dietsch ::

It's true

We're getting married. Ain't that a kick?

ICE your next of kin

Here's a simple idea: In your cell-phone address book, preface your emergency-contact person with the letters ICE (in case of emergency). [Link: 'ICE' Cell Phone Plan Would Help Rescuers]

Boobs and the bird

Another reason I love New York: As nice as the boobs are, it's the reaction of the guy at the next table... (If you're at work, catch a clue from the word boobs, okay? Thanks.)

Chertoff tells straphangers, Just die already*

Michael Chertoff, director of Homeland Security, back-burnered, yesterday, the task of protecting mass transit from terrorist strikes, saying the onus falls on local government. Chertoff's reasoning? A plane-as-weapon might kill 3,000 people, whereas a bombing in a subway car would kill "only" 30. Now, while I recognize that government officials perform a complicated calculus when setting national priorities, and that sometimes that calculus seems cold and cynical, I still think Chertoff's full of shit. First of all, you send four suicide bombers into the public areas of Penn Station or Grand Central, and you're gonna kill more than 30 people. But what he's also failing to consider here is the economic impact that coordinated transit attacks would have on New York or Washington. I don't know about D.C., but knocking the MTA, LIRR, NJ Transit, and MetroNorth offline for days after an attack would temporarily cripple the city. Perhaps that would be okay if New York were just a wretched hive of scum and liberalism, but it's the financial center of the nation, you idiots. How can that not be a federal priority? Oh, but look here. Joe Lieberman seems to agree with me: "This has to be, in part, a national responsibility." Really, Joe? Is that why you voted to reduce the share of security funding that goes to major cities, in favor of helping rural-state senators win pork for back home? You really think Sam Brownback will support your next loserific presidential bid? *I know, I know. I'm pretending to be the Post this morning.

Cocktails on the patio

Squeeze 1 1/2 oz lime juice into a 9-oz. glass. Add 1 1/2 oz gin and 1/4 tsp sugar. Stir. Fill with ice and seltzer. Garnish with 1/2 lime shell. Enjoy on patio of your choice. Recipe adapted from Internet Cocktail Database (cocktaildb.com).

Une petite victoire

For the past couple of years, I've been trying, off and on, to learn to read French. If you were to subtract all the "off" time from those couple of years, you'd probably find I've spent about two or three months in daily study, and that study has focused almost entirely on learning to read French, not listen to, speak, or write it. (This is mainly because I can't afford to take classes or buy expensive CDs.) As you can imagine, my progress has been slow. But after about six months off, I jumped back in last month, using the wonders of much-hyped technology. I'm pulling down French-language podcasts, for example, so that I can learn the sounds of native voices. I can't make out, yet, much of what the speakers are saying, but it's still helpful. And late yesterday, I subscribed to the RSS feed of the French newspaper Le Monde, thinking I could learn a little just by reading newspaper articles. Again, my idea is to see the language in its natural context. Most of what I saw yesterday was mundane--a few articles about the Tour de France and whatnot. But today brought news that Scotland Yard has started rounding up suspects in last week's terrorist bombings in London. Moreover, the blurb on Le Monde was the first place I saw the story. Which means I've read important news in a foreign language before seeing it in my own. That's pretty cool. [Link: Attentats de Londres: plusieurs personnes arrêtées par la police (Sky News)]

Subway etiquette

I propose a deal. If I'm so dumb or so desparate for a seat that I actually sit in front of a subway map, I'll gladly move my big ol' head over so that you can read the map, and I'll avert my eyes so I'm not watching you read the map. However, I do think that you should live up to your part of the social compact: Don't just hover right in front of me when you finish, staring in the same general direction as the map. If you do hover and stare, I'll think you're continuing to read the map, and I'll keep holding my head in a weird, uncomfortable angle so that I'm not in your way. And then, when I finally realize you're not actually looking at the map, I'll get irritated. So, turn away from the map so I know you're no longer looking. It's only fair.

The Dueling Covers of Queen Loana

I've been reading recently about Eco's new novel, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. The premise is simple: a bookseller awakens to discover he has forgotten his wife and children but not the hundreds of books he's read. He then retreats to his childhood home and tries to reconstruct his memory by sifting through the books and ephemera of his life. The text is then woven around poetry snippets and reproductions of the comic-book pages and postcards and sheet music that the bookseller encounters in his boxes and attics. It all sounds interesting enough that I'd like to read the book, even though the reviewers are not exactly wildly enthusiastic. [Link: The New York Times review] But while reading reviews on U.S. and British sites, I found out that, once again, the American and U.K. editions have different covers. I cannot decide which I prefer. The covers appear after the jump (note that one might not be safe for work). Continue reading "The Dueling Covers of Queen Loana"