Archives

Category: General

Holding pattern (Friday, 04 January 2008 09:56 PM ): Airplane brochure Originally uploaded by Schnittke Is it too early to give up on the "post every day in 2008" project? We're only four days into this new year, and I already feel I'm miles behind in every facet...

A-choo (Thursday, 27 December 2007 07:29 PM ): No kidding. Originally uploaded by A-Wix I've caught some kind of contagion, and it has left me too sick to do much besides blow my nose and bemoan my existence. Looking at the laptop screen is making me wince....

We are not alone (Wednesday, 25 July 2007 11:20 AM ): I grew up in a house just five miles from where I live now. My childhood home was surrounded by farmland. Sometimes the cows next door would escape their pasture and wander onto our property to eat apples on the...

Exploring the wonderful world of Physics (Monday, 16 July 2007 02:07 PM ): Today at lunch, my brother Anthony wondered aloud whether PNC Park allows one to bring a whole apple into the game, or only a cut-up apple. "What difference would it make?" I asked. "You can throw whole fruit farther,"...

Wallflower for the Big Dance (Thursday, 05 April 2007 09:39 AM ): Oh, is the NCAA basketball thing over already? Gosh, that was quick. How'd I do in that Pittsburgh Celebrity Bloggers Pool? Apparently the Friends of Cindy picking strategy wasn't a winning formula for 2007. The first time I participated in...

Beware the Ides of March Madness (Wednesday, 14 March 2007 04:49 PM ): Along with a number of other area bloggers, I'm participating in the "First Annual Pittsburgh Celebrity Bloggers NCAA Pool." My involvement would seem to indicate that the term "Celebrity" is being used very loosely here, but the two dozen or...

Book centipede (Wednesday, 21 February 2007 03:22 PM ): Saw this at Pinky's Paperhaus -- I still haven't finished logging my library in LibraryThing, but marking up this list seems doable. But who came up with this wacked out list?? Such bizarre choices. Rules: "Look at the list of...

Hang in there, little tomato (Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:50 AM ): A promise of things to come.

BlogFest wrapup (Thursday, 31 August 2006 06:59 PM ): How much fun was BlogFest 7?

How much is that doggie in the window? He's FREE! (Monday, 12 June 2006 04:34 PM ): A brief public service announcement: Sweet dog available to good home. Details below are from an email -- please leave a comment if you'd like more info or to contact the dog's foster home. Date: 6/12/2006 8:48:41 AM Subject: Wonderful...

So damn hot (Tuesday, 16 May 2006 07:56 PM ): "A Million Ways" by OK Go I went to see OK Go plan at Mr. Small's Theatre last Friday, on the spur of the moment. Fantastic decision on my part: Mr. Small's is a super spot to see live music,...

Pop City! (Wednesday, 03 May 2006 02:17 PM ): Hello, visitors from Pop City Media. Thanks for stopping by. I'm delighted that My Brilliant Mistakes received such a lovely mention in Jennifer Baron's article surveying the state of blogging in Pittsburgh. And I'm even more pleased that I look...

I bought you a present (Friday, 03 March 2006 11:54 AM ): The latest advance in espionage is sonar-controlled spy sharks: The Pentagon is funding research into neural implants with the ultimate hope of turning sharks into 'stealth spies' capable of gliding undetected through the ocean, a report says. The research, outlined...

The most important meal of the day (Wednesday, 22 February 2006 11:44 AM ): The best breakfast, bar none.

Spotting a flood/hurricane damaged vehicle (Monday, 10 October 2005 03:18 PM ): A little public service announcement: Before you buy a used vehicle, check it out with this list of Ten tips for spotting a flood-damaged vehicle from the National Automobile Dealers Association. The used car market is sure to be awash...

The city that care forgot (Tuesday, 06 September 2005 05:07 PM ): Continuing from my previous post on Letters From New Orleans: Rob Walker was interviewed by Flak Magazine several weeks ago about his book, and that interview now seems eerily prescient. Since Hurricane Katrina hit and throughout the still-unfolding aftermath, he...

