The Curious Engineer

Alec Nevala-Lee

2015–2016

1,223 posts

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2016 617

December 2016

  1. Learning how to guess
  2. What comes next
  3. Quote of the Day
  4. The Potion of Circe
  5. Quote of the Day
  6. The children are our future
  7. Quote of the Day
  8. Listen without prejudice
  9. Quote of the Day
  10. The tentpole test
  11. Quote of the Day
  12. The evensong
  13. The midwinter masquerade
  14. Zen and the art of survival
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. The stocking stuffer
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. Entering The Outer Reach
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. The golden age
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. The steady hand
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. The momentary arabesque
  25. An alphabet of insidious analogies
  26. “Knowledge of Politics—Feeble”
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. Land of the giants
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. The MAYA prophecy
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The scribbling machine
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. The Slan solution
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. Tim Conway in a wig
  37. The structure of alloxan
  38. Dickinson’s dispatches
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. The joy of text
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. Fear of a female planet
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. The last tango
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. The decline of the west
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. The chosen one
  49. The logic of the ouija board
  50. The analytical laboratory
  51. Quote of the Day
  52. “Now show me something else…”
  53. Quote of the Day

November 2016

  1. Living off the grid
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. Moana and the two studios
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. The Westworld variations
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The irresponsible physicist
  8. Mephisto in disguise
  9. The second system effect
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The writer and the blacksmith
  12. The grand projects
  13. Quote of the Day
  14. Cain rose up
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. Jumping out of the system
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. A life of continuous rapture
  19. A series of gas stations
  20. The passages of power
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. A mass of shadows
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. The physical minimum
  25. Quote of the Day
  26. Strange currencies
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. The bicameral mind
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. A dream controlled
  31. Late night thoughts
  32. The kingdom of leaven
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. Hamilton in Camelot
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. The world of Tlön
  37. “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
  38. The comedy of survival
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. Apropos of Dolores
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. A brief guide to becoming a bad physicist
  43. The value of untidiness
  44. Return to us
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. Reading while writing
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. Mycroft Holmes and the mark of genius
  49. Quote of the Day
  50. The poll vaccine
  51. Quote of the Day

October 2016

  1. The tragic life of Mitsui
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The unwritten rules of the game
  4. The importance of stupidity
  5. The better angels of our nature
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The stress test
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. Are you sitting down?
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The secret studio
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. The strange loop of Westworld
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. The scholar and the ichthyologist
  16. The spot on the sea urchin’s egg
  17. In the cards
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. Keeping us in suspense
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. The failure of the oracles
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. The Watergate Fix
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. The lives of the robots
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. The importance of pretense
  28. The power of three
  29. The art of the index
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. Astounding Stories #19: They’d Rather Be Right
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. The low road to Xanadu
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. To be or not to be
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The western tradition
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. The gateway to an empire
  40. How to judge a painter
  41. Beyond cyberspace
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. Keeping up the pace
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. The long and the short of it
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. Rich dad, poor dud
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. The Westworld expansion
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. Napoleon and the art of the next
  52. The sea captain in the storm

September 2016

  1. Loving the alienator
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. A little string in the green wave
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. Astounding Stories #18: “Noise Level”
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. Tales from The Far Side
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. A pause and a silence
  10. The poet on the desert island
  11. The exact placing of a comma
  12. Hollywood confidential
  13. Quote of the Day
  14. The Importance of Writing “Ernesto,” Part 3
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. The Importance of Writing “Ernesto,” Part 2
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. The Importance of Writing “Ernesto,” Part 1
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. The myth of experience
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. The last words of Lady Mary
  23. The hierarchy of facts
  24. The email of the species
  25. Quote of the Day
  26. Astounding Stories #17: The Thiotimoline Papers
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. Stranger in the same land
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. The Nachlass monster
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The point of counterpoint
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. The painter’s verification
  35. The eyeless fish
  36. Food for thought
  37. Quote of the Day
  38. Advertising the future
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. The art of the bad review
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. The excerpt opinion
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. The extraordinary object
  45. The biographical passion
  46. A sculptor speaks
  47. The titanium briefcase
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. The millennial bug
  50. Quote of the Day

