‘People are rooting for the whale’: the strange American tradition of Moby-Dick reading marathons
When I went off to college to be an English major, my father (who passed last December at 90) told me a story about how his respected professor at Northwestern University spent a whole lecture on the seven levels of symbolism in Melville’s Moby-Dick. Being of an analytical mind and precise mind, my father copied…
It’s something to do.
Though I have marking and prep and committee work and paperwork to do, I took an hour before bed to touch up this segment of the #medievalyork city wall because research. #blender3d
Setting up high, medium and low levels of detail for this element of a city wall. #medievalyork #blender3d
Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.
When I ask my students to use the library database to find scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles, some students stick with the search methods they’re already familiar with, and they submit works cited lists that include articles written by undergraduate interns, or articles from low-value pay-to-publish ecosystems like “Frontiers.” While I don’t read every article students…
Populating my simulation with a crowd. Tweaking and experimenting. #unity3d #medievalyork #mysteryplay
I have more to do than mark 99 assignments, but this is a nice stopping point.
Unmarked assignments. Major drafts came in over the weekend so I lost some ground but I know what I need to do for the next few days.
Making sidewalks to go with the buildings. Tedious but will save time later. #blender3d #medievalyork #mysteryplay
I love a little courtyard. I think I’ve made enough #blender3d buildings for now. On to the next phase of my simulation. #medievalyork #mysteryplay
I’m thinking this is a still from the cringey Season 1 episode of TNG where the natives build a religion around a bag of Starburst candy that falls out of Wesley’s pocket. #design #aesthetics #startrek #tng
Carolyn choreographed a fight-dance adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
Each building in my #medievalyork simulation has four levels of detail (so that distant objects render faster). #blender3d #mysteryplay #design #cgi
Another corner building. Designed and textured. Needs an interior. #blender3d #design #aesthetics #medievalyork #mysteryplay
Another corner building. Designed and textured. Needs an interior. #blender3d #design #aesthetics #medievalyork #mysteryplay
What have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are collaborating on a Google Doc that’s coming together very nicely before our eyes.
What have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are collaborating on a Google Doc that’s coming together very nicely before our eyes.
There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing Is Powering AI
Two years after the release of ChatGPT, it may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission to power AI products. Yet the notion remains disturbing to many artists and professionals who feel that their craft and livelihoods are threatened by programs. Transparency is generally low: Tech companies tend not to advertise whose…
I both like and hate that Canvas tracks the number of unmarked assignments that await me. (This number was 230 this weekend.) If marking papers was all I needed to do, this number would be much lower.
I both like and hate that Canvas tracks the number of unmarked assignments that await me. (This number was 230 this weekend.) If marking papers was all I needed to do, this number would be much lower.
The complex geometry on this wedge building took me all weekend. #blender3d #medievalyork #mysteryplay #cgi #aesthetics #design
The complex geometry on this wedge building took me all weekend. The interior walls still need work. And from this angle, those roof tiles look too big.
Sesame Street had a big plot twist in November 1986
My older siblings say they remember our mother sitting them down to watch a new TV show called Sesame Street. A running gag was that Big Bird’s friend, the huge, gentle wooly-mammoth-like Snuffleupagus somehow always disappeared before anyone else on Sesame Street could see him, leading the adults on the show to believe “Snuffy” was…
I played hooky from work to see Wild Robot with my family
I played hooky to go see Wild Robot this afternoon, so I went back to the office to mark more papers. Plenty more to go, but I put a good dent in things. The story and characters of Wild Robot were not as engaging as those of Wall-E, and the problem of “how do predators…