In case you missed it, yesterday was National Pigeon Day. There's still time to say a prayer for Cher Ami:

Cher Ami was a homing pigeon owned and flown by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I. He helped save the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division in the battle of the Argonne, October 1918. In his last mission, he delivered a message despite having been shot through the breast, being blinded in one eye, covered in blood and having a leg hanging only by a tendon. The bird was awarded the Croix de Guerre for heroic service delivering 12 important messages in Verdun.

Thanks, Dave

However amusing I thought the NYT article about blogging oneself to death was, the following article, in tone and content, easily surpasses it.

It turns out philosophy is the hot new major, with enrollment up by 50–100% at many universities! Who'd a thunk?

The old view, in which philosophy is dismissed as "frou-frou":

"People sitting under trees and talking about stupid stuff—I mean, who cares?" Ms. Onejeme recalled thinking at the time.

The enlightened view, in which math and science take a back seat to metaphysic and ontology:

"If I were to start again as an undergraduate, I would major in philosophy," said Matthew Goldstein, the CUNY chancellor, who majored in mathematics and statistics. "I think that subject is really at the core of just about everything we do. If you study humanities or political systems or sciences in general, philosophy is really the mother ship from which all of these disciplines grow."

And why I'm going back to college:

Jenna Schaal-O'Connor, a 20-year-old sophomore who is majoring in cognitive science and linguistics, said philosophy had other perks. She said she found many male philosophy majors interesting and sensitive.

"That whole deep existential torment," she said. "It's good for getting girlfriends."

Because in the real world, I've found that the whole deep existential torment thing isn't so good for getting laid.

→ Read the entire article: "In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined." Winnie Hu. Published 6 April 2008.

I found this article in today's New York Times hilarious:

A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.

…

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging [yet! (emphasis mine)], and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

Right?!? I haven't left the cafe or my computer all weekend!

→ Read the entire article: "In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop." Matt Richtel. Published 6 April 2008.

This was the definition of today…

“Monachetti.” Further Seems Forever

A health director … reported this week that a small mouse, which presumably had been watching television, attacked a little girl and her full-grown cat. … Both mouse and cat survived, and the incident is recorded here as a reminder that things seems to be changing.

—New York Times, 7 July 1957