This clever freshman writing student created a project in Texture, which is designed for branching narratives (such as the Choose Your Own Adventure stories). In the next few screens, he put up nodes showing older and more recent writing samples, asked me to choose which one showed the better writing technique, and gave me feedback…
Peter looks forward to his Wednesday evening visits to the Monroeville Chess club. (Last one until mid-January.) Similar:Another section of a #steampunk control panel for a texture atlas. #blender3d #blender3dar…AestheticsTo all these tools I've loved before…While cleaning out my desk at home I add…AestheticsMe loving my birthday truck, c. 1971. I adored this truck, and…
I haven’t taught a developmental course at SHU, but when I teach freshman writing, I often encounter students who struggle with the transition from high school to college writing. Those who were praised all their lives as good writers can tell good personal stories, and they can deploy accurate summaries of non-controversial, “correct” facts. I give…
Saturday, Donald Trump tweeted that he knew Flynn lied, and that’s why he “had to fire” him. Critics immediately raised concerns, noting that if Trump did in fact know Flynn had lied, then Trump’s request that FBI Director James Comey “let this go” amounts to an obstruction of justice. Sunday, Trump’s lawyer John Dowd told…
Pop quiz for public relations 101. Scenario 1: You run a wildly popular app that incorporates video with a live host. You learn that a reporter is writing a personality profile of your host. Do you offer some cheerful quotes and then make a note to get your host to sign a new contract that handles…
Similar:Carolyn plays Ti Moune in the Stage Right homeschool company "Once on This Island"…PersonalI’m not making a serious attempt at recreating specific architecture, just trying to conve…I’m not making a serious attempt at recr…PersonalAfter your shift at the protocol station, join me in the officers' lounge, just up the spi… AestheticsThoroughly enjoying Collaborators at Quantum…
Similar:Desk blotters, with procedural leather and wood materials by Blendermada. #blender3dAestheticsHere's how Maria amuses herself on the ride home from dress rehearsal. #WestSideStoryPersonalSetting up high, medium and low levels of detail for this element of a city wall. #medieva…PersonalThe choreographer daughter is doing a thing.The choreographer daughter is doing a th…PersonalIf I don't design the…
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…
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,…
Similar:Yes I do own a copy of the 1975 Star Trek Enterprise blueprints, but this guy annotated hi…PersonalI'm not tired of @shu.pippin yet! Final performance is sold out.PersonalAmong today’s major professional accomplishments: installing this hook. #springbreakMy office door feels more complete now. …Academia"Only You" — 11yo Carolyn Sings a Power Ballad from "Starlight Express"The observation…
Similar:Seeing Floyd Collins, a musical about caving and journalism. Front Porch Theatricals.PersonalPluto FlybyWhen I was about 10, I wrote to NASA and…Current_EventsTrying out a new lens to capture creepy-toy-come-to-life choreography. AestheticsUsing a Typewriter Simulator to Teach Media HistoryWorking on the syllabus for my “Media an…CultureThe chief engineer of a fantasy #steampunk flagship needs a small…
Similar:Headphones, Croutons and RhetoricME (with crouton tongs in one hand and s…CultureWorked a short day today, and it shows. Tomorrow is another day!PersonalA #neovictorian master status display board for a #steampunk #blender3d project. Inspired …AestheticsMy basement dehumidifier was flashing an error code. YouTube had a tutorial with a possibl…My basement dehumidifier was flashing an…PersonalI'm in…
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…
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…
Similar:Justice (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 7) When Wes trips on a fence, joggers' god gets in…In which Wesley commits a crime on the L…CultureMany of these individual steampunk control panel elements are repeated, but I've arranged …AestheticsSee The Nutcracker!@laurelballetperformingco dancers and full @westmorelandsymphony orches…Dance"Jewish priests do this. It's where Leonard Nimoy got the…
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. Similar:Google Favors Good Reporting, Not Liberal Views: StudyIt’s a logical fallacy to suggest that w…CultureShort Reports: How…
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…
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…
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…
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…