This is a challenging writing task. Presidential biographies are a staple of children’s book publishing, and of classrooms across the country. Nonfiction for children is a surging category, particularly in light of a Common Core mandate that schools put greater emphasis on it in their curriculum. Publishers like Penguin Young Readers, Scholastic and Time for…
All of us with Facebook accounts do work for Mark Zuckerberg. Our tagging, sharing, and liking gives Facebook valuable information that advertisers use to reach us. This article describes how Facebook has been courting news organizations, asking them to provide content tailored to Facebook’s needs. Facebook is not interested in an informed, educated public that…
My kids have never seen The Princess Bride. (This is an odd pop culture gap for my 80s-obsessed girl.) Similar:UChicago College Admissions, Indiana Jones Mystery PackageWhat we know: The package contained an i…AcademiaMechanical #greebles (more #Blender3D practice)https://youtu.be/NzUp-9e_olQAestheticsNews report from 1981 about the Internet.A human interest story about an early ex…BusinessScientists should be goggled and in…
A literary work is a powerful tool for simulating what it’s like to inhabit someone else’s life. Not just tolerating difference, or grudgingly giving “the other side” equal time; but generating real empathy for the diversity of humanity. There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a…
It’s extremely important to understand what a wide range of people are thinking about, and that includes being exposed to influential ideas that I disagree with. I’d rather not hide from an idea that has power, especially if it turns out I can do something about the issue. The headline is a little misleading… there…
NASDAQ.com throws shade via Reuters: Snapchat is popular among people under 30 who enjoy applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto their selfies, but man yon Wall Street are critical of its high valuation, slowing user growth and lack of profitability. Joel Randewich, NASDAQ.com Similar:In May, 2001 I was blogging about lanuguage, design and Cliffs…
Free speech is valuable. It’s dangerous to set the precedent that it’s okay to censor speech as long as you side with the censor and against the position being silenced. A New Jersey school district has suspended a teacher after yearbook photos of two high school students were altered to remove President Donald Trump’s name…
Similar:The Naked Now (Season 1, Episode 2: ST:TNG Rewatch) When a script that blows chunks makes …With a large ensemble, we saw many scene…CultureToo Short a Season (TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 15) When an old admiral youthens, shows…Rewatching ST:TNG. I was underwhelmed…HistoryAssembling wall units to bake into a texture atlas. Teacup is a freebie…
Similar:I have a daughter who does things. If demon curses and buckets of stage blood are your thi…I have a daughter who does things. If de…AmusingThe Duolingo owl is proud of me.PersonalIt’s something to do.PersonalBlender 3D Flyover of Fantasy Steampunk Spacecraft When my kids were small, at bedtime …AestheticsAnother delightful section of #neovictorian #steampunk…
Similar:Americans grapple with recognizing facts in news stories: Pew surveyThe more you identify with a particular …CultureThe Cabaret Theatre (Latrobe) presents Shakespeare's popular Midsummer Supernatural pranksters! mismatched …CultureMore #Blender3D practice. Additional details for a steampunk control panel. Just because.AestheticsIn January, 2002 I was blogging about… A 20-something former CEO takes a fa…BooksEarth With RingsSure, Saturn’s…
Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. Best case scenario? A virtual reality game that is either based around Portal or Half-Life, or unites the franchises into one experience. Valve has invested heavily in VR and clearly values the technology as an entertainment phenomenon – the Portal demo for Vive is one of the…
Similar:Creating textures for background buildings in a medieval theater simulation project. I can…Creating textures for background buildin…AestheticsThe only snow alert you'll ever need.AmusingStarting my “Writing about Literature” class by having students react to a John Donne sonn…PersonalThey both reached for the gun.PersonalSpanish dance @laurelballettheater @westmorelandsymphony The NutcrackerDanceKeeping it classy. My 20yo son encounters the…
Similar:The Outsiders — four sold-out weekday matinees; four more performances this weekend So proud of my talented, hard-working …Books100 Word ChallengeIt is a weekly creative writing challeng…CultureA new study shows that students learn way more effectively from print textbooks than scree…Saving this for next term’s “History and…BooksMy brother is visiting to play a game of…
MTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Actress” awards in favor of “Best Actor,” which suggests the gender-specific term “actress” is less popular among MTV’s target audience. I added that detail, fixed some broken links, and updated the graphic. See Writing Tips: Gender Neutral Language. Similar:Unpopular grammar rulesLanguage is a fluid, living social const…CultureBing's AI chatbot helped…
With the money I saved by working on the car (watching a lot of YouTube tutorials) I bought a new midrange zoom, in the hopes I won’t miss shots by swapping lenses. And now my camera bag won’t quite zip shut. #ConspicuousConsumption Similar:Thoreau's Cellphone ExperimentWhen I teach “Intro to Literary Study,” …AcademiaScreening of "Indentured" (short…
Similar:Apple Watch is ugly and boring (and Steve Jobs would have agreed)I am not feeling the love for Apple’s iW…AestheticsPuns really matter to us over here in English.I swore I would wield my powers only for…Academia"The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does …PersonalCarolyn's Theater Bio…
Similar:Winnie the Pooh saga turns 100 years old todayOne hundred years ago today a Canadian s…BooksDr. Seuss Racism Controversy: A Dr. Seuss Expert Unpacks the Author's History With Racism,…Nobody is banning, cancelling or censori…BooksJournalism In The Service of Democracy: A Summit Of Deans, Faculty, Students And Journalis…This morning in my mail I found an attra…Cyberculture30…
While doing some spring cleaning around my computer desk at home, I noticed that there are scores of old PC games that are still stacked up within arm’s reach, even though I no longer even use a computer with an optical drive at that workstation. But these are games that have sentimental value for my…
Oppressors deny their own agency and dehumanize their victims by using the passive voice. I want my students to recognize this deliberate strategy, and to look for hidden actors and dehumanized recpients of injustice. (I try to teach about active and passive verbs in a more lighthearted way, but I only bothered to photograph and…
The voice of Wallace has died. The silly, plummy, character-driven steampunk/sitcom hybrid Wallace & Gromit films were a big influence on the tone of the “Captain Gearhart and the Magnificent Blimpship” steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell the kids. Peter Sallis has died at the age of 96, his agents have announced.The actor…