web recommendations). My word, I have been neurotic and …

Read More
24 Nov 2010, 17:20 p.m.

Mysore Railway Museum

Yesterday, my mother and I visited Mysore's railway museum. It's open 9:30am-6:30pm, Tuesday through Sunday (don't believe the hours listed elsewhere on the web). Admission was ten rupees each, I believe, with an additional 25-rupee …

Read More
24 Nov 2010, 15:16 p.m.

More Pop Culture, Less Family Angst In This One

It's 90s Dayz around here. Yesterday I rocked out to Smashmouth's "Walkin' On The Sun" after finishing the edits on the translations of Nandini's Sanskrit wedding chants. I used to do those kinds of edits …

Read More
23 Nov 2010, 15:25 p.m.

Winning Every Staring Contest

It's traditional in my family to put photos of our dead ancestors on the wall, in the living room or similar common areas. When Nandini and I arrived at the house in July after my …

Read More