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

Similar:Kinetic Theatre's "Hound of the Baskervilles" was hilarious. Kinetic Theatre’s production was ful…BooksAmazing birthday cake, created by Jane Eyre herself, Karen Baum. (Thank you @kaboom1250!)PersonalVisiting my parents. Admiring their original Hallmark Enterprise Christmas ornament. I ask…AmusingAdding details to a clip-art silhouette, for a project that will be released in a day or t… An important but…

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:The Passenger (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 9) Dead criminal keeps committing…Rewatching ST:DS9 In a runabout, Kira…CultureYellow Journalism Did Not Cause the Spanish-American…

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:Bill…

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:Before and after making a meme of myself as Oberon, King of the FaeriesCultureSports Meant So Much to Me. Why Wouldn’t My Son Play?I…

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

Similar:Facebook exec erroneously cites The Lord of the Rings when comparing the social network to…A Facebook executive, Andrew “Boz” Boswo…Business'Inappropriate' dance moves lead to calls for student lessons in Peters Mr. Merrell said the students told h…AmusingEnglish teaching: Johnson: Talking past each otherWhen I got to college, I had already lea…AcademiaLiberal Arts Classes Could Teach…

Salesman at Pittsburgh Public Theatre.

Similar:Every conversation between a parent and a child, in four conversations. (Slate)This whole item applies very well to one…AmusingLittle green owl, if your emotions depend this much on how often I practice, that’s defin…Little green owl, if your emotions depe…PersonalThe black chair is down to 18¢ per ounce? Shut up and take my money,…

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:Brass desk lamp, with translucent green shade and glowing light bulb filament. #blender3dPersonalMy simulation project does not require me to master medieval daub and wattle architecture….My simulation project does not require m…AestheticsNerd-buddies”He likes Lord of the Rings, Star Wars *…BooksOut & About: Stage Right holds its annual Heart of the Arts Gala Source: Out &…

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

Similar:The Cabaret Theatre (Latrobe) presents Shakespeare's popular Midsummer Supernatural pranksters! mismatched …CultureA question I find myself thinking all the time.PersonalSad that NASA is taking a back seat to a private company, but still nerding over an Americ…BusinessThe Duolingo owl has been judging my German every day for the last year.EducationWhat would I get if…

Graduation procession #classof2017

Similar:A question I find myself thinking all the time.PersonalThe girl enjoyed seeing Alex Noble and the rest of the cast of Sive. (Last shows, 2 & 8 to…CultureUnfinished pine and not so ornamented, for the workshops and service areas of my fantasy #…PersonalSummer Theater Camp Photos: "Patrice" in "13" My 11yo performed the part of…

About to launch.

Similar:Made it to the closing performance @quantumtheatreDramaA colleague bakes Irish soda bread to share on the Humanities floor every St Patrick's DayPersonalFaculty assembling in launch tube beneath Salvitti Gym. #classof2017 @setonhilluniversityPersonalThere’s Something Off About LED BulbsWhen I’m stressed, or I feel life is spi…AestheticsBook geyser. My latest #Blender3D practice.In a peaceful grassy setting, a…

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

Similar:Family outing to the Pittsburgh National AviaryPersonalTwo classes will turn in final revisions at midnight Sunday, and final multimedia project…Still plenty of work to do before I fini…AcademiaSpent a half hour taming this tangle of cables (left) with a little tiny six-inch-wide car…AestheticsDress rehearsal for The Nutcracker.AestheticsIgnorance Meets an Invisible DisabilityI’m sure my young, healthy-looking…