Tag Archives: language

26 Cruel & Funny Lies Parents Told Their Kids

I’ve had many of these told to me by my parents and now, I’m doing the same to my kids – it’s the circle of life! 😉    

Friday Fun Link – Play Cards Against Humanity Online

Fittingly you can play the hugely popular independent party game on a site called Cards Against Originality.

Some Resonant, Relevant Quotes on Free Speech and the Charlie Hebdo Massacre From The #MetaFilter Thread #jesuischarlie

So I wrote about the Charlie Hebdo massacre in a rather rambling manner the other day. I’m still thinking about what happened a lot – the conflict between unrestrained freedom of speech defenders (here!) and a sort of “Can’t we all get along/be kind and non-offensive to everyone” reaction which I have some sympathy to but […]

Friday Fun Link – Explain The Events of Star Wars IV-VI Like You Are A Heavily-Biased Imperial History Textbook

This is pretty funny stuff… The Emperor’s most trusted lieutenant and advisor, Darth Vader, was seen as an imposing and frightening figure to those who did not know him. This was because Vader, a veteran of the Clone Wars, had been injured in battle, and required a full-body suit to sustain him. The suit was […]

#JeSuisCharlie (And Some Tangents About Language, The Nature of Offense and the Unintended Consequences of Trigger Warnings)

Trigger Warning: This essay contains ideas you might not agree with. You’ve probably heard about the terrorist criminal attack today in Paris that targeted journalists and cartoonists with a satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. Instead of trying to write an essay to capture my thoughts (since The Onion did a pretty good job on that front already), I’ll […]

“Management By Blurt”

I’m always developing personal theories to explain the world as I experience it.  One of my latest is the concept of “Management By Blurt”. What I mean by this is that I’ve increasingly noticed how many people have a very human tendency to “blurt” out an answer when questioned or pressed on an issue, whether our answer […]

Myers-Briggs and Other Personality Tests as Junk Science

I’ve posted about the Myers-Briggs test on this blog before and I’ve referenced it occasionally when talking about my own personality or the personality of others. But the more I read about Myers-Briggs and other similar personality tests, the more I’ve come around to thinking of them like I think of handwriting analysis – a fun parlour […]

Friday Fun Link – What Quote or Line From A Book That Changed Your Life?

A fun question on /r/books. Not sure what my pick would be – maybe “So it goes” from Slaughterhouse Five as a perfect illustration of how shit happens and then we die? Or on a more optimistic note: ““And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think […]

Friday Fun Link – How Would Steve Jobs Sell You A Pen?

“Sell me this pen.” An old business school cliche, recently brought to attention again in the movie, “The Wolf of Wall Street” gets a fictional Steve Jobs spin.

Good Morning Vietnam: An “Un-War” War Movie

In my RIP Robin Williams post yesterday, I mentioned that I wrote an essay while a student in England about Williams’ role in “Good Morning Vietnam”. I don’t think I’ve posted any of my undergrad work on this blog ever but given yesterday’s events, now’s as good of time as any.  Oh, and feel free to […]