Welcome the Great Pumpkin

As this Halloween rolls around, I'd like to pay tribute to the Great Pumpkin. I've been the beneficiary of many a sweets and pumpkin pie at this time of year. Thank you, Great Pumpkin, and all his little helper elves for your tireless work in bringing about this great holiday.


I know there are some naysayers out there, but there have been real, genuine sightings of the Great Pumpkin:


GP's little helper 'Sweet Babboo' made the one of the best-tasting pies I've ever had, out of sweet potatoes and pecans. Despite the feeling of impending doom brought about by the cold weather, fall is a great time of year.

Linus' Irregular Series on Interesting Articles

It's time for another installment of Linus' Irregular Series on Interesting Articles. The article discusses some research that found that those who can manage to forego instant gratification have a much higher rate of success in life by various standards. They placed 4-year-olds in a room by themselves and told them if they don't eat the marshmallow for 15 minutes, afterwards they could have 2 marshmallows. 100% of the children who managed to hold out the 15 minutes became successful high-school students, but 80% of the ones who didn't wait the 15 minutes to eat it were having school problems. The study was performed on several hundred kids in America, Colombia, and Korea, with similar results. Here's a reader's digest overview video of the actual article, to pique your interest:



The guy in the video had nothing to do with the study -- he's just some motivational speaker AFAICT, who somewhat sensationalized the research. Here's the full article in the New Yorker, which fleshes out the details. The results are a culmination of several decades of accidental research. Accidental in the sense that the researchers didn't intend to study the long term success of people.
Let me know if you read the full article, and I'll mail you a marshmallow.

The Bird Incident of 2009

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."

Last Saturday evening we hear some birds chirping above our dryer. Great. The next day we call emergency maintenance phone number of our complex, and after some back and forth calls between this person and the repair guy, the repair guy decides this isn't an emergency, so it'll have to wait until Tuesday, when the office opens again.
By Monday we hear some chirping and occasional fluttering from behind our dryer, where the dryer vent tube connects to the dryer. It then becomes eerily quiet by Tuesday.
Come Tuesday morning I notify the office staff of the problem, and they say the maintenance guy will get on it when he can.
So I wait all that day for him to come. Then the next day. Then the next day. Then the next day. By the Friday afternoon I go to the office and tell them I'm this close to calling the county health dept. about (possibly) dead birds in the walls of our house, and a nest in the vent leading out of the side of the building. They say that they normally have 4 maintenance guys working, but three are not working right now for various reasons, so they just have one guy on duty. He finally shows up a half hour later, and removes the mite-infested nest from the vent, and then dumps out the dryer vent tube, revealing two dead baby sparrows.

Then a few hours later in the evening I come across Matthew 10:29, which states "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." Never has the good book been more physically literal in my life. Except maybe the Talking Donkey Incident of '02.

Now!

I've seen everything.



I thought I had seen everything before, but man was I wrong.

And the award for best safety device goes to...

Linus' Irregular Series on Interesting Articles

Inspired by my Sweet Baboo's weekly series on Finer Things, I've decided to hold a sporadic series on articles that I've found to be interesting, fascinating, or thought-provoking. I already have a few in mind on a variety of topics.

The article for the first installment I just found today, which is what prompted me to finally blog again, after three months of being swamped in schoolwork. And it's somewhat related. With the economy the way it is, there's been more talk lately of a do-it-yourself attitude, of getting your hands dirty. The author of the linked article below got his PhD from U. Chicago, and after getting disillusioned working in Washington (surprise, surprise), he decided to open a motorcycle repair shop. It's a fun read that sucks you in.

While I still love my career track, there's something satisfying about getting your hands dirty, and having actually built (or fixed) something real.

So my question for you is: what do you do to fulfill this innate need to get your hands dirty?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Abraham Lincoln and Powerpoint

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if Bill Gates was born 150 years ago? Me neither.

But anyways, the Mrs. suggested I tell you all about this awesome site I came across a long time ago. It's actually done by a world-famous expert in my area of study, but he also (coincidentally) happens to have a sense of humor too.

http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg

Here's the first slide, to pique your interest:

Goodbye and good riddance!

Yesterday marked a new day for me. I've thought for a while about what I would say the day it finally happened. Read on for an open letter to the recipient of my ill will.

At the onset a few years ago, I actually liked you. I had heard good things about you from those around me, so I took a chance on you. But then you took advantage of my trust. Not once, not twice, but many, many times these past few years. You have sought to unabashedly steal my money several times, hoping I wouldn't notice. You have also assisted in performing unconsitutional acts many times.

I put up with your greed and corruption because I had to. But now those days are over, and I've decided to go with someone who offers more hope of respecting international conventions and letting poor people like me keep more of my money.

I know my new-chosen alternative is far from perfect, and I have some personal disagreements with them. But they pale in comparison with your level of back-room dealing and dishonesty with me.

So, Verizon, I now can finally say good bye and good riddance!

Baddest. Movie. Evar.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space. You HAVE to see this move. If you see no other movie this year, see this one.