Interesting take on the glass ceiling in Salary, Gender and the Social Cost of Haggling by Shankar Vedantam. Apparently there is good evidence that a large part of the reason that men get higher salaries because they as for more money and more responsibility more often than women. But it isn't quite this simple. Women are more likely to penalized for asking for more money or more responsibility.

A real life nightmare of a way to die in Coroner: woman died of starvation. This is one of my wife's greatest fears. Whenever our daughters go on vacation and the house is empty save the two of us, she keeps her mobile phone practically glued to her palm.

For those who thought that Oliver Twist was unbelievable. This story is positively Dickensesque:Library thief gets choice of prison terms.

In Modern Language and Liturgical Deconstruction Deacon James Bryant discusses whether archaic or modern language should be used for the liturgy.  This was interesting to me mostly for the discussion of deconstructionism. Despite it being all the rage in philosophical, literary and artistic circles, I've never paid it much attention. It looks mostly like the Cartesian method applied to a world interpreted through a Nietzschean lens.

Nutritional labels might be coming to bottled beer in the US. Good timing on this piece as just yesterday I was arguing with Sonechka as to whether or not beer should have alcohol content disclosed on the label. She was pro-disclosure. I don't think it matters. If you're concerned as to whether one more beer might be too many, it probably is.

Yesterday while browsing song lyrics for the brief paragraphs on love songs, I Googled EMF's Unbelievable. Way back when the only lyric I could understand was ``You're unbelievable.'' I always thought it was a love song. Then two days ago I read the lyrics online. Ouch. Someone certainly had their panties all in a bunch over something.

I always find it amusing how I misinterpret songs. Usually it's from hearing the lyrics incorrectly. In this case, I heard the lyric correctly but didn't hear any of the context so I took the lyric the wrong way. This also happens to me often in everyday conversation (although far less so since I was fitted with proper hearing aids in 2000 or 2001). When it happens in everyday conversation, it is usually far less amusing.

Two people I care about deeply had a good bonding experience and started to repair what was a rather damaged relationship. This is good as I think the two are good for each other. And, well, there is much more to this story that I won't be telling.

On the other hand, I'm still waiting for healing. My tears have been keeping my wounds clean but the wounds are still wounds. I see no evidence that they are starting to close.

The electrical repair for The Headache House only ran ninety smackeroos. Apparently a wire in the basement had broken. This is good. Supposedly tomorrow the new tenants will be paying rent and be getting the keys. This is good. Probably. If they pay rent on time all year long, I might get back all the money that I've sunk into repairs from the last few tenants. On the other hand, if they don't pay, I have to evict them, and if they trash the place like the previous tenants, I'll have to pay all that money again.

I guess I'll also be cleaning some on Friday. By the time I finished painting the water closet last weekend, I was too tired, grumpy, and hot to be bothered cleaning up properly. There isn't much that needs to be done. Rudimentary dusting, running the Hoover™ and a touch of mopping. The most difficult time is just being alone and still motivating myself to do the needful. Difficulties aside, I have to admit there have been occasions recently where the alone time has been good for me even if difficult.

The vespers service was nice last evening. I always like the sparsely attended services. There's something about one or two voices in a large, empty nave that oozes intimacy. I like that feeling. On the other hand, well, tears.

After vespers, the parish Bible study went over the twenty-first chapter of Luke. It's an interesting read. There were a couple places where knowledge of Greek could have come in handy. But we had no Greek text at our disposal. The nineteenth verse reads ``In your patience possess ye your souls'' in the Authorized Version. The context is unclear. It's either in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70CE or its in the future tribulations to come during the cataclysms earthly and cosmic that precede the last day.

It's an interesting line but the English `soul' doesn't really carry the full nuance of the Greek, psyche. Psyche is closer to the Latin animus. It is the animating force of all beings capable of motion (physical and intellectual). What we think of as soul is probably closer to the what the Greeks understood by nous which, unfortunately, is usually translated as ``intellect.'' I would translate the passage ``By patience, acquire true life.'' That takes a bit of liberty with the actual words of the text, but I think it carries the sense of the original better. Of course, I'm only an amateur scholar of Greek. One thing that surprised me was the word translated as `patience.' I thought for certain that it would be a derivitive of pascho  but it was hupomone. Pascho means to experience, to suffer, to endure, to do. That would have been interesting mostly because I find it fascinating that to the ancient Greeks to experience something was to suffer. But that's not what the text says at all.

The Nancy Drew movie finally made it to the second run cinema. I'll probably be taking my girls tonight. While I've not read a good review of the film, the worst review I've read puts it in line with most other movies targeted at young adolescent girls. So it can't be all that bad.

On the other hand I doubt it will have Gamera in it. Such a shame. That would be pure awesomness on a film reel, Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Guardian of the Universe.