Journalists write to inform, not to impress.
Sometimes when I find myself putting more than a usual amount of creativity into a comment on a student paper, I take a break from churning through papers to make another meme.
Vulcan mind-melds from Star Trek: The Original Series, in the order that I can think of them…
With Dr. Simon Van Gelder in Dagger of the Mind the Horta in Devil in the Dark; mirror Spock melds with McCoy in Mirror Mirror with Nomad the floating space probe in The Changeling. Kinda sorta with random guard (remotely projects the vague idea that the prisoners have escaped, so not really a meld) in……
A Simple Plot for a Literature Review
There are two things you need any time you are stuck in writing. You need to set the course and steady the course. If you are stuck while writing a literature review, then each of these things– set the course and steady the course– have particular ways in which you can do them easily, and…
A Grave Tale (a short story I narrated for WAOB Audio Theatre)
A Grave Tale (WAOB Audio Theatre) Written by Kelsey McIngyre Narrated by Dennis G. Jerz Similar:How Artists on Twitter Tricked Spammy T-Shirt Stores Into Admitting Their Automated Art Th…Yesterday, an artist on Twitter named Na…BusinessBirthright, Part 2 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 17) Worf sows disorder in a …Rewatching ST:TNG L’Kor tells Worf th…EthicsSetting up…
Fake News Remains Top Industry Concern in 2017
“In the past, people fabricated content. There were ‘midnight flyers,’ which were pieces of propaganda usually sent out by candidates and put on the windshield of your car or under your door at home. And there were forms of content that contained serious misinformation in them. Sometimes they looked news-like and sometimes they didn’t,” explains…
The Mere Presence of Your Smartphone Reduces Brain Power, Study Shows
The researchers found that participants with their phones in another room significantly outperformed those with their phones on the desk, and they also slightly outperformed those participants who had kept their phones in a pocket or bag. The findings suggest that the mere presence of one’s smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity and impairs cognitive functioning,…
Donald Trump’s chilling escalation of his war with the media
A journalist’s response to President Trump’s early morning caps-imbued assault on the FAKE news media. Let’s be clear about what Trump is suggesting here. He wants the Senate intelligence committee to open an investigation into the “Fake News Networks” to get to the bottom of why so much of the news is “just made up.”…
How We Found Tom Price’s Private Jets
Great behind-the-scenes story of the hard work that went into breaking the Tom Price private travel story. The first tip came from a casual conversation with a source back in May: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was using private jets for routine travel, possibly in violation of federal travel rules that allowed such flights…
Backstage with the White Swan and her prince.
Similar:@shu.pippin was great. Four more chances to see it!PersonalThe girl is the Dew Drop Fairy in @laurelballetperformingco The Nutcracker Saturday evenin…PersonalMore world-building props for a fantasy #steampunk #Blender3D project.DesignSpent a half hour taming this tangle of cables (left) with a little tiny six-inch-wide car…AestheticsMy outward-bound editor's graduation cap.PersonalAn Unexpecting MinorityTruthfully, I expected my new department…Academia
Russian Grand Ballet Swan Lake.
Similar:I don't expect any but the largest text will be legible in my #steampunk project, but it w…AestheticsMy colleague @crissycp offers warm soda bread and tea every year, as part of her authentic…AcademiaThe Duolingo owl has been judging my German every day for the last year.EducationHeart of Glory (TNG Rewatch, Season 1 Episode 20)Rewatching Star…
Half of my students have never read Hamlet. (I told them not to get too attached to any of the characters.)
We focused just on Act I today — the opening scene on the battlement, the initial court scene that introduces Claudius and Gertrude, the domestic scene where Ophelia gets mansplaining first from her brother then from her father, and Hamlet’s encounter with the ghost. After the slow opening acts in A Comedy of Errors, The…
British Politician begins reciting colonial-era Kipling poem in in Myanmar temple
After the UK ambassador cut off his recitation of a pro-colonial Kipling poem in a Maynmar temple, UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson said, “No? Good stuff.” The foreign secretary has been accused of “incredible insensitivity” after it emerged he recited part of a colonial-era Rudyard Kipling poem in front of local dignitaries while on an…
Carolyn and Nick in Beauty and the Beast
Similar:What's wrong with the way I talk?Wife & daughter competing w each oth…AestheticsWatching ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ with 18,000 teenagers was one of the most profound theate…The arts are vital to our lives as human…BooksThis is manageable. Far better than some semesters.This is manageable. Far better than some…PersonalThoughtful analysis of how the tension, shot choices,…
Teaching the First Amendment Freedoms
In an opening lecture, I briefly listed the five freedoms Americans are guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Then I moved on. I quizzed them the next week, and they didn’t do too well. They did a little better when I surprised them with a follow-up quiz. After that,…
Inverted Pyramid: A news story starts with what’s most important, not with whoever spoke first at the event you’re covering.
Jerz > Writing > Journalism Using the inverted pyramid structure is one of the major differences between a news story and a personal essay. Similar:It's Not "Fake News" Just Because You Disagree With ItI use the term “fake news” to refer to d…CultureDespite its impressive output, generative AI doesn’t have a coherent understanding of the …[A] popular type of…
Who cares about hyphens, commas and capital letters? You should.
You’re a busy editor, fighting a deadline. Two submissions arrive in your email. One is brilliant but full of grammatical errors and style inconsistencies. You’d have to spend an hour fixing it up. Another submission is just okay, but it’s ready to go. Which would you publish? I often encounter students who’ve been told all…
The girl rehearsing as Babette in Stage Right’s Beauty and the Beast
Carolyn rehearses with Nick Lenz. Her show is Friday night. (She’s a napkin, wolf, and villager Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.) Similar:I'm honestly not sure where that came from.For my summer project, teaching myself t…AestheticsJust a handful more of these elegant #steampunk control panels and I can move on to the ne…AestheticsDevil's Due (#StarTrek #TNG…
Reception after faculty workshop. #partylikeaprofessor
Similar:After purchase of latest accessory, I can no longer close my camera bag. #ConspicuousConsu… With the money I saved by working on…PersonalAnnie — Cabinet TomorrowMy 10yo daughter Carolyn played Annie in…AmusingCarolyn choreographed a fight-dance adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.PersonalIt’s been a while since something got me into a movie theater. Obviously I wasn’t in a…
In Which I Bow Before the Mistress of Teen Snark
The Girl: I’m sorry I’m being so… Me: Self-deprecating? The Girl: No! Me: Testy? The Girl: No… the term I was going for is “bitchily modest.” Similar:Why are we so bored?On average we spend six to seven hours i…CultureThis friendly gangster was parked at WalMart in Johnstown yesterday.This friendly gangster was parked at Wal…PersonalIn "World…
On the Ethics of Rebranding a Former Trump Administration Official as an Amusing TV Personality
It’s also a disservice to readers to report on Spicer’s post-White House life and not mention how unusual and controversial his tenure was. This is a guy famous for meeting with reporters near the bushes on White House grounds, for coining the phrase “Holocaust centers,” for creating the necessity for courtroom sketch artists in the White House briefing…