Asides

perfectly logical explanation

I have always been fascinated by the Winchester House — but never heard this perfectly logical explanation for it. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mystery-house/ — @johannadc

Historian Mary Jo Ignoffo…believes that what drove Sarah Winchester to build was her desire to be an architect.

Sarah Winchester lived at a time when it was highly unusual for women to be architects. She wasn’t licensed, so her own home was the perfect place—and the only place—where she could practice architecture.

Whatever her motivations were, Sarah Winchester built a house with more than 150 rooms, 2000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 bedrooms, 40 staircases, 17 chimneys, 13 bathrooms, six kitchens, three elevators, two basements, and one shower. She spent nearly all of her life being an architect.

@johannadc Interesting idea! I’ve toured it a few times – it IS fascinating – but of course they play up the sensational take on it.

Angsty Superheroes

Comments on Mary Sue: Daredevil v Batman v Superman: Getting Angst Right in the Superhero Genre

I’d like to think that the general popularity of Daredevil amongst comic book/superhero fans should make it clear that fans who aren’t thrilled about the dark tone of Man of Steel (and the implied dark tone of Batman v. Superman) aren’t all just afraid of having grown-up superhero stories, but that grimness and darkness fit some characters better than others. (YMMV as to which characters they fit.)

But then the complementary tones of Flash and Arrow don’t seem to get that across either, and they actually make meta-references about it in the shows.

I’m *hoping* that once DC’s cinematic universe branches out, they’ll break things up tonally as well (like they’re doing with the DC & Vertigo TV shows), but it’s hard to be confident when they’re presenting the launchpad movie as doubling down on the angst.

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Challenger

Comment on I Remember Where I was When the Challenger Blew Up

I was in elementary school, outside, so it must have been during recess, when a classmate said something like, “Did you hear what happened? The space shuttle blew up!” I don’t remember how he found out, or when I first watched the video, but I remember that moment.

Strangely, I can’t remember how I *found out* about Columbia, even though I blogged about my reaction to the news. #

It’s been interesting to watch the cascade of allergy recalls over the past month…

It’s been interesting to watch the cascade of allergy recalls over the past month after a single spice supplier discovered that a batch of cumin had been contaminated with peanuts. Most of the time, recalls are over labeling errors, or cross-contamination in prepared food. Seeing it happen further up the supply chain is eye-opening.

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