About writing generally:
700,000,000,000 - approximate number of US dollars proposed in the bail out bill (link). 0.7 - percentage of GDP agreed upon in 1970 to be set aside for foreign aid. Often sited as an appropriate funding goal to help meet...
Posted on October 3, 2008 10:39 AM • 0 Comments •
The other day I was having a conversation with a number of scientist types, and specifically the topic of movies like Sizzle or Expelled came up. This, of course, led to the whole "framing" thing, which to be frank is...
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Posted on August 1, 2008 12:39 PM • 9 Comments •
In this lab of accelerator physicists, I am the village idiot. I'm not from here. Maybe that's good.
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Posted on July 21, 2008 9:00 AM • 5 Comments •
This is straight from the minds of the young: I just had to highlight today's piece at the Science Creative Quarterly. It's a letter composed during one of our Science Creative Literary Symposia sessions, detailing a secret force of woodpeckers...
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Posted on June 20, 2008 1:13 PM • 0 Comments •
Or at least, I'm pretty sure this is the world's largest collection of poems specifically on chromatography. Anyway, they can be viewed here, here, here, and (12 of them) here....
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Posted on May 28, 2008 12:32 PM • 2 Comments •
I've got a piece up at the SCQ today, which is (another) failed attempt at publishing at Seed's print magazine. Here, a few months back, I was asked to have a go at their "Why I do Science" section but...
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Posted on May 16, 2008 11:34 AM • 3 Comments •
Don't you just hate it when you're about to be dead in five minutes?
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Posted on March 26, 2008 9:00 AM • 0 Comments •
Pen Names in the Digital Age: wither the pseudonym? Plus the must-read of the day.
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Posted on February 20, 2008 10:30 AM • 2 Comments •
A few days ago, I wrote about a neat little book ("Not what I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure") coming out which revolves around the concept of trying to encapsulate your life in 6...
Posted on February 15, 2008 10:38 AM • 8 Comments •
A new book just (or just about to be) released called "Not what I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure" has been on the media blitz lately. It stems from a great anecdote about Ernest Hemingway...
Posted on February 13, 2008 7:05 AM • 8 Comments •
You take technology and nature, avoid assuming they're opposed, and get a bunch of engineering undergrads to write a book about it.
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Posted on December 19, 2007 9:20 AM • 2 Comments •
From the Science Creative Quarterly. Two days left to enter, so I'm just moving this post back up. "O.K. so we're waaay behind on sorting out the Bill Hick, Science Prick contest, but figure that the best way to deal...
Posted on December 11, 2007 4:16 PM • 0 Comments •
We had such great fun with the "I rank number 1!" meme, that I thought it would be worth the effort to try another. This one might even guarantee you a spot in immortality - especially if your contribution manages...
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Posted on November 14, 2007 1:22 PM • 20 Comments •
I just wanted to highlight this excellent post by a student who use to work with me on the Terry project. Basically, Shagufta begins: Political science is not the only way to understand the world. It seems like a simple...
Posted on November 1, 2007 11:29 AM • 0 Comments •
A couple months back, I had a piece published at The Walrus which kind of looked at brief encounters with famous people - you know, the type that I'm sure many of us had during the course of our academic...
Posted on October 29, 2007 9:57 AM • 1 Comments •
So, my New Yorker subscription is about done, and I've decided not to renew it this time. This is a shame, because I've been getting it for almost three years now, and it's become a bit of comfortable habit now....
Posted on October 9, 2007 2:30 PM • 22 Comments •
Specifically, this pretty one: Very nicely done biography of Charles Darwin, presented in the children's book genre, that also happens to be pretty enough for the coffee table (more info about the book here). Basically, the SCQ is hoping to...
Posted on September 12, 2007 2:35 PM • 0 Comments •
Isn't this a great cover? It's called "Bright Idea" and was done by Bob Staake....
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Posted on June 28, 2007 8:00 AM • 0 Comments •
Image by Baskervillain Last week I was in San Francisco for a meeting (sorry Janet for not touching base - I literally got my passport the day before flying out). This was actually the first work-related trip I've taken...
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Posted on June 18, 2007 7:55 PM • 6 Comments •
In reference to this....
Posted on April 13, 2007 11:28 AM • 15 Comments •
Is it just me or don't you think that Mr. Vonnegut would've been the person to have written the perfect piece about his death. He'll be missed - that's for sure. (Kurt Vonnegut, 1922 - 2007)...
Posted on April 12, 2007 2:07 PM • 2 Comments •
Another writing contest I'm affiliated with. And to reiterate, pretty much anything goes as long as it fits (even remotely) in the global issues genre. Plus (plus), there's a category for non-UBC folk, and the insider info is that we...
