Quotes for the past year

 Accumulated on various scraps of paper, which apparently is my brain's preferred mode of operation.

D: "I'm not just a talking head for delivering CS and sarcasm."

D (during a lecture): "What do we know --- he asks rhetorically --- about the properties of cosine?"

A cool note that I'd never thought of, from D: "Testing only tells you if bugs are there. It can't guarantee that bugs are not there."

"We expect furniture to migrate... quite a bit, in my experience."

Grocery checkout clerk: "What's your maximum carry weight? ... are you shopping for an army?"

Me: It took 5 weeks, but we've run out of symbols. How do you feel about the Greek alphabet? Hebrew?

Student: Hmm.

Me: I sometimes use hieroglyphics. Stork times alpha!

Student: That's awful.

(conclusion: we used Greek, plenty of letters there)

This post's theme word is besom (n), "a bundle of twigs attached to a handle and used as a broom." The marketing department recommends that flying besoms be replaced by modern flying broomsticks.

Not enough flamingos

There were a lot of landscapers cleaning up this yard, but I walked by too late to see what must have been an incredible Flamingo Setup Period.

an unlikelihood of flamingos

This post's theme word is homochromatic (adj), "having one color." The hovering flamingos provided an ambient homochromatic layer of unlikely pink.

Loose chickens

 These chickens were just out on the sidewalk.

Chicken run? More like chicken, lightly wander around.

This post's theme word is rutilant (adj), "glowing, shining, or glittering with a red or golden light." The chickens were drawn to the sidewalk's rutilant appeal in the late afternoon.

Free-range standing sink

 I was out on a walk and noticed this free-range sink, hooked up to the exterior of a building:

Just so you know, you can't park here.

This post's theme word is extrality (n), "exemption from local laws: the privilege of living in a foreign country, but subject only to the home country’s jurisdiction." The sink enjoyed extrality rights and the lawn hoses were jealous.

A problem of translation

Can you spot it?

Yes, I realize this is an instance of "translated to preserve the sense", but I am amused to think that the literal translation of "Paris" is "New York". Just tickled pink.

This post's theme word is syncope, "the shortening of a word by omission of sounds or letters from its middle. (For example, did not to didn't or Worcester to Wooster)" or "fainting caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain." I saw such an extreme translational syncope that I succumbed to a medical syncope.

Overheard

"I thought that dessert was pretentious, and it couldn't decide what it was."

"I thought that comment was pretentious."

This eavesdropper gives the exchange 5 stars. Would overhear again!

This post's theme word is bombilate, "to make a humming or buzzing noise."

Freight train in subway

Exactly that: I saw a freight train, loaded with cars of industrial equipment (?), pass through a subway station.   

 It was not preceded by an announcement, and no notices were posted.

 Completely unexplained. I like it, though.

This post's theme word is pharate (adj.), "(of an adult insect) Waiting to emerge from a cocoon" or "(of an animal, especially an insect) in transition between stages of development." The pharate equipment slithered through the subway tunnels en route to its mysterious final destination.

Slippery sign

The sign itself was not slippery, it merely indicates the quality of slipperiness. (Which concept --- slipperiness --- indeed often arises in discussions between the sign and the signified!)

Wordlessly evocative.

This post's theme word is arenicolous, "living, growing, or burrowing in sand." The arenicolous ants were at first baffled by the glissant gel coating the floor.

Sonic screwdriver science

I was surprised to see this giant bronze woman holding a sonic screwdriver, wielding it quite fiercely at a (bronze) parchment in front of the Hôtel de Ville.

From this angle, it really really looks like a sonic screwdriver. I just couldn't come up with anything else it could be. The seated, naked, generic statue lady didn't have a lot of context clues. The Wikipedia page was not a huge amount of help, since the building is coated in statues.

On further examination from another angle, she is wielding a compass and considering some... academic thing... on that parchment. Her partner statue was wielding a pen on paper, which gives enough of a clue to sift through the photos and uncover that she is La Science, science embodied.

My high school draw-this-with-a-compass puzzle-solving practice might pay off when I take up modeling.

I'm glad to see that, at least in science-abstraction statuary, the gender imbalance is working in my favor.

This post's theme word is armsceye (or armseye), "an opening in a garment for attaching a sleeve." Science is not bothered by petty details of armsceye; she has long since transcended clothing altogether.

Paris marathon?

It seems like it is every week with these races in Paris.

They congest the streets, and delay the subways as select stations get paused and skipped for security (?) reasons.

Plus they accent the art on display --- I imagine those in the Louvre comparing the marble statues of human perfection to the sweaty bodies streaming by outside.


This post's theme word is fugleman, "one who leads a group, company, or party." The marathon's fugleman wore short shorts and a bright t-shirt emblazoned with corporate logos.

Buttons on chickens

In further developments on the Easter-season chocolate window-display front: chocolate chickens? Check. Covered in buttons?

Check.

I'm not sure if the buttons are also edible, or if they're just... buttons... that the window-dresser had in surplus. (Manager: "Add more color!" Employee: "All the chocolate is brown or white." Manager: "It needs to be more colorful!" Employee: *shrugs*)

Other seasonal displays of sweets: previously, previouslier.

This post's theme word is temerarious, "presumptuously or recklessly daring or bold." The temerarious chicken wore buttons without any clothing!

Chocolate window display season

The seasons are observed here primarily by fashionable footwear and window displays. We are now solidly into the "absurdities constructed of chocolate" season. (Previously.) The displays either fall into the "embarrassing abundance of chocolate riches" camp:

Everything can be chocolatized: snowmen, chickens, bunnies, eggs, n'importe quoi (simply everything).

... or the "stark and dark but decidedly sumptuous" camp.

