According to this site, a short story I published back in August has a “bestseller score” of 19 out of a possible 20. And since they use “statistical analysis,” why, it must be true. Thanks, science!
According to this site, a short story I published back in August has a “bestseller score” of 19 out of a possible 20. And since they use “statistical analysis,” why, it must be true. Thanks, science!
Here’s a bit of a stumper: is it “myriad” or “myriad of”?
The thing is, it’s not that simple.
For a long time, myriad was just a noun—as in “a myriad of bacon burgers.” Then, some time around the 19th century, poets turned it into an adjective: “myriad dancing girls.”
While both uses are acceptable in formal writing today, we at the last word prefer the adjective form, since it communicates the same meaning with two fewer words. Lest you think our preference for the more recent usage means we’ve become a bunch of feckless descriptivists, however, keep in mind that the original Greek meaning is “10,000.” And since numbers are usually adjectives, well…it helps us sleep at night.
With the price of coal nearing $80 per short ton (at least in northern Appalachia), here’s a way to save a couple of bucks on gifts for friends and family on this year’s “naughty” list.
Thinking of going back to school to get that MFA? If it’s the life of a poet you’re yearning to live, you might want to reconsider.
A couple of highlights:
There are easier ways to make a buck.
Since CK wouldn’t grant me the time off to listen to every CD released in 2011 (something about “billable hours”), this isn’t a best-of list. Rather, it’s a collection of 10 albums from the past 12 months that I happened to find compelling in one way or another. Which means, of course, that you ought to give ’em a listen.
Here they are, in no particular order:
And an honorable mention goes to Muppets: The Green Album.
[audio:https://helveticka.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/03-Mahna-Mahna.mp3|titles=03 Mahna Mahna]A few years ago we created the Whitworth University athletic logo. I recently attended a men’s basketball game and was reminded how it’s always fun to see where your work ends up. The logo now appears on all kinds of applications such as banners, football helmets, web pages, apparel, mugs, gymnasium floors, etc. It’s even more exciting when it’s really, really, BIG!
And if you’re wondering about the value of a good athletic logo, it should be noted that since it was implemented in 2005, the Pirates men’s basketball team has a record of 148 wins and only 29 losses—a winning percentage of .840. Go Pirates!
Why Is Art So Damned Expensive?: “If I can’t sell something, I just double the price.”
On the Impracticality of a Cheeseburger: “A cheeseburger cannot exist outside of a highly developed, post-agrarian society.”
The 12 All-Time Ugliest Christmas Sweaters: “Awww. What could be cuter than fluffy white kittens playing with a ball of ribbon and an open Christmas box? How about anything.”
I was going to set up a model train to go around the Christmas tree this year, but after watching this video, I thought, What’s the point?
Just finished Philip Roth’s Nemesis—a short novel about a polio outbreak in Newark, New Jersey over the summer of 1944.
For a good two-thirds of the book it reads almost like a potboiler, complete with cornball dialogue and stock characters straight out of a Hollywood black-and-white. There’s a growing sense of dread, though, and when what you think is going to happen actually does happen, the novel takes a surprising turn—and before you know it, you’re in the middle of a philosophical throw-down between determinism and free will.
Highly recommended.
Churches have always been associated with amazing architecture. But leave it to some clever designers to push the boundaries between space and place. The public art project Reading between the Lines redefines the idea of transparency.
From page 2 of a 37-page Request for Qualifications (RFQ) we received earlier this year:
Unnecessarily elaborate responses, beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective response, are not desired and may be construed as an indication of a firm’s lack of cost consciousness. Unless specifically requested in the RFQ, elaborate art work, corporate brochures, lengthy narratives, expensive paper, specialized binding, and other extraneous presentation materials are neither necessary nor desired.
In other words, do not attempt to distinguish your firm’s capabilities. Keep it innocuous and uninspiring. Order, structure, and conformity are required. What a great way to hire a creative firm.
Thanks, but no thanks.
It would appear that the phrase “turkey baster” can now be employed as a euphemism.
Randall Munroe’s xkcd—”a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language”—has as its entry today a ginormous chart about money. Though it admittedly doesn’t sound all that exciting, trust me: do not, under any circumstances, take a look at it if you need to be productive today. Here’s a permanent link for later.
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about music. No, wait—don’t go away. Today we’ll just listen. Promise.
From Brian Eno’s recent collaboration with poet Rick Holland, Drums Between the Bells, this is “Sounds Alien”:
[audio:https://helveticka.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/11-sounds-alien.mp3|titles=11 sounds alien]