Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.

Category: Long Reads

Stories that take a bit longer to get through.

  • The Tenenbaum Farce

    Despite media attention that suggests otherwise, the number of cases brought by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) members against their customers that have actually gone to trial can be counted on one hand. One of the most recent of these is the trial of Joel Tenenbaum, the case that set itself up to be…

  • The New Happy Couple

    Last week Rachel and I made the approximately twelve-hour (including stops) journey to the Ooltewah, Tennessee for my best friend Jason’s wedding. This wedding was especially momentous for a number of reasons: my friend of twenty or so years was getting married, I was his best man (as he was in my wedding last year),…

  • Just Another Day at the Lab

    Yesterday, in a turn of events involving chocolate, yogurt, and rat treats, I ended up in the UMD Medical Center cafeteria. While looking through the cooler, I happened to notice a new (released just this year, in fact) soda flavor: Dr. Pepper Cherry. This seemed rather interesting, as Dr. Pepper has been advertised as an…

  • Life is an MMO

    More accurately, “at this point in my life it often feels like I am trapped in a MMO.” I’ve gotten the the point where I’m past all of the early levels, so no more easy battles. At the same time, I’m not yet at the high levels, where you get to experience all of the…

  • Farewell to an Old Friend

    Farewell to an Old Friend

    At long last, the good ol’ 1984 Toyota Tercel has been retired from the Castello household. It’s been through quite a lot over the years, from getting me through my driving test to hauling massive quantities of stuff to and from residences on the UMBC campus. The past year has been pretty difficult for it:…

  • Why Cancelling Dollhouse Might Not Have Been Such a Bad Thing

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m almost as happy Dollhouse got picked up for another season as are the acolytes of Joss Whedonism. It had some real downers (I’m not sure I could really accept the “blind girl with camera eyes infiltrating a cult for ATF and FBI” plotline), but I think all but the querulous…

  • Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth [Spoilers]

    I picked this book up thanks to the recommendation in the Goodreads newsletter and I wasn’t disappointed.

  • The Genre Debacle

    Ever since I started digitizing my music library, I’ve struggled with the pronunciation of the word “genre.” I started out saying John Ree, perhaps imagining him as a pioneer in the field of music classification; sort of a spiritual ancestor to the Music Genome Project. Later, I adopted the slurred buzzing intonation that inhabits a…