In September, 2002, I was blogging about science writing, satire, ebonics, Google News, owl callers, astronaut Buzz Aldrin punching a moon landing denier, and an email from a former student (who thanked me)

In September, 2002, I was blogging about

• “The Science of Scientific Writing” (1990)
• from ‘pong’ to ‘pac man’
• Michigan Police fall for The Onion satire about terrorist telemarketers
• “Ebonics” (ebony + phonics)
• Silly alarmist story about recessive blonde genes
• A scientist undone by plagiarism
• Google News (when it was new)
• Mel Gibson’s plan to film a move in Latin and Arabic
• A lovely little study in British ecocentrism: two amateur ornithologists in the same neighborhood have each acquired an owl whistle, and seem to be hooting at each other “with no actual owl involved.”
• A composer accused of plagiarizing a completely silent composition
• No charges filed against astronaut Buzz Aldrin, accused of punching a moon hoax conspiracy theorist
• The Ubiquity, Functions, And Contexts Of Bullshitting
• An email from a former student who wrote, “Thank you. I was very fortunate to be in your class. No other class ever has, nor I suspect ever will, prepare me as thorough.”
• A Scottish chemist who says she discovered why leftover pizza tastes so good the next day
• The persistence of chalkboards in higher education (I don’t share the sentiment but I appreciate a well-written bit of professional nostalgia)
• The first smiley emoticon, and Kevin Mackenzie’s suggestion of -) for “tongue in cheek”.
• The one-year anniversary of the 11 Sept 2001 terrorist attacks.