In the book, “The Battle-Fields of 1866,” there is an essay by Edward Dicey about Heligoland, a small German archipelago in the North Sea near Denmark. In the essay, Dicey records the oldest known version of a now-famous adage: What Read more
I was fixing this professor’s computer, and we got along great. I was one of only two Unix support personnel at the university and he was a Unix user. He was also from Turkey and made me Turkish Coffee every Read more
Reading an article on Neil Gaiman, one thing that really struck me was how many women ended up being victimized also as free labor: nannies only paid when it was worthwhile to bribe them to sign an NDA. The article Read more
Topic suggested by Tod Detre Many fiction writers assume they’ll be a good dungeon master. “That adventure we just played had such a simple plot! An old man sends us into an abandoned labyrinth for a lost gem? Where’s the Read more
Do you have a friend who is, like, WAY skinnier than you, but always complaining about her weight? Is it me? I have that friend, too, and was complaining about her to a friend who weighed more than me and Read more
I was looking for a new doctor, my GP having retired. It was my first attempt, with a female doctor in the same practice, and I’ll never forget our first (and last) appointment. After several familiar questions to establish my Read more
I was sitting around the campfire with some fighting buddies and they were talking about doing some training the next day. I hesitantly asked, “Um, I mean… could I… maybe… if it’s okay, can I come?” Fighting buddy put down Read more