Reader, I ushered him. @pictclassictheatre

Similar:Hamlet!PersonalBehind the bar in the officers' pub, from the #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my…AestheticsThe girl as Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn and Thorin. #proudofthegirl #notentirelysurewhy #still…AestheticsSettling in for a jukebox show (not my favorite genre but the Go-Gos are fun).PersonalMy English major skills crushed the girl in Bananagrams.Wildcard? You mean quitter tile! GamesMy second…

The crisis in local journalism has become a crisis of democracy

The paucity of reporters has triggered an invisible power shift toward elected officials. A Pew Research Center study of Baltimore showed an increase in local stories based on press releases from elected officials. The trends in journalism exacerbate the divide between the coasts and the rest of the country. In 2014, almost 1 out of 5 U.S. reporters…

Cheerful scene from @pictclassictheatre Jane Eyre (getting great reviews; 11 more performances)

Similar:Greensburg student wins Shakespeare contest A Greensburg student did the Bard pr…CultureSparkle unicorn "Winston" lends ethos to a presentation on moral agency on anima…PersonalOn set. #indiefilm #historicaldrama #creativity #enjoylifePersonalNational Dance DayIn the restaurant parking lot after dinn…CultureWe'll Always Have Paris (TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 24)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaReliving memories and saying goodbye…

After my conference talk, a post-audition, pre-Jane-Eyre-performance dinner with the girl.

Similar:Seeing A Wrinkle in Time. @prime_stagePersonalThe third Google hit for " #steampunk control panel" is a #blender3d image I cre…PersonalI am happy with how this turned out. My mother told me about this story when I was little,…PersonalI'm having scads of fun designing #steampunk control panels. #blender3d #blender3dart…AestheticsVulcan mind-melds from Star Trek: The Original Series,…

Presenting at #NEMLA session 8.1 Friday. “Hacking English: Examining a multimedia sandbox ‘creative critical project’ as an approach to literature.”

Similar:NASA has flown a drone on Mars. A tiny robot. A flying robot. On. Another. Planet. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succe…AwesomeBeatrix Potter-pinching and Žižekian swipes: the strange world of book theftsWe caught a gent last Christmas with £40…BooksFall 2017 Grades Submitted. No professional tasks until Tuesday. Bliss!PersonalPreppers for the win. Kinda.The euphoria of getting my…

Rereading “Writing to Learn”

Rereading “Writing to Learn,” William Zinsser’s 1988 book about helping students overcome the fear of writing. That’s how I remember the book, but it’s also about hacking the act of teaching so that we don’t inadvertently convey the notion that students who make mistakes during the writing are doing something wrong. I spend a lot…

Superman Comic about Sympathy and Hope

Just in case someone out there could use it, here’s a powerful comic that emphasizes the power of sympathy (written by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of my second favorite TV show). No sunshine and rainbows, no victim-blaming, no finger-pointing — just humane compassion. (Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.) Superman on…

Chapbooks — the latest assignment in my “History and Future of the Book” class.

Students have already done a 400-word speech, a 400-word manuscript, and a 400-word typescript. I asked them to make multiple copies of their books. They wrote, cut, pasted, photocopied, folded, and bound. Our classroom today smelled cheerfully of glue.  Up next: A “Futuretext” (whatever that means). Similar:The barbican at Mickelgate was pulled down in the…

Amazing birthday cake, created by Jane Eyre herself, Karen Baum. (Thank you @kaboom1250!)

Similar:Letter of Recommendation: Fanny PacksWhat other accessory ensures the safety …CulturePeople with autism spectrum disorder avoid eye contact because it causes anxietyMy culture has taught me that eye contac…CultureLast weekend I roughed out shapes to represent buildings, in order to provide some sense o…Last weekend I roughed out shapes to rep…PersonalMy Daughter's Synesthesia: "S" Is…

What About “The Breakfast Club”?

I made three movies with John Hughes; when they were released, they made enough of a cultural impact to land me on the cover of Time magazine and to get Hughes hailed as a genius. His critical reputation has only grown since he died, in 2009, at the age of fifty-nine. Hughes’s films play constantly on television and are even taught in schools. There is still so much that I love in them, but lately I have felt the need to examine the role that these movies have played in our cultural life: where they came from, and what they might mean now. When my daughter proposed watching “The Breakfast Club” together, I had hesitated, not knowing how she would react: if she would understand the film or if she would even like it. I worried that she would find aspects of it troubling, but I hadn’t anticipated that it would ultimately be most troubling to me. -Molly Ringwald, New Yorker

Happy Sweet Sixteen, Carolyn!

The girl spent her birthday weekend opening a show and auditioning. Similar:The dress we ordered for the “girl next door” role in The Fantasticks… vs the dress that…AestheticsBoy that feels good. AcademiaMe (glares in iambic pentameter)Me: I need to post the opening lecture f…AcademiaLittle Women (the daughter plays Amy, the youngest sister)PersonalMechanical innards for a…

Pictures from opening night of @pictclassictheatre Jane Eyre. (Show runs through the rest of the month.)

Similar:Faculty lining up for #SetonHill's "Go Orientation" — new ceremony hands students from th…AcademiaBackstage with the White Swan and her prince.PersonalIgnorance Meets an Invisible DisabilityI’m sure my young, healthy-looking frien…CultureAssembling wall units to bake into a texture atlas. Teacup is a freebie from polyhaven.co… AestheticsIdlewild's Story Book Forest Improves Its SignageIn the past, I have…

Brand new chairs for PICT draw applause.

Similar:CEO’s brutalist office, for a Zoom-based production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)….AestheticsThe boy tied for second place in Saturday's Monroeville Chess Club tournament.Peter was the lowest-ranked player to en…GamesSeeing A Wrinkle in Time. @prime_stagePersonalOn the spiral staircase that leads from the top deck down to the officers' pub and wa…AestheticsYounger friends, can you write or…

PICT's production of Jane Eyre has its first preview tonight.

Similar:I just installed the "Old Layout for Facebook" plugin for Chrome.I just installed the “Old Layout for Fac…CybercultureHeart of Glory (TNG Rewatch, Season 1 Episode 20)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaSnow White: The Musical Opens Fridayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIRCoHoN…AestheticsWhen you need to record footsteps on a sidewalk, and the carpeted studio has a brick wall.AmusingI've got a lot…