William Cox
@cwcoxjr.bsky.social
Asking the Stupid Questions Since 1971. Appreciating Unicode U+1F413 🐓 and U+6840 桀. Not seeking; found.
Adult human male, if that weren't clear.
Adult human male, if that weren't clear.
(The Cold War was ideological, yes, but it was also, and primarily, economic.)
March 25, 2025 at 10:47 AM
(The Cold War was ideological, yes, but it was also, and primarily, economic.)
Interesting piece in the LRB, but why the passive voice here? Who forbade? Is this simply an academic conceit to imply intention where there was none?
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
March 25, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Interesting piece in the LRB, but why the passive voice here? Who forbade? Is this simply an academic conceit to imply intention where there was none?
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
A brief note from Amazon on why the purchase of an electronic book from them is more of a rental.
March 25, 2025 at 9:25 AM
A brief note from Amazon on why the purchase of an electronic book from them is more of a rental.
As far as I know Mr. Musk has not asked Mr. Mullenweg to turn off Tumblr nor sued the doctors who advised him to permit extensive cosmetic surgery on a minor, so this is interesting background material related to the insistent, poorly thought-out, and often vengeful pattern-matching done by DOGE.
March 24, 2025 at 2:30 AM
As far as I know Mr. Musk has not asked Mr. Mullenweg to turn off Tumblr nor sued the doctors who advised him to permit extensive cosmetic surgery on a minor, so this is interesting background material related to the insistent, poorly thought-out, and often vengeful pattern-matching done by DOGE.
I read _Cannery Row_ (1945) as a Bantam mass-market paperback, published between 1947 and 1968. The biography given of John Steinbeck is at the link and image below.
archive.org/details/cann...
archive.org/details/cann...
March 23, 2025 at 4:36 AM
I read _Cannery Row_ (1945) as a Bantam mass-market paperback, published between 1947 and 1968. The biography given of John Steinbeck is at the link and image below.
archive.org/details/cann...
archive.org/details/cann...
March 2, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Can you trust someone who wears a hat indoors, or a t-shirt with a blazer? I think not.
February 27, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Can you trust someone who wears a hat indoors, or a t-shirt with a blazer? I think not.
Got myself some birthday gifts.
February 20, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Got myself some birthday gifts.
What is the name of the body of water conveniently located between the two large landmasses in the image below?
February 17, 2025 at 7:26 PM
What is the name of the body of water conveniently located between the two large landmasses in the image below?
I did not know that we previously restricted imports of avocados. Curious.
February 4, 2025 at 2:42 AM
I did not know that we previously restricted imports of avocados. Curious.
It's a broad church.
January 24, 2025 at 3:46 AM
It's a broad church.
While my to-read and in-progress stacks are multiplying profusely, as they do, Adler's _The Origins of Judaism_ (2024) notes that a certain red heifer is needed for ritual purification after touching a corpse, so now I'm wondering if it was as infinitely improbable in those days as now.
January 22, 2025 at 7:22 PM
While my to-read and in-progress stacks are multiplying profusely, as they do, Adler's _The Origins of Judaism_ (2024) notes that a certain red heifer is needed for ritual purification after touching a corpse, so now I'm wondering if it was as infinitely improbable in those days as now.
This is curious and suggests that the idea of the Nones is wrong. Folks have left not because they do not believe for no particular reason but because they cannot see a difference between mainline Protestantism and Sociology — which is what a lot of us have been saying for a century.
January 8, 2025 at 1:18 AM
This is curious and suggests that the idea of the Nones is wrong. Folks have left not because they do not believe for no particular reason but because they cannot see a difference between mainline Protestantism and Sociology — which is what a lot of us have been saying for a century.
So far, this is a Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism (1923) from a non-polemical perspective. So I agree with the author.
January 8, 2025 at 12:01 AM
So far, this is a Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism (1923) from a non-polemical perspective. So I agree with the author.
I wonder what the project could be, and why it’s particularly American. Let’s find out!
January 7, 2025 at 2:27 AM
I wonder what the project could be, and why it’s particularly American. Let’s find out!
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) did not have any pertinent professional advice for my new work, so I’m looking in _Post Office_ (1971). Will report back.
January 2, 2025 at 10:33 PM
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) did not have any pertinent professional advice for my new work, so I’m looking in _Post Office_ (1971). Will report back.
Read the question asked. The question answered was,
"If you could do anything you wanted to and nothing stood in your way, would you...."
"If you could do anything you wanted to and nothing stood in your way, would you...."
January 1, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Read the question asked. The question answered was,
"If you could do anything you wanted to and nothing stood in your way, would you...."
"If you could do anything you wanted to and nothing stood in your way, would you...."
What are you looking at, Luna?
December 27, 2024 at 10:46 PM
What are you looking at, Luna?
Those moments when the timeline reads as a conversation.
December 27, 2024 at 2:53 AM
Those moments when the timeline reads as a conversation.
My favorite images of the Virgin Mary are of her reading, for a couple of reasons. One, because I love books and readers, and two, because I've been reliably informed that women were so oppressed historically by the patriarchy that none were ever taught to read or write.
December 26, 2024 at 12:56 AM
My favorite images of the Virgin Mary are of her reading, for a couple of reasons. One, because I love books and readers, and two, because I've been reliably informed that women were so oppressed historically by the patriarchy that none were ever taught to read or write.
Shouldn’t a pen company include samples of proper penmanship in their advertisements?
December 20, 2024 at 11:10 PM
Shouldn’t a pen company include samples of proper penmanship in their advertisements?
This is a fabulous little book.
December 13, 2024 at 9:12 PM
This is a fabulous little book.
Reading E. B. White and oh how far the mighty New Yorker has fallen.
December 13, 2024 at 1:41 AM
Reading E. B. White and oh how far the mighty New Yorker has fallen.