Author Archives: David

Mellodrama

The flutes that open “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Stairway to Heaven,” the strings in”Nights in White Satin” — these are sounds you know by heart. What you may not know is that they were played on a keyboard instrument called … Continue reading

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Irresponsible and Dishonest

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about Andrew Wakefield’s falsification of data linking vaccines and autism, calling his behavior “irresponsible and criminal.” Last week the General Medical Council, the British medical licensing body, arrived at the same conclusion: In … Continue reading

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Weekend Provisioning

Saturday was devoted to restocking the Belm Utility Research Kitchen and Deep Storage Facility. First stop was the monthly pickup for the meat CSA, which entailed my standing at the end of a very long line in the sub-zero cold, … Continue reading

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I Was The Ice Cream Terrorist

While filling out the personal background section of the MasterChef application, in which I answered truthfully that I had never been arrested or committed a felony, I realized that my answer was not quite accurate. I had, in fact, engaged … Continue reading

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Ad Hoc Braised Beef Short Ribs

In need of comfort after my hopes for television stardom were crushed, I turned to comfort food. I wanted something more rustic and less refined than all of the boeuf bourguignon I had been cooking as of late, but something … Continue reading

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The Call of Cthulhufruit

The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either … Continue reading

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Ginger Fried Rice with Shrimp

Inspiration for the evening meal can come from many sources. Last night’s dinner was inspired by a sale on U10 shrimp at Whole Foods and Mark Bittman’s most recent Minimalist column in The New York Times. How could I resist … Continue reading

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Flushed, Scrod

Excerpted from How to Get Around MIT (HoToGAMIT), a student guidebook issued to all incoming MIT freshmen: flushed – (1) pp. Turned down or out. Disappointed in some endeavor, usually involved with selling oneself. Examples: “I got flushed at the … Continue reading

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A Bacon Interlude

I still haven’t heard anything from Boston Casting as of this posting at 4 pm on Friday. I’ll probably try one more follow-up call on Monday and then assume the worst. Someone must have thought I’d need cheering up today … Continue reading

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An Unexpected Endorsement

I found this in Miles’s homework folder today: My hero is: my very own dad. This person is my hero because: he’s neat even though he’s 50 years old. Two words that describe this person are: neat and cool. One … Continue reading

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