Thursday, 29 January 2015

Liberal Arts

This morning I attended a talk by Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott college, an all women's liberal arts college in Decatur.

Aah, the liberal arts.

Specialisation is for graduate school, university is for the broadening of the mind. After all, as Kiss pointed out, what employers want most of all in their candidates and hires is the ability to express oneself clearly, think critically and learn on the job.

Also, the slogan for their sports team is Smart Girls Sweat. Which is cute.

Monday, 19 January 2015

Free Range Kids in a nutshell.

Youth: can't be trusted because you are stupid.
Adulthood: can't be trusted because you're a criminal.


"I hear you say these kids are too young to be trusted with independence and responsibilities until they are old enough to be treated with suspicion and fear. "

From: Handy-Dandy Response to: “What if Something Bad Happens to Them?”

Monday, 12 January 2015

Proverbs

Hot-desking between coffee shops can make for a long day. And it did, today, as work is carried out on the home office. On my drive home, the nerdyness of A Way With Words helped me stay awake and regain brain cells.

A proverb quiz, which I got all right bar two, had a couple gems:

Yiddish proverb: All things grow with time, except grief

African proverb (they did not give the country): Do not look where you fell, but where you tripped.

Friday, 9 January 2015

Wine changes my life... again

What I learned at yesterday's wine tasting:

Europeans consume wine with a meal. You do not sit around drinking wine on its own, rather if you just want a drink you will have an aperitif or spumante. Wine is drunk with food, always, whether it is aperitivo snacks with white wine, charcuterie with red or, of course, a proper meal.

This is the revelatory part (for me):
Americans just drink wine. They get together for "a glass of wine", food not required.

Hence (here it comes!): European wines are highly acidic compared to American wines. These are wines with strong after-flavours and of which you would not happily drink even a full glass without a side of food.
The sommelier compared it to salt: it does wonders on food but you don't eat it on its own.

American wines, on the other hand, are made for an audience who sips away at a large glass as a drink on its own, something softer and less acidic.

So much of my life makes more sense to me now.

Thursday, 8 January 2015

Copyright and Disney (BSBTE)

It is known as the Mickey Mouse Curve.


Explained at TechDirt, with a quick look at the some consequences.






from Bringing Sexy Back to Economics http://ift.tt/1w46quo

via IFTTT

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Back to the Mississippi River

That's right, the Nile of North America. By the streets of Memphis, TN.