I forget which science fiction writer talked about time travel stories as an expression of that regretful wish of a child who’s done something wrong: “Make it didn’t happen!” Maybe Larry Niven, maybe Frederick Pohl, I read a lot of SF and can’t keep it straight any more. Anyway, I’m currently reading The Demon UnderContinue reading “The Early Wish”
Author Archives: pirateguillermo
Make Room for Love
I got an email from the Sundance Institute suggesting six films for Valentine’s Day. This is the marketing blurb from the email: What better way to perpetuate the quixotic romantic desires that reside in our partners’ minds than by watching films that validate those delusions of love? This Valentine’s Day, we’re offering a short listContinue reading “Make Room for Love”
Let’s Play a Game
I like to play games. Who doesn’t? But not just any game, I’m actually kind of particular about what games I like. I happen not to like zero-sum games; my favorite games are those where, by careful maneuvering, the players can achieve a win for everyone. I also like games where there’s complexity, because thatContinue reading “Let’s Play a Game”
Four More Years?
Barack Obama will be the president of the United States a year from now, and I think that’s great news. I’m happy about that. Last night, Junglemonkey and I watched some of the live election coverage on the Beeb and they had a couple of American dipnuts on, I guess to explain U.S. politics toContinue reading “Four More Years?”
Next Homework Program: Ratio Exercise
The Badb just had a couple of weeks of reviewing ratios. This was a good limbering-up exercise, since the problem sets were all about converting between different units and manipulating fractions. After all, ratios are just a different way of writing fractions. The general form of the problems wound up being, “Given that the ratioContinue reading “Next Homework Program: Ratio Exercise”
I’m Worried about Truth
This morning I saw this headline: “Samaras advierte de que la situación de Grecia es similar a la que permitió el triunfo del nazismo en Alemania.” Hard on the heels of the presidential circus wherein Mitt Romney lied his way to “victory”, this has got me thinking about style versus substance. One of my friendsContinue reading “I’m Worried about Truth”
Miscellany
A lot of things have been going on, but I don’t have a lot to say about any one of them. On Saturday I played at the Dixon highland games. Dixon is about two hours away from Boulder Creek, so rather than driving out the night before and getting a hotel room, I figured I’dContinue reading “Miscellany”
Vacation Hallucination
We are vacationing in Phoenix. Nutjob politics, crazy heat and humidity, reminiscences of years past, and hidden object games are all giving me these weird waking dreams without even having to take drugs. Junglemonkey remembered a feature on a kids radio show where the youthful host tried to explain the lyrics of pop songs. ThisContinue reading “Vacation Hallucination”
Trust Your Kid
Earlier today I tweeted this gem: “I don’t worry about my girls’ future boyfriends. I trust my daughters to be smart and capable.” I’d like to expand on that a little. This was inspired by a quote I read on the Freakonomics blog: “I want my girls’ potential boyfriends to think I’m a crazy lunatic,”HaleyContinue reading “Trust Your Kid”
Doomed by History
I’ve probably mentioned this before somewhere, but from about five years after I got out of college I’ve felt acutely my lack of education. I got four years of Catholic school (an important four years, too) but otherwise I went to public schools in California. As a result of my time in private school, IContinue reading “Doomed by History”