Erik Simpson

Decoder Ring | Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks Podcast Episode · Slow Burn · 12/18/2024 · 53m

Yes. Fascinating Decoder Ring podcast segment on waterbeds: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

I heap praise upon you but the sobbing is also good

You think it’s Mid-dlemarch?

Ohio is an excellent nomination. New York has a solid claim as well; it doesn't have the south, but it has French-Canadian New England in the north, Wisconsin lake country in the middle, Appalachia and the agricultural midwest in the west, Great Lakes/rust belt, and all the things NYC is.

Nice, thank you!

Looks great—and intriguing! What is your oven process for drying?

Wahoowa! Congratulations!

I am excited to do the same thing in my fall class--but S&S will come up in late September. Is there any way to get access to the essay before the book comes out? (I promise I'm buying the book as soon as I'm able to.) I understand if I need to wait!

This is absurd enough on its own, but it is also not answering the question I searched for (most consecutive one-run games).

I am all for the ramping up of pedantry, but it really is 1%, right? Percentiles divide distributions into 100 parts, thus “centile.”

Well, they’re very literally 1%. But 90th or above, yes, 10%.

Learning that bunnies are not, in fact, cute was the first lesson shared by my midwestern in-laws when we moved here.

Right, that's not the full title--just the title of the middle section. The three stages of the story are Oedipus Rocks, Oedipus Wrecks, and Oedipus Reeks.

Implement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie.

Before Sunrises

Yes!

I wonder whether they’ll take away Amazon’s non-profit status.

A photo of the printing event in Mainz (from April 26-27th, 2025) showing a moment of the printing process: two men are lifting the paper from the woodblock. Copyrights from Markus Kohz.

A photo of the printing event in Mainz (from April 26-27th, 2025) showing the giant woodblick, and the giant printed paper open air. Copyrights from Markus Kohz.

Just in case if you missed this printing event in #Mainz: they publically printed a giant page of the Gutenberg bible in the format 5 x 7,20 meter. #bookhistory #skystorians

I have observed for a while the steady switch from "comfort" to "comfortability" and "discomfort" to "uncomfortability." This morning, a new age dawned: I heard a podcaster say "comfortabilityness."

Hotel fitness centers are one thing. PHL hotel fitness center during Penn Relays is another thing.

“A 400-year-old institution should be making decisions with a time horizon of centuries, not news cycles. Making a principled stand now … is the single best thing Harvard could do to earn its continued place as a symbol of genuine excellence, free inquiry, and commitment to the public good.”

Yes. It’s of a piece with the attack on the professions. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers and professors, government workers, union labor. Anyone who might have felt their work is reliable and valued.

Accurately categorized as junk mail. Really sorry to hear this, Joe.

I live two time zones east of my team. Love the ghost runner. Come out come out little ghosties! It’s time for sleep!

Yes! Along with their opponents—up to 12 teams at a time.

My first Blue Bot: @dallowayaside.bsky.social, Mrs Dalloway in Parenthesis. Thank you, @bluebotsdonequick.com!

I loved it. Maybe my favorite category ever.

I know it sounds odd, but you have to understand that there's a new 75% tariff on beds in which you can sleep without a loaded firearm.

Thus the Zachonomy regains equilibrium

To be fair, I should note that the mailing did have a link to a FAQ about federal changes farther down. That link leads to another link, which leads to the FAQ, which is basically a set of shrug emojis, as in "At present, the specific impact of these orders on academic research remains unclear."

My alma mater sent out an alumni mailing today with a feature on the decorations in the baseball coach’s office. Nothing about federal funding.