All work and all play

After two weeks of self-indulgent holiday excess, I am pooped. Having few original thoughts to share, I offer instead these links to recent and not-so-recent items elsewhere:

Surprising news: Mimes can be useful. More surprising are the changes a mathematician/philosopher turned politician has effected by combining unconventional methods with appeals to common sense and human courtesy. (link via BoingBoing)

Unsurprising news: Southerners can’t drive in snow. I can attest to this. When I lived in northern Virginia, even the lightest dusting would cause general panic. Schools sent home children early, cars skidded down highways ramps. That my town seemed to have only one snowplow didn’t help. All the same, it was no worse than dealing with San Francisco drivers in the rain. (Link via Fark)

And speaking of snow, I should mention how extremely glad I am to have a garage. (529 kb movie file)

Thirty-some years too late, someone has invented my perfect childhood toy. When I was a wee tyke, my mother could park me on my rocking horse Macaroni and leave me for hours. It sprang around, suspended by springs from a metal frame, which allowed me to make it bounce back, forth, sideways (a little), and just all over. But if they’d been able to hook up a video interface so the movement controlled the visuals, I’m sure I’d still be riding it today.

Still lacking a date for New Year’s Eve, apparently I need to spend more time in bookstores. (Link via Return of the Reluctant)

A clever someone created a charming animation highlighting the power of procastination. Of course, he’s not the only one to see the humor in such situations. And not the first by a long stretch. (Animation link via Screenhead)