Today's workload included requesting a "less-depressing used chair" #lowexpectations #partylikeaprofessor

Similar:Ushering for a school matinee. Love seeing the kids excited about @prime_stage Frankenstei… CultureVolunteering at our local food bankEthicsCan you really say you’ve designed #neovictorian uniforms for a fantasy #steampunk cruiser…AestheticsSold out closing performance. Support the arts in your community!Sold out closing performance. Support th…PersonalWe found a mushroom fairy ring in our yardIt won’t make…

Survivorship Bias – You Are Not So Smart

Successful people may just be lucky; focusing too much on their successes can silence the honorable failures that we can all stand to learn from. People who consider themselves “lucky” take more risks, and are therefore more likely to discover opportunities. They brush off their failures rather than dwell on them. People who consider themselves…

Saints and Poets, Maybe They Do Some

I wrote the following in 2004, when my son was 6 and my daughter was 2. The time is waning that my son will want nothing more than to play Battleship and The Magnificent Race with me all afternoon. Some day I’ll make a silly joke, and my daughter won’t giggle with glee, she will…

Think Before You Tweet In the Wake of an Attack

Sobering analysis. Would I be able to follow this advice in the unthinkable event I had a personal account to share? Terrorists use social media to recruit, but they also depend on you and the media to use it to amplify their message…. The motivation for terrorism is not mere murder or maiming but the…

Digital Humanities: A Definition

Does the world need another working definition of digital humanities? Do you have one? Here’s mine. Digital Humanities is the deliberate, critical application of emerging technology to the study of traditional subjects such as literature, art, philosophy, and language, often (but not always) with a focus on how those traditional fields are now using emerging…

Prototypes in Technical Writing: What are They?

Many a high school student has muddled through a book report in a single caffeine-fueled sitting, but successful research term papers or quarterly progress reports require planning. In technical writing, a prototype might be a full table of contents (with summaries for each major section) and one or two complete chapters. If conducting a survey is…

Adding a little Middle-Earth drama to a photo shoot.

The girl was concerned she wasn’t nerdy enough, so she’s taken to wearing a prop ring on a chain around her neck and calling it “My Precious.” (Photo credit: Kelly Tunney.) Similar:It's Friday night in July, and I'm jamming with my fall course preps.The dean sends me an email at 9:07pm. In…AcademiaI went with frisse.…

Amazing High School Yearbook Politics Spread

I’m gobsmacked by the creativity that went into researching, writing, and crafting this layout. A look at how students in the Kansas City region commemorated the campaign in keepsakes meant to be enjoyed by all classmates, no matter their leanings. Source: It Was Hard This Year to Keep Politics Out of High School Yearbooks Similar:Another…

Washington Post, Breaking News, Is Also Breaking New Ground

The Washington Post, famous for breaking the Watergate scandal that brought down Nixon’s presidency, is churning out top-quality journalism in the age of Trump. As an organization the Post is gaining readers, hiring journalists and scooping its competition. As a private company since 2013, when the deep-pocketed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought it for $250…

Same photo, two different interpretations.

This is why I spend time teaching my journalism students about how to write photo captions. Which description is more trustworthy? Which description will likely get more shares on social media? Similar:Another 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel. Trying to add a subtle pattern to the light-…One of many steampunk control panels I’v…AestheticsComfort the…

The girl enjoyed seeing Alex Noble and the rest of the cast of Sive. (Last shows, 2 & 8 today.)

Similar:Are "Keds" still a recognizable kid shoe brand?Are Keds a brand that my college student…DramaWatching ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ with 18,000 teenagers was one of the most profound theate…The arts are vital to our lives as human…BooksMy semester with the snowflakesInsightful essay from a US Military vet …AcademiaWhen Robert Pinsky Wrote a Video Game[F]or a…

Salesman at Pittsburgh Public Theatre.

Similar:That time three-year-old me spotted a Mary Cassatt painting at the Art Institute of Chicag…My mother had a framed print of Mary Cas…AestheticsCome see Carolyn as “The Girl” in The Fantasticks, Oct 18-27. CultureDear organization from my past that just sent me a scolding email…Dear organization from my past that just…CultureTalk with us about…

Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings?

Not a day goes by without The Girl reminding us that everyone else her age has a phone — but she also compares her desire for a phone to Gollum’s desire for The Ring. Many adults have told her she’s lucky not to carry around the burden of social media updates, though part of her…

Old English Has a Serious Image Problem

This fall I will be teaching Shakespeare again; but thereafter, as part of a curriculum redesign, Shakespeare will be rolled into a “Shakespeare in Context” course that will also need to address Beowulf, medieval drama, Arthurian legend, Chaucer, Marlowe, etc. I intend to do this by teaching five different Shakespeare plays, focusing on one play…

In Defense of Liking Things

It used to bother me that people got all excited about the color shirt that was being worn by a particular person holding (or throwing, or tossing, or avoiding) a small round object. Then I read the Onion article “Walking Sports Database Scorns Walking Sci-Fi Database:” A self-described “sports fanatic” who experiences vicarious thrills through…

Procession #classof2017

Similar:After lights out, the girl is knitting.PersonalIf I don’t hang my own artwork on the walls of my #steampunk fantasy ship-of-the-line, who…AestheticsWhat does the girl do with my iPad while I try to jump-start her mother’s car at a gas sta…https://youtu.be/tOYQc8vByoYPersonalIn September, 2000, I was blogging about PICK UP AX, Bellamy's Looking Backward, WB Yeats,…In…

You may move your tassels from right to left. #classof2017

Similar:Every day on my fantasy #neovictorian interplanetary cruiser features glowing green ether … In the backstory for the interactive…AestheticsI think I smelled a hint of my mint toothpaste just now. Wishful thinking, or another sign…For the past 2 weeks I have slept a lot,…AcademiaThey've got magic to do. Carolyn is the Leading Player. (Pippin,…

Graduation procession #classof2017

Similar:Work / Life Balance: UnlockedI think I must be doing something right …AcademiaThough I have marking and prep and committee work and paperwork to do, I took an hour befo…PersonalMe waiting for students to drop by during office hours. AcademiaNight Terrors (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 17) Trapped crew grows paranoi…Rewatching ST:TNG After discovering…

About to launch.

Similar:Sherlock Holmes and The Woman (daughter and I rehearsing for a live recording Friday after…CultureMy brother is visiting to play a game of chess with his nephew and watch his niece perform…GamesAn important day to remember.Never again.Personal#SHUConvocation is about to begin @setonhilluniversityPersonalHow do you know when your #steampunk fantasy cruiser has enough lamps? #blender3d…

Faculty assembling in launch tube beneath Salvitti Gym. #classof2017 @setonhilluniversity

Similar:Date a girl who reads.I earned a +8 or +9 spousal bonus when I…AmusingPresenting at #NEMLA session 8.1 Friday. “Hacking English: Examining a multimedia sandbox …AcademiaSelf-Regulation: American Schools Are Failing Nonconformist KidsFor a while, we were part of a homeschoo…CultureHappy Easter 2019 Current_EventsThe truth hits Thorvald. Loved PPT PlayTime’s online presentation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s…