Ancient Grains Archive
Goodbye to All That: On Writing Obituaries
Ancient Grains, Work
Nov 26, 2013
I’ll never forget the year I ruined Christmas.
December 26th, early afternoon. I was still pretty green, only three months in and the newest member of the obituary department. Back when everything was fresh and interesting, before I answered the phone with any bitterness in my voice. I volunteered to check the department
...Read More
Gal Science: Get Some Sleep
Ancient Grains, science
Nov 26, 2013
As The Toast searches for its one true Gal Scientist, we will be running a ton of wonderful one-off pieces by female scientists of all shapes and sizes and fields and education levels, which we are sure you will enjoy. They’ll live here, so you can always find them. Most recently: How
...Read More
The 40-Year Old Orphan: On Alzheimer’s
Ancient Grains, Family
Nov 26, 2013
The worst thing about turning 40 wasn’t the birthday itself. It wasn’t the psychological adjustment of no longer being able to refer to myself as “a thirtysomething,” because a) I never did that, and b) I still regularly get carded for beer. It wasn’t even the feeling of not really wanting to
...Read More
The Best Parts of Kate McKinnon’s Angela Merkel Impression
Ancient Grains, Television
Nov 26, 2013
Mallory said it was okay to be proud of being just a little bit gay, even if that's just really liking Kate McKinnon and thinking about her randomly, at odd moments, so now you have to listen to me break down McKinnon's Angela Merkel impression.
Here is the video. If you are
...Read More
Link Roundup!
Ancient Grains, The Internet
Nov 26, 2013
Family Guy killed off Brian. I strongly suspect we have not seen the last of Brian, but I stopped watching about a year ago. I also gave up on The Cleveland Show pretty quickly, but it had a great theme song.
*
Yesterday was such a horribly ...Read More
How About a Pop Culture Litmus Test?
Ancient Grains, Work
Nov 25, 2013
Recently, in the rhetoric class I teach at Boston University, we read an essay that included a forward by Arthur Clarke. I opened the discussion by asking who Arthur Clarke was. My students all just looked at me. They must practice variations on the blank stare late at night in the dorms.
...Read More
The Random Penguins: Three Cartoons
Ancient Grains, Cartoons
Nov 25, 2013
Please click through to see the penguins.
...Read More
Hello From New Mexico (Mistakes Were Made)
Ancient Grains, Weird True Tales
Nov 25, 2013
In retrospect, driving from Oakland to Texas without checking the weather report or taking time zones into account was foolhardy. This is why I am never on time to anything; every trip I plan always seems perfectly reasonable to me until someone else reacts to it. By then it's too late to
...Read More