Faculty lining up for #SetonHill’s “Go Orientation” — new ceremony hands students from their parents to robed Hogwarts pretenders.

Similar:Save our children from the Grammar TribeSimilarly, “dived” is the traditional pa…CultureThe Geekling Worked a Shatner/Nimoy Tribute into GodspellMy geekling daughter, who in Willy Wonka…AmusingWhy liberal arts and the humanities are as important as engineeringWe learned that though a degree made a b…AcademiaTapdance / jazz music outing with the girl. Tapdance / jazz music outing…

Dani Girl (Oct 1-3, 2015) at the Geyer Performing Arts Center

Vinnie Tresco, Carolyn Jerz, Matthew Hommel, and Kathryn Pretz are in the cast of this playful, intense & inspiring musical. Similar:The girl will be performing as the Dew Drop Fairy in the Dec 8 evening performance of The …AestheticsThat’s water under the bridge! Crowds of NPCs charge across, sweeping the player along. G…That’s water under…

Advising incoming majors.

Similar:Life would be so much better if all the interfaces we encountered looked like #Steampunk c…AestheticsIf in question, have more GOOD than BAD? University of Georgia Student Journalists Walk Ou…My students and colleagues sometimes won…AcademiaEmpty InboxMy to-do do list and my “Follow Up” fold…CybercultureI made some progress.Personal8 (Short Halloween film by Josh Reardon)My daughter and…

To Learn More, This High-Schooler Left The Classroom

Nick Bain, 17, was in class one day when he calculated that only “2 1/2 to three hours” was actually useful instruction. So he decided to go out on his own to learn. —NPR Similar:Advising incoming majors.AcademiaFULL BLOOM at Latrobe’s Olde Main, Aug 30-Sep 2.CultureI never have time to create materials like this during the…

Unscheduled Disasters in Journalism: Learn to Deal

In school, we expect our professors to answer our questions, to return our emails, to invite us in for a consultation, to pay attention what we say and read carefully what we write. One of the important lessons of being a student journalist is learning how to deal with the unexpected. Unfair things happen in…

Thoughtful PopCult Analysis of ‘Peanuts’ Deserves Better than a Clickbaity Headline Hating on Snoopy

On a shelf in the slanty room under the stairs, next to her college textbooks, my mother kept a stash of inexpensive Peanuts paperbacks — dozens of them, which reprinted the newspaper strips, perhaps on a yearly basis, maybe more frequently. I spent many a summer afternoon reading through those books, and I remember sorting…

One wild place. (Sunday.)

Similar:While at Sadecky's Puppets to record the role of Heidi, Carolyn met a new friend.We spent Sunday afternoon at the Sadecky…AestheticsRecent SHU journo grad, upon the hiring of an even more recent SHU journo grad: "Many time…A couple weeks ago I posted about a rece…AcademiaHappy Easter 2024PersonalSeeing Lyle Kessler's "Orphans" with the girl.Personal"I'm a…

My laptop hard drive is full & my comfort-food shelf is empty

My laptop drive is full & my comfort-food shelf is empty; however, that package slip was for a new external hard drive and a case of Clif Bars. #winning! Similar:'Little Mermaid' brings new music to the Andersen fairy tale – Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewThe story line is similar to the Disney-…Current_EventsSuch A Good Feeling: The Affectionate Documentary…

Amazon may well be the most evil company in tech

Last week, I had a hardware emergency. A kid in a small-town hardware store spent about 15 minutes helping me find the right nut. I had the troublesome part with me, and used a vise on their worktable and their wrench to twist it in place. The nut cost 50 cents. I asked the kid if…

After a successful piano recital.

Similar:Writing a Cutline (Caption) for the News: Three examples of an often overlooked journalism…In journalism, the “cutline” is the text…AestheticsMS-Word's helpful "View -> Focus" mode delays stress-related breakdowns.You won’t usually catch me saying anythi…CybercultureThat Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent ItProfessional disinformation isn’t spread…CultureEarth doesn't need more 'successful people'.The plain fact is…

Facebook Should Pay All of Us

The trick is that most people think they are getting a good deal out of Facebook; we think of Facebook to be “free,” and, as marketing professors explain, “consumers overreact to free.” Most people don’t feel like they are actually paying when the payment is personal data and when there is no specific sensation of…

Just wrote the first ending to my in-progress journalism game (created in Twine)

3,486 words, 120 links, 57 lexias, and currently this is the only ending.

How Technology Has Changed The Way We Write

Social media services have put writing tools into the hands of people who probably don’t think of themselves as writers, but there they are, captioning photos and picking hashtags and maybe even pausing just a few seconds to edit before they hit “post.” This radio interview offers a good, informal overview of why people who…

Sesame Street Is Moving to HBO, and the Symbolism Is Crushing

I’ve been fascinated by the rhetoric of headlines surrounding the “Sesame Street moves to HBO” story. * HBO gentrifies ‘Sesame Street’ –VentureBeat * Sesame Street Episodes Will Shrink to Half an Hour –Time * Sesame Street Is Heading to HBO, and Getting Even Bigger –Esquire * This episode of Sesame Street brought to you by…

TARDIS from today’s 3D printing class.

Similar:Making Connections in Virtual One-ShotsI often invite my colleague Kelly Clever…AcademiaThe Harry Potter Decision, as text – UpdatedGroklaw has a good analysis of the recen…BooksWhat have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are col…What have my students learned about crea…AcademiaStudying STEM Isn’t The Career Boost We ThinkTurns out, getting a STEM…

A serious summer activity.

Once classes start again, we will all have less time for the game of life. Let’s do some serious playing while we still can. Similar:It's probably safe to throw these out.PersonalAttending the Texture Contemporary Ballet.PersonalObama vs. Romney D&D Smack-Down at NYC GalleryThis week, if you head to the Allegra La…Aesthetics“Let It Go,” Idina Menzel’s Frozen…

Keyboard Shortcuts for Novelists

Use the command-alt functions to add sexual tension, plot twists, or a humorous interlude. —The New Yorker Similar:Journalism Tips: Newsworthy vs SnoozeworthyA newsworthy story is recent (rather tha…CultureThere is a thing in literature, theme X.I’m very happy that several students in …AcademiaBilbo's party sociological infographic.AestheticsParents Dedicate New College Safe Space In Honor Of Daughter Who…

Updating Journalism Handouts

Jerz > Writing > Journalism I’ve spent the afternoon touching up some older journalism handouts, seeing which are still in good shape, which need some work, and which new ones I’ll need to create from scratch. I realize I’ve never actually written a handout on the inverted pyramid, writing leads, writing headlines, punctuating quotes from sources… of course there…

Why Teachers, Parents, and Society at Large Have Destroyed Kids’ Love of Learning

I have experimented with rewarding students for embracing complexity, taking risks, and for celebrating their failures. Returning to musical theater after a 25-year break has been a valuable lesson in humility for me, and a reminder of just how scary it is — exciting and scary — to do something new. The truth—for this parent…

Introduction to Twine (Tutorials by Vegetarian Zombie)

I will always love Inform 7, but I chose to develop a journalism training game in Twine (because it will be much easier to teach Twine to my students). To prepare for my game, I spent about 6 hours (during my son’s last chess tournament) roughing out about 20 lexias. Since then, I’ve spent about 6…