August 2016

  1. The book of lists
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The code of inner rejections
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. No man’s game
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The mouse and the bee
  8. The white and the black
  9. The twenty crucial minutes
  10. The cyborg on the page
  11. Quote of the Day
  12. Astounding Stories #16: “Witches Must Burn”
  13. Quote of the Day
  14. The graying lensmen
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. The past through tomorrow
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. The painter’s refusals
  19. Braddock’s defeat and the pitfalls of skill
  20. Should a writer have children?
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. A writer’s climate
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. Revise like you’re running out of time
  25. Quote of the Day
  26. Astounding Stories #15: The Space Merchants
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. The dentist with a baseball bat
  29. The way of the weaver
  30. The two faces of art
  31. Reading your own future
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. Present tense, future perfect
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. The voice of love
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. Return to Dimension X
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. Zen and the art of Pippi Longstocking
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. Spinoza’s three rules of living
  42. “Think of the children…”
  43. The two kinds of commentaries
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. “But some things can’t be undone…”
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. Astounding Stories #14: The Heinlein Juveniles
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. Love and research
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. The fair game
  52. Quote of the Day

July 2016

  1. The wandering naturalist
  2. Jazz and the left margin
  3. Head of the class
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. “The need for change is there…”
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. Days of Futurians Past
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. Back to the Futurians
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The ghost writer
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. Thinking with a sonnet
  14. The balloon frame
  15. Guilty pleasures and other travesties
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. “To spare another man’s life…”
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. Anthologies of interest
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. Turning every page
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. Beyond Kang and Kodos
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. The poet’s grandmother
  26. The precious area of confusion
  27. MidAmeriCon Episode II: The Sequel
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. “But we need to work together…”
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. The astrological song
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. The alphabet method
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. Solzhenitsyn’s rosary
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The fifty percent rule
  38. The belly of the shark
  39. Alexander and Eva
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. “This had never been a game of chance…”
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. Astounding Stories #13: “The Cold Equations”
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. Three men and a camera
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. Elie Wiesel on America
  48. How is a poem like a machine?
  49. The darkness between the flashes
  50. The seductiveness of sources
  51. Quote of the Day

June 2016

  1. “In the lights of the cameras…”
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. Astounding Stories #12: “Izzard and the Membrane”
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. Memoirs of an invisible writer
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. Brexit through the gift shop
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. The music of correspondences
  10. The Devil and Georges Cuvier
  11. The pianist and the astronaut
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. “If she was going to run, it had to be now…”
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Astounding Stories #11: The Moon is Hell
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. The air of unreality
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. The great scene theory
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. The poet’s confusion
  22. Practicing in silence
  23. My alternative canon #10: Miami Vice
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. My alternative canon #9: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. My alternative canon #8: Down with Love
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. My alternative canon #7: Vanilla Sky
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. My alternative canon #6: The Limey
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. The idol and the axe
  34. The high-volume producer
  35. My alternative canon #5: The Last Temptation of Christ
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. My alternative canon #4: One From the Heart
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. My alternative canon #3: The Long Goodbye
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. My alternative canon #2: The Night of the Hunter
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. My alternative canon #1: A Canterbury Tale
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. “Nature is usually wrong…”
  46. Rising above sensation
  47. Red shoe diaries
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. “I need you to get me some information…”
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. Astounding Stories #10: “Way in the Middle of the Air”
  52. Quote of the Day

May 2016

  1. Hamlet’s birthday
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The limits of money
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. The art of serendipity
  6. The mad dash of lyricism
  7. Peak television and the future of stardom
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. “The deckhand cut the engine…”
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. Astounding Stories #9: “The Mule”
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. House of passages
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Writing on tablecloths
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. The excuse of the useless
  18. The art of depth
  19. The essential strangeness of fairy tales
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. Do media brands have a future?
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. Writing while sick
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. A wrinkle in life
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. The nebular hypothesis
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. Kerouac goes to the movies
  30. Tolstoy and the art of the unfamiliar
  31. Nebulas and other news
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. “They never would have given up so easily…”
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. Astounding Stories #8: The World of Null-A
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The science fiction election
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. The poetry of insurance
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. The faults in our stars
  42. A theater for imbeciles
  43. The magic xylophone
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. “She stared at the burning ship…”
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. Astounding Stories #7: “Mimsy Were the Borogoves”
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. The Passion of St. Walt
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. The logic of the trance
  52. Quote of the Day
  53. The yeast and the leaven

