As I'm wrapping up my Christmas shopping for this year, I wanted to share a photo of a gift I made last year: an Othello game board for my Dad. Isn't this a pretty piece of African mahogany? (It cost $8!) Dad taught me to play Othello when I was a little girl and I... Continue Reading →
Yesterday had been widely touted as an opportunity for some snow, a rarity in our area. Journalists, of course, keep a wary eye on the weather, because the worse it gets, the more important it is that people know what the eff is going on. People come in early, stay late and all hands are... Continue Reading →
Yesterday's NYT had a very interesting story about biologists discovering evidence that humans are naturally helpful to each other -- very young humans, before our parents presumably whap it into us. Of course if we didn't cooperate to some degree we'd have croaked long ago... and if we weren't kind of warlike, we wouldn't have... Continue Reading →
It's been a lovely Thanksgiving Day here, and to celebrate, here's a little tribute to a beautiful bracelet design by Shanna Steele of Auntie's Beads in Southlake. It uses Czech pressed-glass beads shaped like leaves, with rich colors and coppery highlights. Following her great instructions, which include a video on the weaving technique, I made... Continue Reading →
Below are some ramblings wherein I wonder: Did being smart just simply never go out of fashion in Britain? But first: There's even more Python than I mentioned before that you can "Watch Instantly" on your computer via Netflix: Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) - Choose from a veritable buffet, skit by skit. And Now For... Continue Reading →
I picked up a cute little hutch for a dollar at a craft store, and kept picturing it done up with milk paint and beadboard. But wooden dollhouse-scale beadboard or siding -- adorable though it is -- comes in big expensive sheets (plastic is cheaper), and is thick enough that it would really reduce the... Continue Reading →
Since starting this blog for myself, I've been surprised by how powerful it is simply to have a place where I save pretty photos, link to things I like or pat myself on the back for projects I've done well. Add the benefits of focusing on positive news to the power of actually writing something... Continue Reading →
Private games were held, probably for emperors, at a personal Colosseum found inside a "gigantic imperial palace" near the present-day Fiumicino airport, which serves Rome. The London Times has pictures. Accounts say it's lavishly built with luxury materials and seats 2,000. Clearly, the forerunner of the modern home theater. Who needs plasma when you can... Continue Reading →
Pretty interesting. Facebook announced today that it tracks the aggregate mood of the country, based on the negative or positive words that millions of Facebookers use in their updates. The blog where I first read of it, ReadWriteWeb, does some interesting probing into possible ramifications of this and of the data that Facebook is NOT... Continue Reading →
Classical history geek that I am, I went this afternoon to the “24 Hour Roman Construction Project,” an art event in which participants build a replica of Rome in a day. Starting at midnight with the two huts of Romulus and Remus, volunteers make structures, well, more or less to scale. Events, speakers and music... Continue Reading →
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