Festivus maximus (Friday, 12 August 2005 12:37 PM ): BlogFest 3 = the very best way one could have spent a Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Great things seen elsewhere (Tuesday, 24 May 2005 10:35 PM ): Yes, I'm still here. Thanks, I'm fine. Just very busy. With work and stuff, you know? It's all good, although I haven't had enough brain power left at the end of the day to create any good blog entries. However,...

A savage journey to the heart of the American dream (Sunday, 20 February 2005 11:29 PM ): I don't know which fact is more shocking to me: that Hunter S. Thompson, my counter-culture, anti-establishment hero, has killed himself; that he died the same day that former squeaky-clean teen star Sandra Dee passed away due to complications from...

Steeler fans not the only ones depressed today (Monday, 24 January 2005 12:30 PM ): There's mathematical evidence that today is indeed a no good, very bad day: If you stumbled out of bed in the dark this morning, fell over the cat, found no milk in the fridge for your porridge, had a row...

Things you learn in school can be useful after all (Saturday, 01 January 2005 01:27 PM ): A piece of good news from the tsunami coverage: British 'angel' saved hundreds from tsunami with classroom knowledge. Tilly, who has been renamed the "angel of the beach" by the top-selling tabloid The Sun, was holidaying with her family on...

As close as this site comes to knitting news (Thursday, 16 December 2004 04:28 PM ): Unlike many others, I'm not skilled at creating things with yarn. But if you are, you might like to try out this nifty crocheted item: a crochet model of chaos. That is, they've made a thing that uses "25,511 crochet...

More articulate than you might expect (Sunday, 12 December 2004 03:38 PM ): Welcome, readers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sorry the place is a little messy -- been busy with holiday and end of the year activities. December is so hectic, don't you think? Anyway, I'm quite glad that you decided to click...

I have heard from Laura (Monday, 29 November 2004 10:50 AM ): The prodigal sister is back. My little sister Laura (the one that travels, not the one that lives in Butler and does theatrical stuff) has been back in the US for a few months. She has gradually been filling in...

I like cold beverage, yeah (Sunday, 28 November 2004 12:41 PM ): My Brilliant Mistakes is currently mired in a home office cleanup project, which prevents our doing much beyond carrying bags of ancient receipts and ink- and tear-stained manuscripts to the curb. For your entertainment in the meantime, I point you...

Hold the mayo (Thursday, 04 November 2004 03:22 PM ): If the searches in our referrers log are any indication, people have taken a sudden interest in sandwiches named in honor of Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback phenomenon. We suggest these hungry folk check out today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which offers recipes for...

Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles (Monday, 01 November 2004 11:23 PM ): It shouldn't be a surprise that most of the publications I read have come out in support of Senator John Kerry in tomorrow's election. Maybe my thinking is shaped by what I've read; maybe I gravitate to those with like...

Reverse the curse (Thursday, 28 October 2004 09:20 AM ): Are we done with baseball finally? It seems to stick around longer with each passing year. But now that one curse has been broken, we can set our sights on another: the trend of the Washington Redskins home game predicting...

If you torture the data long enough, Nature will confess (Tuesday, 12 October 2004 09:02 PM ): I promise the political content of this site will soon return to its usual, low level. (Certainly by November 3.) But now that we've learned for whom novelists will be voting, perhaps we should also consider who is favored by...

Also, his wife is hot hot hot (Tuesday, 12 October 2004 11:07 AM ): Forget the soccer moms and NASCAR dads: Who is winning the novelists' votes? Lorrie Moore Are there really any novelists voting for Bush? I am tempted, since my vote is almost always bad luck, its recipients almost always losing. (Link...

The secret is the bun (Thursday, 07 October 2004 11:37 AM ): Having been born in Philadelphia, I know the folks there are particularly about their cheesesteaks. And this example violates every cheesesteak rule I've ever heard. But being as it's lunchtime, that sandwich looks tasty to me right now....

"Not voting is like always letting a man pick your drink...." (Monday, 04 October 2004 11:21 AM ): Getting single gals out of the bars and spas and into voting booths: Carrie the Vote: Carriethevote.com seeks to draw and attract a single unmarried female audience that has never voted before. Since unmarried women have traditionally been brushed aside...

