The most famous albatross in the world is dead: shot by the Mariner in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s long, strange  1798 poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." This is a shame, not just because the mariner spends the rest of his life under a curse, but because a dead albatross cannot fly, and flying is what albatrosses do best. Here is an incredible fact: an albatross can fly thousands of miles with scarcely a flap…

It might be a bit apples and oranges to compare the current comic-book-blockbuster landscape to the last century of science fiction magazines. Nonetheless, as I worked my way through New Eves, an anthology of lady-penned science fiction from decades past, this is the comparison that came to mind.

I was supposed to be so excited to see Iron Man 3 — and not just because I owned Iron Man on DVD before I moved…

When you read this, I will be on a plane with a toddler with motion sickness, so what better time to allow others to chatter happily amongst themselves, free from that particular torment? There is nothing worse than tweeting something incredibly funny at a time of day when no one notices it, or tweeting something that would be perfectly topical a week and a half later, or realizing too late that a slight modification would…

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is a haunted town. It makes sense:  The town has 350 years of triumphs and tragedies in its past. Besides the infamous battle that ravaged the town and surrounding farmland and included one civilian death, Gettysburg was home to a stop on the Underground Railroad and an orphanage run by a woman with a penchant for torturing her charges. Northwest of the town center is my alma mater, Gettysburg College,…

“Do you have Barbara?’ I asked my friend Anne. “Let me see what she says about this.”

We were standing in Anne’s kitchen in Syracuse, surrounded by backpacks, bear canisters and socks. It was a broiling July evening and we had a 4:30 am start the next morning. Anne put down the Clif Bars she was counting out to toss me a brown-coloured book. Page 264: Marcy Dam to Mount Colden, 5.15 miles, 4

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"I’m not interested in teaching books by women. Virginia Woolf is the only writer that interests me as a woman writer, so I do teach one of her short stories. But once again, when I was given this job I said I would only teach the people that I truly, truly love. Unfortunately, none of those happen to be Chinese, or women. Except for Virginia Woolf." - David Gilmour, novelist and University of Toronto Professor,…

Is it wrong for a toad to eat a bat? Does it subvert the Great Chain of Being? This is a question we must consider as a group, before it is too late. A cane toad in Peru has very nearly swallowed a bat whole and entire: This greedy critter was busted mid-meal snacking on a hapless bat he'd plucked out of the air just seconds earlier. . Peruvian park ranger Yufani Olaya…

The next time you’re out jogging or at the gym or taking a yoga class or going on a bike ride, if you do such things, appreciate for a moment your freedom to exercise. If you’re a sweater like me, be grateful. Enjoy your sweat. There was a time when physical exercise was deemed a masculine activity, and a moral issue, anathema to your true role as companion of the male and mother of the…

Were you aware that in 1982, a brief revival of The Odd Couple starring Ron Glass (but really Shepherd from Firefly) and Demond Wilson (but really Lamont from Sanford & Son) aired on ABC? If so, why did you keep this from me? I'm not angry, but I would like to know. There is a terrible VHS recording of the theme song, which is the only clip I could find online of the entire show, complete with…

When I was fourteen, I got a job at a Renaissance Faire. It's tempting to say it was the best job I ever had, but really it was just my first and the most aggressively formative. Every Saturday and Sunday morning in August and September, I'd cinch myself into a purple velvet bodice worn over a gauzy, off-the-shoulder dress. Given my closet's limited options, Doc Martens felt like the most appropriate footwear. My mom would…

Deconstructed Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps Southeast-Asian inspiration finds elements of salty and savory dancing over a bed of crisp vegetation. Crunchy lettuce accompanies tender chicken bathed in a classic Thai condiment, one over which umami proudly reigns. The simple salad forays into the exotic with a once-familiar protein transformed, cool leaves bending ever so slightly under their partner’s slowly dissipating heat. Embrace a dish at once light and satiating, uncomplicated and bold to the final…

(as opposed to the nation's) Physical Education: Can take food in mouth and somehow push it through body and eventually out - consistently Can turn food into energy source without aid of batteries or wind power - consistently Art: Folds napkins into swans - never Uses cloth napkins - never Uses paper napkins - rarely Uses paper towels - often Uses shirt - opportunistically Religion: Has grasped that providing self with food is morally…

Previously: A Canticle for Leibowitz. Peter Beagle is one of my absolutely favorite writers, so I was fairly surprised last year when I realized I'd never even heard of his first novel, A Fine and Private Place (which he wrote when he was nineteen. What were you doing when you were nineteen? I remember what I was doing, and it wasn't writing beautiful novels). The title comes from Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress: "The grave's a fine and…

This is why your professor hated you, and probably still does. "Remember to breathe when cisgender friends who think they’re being supportive describe trans men as 'female-bodied'.” The world's loveliest and dirtiest profile of Edie Windsor. Paywalled, but what a great time to subscribe. Flannery O'Connor: it's all about the money, money. She did not want to make the world dance, etc.