http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2 Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 18 Mar 2006 01:05:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Five Names to Give to a Giant Igor Big-Boned Barry Cecil Treetop McGee House-Smashing Harry Five Trucks Dump Pickup Mack Garbage Cement Five Potentially Sexual Words that are Also Found at the Dinner Table Breast Tomato Wiener Rump Melons Five Reasons You’re in a Straightjacket The pistol you were holding The sexy nurse lingerie you were wearing The illegally imported python around your waist The sedated orangutan in the corner And that teddy ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/16/four-fives-15/ President Bush thinks you have too much health insurance. That is, if you have any at all. He has placed Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) at the center of his health policy agenda — a decision premised on the idea that people need less health insurance, not more. Of ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/16/the-brave-new-world-of-health-savings-accounts/ Superheroes are supposed to be invincible, but today I learned they are not. Kirby Puckett, centerfielder extraordinaire, number 34 for my hometown heroes, the Minnesota Twins, died today. Kirby (everyone from Minnesota was on a first-name basis with him) had a stroke yesterday, Sunday, March 5, 2006. I ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/16/a-superhero-named-kirby/ Last Thursday I went to dinner at the house of my friends, the Tanakas. I arrived for dinner at the appointed hour and had a small dinner gift with me. The table was already set, to my great chagrin. In the center of the table was a bowl ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/15/i-love-these/ Dear Professor Yeti, I am worried about the avian flu. Any tips for avoiding it? Florence Lawrence, New York City Dear Florence, First of all, get out of the city! You’re substantially more likely to catch a communicable disease if you have lots of human contact (yeti contact, on ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/15/fleeting-fame-fleeing-flu/ Imagine a Porsche flying off an embankment and colliding with a gasoline truck. What does it mean? Is it important? Is it commonplace? Would your interpretation be different if I told you it was a scene in a movie? What would it mean then? Well, in Don DeLillo’s novel White ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/06/dreams-culture-and-car-crashes/ “A memoir, at its heart, is written in order to figure out who you are.” —Sean Wilsey from Oh, the Glory of It All When I was in high school, I had a fabulous poetry teacher. One day in class we were discussing a poem that described an event from the ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/06/the-meaning-of-memoir/ I think I need to find a therapist. It’s getting entirely too easy to send me into a panicky fugue state these days. Now I know what you’re going to say: “But Ian, you’re Jewish. I’ve seen those Woody Allen movies where he runs around acting all ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/06/indecision-in-the-aisles/ The woman is on her back on a bed which, though seen in pictures from many days, is never given the honor of a pillow or a sheet. There is only a white mattress pad and a beige bed skirt; perhaps to provide the illusion that the bed is ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/05/the-hobby/ Americans love London. Maybe it’s the millennia of history that’s lacking in our own country, or perhaps it’s just the accent. Either way, it’s impossible to get through a day in this city without hearing an American accent. American tourists flock to London in droves (I’m constantly ... http://ghotifish.net/pydevel-2/2006/03/04/on-living-in-london/