I rather like my camera. Bought a new zoom lens a few months ago.
Friend I hadn’t seen for about 20 years delivers a vintage nerdy gift.
During the original run of Star Trek: The Next Generation, my college roommate and I invited our friends over to our duplex for Star Trek parties. Our local TV station ran the show at midnight Sunday, which was a terrible time, but we sometimes had 30 people over. Though we kept in touch virtually, I…
Local news is the building block of a national democracy.
Yesterday, I asked my students, “How many of you spent $4 on a cup of coffee in the last month? How many have spent that much to support local news?” “If people don’t get local news, they don’t know what’s going on in their community. If they don’t know what’s going on in their community,…
The Girl at rehearsal (where else?).
Alex and Carolyn rehearse for “The King and I” Saturday night
Shall we dance? The girl tries on her ball gown for The King and I. Her featured show is this Saturday.
A woman approached The Post with dramatic — and false — tale about Roy Moore. She appears to be part of undercover sting operation.
This looks like a deliberate attempt to plant a “fake news” story, presumably in order to discredit the Washington Post for falling for it. Verify, verify, verify. The Post did its homework, and did not fall into the trap. Sadly, this story will be used to discredit people who come forward with legitimate sexual assault…
6 Problems with our School System
I spend a lot of time re-educating my students, assuring them that my job as a college professor is not to give them a checklist, and then award points for each item they ticked off correctly; nor is my job to teach to a test. Shortly after I started teaching in my current job, a…
Fallout Monopoly with the boy.
Curse you, conference proposal word limits.
I’m frustrated by these accursed conference proposal maximum word counts. (10) Curse you, conference proposal word limits. (6) Damn proposal word counts!! (4) Cut wherever possible. (3) Trim wordiness. (2) Simplify. (1) Actually, that helped. Back at it.
Did you share Russian fake news? Facebook, apparently unable to insert items directly in our feeds, will make you jump through hoops to find out.
Did you share fake news from Russia during the US Presidential election? Grudgingly following up on a Congressional order, Facebook will permit you to jump through hoops to find out. Because Facebook apparently does not have the technology to insert items of its choosing directly in user feeds, the social media company has helpfully provided…
Controlling behavior of HQ CEO hijacks what should have been a puff piece about popular HQ host Scott Rogowsky
A few minutes ago I heard about HQ for the first time, through a friend’s Facebook post. An item or two down in my feed I saw a different FB friend had linked to this story. The Daily Beast describes a tense encounter with a CEO who calls a reporter, threatens to fire his own…
Taking Harassment Seriously Requires Serious Distinctions
Editor and columnist Jonah Goldberg questions his fellow conservatives who call for the resignation of Al Franken (a Democrat; junior senator from Minnesota), equating the allegations against him with the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, all the while downplaying the serious allegations against Roy Moore (a Republication; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of…
Details drive the news (new handout)
I have nothing against essays, but not every writing task requires an essay. I tell my students they will be more successful if they produce a narrative personal essay because it’s the right genre for the occasion, not because it’s the only genre they feel comfortable writing. This handout is my latest attempt to help…
Carolyn appears as homeschooled teenager “Carolyn.” Free holiday show Tuesday at 7.
Our Love Affair With Digital Is Over
The other day I found myself very annoyed at how much headspace was occupied by a free game I had downloaded on my phone. So I deleted it. I still go into fight-or-flight mode when I’m drafting a text and a phone call comes in. I like to page through the my notebooks full of…