Why This Matters Why launch an adult book club? Because we live in Durham. This summer I spent three months in Japan. I loved it. The people are wonderful. So is their food. Fantastic public bathrooms. Clean streets, zero litter. And their train system is amazing. Two days after returning home I went to the […]
A few days after arriving in Osaka, Japan, I flew to Busan, Korea. It was my opportunity to visit Hae-Young Kim, a dear friendfrom North Carolina, while she was in Seoul visiting family. Hae-Young took the title image of me looking out onto the harbor. We’re relaxing at the very cool Momo’s Coffee. Why Busan? […]
I’ve read a lot more books lately than I’ve listed here, but these are the memorable books I want to share: Memorable Books #1: Little Fires Everywhere (2017) by Celeste Ng I’m not going to lie. The only reason I picked this one up was because the author’s name appeared in the New York Times […]
The latest climate change name: Hurriquake. It happened yesterday in Southern California. Hurricane Hilary coincided with a 5.1 earthquake. Note: earthquakes aren’t caused by climate change. But I imagine people in California might have good reason to wonder if they are. In any case, the term counts as a linguistic blend. Credit where credit is […]
Let’s consider the upside of Generative AI. But first, let’s acknowledge that technology is not the problem. It’s what people do with technology that can be problematic. And second, new forms of media do not eradicate old forms. Movies didn’t replace theater. TV didn’t replace radio. So, come on down, AI, and join the party! […]
The downside of Generative AI involves the danger of copyright infringement. And the threat to the livelihoods of many, if not all, working visual artists and writers. If you need to refresh your memory about Generative AI and/or copyrights, see: A Few Things To Know About AI We distinguish first between copyrighted images and copyrighted […]
A few things to know about AI. Since the topic is everywhere these days, I want to understand it. Writing about a topic helps me think through it. I hope that reading about the topic will help you think through it along with me. The July 14 issue of Science magazine inspired this blog. The […]
English in Romanian Media is hardly a new topic. The question isn’t whether English is finding its way into Romanian. The question is: How pervasive is the phenomenon? If you’re not paying attention, you might not notice a lot. However, over these past few days, I decided to pay attention, and I’m struck by how […]
The Black Sea has been on my mind for the past few days. Odd, perhaps. Or maybe not so odd because I’m in Romania. A brutal war rages just beyond Romania’s northeastern border. Geography matters. As you see, six countries surround the Black Sea: Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. The uncolored space between […]
If you guessed that the Prince of Transylvania is now Charles III of England, you’re right! And you might have guess it from looking at the title image. (Courtesy of Quora, no copyright infringement intended.) If the genealogists are right, the most (in)famous Romanian of all time, namely Vlad Țepeș aka Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476), […]