Defending democracy (Wednesday, 22 September 2004 05:59 PM ): According to Reuters, "[t]he United States has begun flying up to 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to Afghanistan to provide increased security for that country's Oct. 9 presidential election." Which is great. Do you think they'll be back...

Explaining my links: Girls Are Pretty (Thursday, 05 August 2004 06:37 PM ): In "Explaining My Links," I briefly note the charms that draw me to sites that I list in the blogroll (to the right) but rarely link to in posts. Today's winning entry: Girls Are Pretty. It's a non-standard blog, posting...

I'm a fabulous falling-off-a-horse-man (Tuesday, 20 July 2004 09:38 PM ): This week's Onion A.V. Club has a tremendous interview with John Landis, director of many, many great things (including one of my most favorite movies, An American Werewolf in London). There are so many great bits that it's hard to...

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues (Thursday, 08 July 2004 11:03 AM ): Another event we missed while sequested deep in our home-renovation efforts: Ringo Starr has turned 64. (Many link thanks to Syntax of Things.)...

I'll take "Quiz Show Phenoms" for $1000, Alex (Thursday, 08 July 2004 09:54 AM ): Not being a dinner-hour TV viewer I've missed the controversy surrounding Ken Jennings, the current 'Jeopardy' champion, who is on a 26-show winning streak. Jennings, who in last night's airing admitted that "being a nerd really pays off sometimes," is...

Pennies from heaven (Tuesday, 29 June 2004 02:10 PM ): Jim Munroe of No Media Kings makes a case for arts grants: Don't think of them as free money, think of them as the R&D budget for our cultural future. I explain it this way: arts grants fund the R&D...

We are on the track of something absolutely mediocre. (Friday, 11 June 2004 03:03 PM ): And you thought your household budget was a challenge to manage: the Guardian presents a breakdown of the expenses accrued in making a blockbuster Hollywood film such as Spider-Man 2. In brief: Script & development: $10m Licensing: $20m Producers: $15m...

Yer Blues (Friday, 11 June 2004 10:57 AM ): Serendipity: My iPod starts into playing the album Band on the Run just as I discover a light article/interview in which Paul McCartney explains that you can't please everyone, so he's decided to please himself....

The toughest receiver in football (Friday, 28 May 2004 10:22 AM ): Yeah, it's a fluff piece, but this article about Hines Ward at the Steelers training camp still makes me happy. Look at that smile! So best....

And now a word from our sponsor (Thursday, 27 May 2004 09:58 PM ): As you will have noticed, I have added advertisements to My Brilliant Mistakes. It's an experiment: I'm curious whether any revenue will result. But I find I'm now more interested to see what ads Google selects to display. As they...

A change in service (Monday, 26 April 2004 01:51 PM ): Over at Fat Plum, my colleagues and I have been running a new blog, Sticky Notes. In keeping with Fat Plum's mission of providing "juicy solutions for today's writer," we're posting information and links related to writing and publishing. Sticky...

Goldman Sachs has a no good, very bad day (Tuesday, 20 April 2004 01:20 PM ): Public relations teams at Goldman Sachs offices worldwide will be working late tonight on spin control. First, a court convicted a high-level secretary in the firm of fraudulently taking over £4 million from her bosses there, all the while telling...

Road rage (Monday, 19 April 2004 02:13 PM ): Whoever made the schedule cares not a whit for rush hour commuters nor their cars' emissions: This afternoon around 5pm, President Bush will cause the Parkway West, the Pittsburgh Downtown area, and everything else around there grind to a halt...

Mm-mmm good! (Monday, 19 April 2004 09:23 AM ): Life imitates art imitating life: Campbell's is releasing limited edition cans of soup that mimic the paintings Andy Warhol made mimicking Campbell's Soup cans. [T]hese limited-edition designs will be available at participating Giant Eagle stores in the Pittsburgh region. The...

We all need goals (Thursday, 15 April 2004 02:25 PM ): Anyone whose credits include this kind of accolade is worth looking out for: [Chris] Morris's last TV work, the 2001 one-off Brass Eye special, was the second most complained-about programme in the Independent Television Commission's 13-year history, attracting 992 complaints....