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Posted on March 27, 2007 2:42 PM • 0 Comments •
Not counting Shouts and Murmurs email queries, I've sent pieces to the New Yorker proper on three occasions, the last of which just a few months ago. What I've noticed is that there is a clear trend is how these...
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Posted on January 16, 2007 2:10 PM • 6 Comments •
I'm not sure if it's kosher to discuss article queries before they are even entertained. I'm not even sure if I spelt kosher correctly, but in any event, not being a career writer, I'll take my chances because I think...
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Posted on January 10, 2007 2:23 PM • 8 Comments •
I don't suspect there will be much going on here for the remainder of the year, so here are two poems I find lovely and notable. CHRISTMAS 1924 By Thomas Hardy 'Peace upon earth!' was said. We sing it And...
Posted on December 23, 2006 7:06 PM • 0 Comments •
Happy to announce and promote a new science web-magazine - the ever so funky INKLING. Courtesy of fellow Vancouver-based dudettes, Anne and Anna (of Inkycircus fame). It's got a really great tone to it, much needed really, different from the...
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Posted on December 20, 2006 3:29 PM • 1 Comments •
O.K. Here goes: First up. Most likely the easiest to read piece on LOC technology (Lab on a Chip). Who knew that microfluidics and lithography techniques were so cool? After reading this, you will too. ("Living la Vida Loc(A): A...
Posted on December 6, 2006 8:56 AM • 0 Comments •
Here is some silliness to get back in the swing of things. Composed whilst waiting for Ben (Cohen) at the Vancouver Airport, recently rejected by McSweeney's, and likely to make an appearance at one of my sites in the not...
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Posted on November 15, 2006 11:45 AM • 0 Comments •
At the beginning of this past week, I did a post on some of the science behind the aroma of coffee, so I thought it would be fitting to talk a bit about wine as well. Not because I'm...
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Posted on October 27, 2006 11:51 AM • 0 Comments •
With all the debate going on around the validity of the current world of theoretical physics, the New Yorker, in a recent issue, weighs in as eloquent as ever:...
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Posted on October 11, 2006 11:16 AM • 2 Comments •
(The Science Creative Quarterly is a science writing webzine I run at UBC) PDF | JPG The Science Creative Quarterly seeks science humour pieces for entry into our awesome new contest. Judging will be based on a number of criteria...
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Posted on September 29, 2006 11:53 AM • 3 Comments •
(terry.ubc.ca is a webzine on global issues that I coordinate at UBC) TERRY'S WRITING CHALLENGE There once was a website named Terry1 That wanted to make people wary Of things going on In the world that are wrong Without making...
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Posted on September 29, 2006 11:42 AM • 0 Comments •
So it turned out that my back to school crunch was even crunchier than expected, no doubt brought upon by the fact that my daughter had just started Kindergarten (talk about the sense of relativity and time flying), and the...
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Posted on September 18, 2006 1:17 PM • 3 Comments •
To start off the sophomore year of the SCQ, I published a piece that I had sitting around for the last year or two. Basically, it's a creative non-fiction piece that looks at the sorts of things one can fear...
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Posted on September 8, 2006 8:24 AM • 4 Comments •
I have to say that I was seriously upset by hearing that Steve Irwin was killed recently, and by a Stingray barb no less. It's kind of strange actually, because I was just about to submit a humour piece to...
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Posted on September 7, 2006 8:00 AM • 0 Comments •
It's all that. Ars Medica, or The Ars, as British hipsters call it, is a fascinating "literary journal that explores the interface between the arts and healing, and examines what makes medicine an art." It's run out of Toronto, begun...
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Posted on August 25, 2006 12:35 PM • 1 Comments •
Well, this is just a heads up to let you know that the SCQ is preparing to start its year two. For a while, we've only been presenting academic review type pieces, which, to be frank, has just not been...
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Posted on August 22, 2006 1:37 PM • 0 Comments •
My favourite pieces in The Believer are their non-book reviews. For a while, they had a certain order about them, whereby the subjects broached were of a consistent nature. For instance, "light" was a theme, "tool" was a theme, and...
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Posted on August 21, 2006 11:59 AM • 1 Comments •
Timing is everything. That (I'm pretty sure) was the case of my first piece getting into Maisonneuve. And again, it is something that comes up with consistent frequency in my quest to publish. For instance, my gnome piece (shouldn't everyone...
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Posted on August 14, 2006 8:56 AM • 0 Comments •
This has to be one of my favourites, written pretty much the day after I listened to Stephen Lewis talk. Anyway, it also ties in with the start of the International AIDS Conference this Sunday. I'm hoping our Canadian government...
