Alphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape: pop-up book by Kelli Anderson

A fascinating concept. (Thanks for the suggestion, Mom!) Ever wonder how we ended up with so many different styles of letters? Open any text editor, email client or design app and you will immediately be bombarded with a buffet of typographic choices. Serif or sans serif? Display or text? Classical or contemporary? Formal or casual?…

The daughter introduced me to this wonderful Martin Freeman comedy. Kind of like School of Rock, but with an elementary school Christmas play. Painfully funny. The kids were so authentic.

Similar:Craiyon: The signing of the Declaration of Independence, starring Chewbacca.PersonalMy student journalists sport their fashionable “What Would Jerz Do?” wristbands.AcademiaHere for the daughter.AcademiaThe Woman in BlackLast night’s preview was a layered treat…CultureAssembling wall units to bake into a texture atlas. Teacup is a freebie from polyhaven.co… AestheticsI’m fairly satisfied with this version of a medieval…

Gil Gerard (1943-2025)

I built a model of the two-pronged Starfighter (a really sleek and elegant vehicle that deserved a better name) and the one-engined Draconian fighter. I recall being impressed by the two-hour pilot I knew the series that followed was silly fluff. I was 11, so perhaps at the time I didn’t quite appreciate Erin Grey…

Fall 2025 Grades Submitted!

Similar:A Conversation with Dennis Jerz, Actor — WAOB Audio Theatrehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU6vs0ZB…DramaFurnished a random nook in the #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser I'm building. Not ha…PersonalSHU Community Lines Up to Honor JoAnne Boyle's Final Trip Up the HillJoAnne Boyle liked talking about traditi…AcademiaCrabby 9yo Constructs a Head-mounted Frump-amplification Isolation CubeMy 9yo was ordered not to leave the kitc…DesignNarnia board…

The daughter is home from London.

Similar:I've got a lot to learn, but my #blender3D #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser, and this…AestheticsSorry, not sorry. I don't want such friends. Back in 2003, shortly after I moved …CultureMy student journalists sport their fashionable “What Would Jerz Do?” wristbands.AcademiaThe Fantasticks closes today at 2.PersonalStar Trek Beyond was an enjoyable nerdy family outing.PersonalRefreshing my memory of…

Misleading to suggest that because I have nothing left to mark that I have nothing to do, but this is progress.

Similar:Enjoying live theater.The Illustrious Invalid. @kinetictheatre_pghPersonalWhat a great time everyone had at the "Cabbies."CultureAnd now that June’s almost over, it’s time to start prepping for the fall term. (Sigh.)PersonalAP Style: try to determine, and then respect, a source's preferences when it comes to…PersonalVery impressive mural has been installed in Admin for SHU’s Centennial.PersonalGetting in the…

Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.

Twelfth-grade reading scores are at historic lows, and college professors, even at elite schools, are increasingly reporting difficulties in getting students to engage with lengthy or complex texts. Perhaps that is to be expected in the era of TikTok and A.I. Some education experts believe that in the near future, even the most sophisticated stories and…

The Moral Authority Of Animals

Chimpanzees in Arnhem’s Royal Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands had learned zookeepers’ rule that meals wouldn’t be served until all had assembled. But one day, as reported by Time magazine in 2007, two teenage chimps were more interested in staying out to play than coming in to eat. The others had to wait for hours,…

Serving at Christmas on the Hill 2025

Similar:Another 40sq cm chunk of a #steampunk control panel. I'll do three more variations followi…AestheticsJustice (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 7) When Wes trips on a fence, joggers' god gets in…In which Wesley commits a crime on the L…CultureReading a Classic American Play to My Daughter BooksStill More FaceTime FunI realize that video-chatting teenagers …MediaFind…

A lost generation of news consumers? Survey shows how teenagers dislike the news media

More than half of the teens surveyed believe journalists regularly engage in unethical behaviors like making up details or quotes in stories, paying sources, taking visual images out of context or doing favors for advertisers. Less than a third believe reporters correct their errors, confirm facts before reporting them, gather information from multiple sources or…

Here are some real statements from Pope Leo that many people who have been sharing fake memes seem to have been looking for.

Pope Leo XIV, who has made peace and unity priorities of his pontificate, emphasized that “the more we are reconciled, the more we Christians can bear credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a proclamation of hope for all” and, in the words of Pope Francis, “a message of peace and universal…

Pie, anyone?

Similar:My daughter found where all the missing pens and pencils end upAmusingThe girl on Halloween 2018. (The boy and I were watching the 1931 Frankenstein at the libr…PersonalShy Preschooler Won't Say Her Lines in "Peter Pan" Rehearsal (Stage Right! Greensburg)Little Maggie isn’t so sure she wants to…DramaHandshakes Really Do MatterMonday night handshake/eye contact pract…CultureThe Physics…

A student who is writing her research paper on Taylor Swift made a passing reference to Kanye West and offered to explain herself. Her jaw dropped when I showed her this meme I created around 15 years ago.

Similar:Surprised and delighted to find that Scratch 3.0 runs on an iPad.PersonalReady to teach another set of students what research is (and what it isn’t).AcademiaOn the upside, no fake news is currently being shared on Facebook. Can't think of a do…PersonalSettling in for a jukebox show (not my favorite genre but the Go-Gos are fun).PersonalToday's…

I Set A Trap To Catch Students Cheating With AI. The Result Was Deflating

My classes are generally small enough that I have time to get to know each student’s writing. When a student who confuses “bias” and “biased” in a hand-written response later that day sends me an email later that day that uses “whom” and “betwixt,” I notice. I can’t prove a student is abusing AI, but…

‘History has treated her badly’: Hamnet and the 400-year-old mystery around Shakespeare’s wife and son

Anyone seen “Hamnet”? I was not too impressed by “Shakespeare in Love,” which perpetuated the biographical fallacy — that the key to unlocking the one, true meaning of a literary work is listing how each detail in a literary work “could represent” some detail in the author’s life, and that once you’ve constructed that list,…

Connecting the Dots…

Madeline Cash reflects on her boomer mother’s use of ellipses. When I texted to thank her, she responded, ‘Enjoy . . .’ Why not Enjoy period or Enjoy exclamation point? Did she resent the gift? Are the treats poisoned? There’s an extensive online discourse on the Baby Boomer generation’s penchant for ellipses. ‘OK . . .’ ‘Thanks…