Author's posts
Sep 20
Bismillah
“Will you let me go?” “Bismillah no, we will not let you go!” –Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody Bismillah is an exclamation that means, “in the name of Allah.” The etymology is Arabic, coming from the first phrase in the Koran, “bi-smi-llah.”
Sep 13
Caves and onomatopoeia
So I was talking to my friend Logan, who is also a logophile (pronounced LOG-o-FILE). “What’s your favorite onomatopoeia?” I asked him. First, logophiles like words, and not logs, and second, in case you’ve forgotten your middle school English class, an onomatopoeia (ON-o-MOT-o-PEE-uh) is a word that is formed from a sound, like buzz, zip, …
Sep 08
Fixed HP P4015 and Xbox 360
Last weekend I fixed my Xbox 360 and a pair of HP LaserJet P4015s; interestingly enough, they had a similar problem. The Xbox wouldn’t eject the optical drive. I thought the whole drive had failed, and disassembled the Xbox. However, the drive would eject fine once the case was off. I did some more research …
Sep 03
Chili season has begun
Sunday I made the first batch of chili of autumn. I know it’s not properly autumn yet, but tell that to our pumpkins that have been orange for a month. If you don’t know me, I like to cook. I specifically like to cook chili. I started making it 11 years ago, and when I …
Aug 25
Put your John Henry on this
One malaprop that drives me crazy is when people say, “Put your John Henry on this.” What they intend to say is, “Put your John Hancock on this.” This idiom comes from John Hancock, the last signer of the Declaration of Independence, who signed his name in a large, flourishing script. John Henry, however, is …
Aug 23
Swine Flue / H1N1
You can’t call it Swine Flu anymore. It’s H1N1, ever since U.S. pork producers lobbied to have it changed. The difference between the terms ‘Swine Flu’ and ‘H1N1’ is that Swine Flu just rolls off the tongue, while Aitch One En One does not. I therefore propose the following pronunciation for the overhyped malady: pronounce …
Aug 23
JoeCon 2009
Last Saturday I went to JoeCon, the annual G.I. Joe convention, with my girls, one of my students, and Nooby. It was pretty good, but (not to denigrate it), it was just a toy show. We got some sweet stuff and we got to meet Larry Hama, and he was pretty cool. While JoeCon rates …