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Posted on August 11, 2006 9:14 AM • 0 Comments •
So I'm in the midst of trying to write a book, with a genetics theme and all. And so far, things look pretty good. I'm having fun anyway. But this is not what this post is about. This post is...
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Posted on August 8, 2006 5:41 PM • 0 Comments •
An article from the Columbia Journalism Review I saw linked from Arts and Letters Daily (where they seem to be upping the number of science links of late) discusses "Why editors must dare to be dumb." The author notes that...
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Posted on August 3, 2006 9:55 AM • 5 Comments •
Science and metaphor aren't just for Lakoff and Johnson anymore (okay, they never were, but Metaphors We Live By (1980) was the first thing to pop in my head). From the Toronto Star comes a story, "It's Like This, You...
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Posted on August 1, 2006 11:22 AM • 3 Comments •
Looks like an appropriate time to put this one up on the blog. I have to say that this was the one of the easiest pieces I've ever written. It's also the only one that got published at McSweeney's with...
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Posted on July 20, 2006 8:06 AM • 5 Comments •
The book Rebuilt, by Michae Chorost, and the documentary Sound and Fury, by Josh Aronson, here re-considered. (This is a Bookshelf #1 revisitation and expansion.) ((No reason for mentioning Jerry Falwell, by the way. That was a typo.)) I finished...
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Posted on July 18, 2006 1:00 PM • 1 Comments •
This particular piece has had a long and storied past, originating as far back as my term as an Immunology lecturer during my Ph.D. days (we're talking back in 1997 or so). Essentially, one of things I did (and still...
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Posted on July 17, 2006 8:39 AM • 1 Comments •
Despite the recurring theme of rejection with many of the pieces I submit, I find you still get the sense that you were (nevertheless) in good hands. In other words, you'd like to think that the editors who take the...
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Posted on July 10, 2006 12:07 PM • 3 Comments •
I'm following Dave's lead here, who was following Nick Hornby's lead, who could probably be made aware of our lead following and then wax poetic on the flourishing of his format. Except I'm sure he's busy. Lunching with Cusack. Unless...
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Posted on July 7, 2006 9:49 AM • 5 Comments •
Usually, when I write a humour piece, it all begins with me in the car listening to the radio, waiting for those moments when a song comes on that I hate - loath even. For instance, something like "Truth" by...
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Posted on July 6, 2006 8:43 AM • 1 Comments •
O.K. so this letter basically bites. Type written, and as "form letter" as a "form letter" can get. I mean, it's not even technically addressed to me, which I take is not a good sign at all. Furthermore, if I...
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Posted on July 5, 2006 10:42 AM • 1 Comments •
Last week I got this year's Believer Music Issue in the mail. For those not quite in the know, The Believer is not anything alluding to the religious right - rather, it is a marvelous magazine that succinctly describes...
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Posted on July 3, 2006 11:50 AM • 2 Comments •
O.K. it looks like I'm going to use this site as a repository of my various science writings. In truth, I still consider myself a bit of a neophyte in this matter, but nevertheless, I've been lucky enough to publish...
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Posted on June 30, 2006 8:34 AM • 0 Comments •
(Actually posted this a little earlier, but we're learning the ins and outs of blogging, choosing categories etc). This is in regards to the Nude Mouse piece, shown earlier today......
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Posted on June 27, 2006 10:15 PM • 0 Comments •
(This is an old slide I used for one of my genetics classes - the general idea about what Grimace is exactly was pilfered from a graphic design school advertisement I saw where several presumably student's works were showcased....
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Posted on June 16, 2006 10:52 AM • 6 Comments •
Oh dear, there is certainly a lot of discussion over Ann Coulter's new book - in particular, her breathtaking views on evolutionary theory. Hmmm, when I wrote Chapter Titles From My Creationist Textbook, I had no idea that it already...
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Posted on June 14, 2006 6:58 PM • 0 Comments •
Because I am lucky enough to be in a position where my living is not dependant on writing, I've always taken the attitude of aiming high since the worst that can happen is that you get rejected from a place...
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Posted on June 14, 2006 9:44 AM • 7 Comments •
Here is a selection of my writings on-line, many but not all of which are about science, technology, and nature - Ben...
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Posted on June 6, 2006 1:22 PM • 0 Comments •
Here is a selection of some of the writing I've done - Dave....
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Posted on June 6, 2006 12:11 AM • 4 Comments •
David Ng is Director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory at the University of British Columbia - this is a just a fancier way of calling himself a science teacher. 
Benjamin Cohen is an Asst. Professor of Science, Tech., and Society at the University of Virginia. He studies the place of S & T in environmental history, policy, and ethics. He also writes other stuff. 
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