In an opening lecture for my journalism class, I listed the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. I’ve referred to the importance of the First Amendment several times, but I haven’t listed the freedoms in class. One week after the opening lecture, I asked students to list those freedoms on…
Wish I’d known this technique when I spilled tea all over my JC Superstar script. (I did the paper towel and fan thing, but didn’t try leaving the book under weights overnight — probably because I needed to use the script at rehearsal.) Similar:Surprised by Mama Cass Elliott's "Different" — powerful folk-pop ballad in trippy…
His despair is only part of his artistic journey. When researching Poe last year, I was surprised to come across an anecdote about him playing leap-frog with his wife and splitting his pants, causing both of them to collapse in fits of laughter. I’m sure it was the memory of joyful moments like this that haunted him as she lay dying and long after she was dead.
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Like vegan pizzas and secular Christmas celebrations, I can hear and understand the reasoning behind why people like football, but their explanation does nothing to make me want to participate on any level. So it’s very interesting to me to read this report of an apparent cultural shift, sparked by concerns about brain injury. You…
I’ve recently processed and absorbed my recognition of the “left brain vs right brain myth.” (One side of the brain may work harder on some tasks, but there’s no evidence to suggest that whether a person is logical or creative has anything to do with how that person’s brain hemispheres relate to each other.) The…
Your mileage may vary, but I immediately thought of Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, who states this problem in negative terms. Yes, she’s a made-up character delivering a line in a movie about an imaginary ring from a fantasy book, but anyone who really understands Tolkien’s story will have reflected on the…
Kim Ash teaches the Newseum’s “Fighting Fake News” class. Whereas teachers once feared that teenagers would fall for everything they read online, now they’re concerned young people won’t believe anything they read. —Washington Post Similar:Final Mission (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 9) Picard and Wesley bond on a Desert …Rewatching ST:TNG. The plot, such as…
Is your academic essay a bit short? First, make sure that you have formatted your draft as required (usually professors ask you to double-space). Faking a longer paper won’t make your writing any more persuasive or intelligent or analytical or factual. It won’t help you to learn what your instructor wants you to learn. My…
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When you’re a homeschool parent, you go with what works. Yes, Carolyn, you may have my plaid bed sheet. Finish reading this book on Scottish history and I’ll take more pictures. No, you may not wear your kilt to church. Similar:The chief engineer has a forward-facing station, on a platform above the technical staff c…PersonalWhy…
Carolyn: “Does no one have a kind word for my Scotland?” Similar:More Adventures in Suburban AdultingAbout four years ago I bought an electri…CultureHow to interact with the introverted…My daughter spends a lot of time with he…DesignThis is about half of the #steampunk control panel details I've created in the past m…AestheticsI’m really enjoying the embossed…
Each element of the periodic table gets its own haiku. What a clever project — traditional haiku frequently celebrate nature. An interactive review of the periodic table — composed of 119 haiku The elements, in haiku Similar:Telling Trump’s Story to Children: For Book Publishers, It’s TrickyThis is a challenging writing task. Pres…BooksGiven a chance to…
Wife: “What did you do with your bedsheet?” Me: “Is that my missing belt?” Girl: “Kilt-y as charged.” Similar:Quick visit to see my mother and siblings.AestheticsJournalism, Fake News, and "Clickbait Defamation"Sometimes when my social media contacts …CultureSiblings gotta sib.PersonalThings are not going well when the other king and queen stop by for such an intimate…
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Fascinating academic effort to find a pattern in apparently random conspiracy theories that regularly pop up in our infostreams during social crises. Experts usually dismiss them because they are so wild and unlikely, and have thus failed to notice their impact. Starbird’s insight was to map the digital connections between all this buzzing on Twitter…
I did in fact search YouTube for videos featuring corridors on the starship Enterprise. And I found this bizarrely satisfying video, featuring not just corridors, but also doors. (Whoosh! Whoosh!) I remember this — our first look at Captain Kirk in the 1979 “Star Trek the Motion Picture.” Similar:The Library Adjacent to My Ethership Control…
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Student (shouldering backpack and heading for door): Why does MLA Style have to keep changing? Me (checks clock): Well… Similar:Midterm Grades Submitted.AcademiaThe amazing daughter is featured in the ads for this commercial dance event. The amazing daughter is featured in th…PersonalDaughter doing a thing. Interviewing the Pittsburgh Dance Council’s Randall Miller for Bur… AcademiaCOVID-19 deaths…
I posted a new handout with tips on surviving group projects in college. Employers value applicants who can work in groups. Most college students say they hate group work, but in the real world, few people work alone. Your assigned partner for a class project may be slow to respond because he or she is dealing…