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Admiring the Buyer's Guide

Here I am, admiring the 2007 Buyer's Guide.

Yes, it exists! And, soon, it will be available on our eCommerce page. Go find it and take it into your home. Your $6.99 buys a little piece of my heart.

See that little blue-capped tube in the upper left-hand corner? That's my Nasonex. It keeps the nasal allergies completely in check.

Cool Site

I just discovered the neurobiology website Beta Rhythm, which is so densely packed with information that it'll take me ages to pore over. The best post I've found yet is this one about sound.

It's Wessie's Birthday!

Bagheera, in basic black, always looks ready for a party, but for my birthday, she got all dolled up.

Hot Licks, Cool Cat

Huckleberry serenaded me for my birthday. Figures that a showboat like him would play a Les Paul.

FedEx Shipment Notification

In my e-mail inbox, I saw a new item: "FedEx Shipment Notification."
Spam? I wondered.

But no:

T. Kubo of Onkyousa sent Stephen Mejias of Stereophile 1 FedEx Ground package(s).

Yes!

Thanks for the kind birthday messages, everybody. I had a great day. Joan & I went to the Frick Collection to gaze at our favorite Vermeers, Franz Hals, and J.M.W. Turners, not to mention checking out a comprehensive display of the New Testament drawings of Domenico Tiepolo, which were completely new to me.

We spent the rest of the day prowling the upper East Side thrift shops, winding up at the Housing Works Used Book Cafe, where I scored a first edition of Wilson Follett's 1966 Modern English Usage for $6.

We ended the day at our favorite "splurge" restaurant, Henry's…

What is Being Human?

Is it in the genes?

How to Lace Athletic Shoes

If you think you know how, it's probably because you don't have problem feet. I have wide feet, which makes it impossible to get comfortable bicycling shoes—which are mostly made on narrow Italian lasts. The wide foot lacing solution on the Dick's Sporting Goods site has been a godsend. I'm sure the other lacing fixes work equally well.

When Giants Walked the Earth

David Halberstam remembers an era when the press wasn't the administration's lapdog. What a great piece of writing.

How Camera Phones Work

I got a new cell phone recently and have been learning how to take pictures with the camera that's (almost) always with me. No, a phone isn't a very good camera, but the pictures can be surprisingly good if you work within your tool's limitations.

What I didn't do, however, is ask myself the most basic question: How do these things work? Al-Manazir supplies the answer in an on-going series.