new chapter

I had been having trouble deciding how the structure of the next few chapters of AGL was going to work, but the answer hit me in the shower this morning. So I spent the next hour rearranging some things and planning some others, and now Chapter 33 is up.

Now all I want to do is stay right here and keep working on all the other pieces that fell into place for me, but no, I have to go to work. Stupid work.

youth and october

Is it still PC to call it Indian summer? Well, whatever you call it, the season has finally arrived -- sunny blue skies, warm air. My favorite time of the year here. I wish I could go outside and bask in it.

Went to pick up some coffee a few minutes ago, and I paid with a fifty-dollar bill. The young women at the register joked with me about having to check it for authenticity, and I made a crack about being a hardened criminal. "Not likely, with one arm," said one of the employees. "Hey, it worked for the one-armed man," I replied. They looked at me blankly. "You know, like in The Fugitive." No response. So we moved on.

I'm not that old, am I? Okay, no reason for kids to know the TV series (which is even before my time), but at least they should have heard of the movie. The one-armed man is standard cultural knowledge, right? Right? Oh boy.

Not really related, but kind of. A student stopped me in the hall as I was on the way to the coffee shop (which shall go unnamed, but if you are reading this and you don't have one within a mile of you I'd be rather surprised) and asked after my arm. I mentioned tomorrow's appointment, and she commented that it seemed like everyone at the school is more concerned about getting the immobilizer off than I am. I thanked her for the thought, but I am truly amused. Given how eager I am to be done with it, I really don't think that's possible!

fascinating

Esquire article on Wikipedia is written collaboratively by the encyclopedia's editors.

The original author purposefully put up an error-ridden rough draft of an article about Wikipedia on Wikipedia, then told the editors to have at it. The result, with comments on the process. Several versions of the article were frozen to provide snapshots of its evolution. The first edited version catches all the spelling mistakes and most of the factual errors; later drafts get tighter and contain less Wikipedia jargon.

I haven't done much with wikis. I find the concept utterly fascinating but I've never been inclined to spend the time it would take to get involved, in both the editing and the community. I do use Wikipedia, though, and will refer students to it in their research, although always with the caveat that there's no peer review.