Palm-igami (Monday, 05 April 2004 05:52 PM ): For Catholics and lapsed Catholics in the audience: a Budding Young Theologian, a new featured columnist at Zulkey.com, considers whether it's sacrilegious to fold, spindle, or mutilate the palm fronds distributed at Palm Sunday Mass. First, I have to say,...

How the other half lives (Friday, 26 March 2004 04:03 PM ): I've mentioned before that I could well have been the bride of a software mogul. Now we are treated to a view of what my average day would have been like. I have not read the entire article yet --...

What Bobbie DeNiro and I have in common (Tuesday, 23 March 2004 08:04 AM ): We're both fans of Queen. (For you young-uns, Queen was a glam/hard/progressive rock band in the 70s through the very early 90s.) As much of a fan as I am, though, I still don't think I'd have put money into...

R.I.P.: J.J. Jackson, original MTV VJ (Friday, 19 March 2004 02:06 PM ): I'm sorry to hear that J.J. Jackson, one of the original MTV VJs, died Wesdnesday of an apparent heart attack. He was 62. Of those first MTV personalities, J.J. seemed to have the most knowledge of the music business and...

Don't make a fedral case of it (Thursday, 18 March 2004 10:37 AM ): yourDictionary.com offers 100 Most Often Mispronounced Words. I'm sorry to discover a few mispronunciations that I'm guilty of ("cardshark" for "cardsharp," "lambast" for "lambaste") -- or maybe I should feel glad to now know how to pronounce them properly. I...

My mental state, depicted graphically (Tuesday, 24 February 2004 09:01 AM ): Gapingvoid has tapped into my brainwaves somehow. How else to explain this poignant image? It's amazing what he can do with a pen and a business card....

Expense report issues (Monday, 23 February 2004 02:00 PM ): From a series of emails debating the reimbursability of certain Christmas Day working meals at NYC firm Skadden, Arps: "In the absence of reimbursement for my meal on December 25th, I would appreciate your office having someone available this upcoming...

Stranger than fiction (Thursday, 19 February 2004 10:10 AM ): Larry Ellison has married a fiction writer, and apparently people are speculating that he has a hand in writing her books. Having worked for Mr. Ellison at Oracle, I can say that a lot of the documentation and marketing that...

Might as well face it (Thursday, 19 February 2004 09:17 AM ): Cole Porter may have been onto something when he wrote "I Get a Kick Out of You." "For a start, a relatively small area of the human brain is active in love, compared with that involved in, say, ordinary friendship....

Hipper than thou (Thursday, 19 February 2004 09:02 AM ): Hipster Detritus hints at an upcoming screed against indie music credsnobs and suggests Ten Hipster-Baiting Statements to liven up any party or club gathering. I don't hang out in the clubs enough to make adequate use of this, but I...

Harder than it looks (Tuesday, 17 February 2004 10:24 AM ): A former British cabinet minister spends a week as a teacher, and the teacher she replaced has to watch on "reality TV." (I'm currently teaching a theater workshop to third and fourth graders, and the single hardest thing so far...

I'll take "Masters of the Underworld" for a thousand, Alex (Wednesday, 11 February 2004 04:55 PM ): "The quizmaster is describing various monsterish toys sold at Toys'R'Us and the teams are asked to identify them. The real monsters are having a difficult time. They are good with faces, but bad with names. They seem to "know" all...

Lush life (Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:56 AM ): The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced yesterday that sales of wine and spirits at state stores in 2003 increased 7.7 percent over 2002. The increase is assumed to be caused in large part by changes in how Pennsylvania sells alcohol...

It's "fra-gee-lay" ... it must be from Italy! (Tuesday, 10 February 2004 02:09 PM ): For those who want to construct their own fancy leg lamps, as seen in A Christmas Story, this is a good starting place. (Link via The Straight Dope.)...

Rockwellesque tableaus of multi-generational TV-watching (Monday, 09 February 2004 01:32 PM ): Jonah Goldberg was so shell-shocked by the incident that he suffered a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder that left him completely unable to generate timely pop-culture references. "Think of the more outrageous art controversies of the recent past," he stammered,...

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey