LYDEN: Did they come up with words for the new world that developed neither German nor English, something that wouldn't be understood back in Germany? BOAS: They came up with a number of different words. The most prominent is perhaps the word stinkkatze, which means stinking … [Read more...] about Texas German
Life
That’s what she said
This kind of crap went on and on. It was exhausting. Exhausting to figure out how to respond to the relentless misogyny from men who are otherwise kind and educated, who would never think of themselves as chauvinist assholes. ... A big pile of reasonably aware and … [Read more...] about That’s what she said
Pockets and autonomy
Men are used to carrying stuff in their pockets, you put money there, you put car keys there. With money and car keys come power and independence. You can buy stuff, you can leave. The idea of some women's clothes not having pockets is baffling, but it's worse than that -- it's … [Read more...] about Pockets and autonomy
Things pharmacies can’t do
1. Group all the people on a particular insurance policy into a household, so that when there is a change to the carrier or policy and one member of the household has a prescription filled, everyone else's policy information is updated accordingly. Instead, each of us has to … [Read more...] about Things pharmacies can’t do
If this was a pill
Medicare is about to shut down one of the most successful health care experiments in the country. Medicine has been so focused on what doctors can do in the hospital that it has barely even begun to figure out what can be done in the home. [...] This, too, is a legacy of a … [Read more...] about If this was a pill
I feel busy, oh so busy…
I've been whingeing about deadlines on Twitter, so I thought I'd take a moment and catch you up on what I'm doing. First up, I'm turning in a chapter every Thursday on the second edition of the book. That goes until mid-April. Because all my fiction projects turn into … [Read more...] about I feel busy, oh so busy…
How to start jogging
Couch to 5K is the best way I know to go from total sloth to reasonably healthy human. It's a program of running in intervals to take you gradually from walking to jogging. You can do the intervals at different speeds on an elliptical machine, too, if you need a low-impact … [Read more...] about How to start jogging
Six months
He's six months old today. Wow. … [Read more...] about Six months
Say goodbye
Today is my last day working for Texas A&M University. Long story short: last summer the provost decided to consolidate the IT staff from all her small offices into one big office. That included me, even though half my job involved writing and supervising and whatnot rather … [Read more...] about Say goodbye
Say hello
The baby was born December 22. He was over a week late, and then was a bit distressed during labor, so we had to have a C-section. Easier on him; not so much for me. We're all fine, though -- except my laptop, which has been in kernel panic for most of the last week! So I've been … [Read more...] about Say hello
