In which I blog about curious things that strike me, in the hope of piquing your curiousity. Also, perhaps, of getting some feedback on things that I can't figure out.
Common ground
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In these divisive times, it is import to cherish moments when we agree with those on the other side of the aisle. This is such a time.
Today is Peace of Westphalia day -- the 365th anniversary of the signing of the Peace of Westphalia -- in honour of which I traditionally make a Mazarin cake . Cardinal Mazarin was the French premier throughout the negotiations leading up to the peace. Admittedly, I have no evidence that the cake was named after him, but how many other people named Mazarin have you ever heard of? In fact, Mazarin is the namesake of a surprising number of modern items. There is the Mazarin cut diamond, which is a precursor to the modern brilliant cut; and the Mazarin desk, or " bureau Mazarin ," an early kneehole desk. He was a renowned collector: a famous Japanese chest is known as the Mazarin chest because it is believed he owned it, and there is also a " Mazarin Venus ." He was especially avid about collecting books; the Gutenberg Bible is sometimes known as the Mazarin Bible because it was in his collection. In fact, his personal library bec...
Here's what I don't get about people defining their own pronouns (and I use "their" advisedly): If I am talking to you, your pronoun is "you." No one disputes that. If I am talking about you to another person, the pronoun I use to reference you is none of your business. I am in a conversation with someone else; you are not a party to it, and you are not entitled to impose rules on it. Ideally, you will never know what we say -- but if you do find out, it doesn't matter because the pronouns I used were for my convenience, not for your feelings. Heck, I may not even have met you, may not have any idea what you identify as or even what sex you really are (as sometimes happens when people have names like "Leslie" or "Ashley" that get used for both sexes, or foreign names that I am unfamiliar with). So mind your business and there will be nothing to get offended about.
College football helmets are much more varied than professional football helmets, and not just because there are four times as many of them (precisely, as of this writing: 32 NFL teams to 128 NCAA Division I Bowl Subdivision teams, although that is not really fair because there are many other college teams that aren't in division I). College teams also seem to redesign their helmets more often, and more radically. My theory would be that college teams are defined by their college, and the logo is secondary, whereas pro teams are defined by their nickname and logo, so changing it often or drastically reduces fan identification with the team more seriously. Whether that is true or not, it is certainly the case that college teams more often decorate their helmets with only letters, at least among the major ones. Some of these can be rather stylish, and I am fond of the ones from Duke, UNC, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech (but perhaps the fact that I gre...
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