April 2016

  1. A writer goes to marriage counseling
  2. The power of the page
  3. Quote of the Day
  4. The act of noticing
  5. Quote of the Day
  6. The slow fade
  7. Quote of the Day
  8. The test of tone
  9. Quote of the Day
  10. The vinyl age
  11. Quote of the Day
  12. The sport of writing
  13. “There’s always some way to serve…”
  14. Shakespeare and the art of revision
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. “There’s something we need to talk about…”
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. Astounding Stories #6: “Microcosmic God” and “E for Effort”
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. Raymond Chandler on screenwriting
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. A fine kettle of fish
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. Who wants to become a detective novelist?
  25. The art of rewriting
  26. I can dream, can’t I?
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. “He wondered if this was something new…”
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. Astounding Stories #5: Death’s Deputy and Final Blackout
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The myth of the competent man
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. The ad lib diet
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. The strategic maneuver
  37. The unanswered questions
  38. A pair of deadlines
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. Astounding Stories #4: Sinister Barrier
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. The Coco Chanel rule
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. Looking for quarters
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. The creaking of the word
  48. The hereness and nowness
  49. The prankster principle
  50. Quote of the Day

March 2016

  1. “Yet she was still a woman…”
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. Astounding Stories #3: “The Legion of Time”
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. The story whisperer
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The watchful protectors
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. The mysterious gesture
  10. The rule of zero
  11. A delivery system for furniture
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. The inquisition of blank paper
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Astounding Stories #2: For Us, the Living
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. Just one word
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. And then there was one
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. The art of the effortless
  22. The lacemaker’s fingers
  23. “Open the bomb bay doors, please, Ken…”
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. “This was the ending that had awaited him all along…”
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. Astounding Stories #1: Galactic Patrol
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. Smoking on spaceships
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. Zootopia and the anthropomorphic principle
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. The tarantula room
  34. The heart of improvisation
  35. The whole truth
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. “I know who you are…”
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. Sofia’s world
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. The art of survival
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. The power of the unit
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. The two hundredth entrance
  46. A series of sketches
  47. Choose life
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. “Where all other disguises fell away…”
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. Who went there?
  52. Quote of the Day
  53. The longform trap
  54. Quote of the Day

February 2016

  1. Insider awards, outsider art
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The composer on the couch
  4. Heinlein’s index cards
  5. An astounding announcement
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. “Are you still willing to play your part?”
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. Our struggle, part two
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The reviewable appliance
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. The Eco Maker
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Neil Simon and the legal pad
  16. The working library
  17. The life of a title
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. “The mirror shattered into spiderwebs…”
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. Alas, “Babylon”
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. The critical path
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. Twenty-five years later: The Silence of the Lambs
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. The painting in the mirror
  28. The ballerina’s odds
  29. “The rest of the wedding was a blur…”
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. Going for the kill
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. Making the mark
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. The time factor
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The case against convenience
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. Picasso until proven otherwise
  40. A chef’s technique
  41. The Book of Changes
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. “That doesn’t sound like the Putin I know…”
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. The double awareness
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. How I like my Scully
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. Quote of the Day

January 2016

  1. “You wait, but you don’t wait too long…”
  2. The world and everything in it
  3. Elsa and the two Ilsas
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. “He had played his part admirably…”
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The droid you’re looking for
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. The alien corn
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The founder’s mutation
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. The kite-flyer’s calling
  14. Beyond setup and payoff
  15. A roof and an overcoat
  16. The space between us
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. The power of the punchline
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. You are here
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. “And my bow!”
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. “Objective, objective, objective!”
  25. The font of inspiration
  26. Crayon physics
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. How is writing like parenting?
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. The magic feather syndrome
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The tyranny of the calendar
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. Forever and ever
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. True and false surfaces
  37. “My play is not a restaurant!”
  38. The X Word
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. “Moving blindly up the path through the trees…”
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. The song has no ending
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. Twenty-four hour potty people
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. The Jedi mind trick
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. Where the money isn’t
  49. My ten-foot hut
  50. The certainty of salvation

2015 606

December 2015

  1. “That’s all I was asked to give…”
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The rendering time
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. Revenge of the list
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The forced error
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. “You get to think so much…”
  10. The Case of Wagner
  11. The immortal world of marionettes and dolls
  12. The Rite of Stravinsky
  13. Santa Claus conquers the Martians
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Cutty Sark and the semicolon
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. A neat little package
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. Getting the hell out of the way
  20. Why do poets make bad politicians?
  21. The interest curve
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. “This is the finest yacht I’ve ever seen…”
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. The Force Majority
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. The law of similars
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. The weight of paper
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. The orderly disorder
  32. Thousands of leaps
  33. Ask the dust
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. Following the thread
  36. “A kind of symbolic shorthand…”
  37. Quote of the Day
  38. The thumbnail rule
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. A change of hobbit
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. “You are not ready yet…”
  43. A real revelation
  44. The pretty good dinosaur
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. “My brain is open!”
  47. “He knows what needs to be done…”
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. Apple and the cult of thinness
  50. Quote of the Day

