ON PLASTICS PART 2
YESTERDAY, ZOË SCHLANGER’S REVIEW OF BETH GARDINER’S PLASTIC INC got us ankle-deep in plastic bits. Today we explore the environmental aspects of this, quite apart from the squishiness. Health Aspects. … Continue reading
ON PLASTICS PART 1
TWO QUITE DISSIMILAR THINGS got me thinking about plastics: The first was “The Japanese Have A Word For It,” here at SimanaitisSays, April 3, 2026. The particular word is mottainai … Continue reading
A CHAT WITH CHRIS: “PUTTING THE HEART BACK IN TECHNOLOGY”
CHRIS BORRONI-BIRD HAS APPEARED SEVERAL TIMES here at SimanaitisSays: Along with Larry Burns and Bill Mitchell, he’s coauthor of my much-cited Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st … Continue reading
THE JAPANESE HAVE A WORD FOR IT PART 2
YESTERDAY, REBEKAH BRANDES’ NICE NEWS article got us started with Japanese words and phrases enriching our lives. Perhaps still in need of intellectual and emotion reparation, we continue today in … Continue reading
THE JAPANESE HAVE A WORD FOR IT PART 1
I ENJOY READING NICE NEWS—a website that, as its name describes, celebrates the world’s joys. For example, Nice News’ Rebekah Brandes offers “From Ikigai to Wabi-Sabi: 8 Japanese Philosophies for … Continue reading
A RUBE GOLDBERG-SORTA TALE
THE MARCH 2, 2026, AAAS SCIENCE HAS REVIEWS of fourteen books selected from two lists prepared annually by the National Science Teaching Association and the Children’s Book Council—the “Best STEM … Continue reading
FEELING CRUSTY AND BARBED? PART 2
YESTERDAY WE BEGAN GOOD FUN gleaning barbs among theatrical folks from Colin M. Jarman’s collection of Barbed Quotes. Here in Part 2 we continue the dissing with folks ranging from … Continue reading
FEELING BARBED AND CRUSTY? PART 1
FORTUNATELY, I HAVE JUST THE BOOK about dishing out barbed and crusty quotes: Indeed, its full title is Barbed Quotes: Mudslinging, Backstabbing, and Celebrity Dirt Dishing. It has already made … Continue reading
CELEBRATING HISTORY EXTRA
I’VE LONG ENJOYED BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE, now rebranded History Extra. Its February 2026 number is no exception, with cover-blurbed features that are varied indeed: Lucy Worsley recounting a competitor of … Continue reading
WHAT’S THE LAST MASS MARKET PAPERBACK YOU’VE READ?
I REMEMBER VIVIDLY THE LAST TIME I read a mass market paperback: It was right after I had my cataract surgery that (thank you, Dr. Rowen!) gave me 20/15 vision … Continue reading
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