I’m starting to worry that I’m turning into an ostrich.
I’m territorial and ill-tempered. I’m fighting a strange desire to eat shiny objects. And when I get scared, I find myself hiding my face as though not seeing whatever is scaring me will make it go away. And this may or may not be related: I’m developing a strong aversion to light bulbs.

Image courtesy http://www.ostrichheadinsand.com/
A company called Nth Degree Tech may be able to help me out with that last problem. They’re seeking to replace light bulbs with their first commercial product, …

Public steps make me happy.  I’m talking about those large stone or concrete steps that typically line plazas or porches.  They’re great places to sit and read, talk, eat lunch, and watch a parade of people thronging past.  Some of the best public plazas I’ve ever encountered have been located in Italy; I spent hours sketching in one of my favorites, the Piazza dei Signori in Vicenza, one summer during grad school.  The only complaint I have about public steps is that they’re a little rough on the hindquarters if you try to sit in one place for …

I’ve extolled the merits of insulation in previous posts, but never in my life have I been more excited to report on a technicolor technological breakthrough that will alter the course of human existence: it’s called Fuskittle Insulation, and it’s a massive game-changer.
The amazing insulating properties of Skittles were largely unknown until Marjorie Pilsner, an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, accidentally spilled a bag of the sugary, pebble-shaped candy on a hotplate she was using to heat split-pea soup in the wee hours of the morning on February 10, 2010.  “I bought the …

I have a confession to make.  I’m not proud to admit this, but I can’t keep it to myself any longer: I do not like fungus.  There!  I said it!  I don’t like mushrooms on my pizza and fairy rings creep me out.  Those little ridges on the underside of mushroom caps remind me of dirty filters on air conditioning units; I don’t like how they’re spongy and dense, or how mushrooms taste like soil.  They live on dead things and grow in damp, dark places.  It’s not that I …