November 2015

  1. The disintegrating cube
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The art of stubbornness
  4. From head to hand to head
  5. The hotel bathroom puzzle
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. “Let us play…”
  8. Alice in Disneyland
  9. Quote of the Day
  10. The White Rabbit objective
  11. Quote of the Day
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. Carrying your ideas with you
  14. The mathematician at the wheel
  15. The Airplane! novel
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. An exercise in counterintelligence
  18. Kakutani’s lemma
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. The Book of McBees
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. The peanut gallery
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. Thinking without a pencil
  25. A revision of experience
  26. My great books #10: The Five Gospels
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. My great books #9: On Directing Film
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. My great books #8: A Pattern Language
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. My great books #7: The Biographical Dictionary of Film
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. My great books #6: The Whole Earth Catalog
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. “They don’t understand what we do, do they?”
  37. A negotiation with the landscape
  38. My great books #5: The Complete Walker
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. My great books #4: The White Goddess
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. My great books #3: Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. My great books #2: On Growth and Form
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. My great books #1: The Anatomy of Melancholy
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. Seeing as much as you can

October 2015

  1. Thinking away from the notes
  2. Hail to the King
  3. Quote of the Day
  4. Arguments with myself
  5. “The yacht was a monster…”
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. Is this post an example of Betteridge’s Law?
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. The blood in the milkshake
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. Beyond intuition
  12. The architect’s humility
  13. The book of numbers
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. “You’re destroying the scale!”
  16. On Walden Pond
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. A building that sings
  19. Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. Constructing over the constructed
  22. The software and the hardware
  23. Trading places
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. “But I still can’t figure out why…”
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. Solving for X
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. “Concrete is, in fact, temporary…”
  30. A nasty, suspicious eye
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The nine sorts of weather
  33. The cliché round robin
  34. The birds and the books
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. The eskimo’s tools
  37. Poets, playwrights, and programmers
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. A trap baited with grass
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. The poetry of motion
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. How does a poet do research?
  44. On the knife’s edge
  45. The cabinetmaker’s apprentice
  46. The pleasure in the patternmaking

September 2015

  1. The creator and destroyer of light
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. Quantico and the pilot problem
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. Bradbury’s list and Aronofsky’s diary
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The rules of what will have been done
  8. Conversations with myself
  9. The old switcheroo
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The poet and the architect
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. Filling in the blanks
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. The AutoContent Wizard, Part 2
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. The AutoContent Wizard, Part 1
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. The typeface and the spoon
  20. Counting to sixty
  21. M is for Mario
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. “Ilya did not turn away from the window…”
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. A new bag of tricks
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. The lost library
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. The art of omission
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. The greening of a story
  32. A taste of curiosity
  33. Multiple personalities
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. “He knew exactly where they were going…”
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The availability factor
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. The Ballad of John the Pig
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. Axioms for animators
  42. Balzac on the power of coffee
  43. Niven’s laws for writers
  44. Pictures at an exhibition
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. “She had been presented with one setback after another…”
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. The transfer method
  49. Quote of the Day
  50. The heartbreak kid
  51. Quote of the Day

August 2015

  1. The monster in the writers room
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The fourteenth magazine
  4. How to sound precocious
  5. The Friends fallacies
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. Surviving the German forest
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. The Making of “Stonebrood,” Part 3
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The Making of “Stonebrood,” Part 2
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. The Making of “Stonebrood,” Part 1
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Lighting the torch
  16. Food, sleep, money, and society
  17. “Pretty clever!”
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. “And what does that name have to do with this?”
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. A choice of futures
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. Threading the needle
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. Michael Haneke on impeccable preparation
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. The evolution of dance
  28. “Gradualness, gradualness, gradualness…”
  29. The scientist in the garret
  30. Laying down the melody
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The UnREAL world
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. A case of “Stonebrood”
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. McQuarrie’s mission
  37. Quote of the Day
  38. The cellist and the rock
  39. Rehearsing with a typewriter
  40. Sex and the single shark
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. “Their journey so far had been uneventful…”
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. The poet’s paperwork
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. Beyond good and evil
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. The intelligence community
  49. Quote of the Day
  50. The geometrical problem
  51. The subconscious plotmaker

