Saturday
My friend David Alpert visited. I hadn't seen him for about nine years, and he's working for Google now, living in New York, etc. It was a nice visit, and David accidentally did me a huge favor by finding the place in Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of 5,000 Puzzles, Tricks and Conundrums where Loyd attempts to answer Lewis Carroll's question "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?".
[T]here is no absolute certainty of any answer having been intended, as Lewis Carroll never vouchsafed any replies to the curious problem pertaining to Alice's trip through Wonderland; nevertheless, my acquaintance with Carroll and his peculiar traits, convinced me that it was not altogether a haphazard query. My own guess, following the alliterative style which characterizes the entire work, would be "that the notes for which they are noted are not noted for being musical notes"; nevertheless, there is considerable scope for ingenuity and cleverness, as other answers, equally as good or better, might be suggested, like "because Poe wrote on both," "Bills and tales are among their characteristics," "Because they stand on their legs," "Because they conceal their steels" or "Ought to be made to shut up," etc., etc.
We also got to climb up Bernal Hill.
