And now for something completely different: I am the Doctor

Doctor Who composer on YouTube

You may not know who Murray Gold is, but if you’ve watched an episode of Doctor Who recently, you know his work. And now, you can watch Mr. Gold play “I am the Doctor” on the piano on YouTube. Because why not?

Paul Johnson in a sombrero

Georgia Tech may have completely blown it in the Sun Bowl last week (*cough*fireAlGroh*cough*), but at least we got this awesome picture out of the team’s arrival in El Paso. The caption was a collaborative effort between me and my friend Lisa, who was kind enough to let me crash in her home office while I was visiting Atlanta over the holidays and let me reap the Reddit karma for the image.

Navigating love and autism

This article from the New York Times explores some of the implications of dating, love and romance on the autism spectrum, particularly for those with Asperger’s Syndrome. It’s a long, but pretty interesting read. Here’s an excerpt:

From the beginning, their physical relationship was governed by the peculiar ways their respective brains processed sensory messages. Like many people with autism, each had uncomfortable sensitivities to types of touch or texture, and they came in different combinations….

He tried to kiss her, but it was hard for her to enjoy it, so obvious was his aversion. To him, kissing felt like what it was, he told her: mashing your face against someone else’s. Neither did he like the sweaty feeling of hand-holding, a sensation that seemed to dominate all others whenever they tried it….

What mattered more to Kirsten was how comfortable she felt for the first time in a relationship. Even if she did something wrong, she believed, Jack would not leave her. When he remarked on her obliviousness after she chattered on one day about vertebrate anatomy to their neighbor — “Matson was totally bored,” he informed her — there was no judgment, only pride that he had managed to notice. “Is that why he was yawning?” she asked, laughing with him….

For his part, Jack rejoiced to find that Kirsten did not hold certain social expectations that had caused him anxiety with a high school girlfriend. He apologized, for instance, that he failed to get her a Christmas present because he had not been able to think of what she would like.

Ministry of silly pictures