Unexpectedly, this blog has picked up an award.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Expats
I was there the night they blew it up. The Burj Dubai was to be the tallest building in the world, but it never happened; they changed its name to the Burj Khalifa at the last minute, and then the explosions started. Continue reading
For B.
There is a small garden outside my window which I can see as I write this. An isolated plant sticks up out of the flat, cleared soil, and it does not have flowers right now. I know that plants have roots that are at least as extensive as the parts I can see. Half of a plant is buried in dirt, the other half is buried in air.
Kill your television
If, today, you extirpate all televisions from your home, you will effectively add, on average, ten years to your life. There is no funny business to this, the calculation is simple. Continue reading
Something to be afraid of
In the rural areas just outside Bangkok, most folks keep one or more dogs. Dogs are useful in guarding property out here away from the protection of the city. On a walk yesterday through one of these rural areas, I accidentally wandered onto someone else’s land, and was confronted by her three snarling rotweilers. Out here, rotweilers have been known to kill their owners, never mind what they do to trespassers. Continue reading
InTeRchANgeABlE pArTs
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, and he then went on to try to sell rifles to the Army. His rifles were special…
The dispensation of suffering
There are things in life we do not get to choose. We can choose our response to a given situation, but fate has a major hand in deciding what situations we will encounter in the first place. I say this because I have recently rearranged my thinking on an old idea.
(Note: this is not a cheerful post. It’s not for children, either.)
The I.Q. of a dandelion
Meeting aggression with aggression, I have gone out every day to tear up the dandelions that want to conquer my back yard. We all know that dandelions must be removed root and all if they are to be defeated, but usually the roots stick stubbornly in the ground. Nevertheless, if I pluck off the leaves and flowers every day, I think the root must eventually die. But my dandelions are learning…
