1. I made it through my first (almost: we had the Feast of the Assumption off) full week of full-time teaching. The short version is that, while there were some rough patches, I survived.

2. Are there any browsers left that let you toggle the ‘tab-close’ buttons off? Because I find those very annoying for how easy it is to accidentally hit one, and it’s not like we need them anyway given that we can just middle-click or hit ‘cmd-w’. Yet it seems like this is something the industry in general has arbitrarily decided not to permit. This is one of those bizarrely petty choices that baffles me.

3. The Multiverse hypothesis seems to be that, within an infinite number of co-existing universes, we happen to be one in which life arose by natural forces and came up with a better explanation than reality itself.

4. There is a narrative that portrays religion as a means for elites to keep the populace under control, while science and reason are the path to freedom. It’s amazing to me how few people notice the issue that something that can be grasped in its essentials by peasants and children (and where anyone can become a priest, monk, nun, etc. and potentially climb the hierarchy) is the elite-controlled trick while something requiring extensive, expensive education and training to adequately discuss is the path to popular freedom.

5. With respect to Mad Max, a post-apocalyptic wasteland unfortunately wouldn’t be full of gas-guzzling muscle cars and motorcycles. Instead, you’d probably see roaming punk-rock bicycle gangs or cavalry posses. Which honestly would be pretty cool to see; a blend of 1980s and 1880s aesthetic.

6. Studio Ghibli-style art is to the eye as classical flute music is to the ear.

7. This clip is the only part of Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams that I’ve seen yet, but it’s a favorite: