… but enough about me

Saw this going around yesterday. Just want to say, I envy this guy’s fearlessness and, frankly, his respectfulness. I say bravo to all of this. (Except … I think the library is open on those eyebrows.)

Continue reading ‘like a tornado, gurl!’

“Manspreading” is a thing, and bloggers of the world are desperate to prove it. Every day I see men on public transportation sitting with their legs spread, sometimes at a comically obtuse angle, taking up more than one seat. It can be annoying and look a little weird—but is it a swiftly sweeping global scourge that we must be hyper-vigilant against and merciless in our mockery and shaming of?

I’m going to say no. Continue reading ‘‘Manspreading’ is merely silly, not a sign of the apocalypse’

You know people are going to jump all over the Associated Press for this news alert:

BREAKING: Dutch military plane carrying bodies from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash lands in Eindhoven.

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 23, 2014

The Dutch military plane did not crash.

This is why syntax and word choice are important.

The phrase “crash landing” is redundant. “Crash” is sufficient in the event of an actual crash. The AP knows this, so their original tweet is not incorrect. It’s just easy to misunderstand. So I am glad for their clarification:

CLARIFIES: Dutch military plane carrying Malaysia Airlines bodies lands in Eindhoven.

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 23, 2014

Oops.

It makes me angry to see an Instagram video of an apartment fire in Manhattan with 86 likes. I know people are actually liking the photographer’s hope that no one got hurt, but that fire killed a friend of mine and left his husband in critical condition, and it’s jarring to see people “liking” that.

Bad news gets reported on social media, too, folks. Not everything needs to be “liked.” Not everything needs your mark.

There must be a better way. Why can’t we turn off the “like” function for posts we don’t actually want people to like? Can someone at Facebook and Instagram take a second look at this? Please. It’s ridiculous.

The September trees of Michigan publish unsubtle previews of the more fiery palette of autumn. Dashes of red and yellow steal out from the green canopy, a reminder of the yearly spectacle. The end of the summer.

Within weeks, these trees will explode into a celebration of vitality, one last hurrah before winter closes its hard grip.

We won’t give up so easily. Not without a fight. And we will be back.

When asked where we went to college, we graduates of Michigan State are often annoyed by the follow up question: “That’s in Ann Arbor, right?”

It’s as if, because we went to a big state school, it must the University of Michigan. That’s the one that counts, right? And even if you said “Michigan State,” it must be the good one in Ann Arbor, and I’m just getting them confused, right?

The prejudice runs deep, and it is hard to escape. It shows up no more prominently than in the rivalry between Michigan’s and Michigan State’s football teams. I don’t pretend to know a lot about the calculations behind college football standings (Roger Groves, a contributing writer for Forbes, explains how State was cheated yet again), but I do know a little about fairness.

When the better team in the eyes of the establishment gets more attention and more endorsements and more money, being serious about fairness matters. However, the Bowl Championship Series deciders have little interest in fairness.

I don’t know what they’re interested in, because Michigan, with a worse record than State, is playing in the Sugar Bowl, one of the five important BCS matches.

Our reward: The Outback Bowl. Steaks. Baby back ribs. Tobster tails. Bloomin’ onion. Heartburn. Heartbreak.

Continue reading ‘Putting the BS in BCS’