1 or 2

Multiplication

2008-06-23T23:05:00.002-04:00

Summing a value with itself a number of times equal to one or more other numbers.

2

Best

2008-06-23T23:03:00.001-04:00

Better than everything else.

2

Half

2008-02-05T02:17:00.000-05:00

Part of something equal to the rest of it.

2

Hardwood floors

2008-02-05T02:15:00.000-05:00

Floors built of long, narrow wooden planks.

2

The video for "Coopie and me"

2008-01-25T00:28:00.000-05:00

A music video directed by Tony Ciarrocchi and set to the song "Coopie and me" by the rock band Shorty, in which indecipherable singer Al Johnson entertains a toddler's birthday party and a dull ladies' gathering and then retires to his basement to watch television and have a beer.

2

You think Oklahoma City has good Vietnamese food? Then you better come to Houston, quickly I think.

2008-01-25T00:24:00.000-05:00

The first two sentences of a comment posted on a New York Times travel webpage.

1

The second waitress

2008-01-25T00:20:00.000-05:00

The evening waitress at the Kerbey Lane Cafe in Austin, TX who ran the food and handled the check on January 24, 2008.

1

Candace

2008-01-25T00:19:00.001-05:00

An evening waitress at the restaurant North by Northwest in Austin, TX.

2

Midnight

2007-10-30T23:51:00.001-04:00

Twelve o'clock A.M., the time when the date changes.

2

Smoke testing

2007-10-30T23:47:00.000-04:00

Testing the seals in a plumbing system by observing whether forcing smoke into a pipe exposes a leak.

2

Smoke bombs

2007-10-30T23:24:00.000-04:00

Small devices ignited by a pin or external fuse that emit smoke for visual entertainment, smokescreen, signalling, or smoke testing.

2

Stage Restaurant

2007-10-30T23:20:00.000-04:00

A narrow Polish restaurant in Manhattan in which all diners sit on fixed stools at a long bar.

2

Burglary

2007-09-18T17:53:00.000-04:00

Breaking into someone else's property to take something you don't own.

1

Superbad

2007-09-18T17:43:00.000-04:00

A 2007 American film directed by Greg Mottola.

1

Kim Jong Il and a great dinner

2006-12-05T23:13:00.000-05:00

The dictator of North Korea and an evening meal of fulfilling size, flavor, texture, and nutritional value.

1

Paisley

2006-12-05T23:09:00.000-05:00

An abstract curved pattern with a set of similarly tinted colors often found on clothing and occasionally on guitars.

1

Joseph Stalin and leg cramps

2006-12-05T22:56:00.000-05:00

A 20th century Soviet dictator who held the honorary titles "Coryphaeus of Science" and "Gardener of Human Happiness" and sharp pain in the rear limbs due to causes such as fatigue, dehydration, nerve depression, and poor circulation.

1

Fished

2006-12-05T22:54:00.000-05:00

The past tense of the English verb fish.

1

Polonium

2006-12-05T22:47:00.000-05:00

A rare metalloid with a very short half-life, and the first chemical element to be discovered because of its radioactivity.

1

Spill

2006-09-26T19:40:00.000-04:00

The sudden discharge of a liquid when its container is tipped or knocked by accident.

1

Dry wall

2006-09-26T19:31:00.000-04:00

A wall of large stones made without mortar.

2

The L

2006-09-12T23:56:00.000-04:00

Chicago's elevated trains and other public transportation systems.

2

Killdozer

2006-09-12T23:40:00.000-04:00

A loud, plodding rock band from Madison, Wisconsin who broke up in 1996 and played songs such as "Richard" and "King of Sex."

2

EV RE-20

2006-08-15T20:56:00.000-04:00

A device often used to convert the sounds of radio announcers, bass guitars, and kick drums into electricity.

2

Reservoir

2006-08-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

A bar at the cusp of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, occupying the old space of the rock venue Go.

