Weekend Reading

I will admit to being a little behind on my New Yorker reading, but it is a double issue, and I like to think I have a life. So while the rest of the world probably already knows all about these two items, I'm just discovering them.

One of the things I love the New Yorker (besides the cartoons) is the random and quirky articles about random and quirky things.

One of the things I hate about the New Yorker is that even as a subscriber, I can't get half of the articles online.

This puts me in the position of reading something that I would love to share, but can't, because often, it's also so random and quirky I can't find it anywhere else.

Such is the problem for the first article of interest: David Owen's Personal History "Call Me Lloyd". All that I can find online is the abstract from the New Yorker, but if you can get a copy, read it and enjoy (for the record, I don't have a nickname, but do have several pet-names)

Luckily for me, other people share my interest in the second item that caught my eye: Steve Hollinger's attempt to build a better umbrella.

I'm a recent convert to the use of umbrellas (as in, I started two years ago, mostly because I got a very sturdy, relatively small one at a conference - I didn't steal it, they were giving them away. Previously I used hats). I still often don't use mine: either I forget it, or it just doesn't fit into whatever I'm carrying. I even went out and bought a travel-sized umbrella, but have mostly abandonded it due to unrelability in any but the lightest rainfall.

Still, this one looks cool enough (and I'm geeky enough) that I'd can see myself falling for it. Plus, it might actually work.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting for the traveler to come out (and shopping here).

- M