Sculpin

From the category of “is this hypnotic or is that my fever?”: nine and a half minutes of dreamy skateboarding in Madrid at the magic hour. Via Doobybrain.

MADRID LONGBOARD from Juan Rayos on Vimeo.

Trundle trundle trundle:

Om nom nom:

“My dear Burge, life is a disease; and the only difference between one man and another is the stage of the disease at which he lives. You are always at the crisis; I am always in the convalescent stage. I enjoy convalescence. It is the part that makes the illness worth while.”
– George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah

This morning I’m able to whisper a little. “I’m doing great!” I thought, and then I realized that I was having yet another Hyperbole And A Half moment. I have a lot of those. Like this, which is just about exactly how I looked when I had both the Norwalk virus and an untreated disc herniation. Or this. Or this.

You know, if I were sure it was responsible, I might think this bug has been worth it for the vivid dreams I’ve been having lately. Last night I visited Jessica C. in her magnificent underground mad-science lair complete with two dozen artificially intelligent origami crabs and a player piano that played “Rockin’ Pneumonia” a la Professor Longhair. Good job, subconscious.

At my gig the other day, one of the students showed me how to make a stick bomb out of tongue depressors. How I ever missed that one as a kid, I don’t know, but I’m grateful to have that hole in my education filled. Here’s a very large array of stick bombs from xyloexplosivist Tim Fort:

Which is more fabulous? The orderliness of the progression or the chaos it creates? I like the orderliness, but I can feel the power of the kerplowie factor.

Then:

And now:

I think the Eameses would have liked this:

(Via A Near Life Experience, previously known as Spy’s Spice. Why that blog isn’t mega-famous I have no idea, because it is great.)

(I had almost entirely forgotten about this before Kathea posted it on Facebook. Thanks, Kathea!)

Some valentine!

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Hearts are meat
And so are you.

In some way that I cannot explain, this sums up my ancient history in the tech industry.

These are my links for November 24th through December 11th:

• Austenbook – Pride and Prejudice as a series of Facebook messages.
• Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply – A decent source for oystershell lime and other amendments that are hard to find at the garden store — often in really big, fairly cheap bags. (Start a buying co-op for soil amendments?)
• Transporting Broiler Chickens Could Spread Antibiotic-Resistant Organisms – “Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of a novel pathway for potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from intensively raised poultry — driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens from farm to slaughterhouse.”
• Design*Sponge: Paper Holiday – Gift Wrapping – Nifty, frugal ways to make a gift look extra fancy.
• You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations – “Our patience with forming interpretations and reinterpretations of others’ behaviour is not unlimited. The time comes when we lose interest in trying to understand, and conclude that another person is behaving in a way that is simply unacceptable. This paper explores the narratives that go with immoderate indignation, even for those best versed in the idea that they should attempt to understand the perspective of the other.”