Zed linked to something hilarious re: Catholicism and that Dan Brown novel. Brendan already knows about this LiveJournal, but Claudia might not.

Now that I have read A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Malkiel, I can understand Daniel Davies on beta and his lyrical allusions to what Gladwell would call the black swan. A Davies bonus: …

I share my weird superstitions.   But how comfortable are you naming a child after a living relative, or picking up a tails-up penny, or giving knives or scissors as wedding gifts, or swallowing a …

I am looking for an impossible thing, I think. I want to switch to a cell phone service that has pretty good reception in Manhattan and Astoria, that does not have an indelible reputation for …

I just saw Giant Tuesday Night of Amazing Inventions And Also There Is A Game!!! and read Alison Bechdel's very cerebral Fun Home; both highly recommended.

From the often-worth-reading Coding Horror: fear of mustard and pickles.

Seven years ago, Leonard predicted my LA-disliking New Yorker attitudes. LOOK AT ME IM RICH Anyone know of a really good compact shredder? Update: Ooops. As Seth reminds me, it's Carthago, not Carthaga.

Yay yay yay! Professor Robin L. Einhorn, who jumpstarted my interest in taxes and economic history in the first place, has published her big new book on the effect of slaveowners' tax avoidance on the …

A few Life's Little Victories. The hymn is one you already know! And can sing! A person whose political and social stances you didn't know turns out to be queer-friendly! Great pizza and a cold, …

First: Jon Carroll mentions, in passing, Columnist Epiphany Syndrome. At least once a month I end up acting like David Brooks or Thomas Friedman and extrapolating an entire worldview, or at least 750 words' worth …