Sondra’s Garden: Butterfly Release Honors Dr. Lettrich (Seton Hill University)

“Every good lesson plan has a culminating activity,” says Dr. Audrey Quinlan. “Sondra, it took six months, but here’s your culminating activity.” Similar:Ignorance Meets an Invisible DisabilityI’m sure my young, healthy-looking frien…CultureThe Offspring (StarTrek:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 16) Data Experiences FatherhoodRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CyberculturePrepare for the Ultimate GaslightingThoughtful essay from Julio Vincent…

A blessing before the butterfly release at #sondra…

A blessing before the butterfly release at #sondrasgarden #setonhill http://t.co/z8rKzgc49B Similar:I asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked my #geekling whether she was rea…AmusingCarolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is a Campaign Against Twitter Ref…Fascinating use of social media. To be c…Current_EventsParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a…

How Poetry Helps You Improve Your Writing

While I’d rather see a reminder that we need to know the rules of formal writing, so that we can choose to ignore them deliberately, otherwise this author makes a good case for the value of poetry. (Great training for the art of writing engaging headlines and story leads.) (See also “Poetry Writing Tips.”) Poetry…

Save our children from the Grammar Tribe

Similarly, “dived” is the traditional past tense of “dive”, but “dove” has overtaken it, as speakers have drawn an analogy with “drove” and “wove”. At some stage, like “stopt” – the old past tense of “stop”, common as recently as the 1940s – “dived” may be obsolete. When will we start to dock points for…

The Soldier Formerly Known as Bradley Manning

Here is the entry on it from The Times’s “Manual of Style and Usage,” a guidebook used by reporters and editors throughout the newsroom: transgender (adj.) is an overall term for people whose current identity differs from their sex at birth, whether or not they have changed their biological characteristics. Cite a person’s transgender status…

New NASA Astronaut Wrote a Limerick to Get Hired

“There was a lot of writing involved. The one that stands out the most is, we were asked to compose a tweet, a limerick, or a haiku. I believe I did a limerick, and it goes: ‘Eyes fixed, gazing off into space My mind in awe of the human race This is all dizzying to…

This Is What It Looks Like Just Before the Muslim Brotherhood Jumps You

As the recent death toll in Egypt surpasses 500, news of Muslim Brotherhood supporters being slaughtered in Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square has been an especially tragic manifestation of the powder-keg that is “post-revolutionary” Egypt. Just days before, our photographer found himself embroiled in an MB protest near to that now-tragic location. While this story does not…

Astronaut Luca Parmitano describes near-drowning experience in space

With water already obscuring his vision, he had to turn upside down in order to release his safety cable. “Two things happen: the Sun sets, and my ability to see — already compromised by the water – completely vanishes, making my eyes useless; but worse than that, the water covers my nose — a really…

31 Undeniable Truths That Journalism Majors Can All Agree On

Because you know you have the chance to tell stories for a living. Which is pretty cool. via 31 Undeniable Truths That Journalism Majors Can All Agree On. Similar:Stage Right Water SpriteLast week my daughter and I were a littl…AestheticsDon't Talk to the Police (law professor explains why everyone — even if you're innocent…

Lego-Building Tween Refers to “The Hobbit” Text

My daughter, having just received a hand-me-down paperback, is annotating it and consulting it as she cannibalizes multiple generic Lego sets for what looks to be an epic DIY “Lego Hobbit” video. (We did buy her a small “Riddles in the Dark” set so she could have a Gollum, Bilbo, and ring, but everything else…

Rant against the death industry

Death is universal, so one day I’ll face these decisions. I just asked my tween to put down her Legos and my teen to put down his algebra, so I could tell them that when I’m dead, I don’t want them to pay for a fancy coffin, or cushions, or an open casket. I told…

Coined by Shakespeare? Think again

For years, Shakespeare has been thought to deploy greater linguistic variety than contemporaries like Marlowe, Kyd, and Jonson; scholars have estimated that he coined as many as 1,700 words, and that he employed a uniquely large vocabulary of at least 20,000 words. As professor Alfred Hart, long the authority on Shakespeare’s vocabulary, wrote in 1943,…

Don’t Like Hamlet? Now’s Your Chance To Rewrite It

“It’s not really fair to say, ‘Look at this guy who died 400 years before I was born. He certainly had different opinions than me about the value of women.’” North says. “There’s stuff that doesn’t age as well, and what you do is you either adapt it so it works better now, or you…

Disruptions: Texting Your Feelings, Symbol by Symbol

Being a word-oriented thinker, I don’t have much interest in emoji icons. I dislike it when an autocorrect turns a traditional sideways smiley into an icon. My daughter, who at age 11 is too young for a Facebook account, sometimes uses my Facebook account to chat with her slightly-older teen friends, which means that when…

RT @pewresearch: Teens Haven’t Abandoned Facebook…

RT @pewresearch: Teens Haven’t Abandoned Facebook (Yet) — @mary_madden says reports of Facebook’s demise among teens are premature http://… Similar:RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from …TweetsJudge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksTweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a…

Despicable Me 2 “Bottom” gag will do for A Midsummer Night’s Dream what Disney’s Little Mermaid’s Ariel did for The Tempest

The name “Bottom” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is already funny, but I expect my students will likely snigger at it, thinking of the “Silas Ramsbottom” gag from Despicable Me 2. I read The Tempest before I saw Disney’s Little Mermaid, so when I think of Prospero’s spirit Ariel, I do not think of a…

Little People, Big Fun: A Brief History of Fisher-Price Little People

I remember having a Fisher Price airplane pull-toy, and a school that came with a chalkboard and a tray of magnetic letters. But this Sesame Street playset was the best. I was so excited about it my mom let me look at it in the box before “Santa” wrapped it and put it under the…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu

Maybe I’ll start a cover band, cleaning up hip-hop songs…

Maybe I’ll start a cover band, cleaning up hip-hop songs, remixing them as instant breakfast food jingles. I’ll call it “Minced Oats.” Similar:The Future of Academic Style: Why Citations Still Matter in the Age of GoogleLooking forward to getting my copy of th…AcademiaOut & About: Cabaret Theatre presents its 'Cabbie Awards'You can just make out…

If this professor thing doesn’t work out, I’ll sta…

If this professor thing doesn’t work out, I’ll start a nerd-rock band called “Force-choked by Jesus.” Similar:Habits for happiness: tips for looking on the bright side of lifeHabits for happiness: tips for looking o…PersonalIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing you, iPad3, but…TweetsJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentParallel Structure vs.…

Jerz Nerdcation 2013

On a visit to the Washington DC area for my father’s 80th birthday, we did nerdy things. Similar:Fanciful Fun in Theatre Factory’s “The Fantasticks”A great review from Pittsburgh in the Ro…Culture80 Days review80 Days was my go-to game over the summe…CultureLife would be so much better if all the interfaces we encountered looked like #Steampunk…