2

Being refused entry to the Wake County Courthouse because there is a .45 on my belt buckle

2006-08-15T20:48:00.000-04:00

Despite wearing a suit, being denied access to the courthouse because of the pewter image of a gun, even though a fellow wearing camo shorts, a black t-shirt, and a skull-and-crossbones belt buckle had no trouble.

1

Superheroes

2006-08-15T20:46:00.000-04:00

Men and women who wear bright colors and use their supernatural abilities for the good of ordinary humans.

2

Hat salesmen

2006-05-02T03:27:00.000-04:00

Men who try to sell you hats from a store or cart.

2

Saying hello

2006-05-02T03:22:00.000-04:00

Greeting someone with the word "hello," possibly followed by the object's name, and not saying anything else until the object responds.

2

Moderates

2006-05-02T03:19:00.000-04:00

Persons who claim that their political views lie between the major left and right positions on the political spectrum.

Cover letter

2006-05-02T03:11:00.000-04:00

A formal message that accompanies a resume or vitae and expresses interest in an employment opportunity by persuading the reader that the writer is well suited for the job.

1

Wheaty, mealy biscuits

2006-02-07T17:43:00.000-05:00

Buttermilk biscuits that are too chewy in the center even though their aroma was wonderful and though the recipe from last time, which yielded the same problem, was augmented with more buttermilk and less wheat flour.

1

Cooking a new thing every day

2006-02-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

Trying daily to master the measures, processes, and timing required to prepare a unique dish.

2

Cargo

2006-02-07T17:31:00.000-05:00

What is carried for delivery.

2

so she's one of those girls who can touch ur heart and make it melt away but still keep it whole and even become a part of hers?

2006-02-07T17:26:00.000-05:00

A instant message typed two minutes ago by a woman ahead and to the right of Robin in the Chapel Hill Public Library.

2

Blurry orange text

2005-11-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

Orange-colored words that appear out of focus.

1

Never having visited Disneyworld's website

2005-11-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

Remaining ignorant to whatever visually enticing, interactive internet presence the famous Disney theme parks may have.

2

Reviving your blog after almost three months of inactivity because of Cindy Sheehan

2005-10-04T05:42:00.000-04:00

Breaking a silence of just over two and a half months on one's weblog to mildly criticize Cindy Sheehan, putting her in a category with honey, cyanobacteria, and R.E.M.'s Perfect Square DVD.

1

Cindy Sheehan

2005-10-04T05:40:00.000-04:00

Born in 1957, a woman whose son was killed during combat in Iraq.

1

Calling card

2005-07-13T08:09:00.000-04:00

For what one is known.

2

The Killing Fields

2005-07-13T08:05:00.000-04:00

Work and detention sites where millions of Cambodians died in the late 1970s.

1

Drinking in the A.M.

2005-07-10T11:59:00.000-04:00

Consuming beer after waking up but before noon.

2

J-shaped curve

2005-07-06T07:48:00.000-04:00

The graph of some exponential functions.

1

Intervals

2005-07-06T07:47:00.000-04:00

The physical, chronological, numerical, or tonal spaces between things.

2

Not updating 1 or 2 for an extended period, even though for Pete's sake, Robin, how hard is it? You probably have the easiest to update blog ever

2005-06-24T07:31:00.000-04:00

An absence of new posts on oneortwo.blogspot.com for roughly a week or more.

1

Locomotion

2005-06-13T02:05:00.000-04:00

The ability to move oneself.

2

Stickers

2005-06-12T15:53:00.000-04:00

Adhesive-backed pieces of paper with graphics and/or text on the paper side.

2

Having had twelve addresses in the past four years

2005-06-04T01:06:00.000-04:00

Moving to a new home with all of one's belongings in tow an average of three times a year during a four-year period.