July 2015

  1. Five weddings and a funeral
  2. “It was nothing more than a whisper…”
  3. Quote of the Day
  4. The art of the impossible
  5. Quote of the Day
  6. Pohl and the pulpsters
  7. Quote of the Day
  8. The thousand and one footnotes
  9. Quote of the Day
  10. Operation Bunnyhug
  11. John W. Campbell on the art of science fiction
  12. Thinking inside the panel
  13. Quote of the Day
  14. Jorge Luis Borges on the rules of detective fiction
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. How is a writer like a surgeon?
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. Bert’s nose and the limits of memory
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. Eyes without a face
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. Fitzgerald’s twists
  23. The plowman’s signature
  24. The title search
  25. Quote of the Day
  26. “Three years earlier…”
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. Gatsby’s fortune and the art of ambiguity
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. The second system effect
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The novel with a key
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. The dictionary rule
  35. The prophet and the freak
  36. “The hood came down over her head…”
  37. Quote of the Day
  38. The bounding line
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. The inherent vice of the movies
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. The Aaron Sorkin trick
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. The prop master
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. The way of the watercolor
  47. A fire in the mind
  48. The big jar of rocks
  49. Quote of the Day
  50. The spit draft
  51. Quote of the Day
  52. The prepositional phase
  53. Quote of the Day

June 2015

  1. Notes from a radical choreographer
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The tabloid touch
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. A dog’s chance
  6. An open letter to a young poet
  7. The second time around
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. “What are you willing to do?”
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The downhill racer
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. Typhoid and swans
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. American horror stories
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. The map and the diagram
  18. The rules of poetical pilgrimage
  19. A brand apart
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. “Then the crowd rushed forward…”
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. My life as a paleontologist
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. Capturing The Goldfinch
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. Should a writer have children?
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. “There is always a sacrifice…”
  30. The road to perfection
  31. The unusual suspects
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. “You know how this works…”
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. In praise of mediocrity
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. From Walter White to Castle Black
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. What’s the point of the novel?
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. Enthusiasm tamed by metaphor
  42. The limits of professionalism
  43. The Monster of Florence
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. “A terrible possibility began to gather in her mind…”
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. Introduction to finality
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. A local habitation and a name
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. Half of our life’s way
  52. Quote of the Day

May 2015

  1. The pen that jiggled
  2. Reading the rock
  3. Under the covers
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. “And the shackles came open in his hands…”
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The list of a lifetime
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. Blackhat and the logic of director love
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. How to say goodbye
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. Signals to the inner world
  14. A sculptor’s education
  15. My ten great movies #1: The Red Shoes
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. My ten great movies #2: Blue Velvet
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. My ten great movies #3: Chungking Express
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. My ten great movies #4: The Shining
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. My ten great movies #5: Citizen Kane
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. Ampère’s cats
  26. Tennis and girls at Cambridge
  27. My ten great movies #6: Vertigo
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. My ten great movies #7: Casablanca
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. My ten great movies #8: The Third Man
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. My ten great movies #9: Seven Samurai
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. My ten great movies #10: Inception
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The crackpot’s conundrum
  38. Starting at the tail
  39. The middle ground
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. “Asthana glanced over at the television…”
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. How to be ambiguous
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. My browsing life
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. Writing for others, writing for yourself
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. The pieces of a puzzle
  50. “Art is a theory about the way the world looks…”
  51. Stories old and new
  52. Quote of the Day

April 2015

  1. “But the details remained unclear…”
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The poster problem
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. The oblique angle
  6. Quote of the Day
  7. The paradox of choice
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. A puppeteer’s logic
  10. How is mathematics like a mystery novel?
  11. Totoro and I
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. “History often had plans of its own…”
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. Five thoughts on beauty from Paul Dirac
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. A writer’s climate
  18. Quote of the Day
  19. The Judd Apatow paradox
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. The way of Icarus
  22. The healed madmen
  23. The dancer from the dance
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. “You have a better chance than I do…”
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. Two ways of looking at the goddess
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. A clash of timelines
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. The Serial jinx
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. The way of trial and error
  34. The temptations of the little gods
  35. An unfinished decade
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. “It isn’t that simple…”
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. The myth of the public novelist
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. Mad Men and the test of time
  42. Quote of the Day
  43. Birdman, or the unexpected virtue of ignorance
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. The problem of scenery
  46. The twenty-five mile solution
  47. The curated past of Mad Men
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. “Her face was that of a woman with secrets…”
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. The big piece of cheese
  52. Quote of the Day

