Frederick Busch

In working my way through some old puzzles in Harper's magazine, I found an article in the Nov 2005 issue by Frederick Busch—"Don't Watch the News: A Marine Family Lives from Phone Call to Phone Call". [NPR audio]

So I Googled him, cautiously wondering whether his son had been blown up by an improvised explosive device and found that he (Frederick, the father) died, instead.

Once more, Median Croquet

I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself to these guys, the island croquet players. They were very intent on their game though, and didn't notice me at all as I took these photos. Also, I would have had to brave the traffic to reach the field of play. Oregon Expressway is a busy road.

Median Croquet

Intersection of Oregon Expressway and Webster, Palo Alto

Packet problem

In cleaning my office to archaeological depths this morning I turned up these packets, which I'd saved:

Question: "Which one is the sugar?"

Answer: "It has the green dot."

Everything reminds me of Wittgenstein nowadays. Not a healthy thing, surely.

For example

* * *

524. Don't take it as a matter of course, but as a remarkable fact, that pictures and fictitious narratives give us pleasure, occupy our minds. ("Don't take it as a matter of course" means: find it surprising, as you do some things that disturb you. Then the puzzling aspect of the latter will disappear, by your accepting this fact as you do the other.)
((The transition from patent nonsense to something which is disguised nonsense.))

[...]

526. What does it mean to understand a picture, a drawing? Here too there is understanding and failure to understand. And here too these expressions may mean various kinds of things. A picture is perhaps a still-life; but I don't understand one part of it: I cannot see solid objects there, but only patches of color on the canvas.—Or I see everything as solid but there are objects that I am not acquainted with (they look like implements, but I don't know their use.)—Perhaps, however, I am acquainted with the objects, but in another sense I do not understand the way they are arranged.

* * *
[ From Philosophical Investigations ]

WILLz on the 2005 American Crossword Puzzle tournament

From "The Enigma," May 2006 [ puzzlers.org ]

The final crossword, by Manx, had some unusually devious clues, including the memorable "Count of Monte Cristo" for UNO DUE TRE. The funniest wrong answer resulted from the clue "Hides in the closet." Intended answer: FUR COAT. Working off the O and T, Kray momentarily filled in: ISNT OUT.

[ crosswordtournament.com ]

From the description of a recent high school scholarship winner

Her AP language teacher wrote that "her ability to produce an artistic backdrop for a book review and her flair for expression stood out head and shoulders above other students." [She] has been active in the InterAct club and the Club for Invisible Children and sings in an a capella group [...] Her GPA is 4.27 and she received a 5 on the English literature test.

The Club for Invisible Children? I'm fascinated. But Google doesn't know anything about it.