I’ve been doing some travelling and wrapping up life in London- as many of you already know I will be back in San Francisco as of mid-February and I have lots of things that need to be finished before I leave.

In the meantime I’ve been trying to straighten out a number of issues with this blog, many of them caused by the site being hacked and others caused by some problems I have been having with the WordPress installation. If things look a bit strange here over the next few days there is repair work in progress.

More soon.

A Rugged Plant for Men, from Better Homes & Gardens.

In 1959, Better Homes and Gardens published a book titled “House Plants.” I didn’t discover this book until this afternoon. I don’t know how I made it this far without it. I had previously underestimated the influence of proper houseplant selection on proving one’s own masculinity. Luckily, I read the page titled “Hardy beauties for a man’s office” today and learned that all I need to do is get a nice Fiddleleaf fig (pictured above), place it next to a wood-paneled wall and sit down for a satisfying smoke on my davenport (or sofa). I can almost taste the Scotch now (which inevitably would have been procured for me by an adoring female, who can’t resist the manly charms of my houseplants).

It also helps to put philodendrons next to eagle-themed paperweights.

An African Grey parrot who learned more than 100 words, Alex was the subject of years of scientific study. I took animal cognition when I was an undergraduate at the University at Buffalo, and Alex was a big topic in the class. Follow the link to a NY Times story about this amazing animal.

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