March 2015

  1. Writing on tablecloths
  2. Quote of the Day
  3. The essential strangeness of fairy tales
  4. Quote of the Day
  5. The fog of science
  6. The art of guessing
  7. The opening act dilemma
  8. Quote of the Day
  9. John Wick and the revenge of the underdog
  10. Quote of the Day
  11. The Bollingen Library and the future of media
  12. Quote of the Day
  13. Do media brands have a future?
  14. Quote of the Day
  15. You can’t always get what you want
  16. Quote of the Day
  17. The two kinds of prophecy
  18. “Never make a calculation until you know the answer…”
  19. Altered states of conscientiousness
  20. Quote of the Day
  21. “This case has been a disaster…”
  22. Quote of the Day
  23. The unbreakable television formula
  24. Quote of the Day
  25. The Travolta moment
  26. Quote of the Day
  27. Forget about your House of Cards
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. William Blake on invention and execution
  30. A pocketful of millipedes
  31. Turning down the volume
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. “Maddy looked at the Peter the Great egg…”
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. The three kinds of surprise
  36. Quote of the Day
  37. The secret heart of The Simpsons
  38. Quote of the Day
  39. The intermission song
  40. Quote of the Day
  41. The life and death of John Doe
  42. The farcical life of objects
  43. The Achilles heel
  44. Quote of the Day
  45. “There were many ways to kill a man…”
  46. Quote of the Day
  47. How Bill Gates invented the Internet
  48. Quote of the Day
  49. The better angels
  50. Quote of the Day
  51. How the Vulcan got his ears
  52. Quote of the Day
  53. Noël Coward on how to read reviews

February 2015

  1. The ironmonger’s catalog
  2. To be young was very heaven
  3. Quote of the Day
  4. “She did not think that she had been seen…”
  5. Quote of the Day
  6. The sandbox in the Park
  7. Quote of the Day
  8. “Let’s get out of here!”
  9. Quote of the Day
  10. The Uncanny Birdman
  11. Quote of the Day
  12. Houdini and Sisyphus
  13. As little design as possible
  14. Disquiet on the set
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. “Wolfe lowered herself into the basement…”
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. The Ive Mind
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. Writing while sick
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. “Wait until it’s in the water!”
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. Sondheim on rhyme
  25. Acting from the outside in
  26. The way of the gun
  27. Quote of the Day
  28. “A shadow fell across the threshold…”
  29. Quote of the Day
  30. A cut above the rest
  31. Quote of the Day
  32. The smart take
  33. Quote of the Day
  34. The old pornographers
  35. Quote of the Day
  36. The strength of the brushstroke
  37. Waiting for the ice
  38. The adaptation game
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. “It’s a beautiful property…”
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. Cat got your tongue
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. The Gospel According to Herzog
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. The director and the barrel maker
  47. Quote of the Day
  48. John Ford on unity of time and place

January 2015

  1. Werner Herzog on editing
  2. Like cats and dogs
  3. Quote of the Day
  4. “Before I knew thy face or name…”
  5. Quote of the Day
  6. Character counts
  7. Quote of the Day
  8. The long tail of everything
  9. Quote of the Day
  10. Radio free will
  11. Quote of the Day
  12. Listening to the puzzle
  13. Coding at midnight
  14. A recipe for remakes
  15. Quote of the Day
  16. “For a moment, their eyes locked…”
  17. Quote of the Day
  18. The limits of obsession
  19. Quote of the Day
  20. American box office
  21. Quote of the Day
  22. Loving the alien
  23. Quote of the Day
  24. Why do they serve pizza at Chuck E. Cheese?
  25. “The myriad past, it enters us and disappears…”
  26. A potter’s tools
  27. “Is Rogozin an intelligence agent?”
  28. Quote of the Day
  29. The irrational rightness of The Simpsons
  30. Quote of the Day
  31. Hanging a lantern on it
  32. Quote of the Day
  33. The broken circle of Gone Girl
  34. Quote of the Day
  35. The wisdom of puppets
  36. “Nobody gives a damn about the cherry orchard…”
  37. The power of ignorance
  38. “We want you to go work for him…”
  39. Quote of the Day
  40. The Two Jacks
  41. Quote of the Day
  42. Tying the knot
  43. Quote of the Day
  44. Left brain, right brain, samurai brain
  45. Quote of the Day
  46. The two-month rule
  47. Every forty seconds
  48. A resolution to read
  49. Quote of the Day
  50. “You must think faster than the horse…”

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