Saturday 9 January 1999

The January issue of Scientific American contains a portrait story of James R. Flynn, the man who discovered the Flynn Effect. (The approximate truth about the Flynn Effect, for new readers, can be found here.) While the article is interesting enough, the fun part is that Flynn still does not believe that the effect can be real. And I quote: 'If the gains in intelligence are real, "why aren't we undergoing a renaissance unparalleled in human history?" he demands, almost irritably. "I mean, why aren't we duplicating the golden days of Athens or the Italian Renaissance?"' -I gleefully leave this question to my younger readers to ponder. Me, I take the 90es over the Renaissance any day. No regrets, no asking twice.

I've paid practically all my bills, despite Christmas and rendezvous with the Poor Student. I think I shall be content with that. The dream of saving up for a new computer remains firmly in dreamland. At least I'm out of the books of the Evil THORN Empire.

So, where did I want to go today? Not very far. I shopped a bit groceries and made another of my now almost traditional weekend midday meals: Various pasta (preferably with some tortellini among them) with suitable herbs & spices and a bit of olive oil, served hot with freshly riven cheese on. I upped the dosage of cheese and intend to do so again on first opportunity. Simple, tasty, and actually not too expensive.
Reminds me, I should probably buy in a hundred kilogram of spaghetti now while it's cheap. When the Americans start panicking for the millenium bug, I guess all foodstuff (particularly those containing wheat) will jump into quite another price range! And, well, sure I live in Norway and people don't panic for a computer failure or a hundred, but it still can't hurt to have spaghetti for a few weeks or months. And a primus. And cheese! :)

What else? Washed clothes. Man, I have a load of clothes. Most of them are quite nice, or bordering on beautiful, though I still have some from the time when I bought clothes only to not go naked. I guess that is a more Christian attitude, but let's face it: I doubt I'm leading anyone into temptation even with the best outfits I have.

Oh, and I better make sure I have a suit that suits me, because real soon now (in March) an old friendess of mine is going to marry. Not me, which in retrospect is a very good thing, but still I guess I ought to dress up before I make a speech. After all those years. I really don't think the formal suits (not to mention smokings) are decorative, but humans are known to be stickies for formality. Alternatively I could stop eating pizza every weekday and try to squeeze into an old suit. I think I have one or two that could do the trick, and they fit everywhere except the front cargo bay.