1

The difficulties associated with timing cooked food

2005-06-04T01:03:00.000-04:00

Being unsure of how long different things, like mushrooms and haddock, will take to cook in unconventional ways, much less how they should be cooked if they are ingredients in the same improvised dish.

1

Bedsheets

2005-06-04T00:59:00.000-04:00

Fabric that dresses a mattress, usually a pair consisting of one elastic-lined fitted sheet and one rectangular oversheet in addition to pillowcases.

2

Replacing the x with the dot in multiplication

2005-06-04T00:56:00.000-04:00

In mathematical notation, using a dot to indicate that the quantites immediately preceding and following it are to be multiplied instead of using the traditional x symbol.

2

Radical Islam

2005-05-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

The belief that Muhammad was God's last prophet and that violence against infidels is justified.

1

Index cards

2005-05-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

Small, rectangular pieces of paper that are stiffer than normal sheets.

2

Cyanobacteria

2005-05-24T16:39:00.000-04:00

A blue-green, algae-like, photosynthetic bacteria.

1

Timbre

2005-05-24T16:34:00.000-04:00

Characteristics of a tone other than pitch or volume.

2

Timberlines

2005-05-19T10:21:00.000-04:00

Altitudes in the mountains above which there are no trees.

1

Robert Keohane

2005-05-19T10:17:00.000-04:00

The author of After Hegemony and other texts on international politics and game theory, and a professor of political science at Duke University.

2

Callow

2005-05-19T10:15:00.000-04:00

Inexperienced, immature.

1

Charlotte

2005-05-19T10:13:00.000-04:00

A song by the rock band Slint that is arranged in a style resembling chamber music.

2

The Elements of Journalism

2005-05-14T08:37:00.000-04:00

A short book by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel that attempts to explain and solve the major problems facing modern American journalism.

2

Not doing the dishes right away

2005-05-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

Leaving dishes and silverware that have just been used for food consumption unwashed for an indefinite period.

1

Fillet

2005-05-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

A boneless cut of meat or fish.

2

Old East

2005-05-12T13:59:00.000-04:00

The oldest public university dormitory in the United States, located on Cameron Avenue in Chapel Hill, NC.

2

Food line

2005-05-08T10:19:00.000-04:00

A hypothetical method of visually representing on a one-dimensional line segment the amounts of various types of foods one should eat in a day for optimal health.

1

Food pyramid

2005-05-08T10:05:00.000-04:00

A method of visually representing within an equilateral triangle the amounts of various types of foods one should eat in a day for optimal health.

2

FBI Copyright Warnings

2005-05-05T05:02:00.000-04:00

Notices that begin most commercial VHS and DVD recordings in the United States, usually with a static image of white text announcing illegality of reproducing the recording and the penalties for reproduction on a green or red background.

1

Poor penmanship

2005-05-05T04:50:00.000-04:00

The tendency to write on paper in a sloppy manner that is difficult to read.

1

Doug Neidermayer

2005-05-05T04:28:00.000-04:00

The Omega brother and ROTC leader in the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House, played by Mark Metcalf.

1

Baguette

2005-05-05T04:06:00.000-04:00

A gem cut into a rectangular prism.

2

Diffusion of responsibility

2005-04-30T21:56:00.000-04:00

The concept that the greater the number of persons who are witness to a calamity that any of them could help to mitigate, the less the likelihood that each individual will feel compelled to act.

1

Nerve gas

2005-04-30T21:41:00.000-04:00

Any of various airborne substances that can inhibit critical functions of the nervous system, causing incapacitation or death.

1

You're in the air

2005-04-30T21:38:00.000-04:00

The eighth track on R.E.M.'s electronics-heavy 1998 album, Up.

1

Osmosis

2005-04-30T16:11:00.000-04:00

When fluid diffuses across sides of a semipermeable membrane such that each side becomes equally concentrated.

2

Lee Harvey Oswald

2005-04-25T05:17:00.000-04:00

Born on October 26, 1956 in San Diego, CA, the late assassin of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

1

Toll roads

2005-04-25T05:08:00.000-04:00

Major thoroughfares on which motorists must pay to drive according to the distance they travel.

