This And That

Actor Hugh Lawrie aka Dr. House, on reading and acting PG Wodehouse's words. (And here he is, with his comedic partner, Stephen Fry, in Tricky Linguistics. Wonderful stuff. Via Metafilter.)

My favorite album this year has to be Fleet Foxes' Fleet Foxes. The album is in the Top 3 or Top 5 on most critics' year-end lists. Get it if you've been wanting to listen to some terrific singing (and songwriting, but their singing is something else.) Here's the band's gorgeous White Winter Hymnal, a song which also has my favorite lyrics of the year:

"I was following the pack
all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied ’round their throats
to keep their little heads
from fallin’ in the snow
And I turned ’round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries
in the summertime"

The American Dialect Society released their "Word of the Year" nominations list. (What that Society needs is a techie who can teach them how to use shorter URLs.)

If you've ever wanted to read about mindfulness in plain English, why, here's a great little guide called "Mindfulness in plain English".

Have a great New Year, everyone.