The Daily Mail Song

  Similar:Ursula K. Le Guin: A Personal Take on Go Set a Watchman  Before Watchman was published, I…BooksBoston Bombing Survivor Dances Onstage for First TimeTechnology and artistry combine in this …CultureIrony in Blakes7 Reboot?RT @Laroquod: @DennisJerz If #Blakes7 tu…BusinessVinyl Chairs, Lace Tablecloth, and Stainless Steel Canisters for a Villain's Lair #blender…I’m working with more complex…

Increasing Number Of Parents Opting To Have Children School-Homed

In addition to providing better supervision and overall direction, school-homing has become popular among mothers and fathers who just want to be less involved in the day-to-day lives of their children. “Parents are finding creative ways to make this increasingly common child-rearing track work,” Miller said. “Whether it’s over-relying on after-school programs and extracurricular activities,…

At Schools, Playtime Is Over

RECESS is no longer child’s play. Schools around the country, concerned about bullying and arguments over the use of the equipment, are increasingly hiring “recess coaches” to oversee students’ free time. […] For children in past eras, participating in the culture of childhood was a socializing process. They learned to settle their own quarrels, to…

Interactive Fiction Awesomeness I am Missing at PAX East, Part 2

  Allagash At the #pax Get Lamp screening and panel. Don Woods! Steve Meretzky! Infocom forever! http://twitpic.com/1b5yo2 1 minute ago from Echofon Reply Retweet   DenisMoskowitz GET LAMP was pretty fascinating. Now watching impessive IF panel. Meretzky is hilarious. 4 minutes ago from Twitterrific Reply Retweet   Gingko1 RT @potteryfanatic: Grayshott Pottery Small Conical Lamp…

It's never too late to start proofreading.

Today’s schadenfreude comes from WSVN. Several people had the chance to catch this error. It’s not any one employee’s fault, but the school’s reputation won’t exactly be helped.  Further, the school missed the opportunity to make the experience into a teachable moment, and instead apparently chose to make no comment.  (It’s never too late, FCC…

First Person: Do I know you?

I suppose that my face-blindness has made me the person I am. I don’t much like movies or People magazine, not because I’m above caring about movie stars, but because I don’t recognize most of them. I became an addictive reader, an author and an English professor because, in the world of words on paper,…

All-text video games make comeback

There’s nothing really new in this story, but it’s still good to see my favorite game genre get some good press. Along with simulated space battles and table-tennis matches, interactive fiction (IF) is one of the oldest of computer-game forms. Though far gone from its commercial heyday in the graphics-impaired ’80s, when it was still…

PAX East 2010

One of the many interactive fiction events at this now-even-more-awesome event that I cannot attend. The current plan: the main GET LAMP episode at 9:30, followed by a panel on stage of people interviewed for the film, and then some showings of a few more features of the DVD, including the Infocom and Bedquilt episodes.…

Family cashing in on ‘David After Dentist’

The viral clip has been viewed almost 54 million times and gave rise to the catchphrase, “Is this real life?” It was the second most-watched video of 2009, according to YouTube, trailing only Susan Boyle‘s appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent.” It’s also been an unexpected bonanza for the boy’s Orlando, Florida-area family, who, despite some criticism that they exploited their…

Day of Digital Humanities

This wordle was composed from word frequencies in definitions of “Digital Humanities,” submitted by participants in Day in the Life of the Digital Humanities 2010. About all we can conclude is that the participants know how to repeat the phrase “Digital Humanities” in their definitions. Similar:Another #steampunk #neovictorian control panel module. #blender3d #blender3dart #design #…AestheticsAlways…

Back to the Classroom

As an administrator, I worked with other professors and administrators. As an instructor of graduate creative writers and upper-division English majors, I was teaching students who also loved words and writing, students who aspired to be what I was, a published author employed in a bookish field. Believe me, I am no longer preaching to…