Working on the syllabus for my “Media and Culture” class on the history and future of the book. Similar:It's a Didactic Day in the Neighborhood: Mister Rogers and Educational IdeologyI recently lamented that my kids are gro…AestheticsSobering data; stunning visualization.This NYT story on the effects of race on…CultureThis Is How My Composition & Culture Class…
I’m spending a few days visiting my parents in Northern Virginia. Similar:Symbiosis (TNG Rewatch, Season 1 Episode 22)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…CultureBook geyser. My latest #Blender3D practice.In a peaceful grassy setting, a geyser o…AestheticsEnjoyed making a 3D print of the captain’s chair from the #steampunk bedtime stories I use…Enjoyed making a 3D print of…
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:Pie, anyone?PersonalAnother chess tournament with the boy.GamesThe girl as Mrs Lovett with Ben Federico as Sweeney Todd.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITqwfTCk…CultureBefore the haircut. PersonalVibing to a park saxophonist as I code for an upcoming conference presentation, and wait t…Vibing to a park saxophonist as I code f…AcademiaSeeing Lyle Kessler's "Orphans" with the girl.Personal
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:Another fun 10 sq cm of a #neovictorian #steampunk control panel. #elegance #design #aesth…AestheticsOn the Importance of Nonverbal Feedback in the Classroom [an Anecdote]I don’t generally like teaching with sli…AcademiaSlashes in Legal WritingI’m not a…
Similar:Hello, I’m Dr. Jerz, I’ll be your server tonight for Christmas on the Hill. Hello, I’m Dr. Jerz, I’ll be your serv…Personal#PPTPlaytime adaptation of The Merchant of Venice.Top — nonverbal addition with Jessica an…DramaElmo? Yes, I do mind. I learned far more from Bert.Like plenty of people my age, I grew up …AestheticsFriday night board…
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:The Most Toys (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 22) Data Abducted by Eccentri…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….ArtThe daughter experiences her birthday cookie AestheticsGo not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.First runner-up for the girl’s Halloween…AestheticsIf I…
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Similar:Getting ready to run a ChoiceScript workshop for Computers and Writing 2023. #cwcon #cwcon…PersonalCompleted uniforms for the officers and crew from the #neovictorian #steampunk bedtime sto… Right now I can move the player aroun…AestheticsThe Hunted (ST: TNG Rewatch; Season Three, Episode 11) Honorable soldier exiled by the pea…(Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break…EthicsThe automatic doors…
Similar:The Physics Behind Traffic JamsIn between today’s various events, I das…CultureTwittering The MachineI’ve never been a phone guy. My vo…AcademiaAfter your shift at the protocol station, join me in the officers' lounge, just up the spi… AestheticsGeorge Joseph Jerz (1933-2023)George Joseph Jerz, born on September 3r…EmpathyOut & About: Cabaret Theatre presents its 'Cabbie Awards'You can…