Vaguely religious, for those who worship hollow animals made of chocolate.

The displays are delightful.

Hundreds of euros' worth of exquisite chocolates.

I cannot find anywhere --- not even the British specialties importer* --- who has Cadbury minieggs. The European-brand substitute is not the same, does not elicit the taste-memories of late-night problem sets and slogging through slushy snow. I gaze upon a wealth of taste, and miss my lowbrow origins.

This post's theme word is suasion, "the act of urging; persuasion." The particular arrangement on display was the final suasion tempting me into the shop of earthly delights.

*An inexplicable business, here in the heart of France, which imports bland dried and canned food from the UK, and somehow stays open. I admit I patronize them for the oatcakes, so I am supporting the import of inexplicable gustatory horrors into the land of wine, cheese, and bread.

Bizarre expressionless mannequins

Paris storefront windows put up special Christmas-themed displays. Lots of what you expect: snow, pine trees, something cartoonish or childish.

But this one.

This one, I cannot fathom.

Are the women greeting the new year?

Why are they dressed only in giant bows and party hats? Why are their limbs strangely elongated and distorted? Is this social commentary on the unrealism of mannequins, or on the way women must present themselves, bundled, primped, and covered in sparkles, to be glamorous in our society?

Your interpretations welcome in the comments below.

This post's theme word is hiemal, "of or relating to winter." Behold, the inscrutable hiemal display!

Science-fictional chase scene setting

This tunnel near my office is illuminated with pillar-streetlights outlined by sculptural elements. They are vaguely reminiscent of DNA helices, if they had been used as design elements in a subterranean tunnel used in a chase scene in one of Tom Cruise's science-fictional movies.

The sidewalk side is ominous, but the car side is not better, with headlights sweeping across the ceiling and wall features.


This post's theme word is cimmerian, "very dark or gloomy." Go over the bridge, not underneath --- too cimmerian, with its hints of trolls, gremlins, and totalitarian government police forces chasing Mr. Cruise.

Better than advertising

I appreciated this chalk-graffiti inside the frames that some enterprising artist put there before the ads could be installed:

It's vaguely like Celtic knotwork, or stylized ocean waves, or simply idle doodles writ large.

Someone with a lot of time filled in the entire hallway of billboard frames.

It's great. I wish the Powers That Be would leave it, the pale dusty chalk a nonintrusive visual tickle instead of the blaring colors and words of advertisements.

The emptiness of the spaces is also very satisfying.


This post's theme word is bursiform, "shaped like a pouch or sac." The bursiform squiggles could read visually as a variety of abstractions.

City on fire[works]

I'm culturally immersed, is what I am, and so often things happen around me which I find unusual, surprising, unexpected, and notable. Take, for example, the loud explosive sounds I heard tonight, whose source I identified as some fireworks being set off a few blocks away.

... and the lunatics yelling at the moon, it's the end of the world, yes!

The light was visible just over the rooftops, in luminous bursts. I think the fireworks must have been low ones --- maybe just very bright, loud firecrackers --- being set off in the park, or perhaps in some permissive building's courtyard.

No idea why. October 10th? Was it a celebration of sports, or history, or current events? Educate me or guess in the comments below.


This post's theme word is auscultate, "to listen to the sounds made by internal organs to aid in diagnosis." My experience in civil auscultation suggested a group party.

In a hole in a hill there lived a hobbit...

This hill mysteriously appeared in a courtyard at the Louvre. I suspect it was some marketing gimmick, but it ignited my imagination nonetheless.

It is covered with purple stalks of flowers, possibly lavender, possibly fake lavender, possibly something else entirely.

Clues of marketing gimmick: the door to the interior is labelled "Dior" in fancy letters. Dramatic lights surround the hill for nighttime viewing. Security fence and guards prevent the curious public from approaching too close.


This post's theme word is agee (adv), "to one side; awry." The manmade hill tilts agee; I wouldn't walk there, if I were you.

Nourissez la poubelle!

Public campaigns are often dour, lots of carrot and not much stick. But this one to reduce garbage is magnificent: each public garbage can is decorated like a monster, with a gaping mouth, and a solar-powered computer detects when garbage is thrown out in the can and makes a NOM NOM noise.

Nourrissez la poubelle! (Feed the trashcan!)

Apparently there was a problem with overzealous children throwing out things that were not garbage in order to get the silly noise. It's weird when public service campaigns go too far.


This post's theme word is adhibit, "to let in," or "to administer" or "to affix or attach" (transitive). The monster-face stickers, once adhibited, were unreasonably successful in adhibiting garbage.

Coffee and a croissant, perfection

I am completely naïve and didn't realize that the perfection of sitting in a Parisian café, drinking coffee and eating a croissant, was not effortless. Apparently it requires makeup, wardrobe, several interns reflecting light onto you properly, a boom mike, and other accoutrements of visual/auditory perfection.

My guess is that the coffee wasn't even warm anymore. And that she didn't drink it. Overall, very pretty, but sensually disappointing.

This post's theme word is naff, "very unstylish or unsophisticated," or "useless, of poor quality." She would never be seen at the naff café around the corner.

Louvre castle

The Louvre was once a royal castle, but not fortified [citation needed]. I think this addition will not help defend against invaders.

For one, it seems a little... low? Individual soldiers could easily vault the walls without assistance. Also, there are no gates. And the interior tents look flimsy. I could probably storm this castle-lette singlehanded.


This post's theme word is enciente, which as an adjective means "pregnant" and as a noun, "the fortification around a fort, castle, or town; area so enclosed." The Louvre's enceinte is not well-distinguished from the surrounding cityscape, and regularly overrun by pacific tourist swarms.