I’m nerdy enough to give my 15yo a used copy of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” He’s halfway through it now. (Nerd kids are awesome kids.) Similar:Narrative, Creativity, and EvolutionMy students are finishing up Hayles, My …AcademiaKeyboard Shortcuts for Novelists Use the command-alt functions to add s…AestheticsCelebration of Writing Fall 2025. Students present their…
I love me a good Amazon mock review. Here are several. From scientific miracles to literary criticism, by way of bodily functions and failures of common sense. Many moons ago, I wrote about the art of the humorous Amazon review as a modern masterpiece of parodic genius, embodying Arthur Koestler’s seminal “bisociation” theory of how…
I would never have chosen to watch “Cowboys and Aliens” but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Similar:Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhillLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhi…TweetsHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President…
RT @dloehr: 12yr: “Those Muppets are lip-synching.” Similar:How hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump …AcademiaMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsIn Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The…
RT @mkirschenbaum: Can’t see them well enough to read, but guy sitting next to me is typing out short, broken lines of text. Tempted to ask… Similar:Parallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesShe doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a purse?To stash…
Faculty who need to publish for professional reasons can be motivated for reasons other than a royalty check, so this sounds like a good idea. The Affordable College Textbook Act, introduced by Durbin and Franken this month, aims to lower book costs by promoting the use of open-source textbooks. Open books, as defined by the…
Once, someone really cared about these old periodicals. The bound copies have been weeded out of my school library. Post by Dennis G. Jerz. Similar:The Problems of Real-Time Feedback in Teaching WritingSometimes my students get nervous becaus…AcademiaStart writing your novel. Journey with Seton Hill University t…AcademiaYou’re Just Gonna Be Nice by A. LangeIn a study,…
I expect my English majors not to balk when I ask them to learn new software. One good way to learn is to shadow someone who already knows it well. Even better, work with a classmate who’s just a step or two ahead — that way they can both learn together. In my “News Writing”…
“Goddammit, I don’t know what to do!” Obama said, banging his hands in frustration against a wall of binary as the entire healthcare.gov mainframe suddenly froze, forcing all previously flowing lines of code to come to a complete standstill. “I can’t fix this! Get me out of this place!” “Please! Just get me out of…
Descriptive grammarians rejoice. Formal written English is not the only legitimate form of the language, and the rules of formal written English don’t apply in all situations. Sure, it’s useful to know when to use who and whom, but it’s probably more useful to know that saying To whom did you give the book? in…
On the Civil War battlefield where President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that symbolized his presidency and the sacrifices made by Union and Confederate forces, thousands gathered Tuesday, historians and everyday Americans alike, to ponder what the Gettysburg Address has meant to the nation. —The Washington Post. Similar:Thinking a lot lately about masking and empathy,…
Grr! That “15 Xs who did Y” link looked interesting, but on the first page I saw it was broken up into 63 parts. Bad meme. No link for you. Similar:In Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureParallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesRT…
The construction is more versatile than “because+noun” suggests. Prepositional because can be yoked to verbs (Can’t talk now because cooking), adjectives (making up examples because lazy), interjections (Because yay!), and maybe adverbs too, though in strings like Because honestly., the adverb is functioning more as an exclamation. The resulting phrases are all similarly succinct and…
Wow… what a drab, unquoteworthy, unsoundbiteable, graphics-free presentation of findings that will be of tremendous interest to the general public. TV but not electronic games predicted a small increase in conduct problems. Screen time did not predict other aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Further work is required to establish causal mechanisms.. Similar:Rapture #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season…
RT @avantgame: 11,000 kids tracked for A DECADE to see if videogames lead to negative attention, behavioral, mood impact. Result: NO http:/… Similar:Habits for happiness: tips for looking on the bright side of lifeHabits for happiness: tips for looking o…PersonalHello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsLoved seeing A Comedy of Errors @setonhillLoved seeing…
@JustJoshReardon Excellent work from the whole cast & crew. A great night of theater @setonhill #biglove Similar:Desert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessTweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids huddled on…Came around the corner and saw…
Setting out to take my teen to see #biglove at #setonhill Similar:Overheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaShe doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a purse?To stash her Lemonheads and Smarties. ht…AmusingJury Duty UpdateI’m a…
My 15yo wanted to show me Terminator 4, but he opted to watch T3 w/ his little sister (her first time). Nerd siblings are awesome siblings. Similar:A New Talent EmergesI tried hard to frown disapprovingly whe…HomeYou'll Cry When You See This One-footed Penguin Rescue the Blind Vegetarian Orphans Who Ru… Watch A Trailblazer Become An…
Suddenly, something that had been unthinkable–that the Internet might put a free, Ivy League–caliber education within reach of the world’s poor–seems tantalizingly close. “Imagine,” an investor in the Professor’s company says, “you can hand a kid in Africa a tablet and give him Harvard on a piece of glass!” The wonky term for the Professor’s…
Now that Blockbuster Video has officially closed, I welcome Chuck Tyron’s Storify aggregation, which turned up this goodie: When I was a kid, movies like The Wizard of Oz were aired on TV once a year (usually during Thanksgiving weekend). At school the next week, everyone would be singing the songs and quoting the lines.…