ALPHABETS, SYMBOLS, AND OTHER SQUIGGLY STUFF
ONE OF MY MORNING RITUALS, after 6:00 a.m. Pacific BBC World Service and a final reading/editing of the day’s SimanaitisSays, is Voice of America News. Each day VOA includes its … Continue reading
TOYOTA ENTHUSIASMS
WHEN A GUY IS A CAR NUT—and his name, sorta, is on the building—enthusiasm filters down. And so it seems with Akio Toyoda, current chairman of the board and past … Continue reading
A VERTICAL TOUR
BRITISH ASTRONOMER FRED HOYLE GOT ME THINKING about the sliver of atmosphere making life possible on Earth. Here are tidbits about this, sourced from one place and another, including SimanaitisSays. … Continue reading
SCIENCE FOR ARTIES, POETRY FOR TECHIES
WE LAMENT THESE DAYS the chasms of thought between this and that, reds and blues, one thing and another. Occasionally, though, a unifying aspect appears. And so it is with … Continue reading
EVS AND THE POLITICAL SPLIT
RECENT ITEMS DISCUSS YET ANOTHER SPLIT between Republicans and Democrats: how best to accomplish the inevitable transition from internal-combustion to electric mobility. Indeed, my choice of the word “inevitable” places … Continue reading
BENJAMINS, MAJESTIES, GATES AND BRIDGES, AND OUR NATIONAL MUSHROOM
I GOT STARTED ON THIS with the Interesting Facts website saying, “Only One Building Outside Washington, D.C., is Featured on U.S. Banknotes.” Our National Pyramid. Here’s an architectural tour, starting … Continue reading
WORDS WE DON’T HAVE, BUT MAYBE COULD USE
I’M HAPPY TO ADD FOREIGN WORDS TO ENGLISH especially with their nuances. One of my favorites is Schadenfreude, from the German “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.” A source … Continue reading
LES MORTES DES ARTES
ARTISTIC DEPICTIONS OF DEATH vary from the peaceful to the horrific. This profoundity came to mind in reading “ ‘Lost Demon’ Uncovered in Joshua Reynolds Painting,” by Ian Youngs in … Continue reading
WHO’S COOKING?
“WORLDWIDE, WOMEN COOK TWICE AS MUCH as Men: One Country Bucks the Trend.” This, from NPR reporting on an annual survey by Gallup and Cookpad. What’s more, this survey organization … Continue reading
FAMILIAR WORDS, OLD FASHIONED USES
OUR LANGUAGE, OF COURSE, IS AN EVOLVING ONE. Not only do new words arrive (recently AI has become commonplace), but familiar words also lose context. Here are examples, with descriptions … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 