We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
— Preamble to the United States ConstitutionI stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States will endure, that it will prevail, that the dream of our founders will live on in our time.
— Barack Obama
Posts Tagged ‘history’
Happy Fourth of July!
Posted in Holidays, tagged awesome, fun, history, home, independence day, optimism, quotes, yay on July 4, 2015| 1 Comment »
Happy Canada Day!
Posted in Holidays, tagged awesome, Canada, Canada Day, fun, history, home, Jane Fonda, quotes, yay on July 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »
When I’m in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like.
— Jane Fonda
https://instagram.com/p/xc5EUxwaiB/?taken-by=canada
Failing Your Way to Success
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged Abraham Wald, Applied Mathematics Panel, damn lies, David McRaney, failure, history, luck, Motivation, persistence, statistics, survivorship bias, The Department of War Math, Thoughts, Tobias Buckell, women in history, Writers, writing, Writing Excuses, WWII on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »
I came across a fascinating article by David McRaney on survivorship bias. The overall point, that accounting for failure is critical to success, is well made, and the author uses a series of pointed examples. Not incidentally, the post also lays out a new-to-me part of World War Two history that includes a cabal of geniuses, women mathematicians, and the Department of War Math (ok, that last bit wasn’t its real name, but it should have been).
In World War Two, for example, the U.S. military tracked damage to returning bombers and wanted to beef up the most frequently-hit areas. A statistician named Abraham Wald pointed out that the surviving planes made it back despite that damage. The spots where they were unscathed, the ones no one had thought to record, were in fact the most vulnerable; as McRaney sums up, “that’s where the planes that didn’t make it back were hit.”
I found the history interesting in its own right, and if you have ever been tempted by the (admittedly seductive) trap of thinking, “Well, my grandfather breakfasted on salt pork and hot gin for ninety years, so I can eat whatever I want and still live forever,” I recommend a read.
“You develop a completely inaccurate assessment of reality thanks to a prejudice that grants the tiny number of survivors the privilege of representing the much larger group to which they originally belonged.“
That same logic applies to evaluating advice from diet gurus, celebrity CEOs and millionaire app designers. Skill plays a part, of course, but it turns out that overall, what a lot of successful people have in common could be termed luck. That may be a bit discouraging, but the good news is that such luck can be courted if you’re willing to take a longer-term view.
“The lucky try more things, and fail more often, but when they fail they shrug it off and try something else. Occasionally, things work out.”
Instead of looking for that one big break, think of the world as a series of possibilities; the more options you try, the greater your chance of success. Resist tunnel vision, “wade into the sea of random chance,” and stay open to new ideas and situations. That sounds pretty good, actually.
If you’re interested in how survivorship bias applies to writers and writing careers, check out this post by Tobias Buckell and the related Writing Excuses podcast in glorious audio or text.
Wonder Woman
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged awesome, entertainment, heroines, history, Jill Lepore, movies, New Yorker, superheroes, Tor.com, William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman, yay on October 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »
A Wonder Woman movie is finally really actually happening. This article at Tor.com lays out what we know (not much) and how this movie fits with the WB film slate.
Few details are available other than a 2017 release date, so let me leave you with Jill Lepore’s New Yorker piece on everyone’s favorite lasso-toting amazon and this fascinating Smithsonian article on The Surprising Origins of Wonder Woman.
Literature, Lost and Found
Posted in Likes, tagged alternative, awesome, books, community building, ephemera, history, inspiration, librarians, library, literature, Megan Prelinger, Prelinger Library, private library on July 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a fun article at Modcloth about an independent librarian, cultural historian, community builder and all-around book maven:
Best Job Ever: Renegade Librarian Megan Prelinger
The Prelinger Library is located in San Francisco and is open on Wednesdays, but much of the collection is also available online.
I just asked the question, ‘What would an alternative research library look like? And, what would research look like if it was as much fun as going out on a field trip?’
That sounds like my kind of library.
Animated London
Posted in Likes, tagged awesome, cartography, cities, geography, history, infrastructure, London, maps, spatial analysis on June 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Because my father is touching down in the UK today, here’s a delightful look at the growth of London over the past two thousand years:
Learning@Dinner
Posted in Food and..., tagged Domtrappkällaren, food, history, Learning@Dinner, restaurants, Sweden, travel, Uppsala University on April 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Did you know? Not only did there used to be a student jail for curfew breakers and related miscreants in Uppsala, Sweden, but that very same collection of cold stone cells is now the character-filled restaurant Domtrappkällaren. Translation: [Dom=cathedral] + [trapp=steps] + [kalleren=cellar]. For a mind-blowing bit of temporal perspective (for North Americans, at least), the university punishing said miscreants was founded in 1477. (Still left to learn: how are modern-day malfeasants chastised now that the jail has been repurposed? Inquiring minds want to know!)
The restaurant serves a delectable selection of Northern cuisine, including items like Kalix Löjrom roe. That name is a Protected Designation of Origin similar to “Champagne,” and is the only such designation in Sweden. Kalix is in Northern Sweden, and the region’s fish eggs (or Kalixlöjrom) gain their unique flavor from a mix of fresh and salt waters along with a copious dose of minerals. (Apparently, strontium and barium are quite tasty, if you can persuade a fish to prepare it for you.)
I learned none of this first-hand, sadly, but my globe-trotting father enjoyed the heck out of his dinner. Makes me want to get back to Sweden…
Kowal | Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.
Posted in Writing, tagged books, diversity, Fiction, history, literature, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I’m busy working on a hard deadline so today I invite you to enjoy this great, self-reflective piece on diversity in historical fiction (and by extension, all fictional worlds) by Mary Robinette Kowal. She’s talking specifically about race but the same points apply to gender, sexuality, etc. as well.
Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.
Roswell’s 66th Anniversary, or, “Wait, We Landed Where?”
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged aliens, back to work!, coffee break, creativity, Doodles, entertainment, fun, games, Google, history, Roswell, roswell incident, scifi, space on July 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I know, I should be working (and I have been and I will be) but! Google has a fun little Doodle in honor of the 66th anniversary of the Roswell incident, and it’s too much fun not to mention.
Need a break? Play the game and take a moment to feel for the little lost alien. Poor thing! Now back to work:)
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