1

Intent

2005-04-22T17:09:00.000-04:00

What is meant.

2

E-bow

2005-04-22T13:47:00.000-04:00

A handheld electromagnetic device that moves the strings on an electric guitar without contact, producing a "bowed" sound.

2

Wolf calls

2005-04-20T11:28:00.000-04:00

Vocal expressions of sexual interest or attraction usually made by human males to passing human females, articulated by variations on "Owwwwww."

1

After Chill

2005-04-20T11:07:00.000-04:00

A crush of mostly African-American people, souped-up cars, and motorcycles that descend on downtown Chapel Hill following the town's official "Apple Chill" street fair.

1

Mesothelioma

2005-04-15T14:44:00.000-04:00

A rare, malignant cancer of the chest sometimes caused by asbestos exposure 30 to 40 years earlier.

1

Fountain of youth

2005-04-15T14:43:00.000-04:00

A mythical spring that could counteract the effects of age, which Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sought in Florida.

1

Ticks

2005-04-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

Small, wingless insects or arachnids that feed on the blood of large mammals.

1

Heroin

2005-04-15T14:10:00.000-04:00

An addictive, morphine-derived narcotic, C₁₇H₁₇NO(C₂H₃O₂)₂, which can make a person's arm fall off.

1

Dhaka

2005-04-12T04:39:00.000-04:00

The capital of Bangladesh, with about 6.5 million residents.

1

Bromine

2005-04-12T04:35:00.000-04:00

A liquid, nonmetallic, corrosive, volatile, heavy, pentavalent, brownish-red element whose name comes from the Greek word for "stench."

1

Vowel fracture

2005-04-10T13:09:00.000-04:00

The extension, or breakup, of a vowel into a diphthong.

1

Vowel

2005-04-10T13:03:00.001-04:00

A two-syllable word referring to those sounds that are produced by the unobstructed passage of air through the larynx and mouth.

2

Fracture

2005-04-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

A cracked or split bone.

1

Diphthong

2005-04-10T12:55:00.000-04:00

A monosyllabic sound in which one vowel glides into another.

2

Trash

2005-04-09T20:54:00.000-04:00

The material remains of spent things, such as banana peels, egg cartons, or broken air conditioning units.

1

Syllable

2005-04-07T07:50:00.000-04:00

A segment of speech made up, in English, of one vowel-containing sound.

2

Journalism

2005-04-07T07:45:00.000-04:00

Bringing information to a public audience.

2

Climbing things

2005-04-05T04:38:00.000-04:00

Moving upward by way of ladders, roofs, fortuitously placed crates, and air conditioning units, often in minor violation of the law.

2

Sean May

2005-04-05T03:18:00.000-04:00

A Carolina basketball player who wears a size 20 shoe.

2

The man who sat next to Patrick at "The Village" in Boston last July

2005-04-03T23:50:00.000-04:00

A peron who called himself "the Thunder" and gave loud, ceaseless, bitter, and profane commentary to the Shyamalan film until he walked out near the midpoint, but not before much argument with Patrick over whether he should talk during the movie.

1

Chapel Hill

2005-04-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

A town in the Piedmont region that is home to the University of North Carolina's flagship campus and is easily accessible by major interstate highways, train stations, and airports.

2

Postcards

2005-04-02T16:21:00.000-05:00

Small, firm papers that can be mailed at little cost.

2

Caret

2005-03-31T04:17:00.000-05:00

A narrow, vertical, blinking bar in the text interface of computer software that indicates where typed input will go.

2

Carat

2005-03-31T04:15:00.000-05:00

Equal to 200 milligrams, a measure of the weight of precious stones.

1

Clear skies

2005-03-31T04:13:00.000-05:00

A local weather condition during which no clouds are present.

2