2008-05-13T02:06:27Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/achenblog//71 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-05-13T02:06:27Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-09:/achenblog/2008/05/googling_bloops.html

Sorry, Caitlin -- I'm a bloop apologist. In fact I wish I could bloop more.. Even without getting embarrassingly personal here, I would bloop fully 15 percent of my brain, if it were possible. If there were a way, for example, not to remember the choreography to the number "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," from my middle school's production of "Annie," I would buy my brain a present. The plots of the television...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-09T08:43:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-09:/achenblog/2008/05/are_koalas_drunk.html

The buzz on koalas is that they're drunk on eucalyptus leaves. The rumor is so rampant that there's a concerted campaign to knock it down. The truth is that they're just incredibly sleepy -- they sleep about 20 hours a day. All their energy goes into digesting the leaves. But listen to what one of the local scientists told me: Because koalas are basically leaf-digesting machines, they have very small brains that take up...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-05-08T19:39:23Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-08:/achenblog/2008/05/the_bloopy_brain_theory.html

On the Metro yesterday, I sat near a couple of girls -- college students, I think, or possibly high school seniors -- who were talking about a class they were taking together together and how hard it was. It was a psychology course, and they were discussing the infamous ill-fated study wherein a group of college students simulated the roles of prisoners and prison guards. It is a famous study. You know. THE STANFORD PRISON...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-07T15:04:17Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-07:/achenblog/2008/05/snake_in_the_tub.html

Rachel -- Love the snake story. The lil' fella looks pretty cute to me, but then I was raised in a tree-huggin' household that served as a rescue shelter for just about every member of the animal kingdom at one point or another -- SNAKE included. The SNAKE in question was named Larry, whom my mother rescued from a panicked woman who had found him in her laundry. She then put Larry in a pillowcase,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-07T10:00:59Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-07:/achenblog/2008/05/snake_in_the_grass.html

Last Sunday I was walking in a garden and was tempted by a snake. It was awesome. I had gone out to talk to my plants in soothing tones, which I do because I have no children or pets. The strawberry had been a wild idea -- $14 and no fruit until next year, but he's adorable. It is important for him not to feel insecure, just because he costs as much as four and...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-06T10:12:59Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-06:/achenblog/2008/05/horses_races_and_racehorses.html

Buddy was a racehorse in Oklahoma before we found him in Maryland. He wasn't a big winner; he never actually won at all. As a result, he fast became one of thousands of horses in the United States "retired" from racing each year. When a Triple Crown winner is retired, he is put out to stud. He is well cared for and enjoys a cushy life siring high-priced foals. For most racehorses, however, retirement means...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-05T18:29:54Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-05:/achenblog/2008/05/buy_me_a_drink_or_a_new_transm.html

Yes, Caitlin, car neglect is a very powerful thing. Intentionally or not, mechanics make me feel bad for 1) not knowing what is wrong; 2) having caused the problem, probably by overloading the floor with soda cans and ignoring potential problems and generally thinking an idiosyncratic car is charming; and 3) having a liberal arts degree. A car is an extremely dangerous, heavy thing that I clearly do not deserve. Besides treating mine like a...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-05T13:00:38Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-05:/achenblog/2008/05/my_prides_in_the_shop_along_wi.html

[Editor's note: Joel is a away for a couple weeks -- working on a top-secret project with Paul Hogan -- and will be posting only intermittently. In his absence, he's asked a few Friends of Achenblog to pinch-write for him. This week's featured FOA are Caitlin Gibson and Rachel Manteuffel.] I dropped off my car recently for a routine oil change. When I arrived at work the next morning, there was already a voicemail waiting...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Editor 2008-05-04T21:29:06Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-04:/achenblog/2008/05/off_to_exile_island.html

It's a long way to the other side of the planet. The airline announced that there were heavy headwinds and we'd have to make an unscheduled stop in Honolulu to refuel. I was all in favor of that, since I never once believed it was possible to make it all the way to Australia on a single tank of gas. My feeling is, when crossing the Pacific in a tube of metal 7 miles...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-05-02T13:29:08Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-02:/achenblog/2008/05/nader_on_cotton_dust_standards.html

You may recall that my story on What Does A President Do quoted a Harvard professor saying that Jimmy Carter got entangled in such minutia as approving the use of the White House tennis court: "Roger Porter, who teaches about the American presidency at Harvard, says that Carter also got enmeshed in the parking assignments at the Department of Interior, as well as the crucial issue of federal cotton-dust standards." Ralph Nader called me...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-04-30T19:39:51Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-30:/achenblog/2008/04/threw_him_under_a_bus.html

"He threw him under a bus." Where did this phrase come from? Suddenly it is the required phrase for describing the act of publically breaking with, or criticizing, or blaming, a former ally/friend/colleague/lover. The Obama-Wright relationship has incited a massive outbreak of the phrase, which we can now officially declare to be overused. That doesn't mean that those who used it in recent days were guilty of cliche-mongering -- because this one congealed into...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-04-29T18:58:10Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-29:/achenblog/2008/04/the_poseiden_adventure_dinner.html

So it was very late, at Reuters's party, pretty much the last thing happening at the Hilton Saturday night, and I was talking to a fellow named Jason from Congress Daily, and it suddenly dawned on us both that the White House Correspondents Dinner wasn't like a Fellini film after all. No: More like a 1970s disaster movie. You know how, in a 1970s disaster movie, there's always the character-setting portion in the first...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-04-26T17:14:17Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-26:/achenblog/2008/04/what_does_a_president_do.html

[My story in the Outlook section this weekend.] A simple and deceptively tricky question: What does a president do? If you had to put together the Help Wanted ad for the position of chief executive, what would you write? Something like: "CEO needed to supervise 3 million employees. Must be at least 35, native-born, willing to work at home. Spectacular public failures likely." The presidency is the most famous job in America (with all...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-04-25T14:54:55Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-25:/achenblog/2008/04/affluence_and_irish_pubs.html

You surely saw the great story by Mary Jordan today from Ireland, which apparently is no longer the same place depicted in "Angela's Ashes." The Irish Miracle has not only caused a spike in affluence, it has shuttered at least a thousand rural pubs as people change their basic routines in life. The image of an Irishman at home with a glass of Chardonnay is jangling, no? The Irish, I was always told, never...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

2008-04-23T19:11:53Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-23:/achenblog/2008/04/85_percent_happy_again.html

I like to think of myself as even-keeled. Not unflappable, mind you (before speaking in public I get very flapped), and not serene (because I'm always behind in my work, and in a mad rush, to the point that, if I pause momentarily to exchange pleasantries with a colleage or an acquaintance it is surely obvious to everyone that I'm performing some kind of social stunt, that even 20 seconds of normal behavior is,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.