Working on the syllabus for my “Media and Culture” class on the history and future of the book. Similar:Memories of Toronto Yonge Street EncountersI arrived in Toronto in 1992 as a 22yo g…CultureThe Abandoned (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 6) A genetically engineered baby …Rewatching ST:DS9 Quark scowls as a l…EmpathyThe geekling is 14…
I’m spending a few days visiting my parents in Northern Virginia. Similar:It’s that time again.PersonalLintels and chimneys for low-poly buildings in a #medievaltheater simulation project. #mys…Lintels and chimneys for low-poly buildi…PersonalCelebration of Writing Fall 2025. Students present their research for their upcoming term …PersonalAnother 10 sq cm section of a #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blender3dart…
Words, words, words. With the advent of the stream of consciousness in twentieth-century literature, it has come to seem that the self is very much a thing made of words, a verbal construction forever narrating itself and reconstituting itself in language. In line with the dominant, internalist view of consciousness, it is assumed that this…
Similar:Live theater. August Wilson's Jitney, in the back yard of the August Wilson House.PersonalStar Trek: "Wink Of An Eye"/"The Empath"Amusing, if cynical, reaction to some of…AmusingI just thought of a time before you were born when I should have been kind, but I can't re… Sometimes when I’m driving along los…AcademiaThe ballroom of my…
A Google self-study found that its own most successful employees had soft skills, such as mentoring ability, empathy, and critical thinking and problem-solving. “Those traits sound more like what one gains as an English or theater major than as a programmer,” according to the Washington Post. [A]mong the eight most important qualities of Google’s top…
Instead of flagging links to questionable news items, Facebook will instead hide them. Which is nice, but it still means we have to trust the algorithm Facebook uses. (Don’t trust Facebook to filter your news for you.) False news undermines the unique value that Facebook offers: the ability for you to connect with family and…
“Dammit Mom, I’m a daughter, not a theoretician!” — the girl, responding to a pointed rhetorical question. Know Your Meme Similar:Toiletries for a steampunk villain who needs to look dapper. Straight razor and shaving br… Nice lighting shows clearly that I h…DesignOkay, a lot of the world is pretty awful right now, but here's an…
Similar:I baked about 12 million vertices of steampunk control panel geometry into a flat plane wi…PersonalThank you, anonymous donor of Mardi Gras candy.Okay, on closer inspection I see the red…AestheticsIf I don't design the control panels for my fantasy #steampunk project, who will? #blender…AestheticsMy virtual army of grey capsules is just barely smart enough to…
No spoilers here. (I managed to avoid all spoilers, and hadn’t even seen the trailer. I did see still pics of porgs, though, and I knew the name of the character the StarWars Bros were hating on, so thank you to everyone who did their part to keep the secrets.) No intellectual critical distance for…
In the bird-flight simulator at the Pittsburgh Aviary, the girl twists and turns, careening around buildings, dive-bombing alleyways, and comes to a perfect landing in the middle of the street just as her timer runs out. The boy immediately heads up to clear the buildings, then flies toward the horizon to see how far he…
Pope Francis recently addressed Italian journalists: Your voice, free and responsible, is fundamental for the growth of any society that wishes to be called democratic, so that the continuous exchange of ideas and a profitable debate based on real and correctly reported data can be guaranteed. In our time, often dominated by the anxiety of…
If you were this person’s attorney, you’d probably want this social media blurb phrased a little differently. The headline attached to the story is clearer. Yes, the social media blurb is shorter, but I’d rather cut the “Twp” and make room for the unambiguous “and.” Derry man accused of assaulting female witness and attorney jailed…
Right now, I’m teaching “American Lit 1915-Present” for the last time. It’s the companion course to “American Lit 1800-1915,” which I’ll also never teach again. They are required courses for English majors who need to cover American Lit, but they were also designed to serve as electives. My colleagues and I have trouble covering the depth that we know our English majors need, without overwhelming students who are just looking to sample a bit of AmLit to fulfill a course requirement. So we’ve revamped both these courses, starting next fall. One new course will be “American Lit 1776-Present,” which will obviously cover fewer works than we can fit into 2 terms, but the benefit is we can be confident that any student who’s taken the course will have a clearer understanding of the scope of American literature. Another new course will be “Topics in American Literature,” which will allow us to go into some depth, without needing to cover a little bit of everything. I’m thinking of picking the focus “Literature and Government,” which could include “Rip Van Winkle,” All the King’s Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, Invisible Man (Ellison, not H.G. Wells) and Farhenheit 451.
“If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press… And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.” — Republican Senator John McCain, in a Feb 2017 interview on…
The euphoria of getting my grades in Friday was short-lived. Similar:Steampunk officer uniforms — test #Blender3D #Unity3Dhttps://youtu.be/SDh4TW8ujNg The vide…AestheticsSoldiers and Sailors Memorial and Museum Another visit to Pittsburgh with my his…CultureIf I am not a pedagogical god, at least my marking app has no ungraded submissions. PersonalSeeing Floyd Collins, a musical about caving and journalism. Front…
Similar:Scrooge Is My BrotherMy daughter delivered the opening “Marle…CultureShakespeare's WillPersonalFall 2020 Midterm Grades: SUBMITTEDPersonalSee The Nutcracker!@laurelballetperformingco dancers and full @westmorelandsymphony orches…DanceThis winter I changed my weekday alarm tone to chirping birds. This winter I changed my weekday ala…AestheticsConnecting with the BoyToday my son asked me to take him shoppi…Culture
Similar:Hamlet. #tobePersonalOut for an April stroll.NatureMy Parents (aged 72 and 78) Demonstrate a Ballroom Dance PoseThis is how my parents finish their Arge…AestheticsSkin of Evil (TNG Rewatch, Season 1 Episode 23)My rewatch reflection on the Star Trek:T…DesignData's Day (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 11)Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….DanceAnd if my point of view…
Similar:Part of my daily routine is practicing German for about 15m per day. With no particular pr…EducationEven in the U.S., Chinese Students May Have Tiananmen ‘Amnesia’But now that he was at college in Americ…CultureDaily 10sq cm of control panel eye candy. #blender3d #blender3dart #steampunkAestheticsFive myths about daylight saving timeNo, Daylight Saving Time was not created…BusinessIn…
Similar:The Girl's Obsession with Scottish History ContinuesWife: “What did you do with your bedshee…AestheticsI just thought of a time before you were born when I should have been kind, but I can't re… Sometimes when I’m driving along los…AcademiaIn April, 2001 I was blogging about interactive fiction, Roget's Thesaurus, John Lennon, H… A student newspaper…
Similar:Subtle Stylesheet Tweaks for Mobile SiteOn the mobile version of my WordPress we…AestheticsWhat would holidays be without Dickens' beloved 'Christmas Carol?'It takes some visits from three scary sp…DramaHollow Pursuits (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 21) Misfit Crewmember Faces…Rewatching ST:TNGÂ after a 20-year break….AmusingI played Pseudolus freshman year in college. Haven't seen the show in a…