The pandemic sucks. We’re spending more time with a smaller circle of people, and tensions can mount. But I’m grateful my family is together, and grateful for our health. Sure, things could be better. Recently in my email I found this reflection on the benefits of being in a relationship. 4 Main Benefits of Being…
Today, February 18, 2021 at 20:44 UTC (3:44 p.m. Eastern US time), if all goes well, another robotic rover will land on the planet Mars. —Bad Astronomy Similar:What Can Science Tell Us About Dad Jokes?Beyond making the audience cringe and, h…CultureThe facts evolve as we look into how our re-accommodation process that involved goons drag…The…
Technology is wonderful. My journalism students prefer to conduct their interviews by emails, but the word “interview” defines a back-and-forth exchange where the reporter can respond to body language and other subtle cues that don’t make it into emailed responses. Also, it takes non-trivial effort for interview subjects to write out their answers, only a…
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carolyn Jerz (@i_am_carolyn_jerz) Similar:Has Academia Ruined Literary Criticism? “Professing Criticism” proceeds on the…AcademiaKristin and Haley's Discussion on Poe's "The Raven"I gave my literature students 30 minutes…AcademiaTrump’s war on the media is driving students to journalismTwenty-one-year-old political science st…AcademiaCNN's Chris Cillizza on Trump's definition of…
Similar:My Memories of "Joseph…" [an original cast member reflects on Rice/Webber/Waring's amazi…My high school Drama coach and freshman …DramaEmpty InboxMy to-do do list and my “Follow Up” fold…CybercultureJournalists Verify ClaimsConfirm what your sources tell you. Fact…CultureLooking forward to what looks like an exciting evening of dance.PersonalDaily 10sq cm of control panel eye candy. #blender3d #blender3dart…
On Nov. 14, 1889, Bly waved goodbye to family and friends from the New Jersey Hoboken Pier aboard the Augusta Victoria steamer. Traveling by steamships and trains, her journey sent her around the world from America to England, France, Italy, Egypt, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan, and back to a port in San Francisco. She then traveled by train across the U.S., with four major stops including Harrisburg, Pa., before arriving back in New Jersey on Jan. 25, 1890.
A Texas lawyer accidentally left a kitten filter on during a video conference call with a judge and was unable to change it, eventually responding to a judge’s query about why he was being addressed by a digital feline by saying: “I’m here live. I am not a cat.” Later, the judge wrote: “These fun…
I’ve taken over teaching the English department’s relatively new career focus sequence, so I’m more than usually invested in these ideas. It’s time for faculty and administrators to be blunt: postgraduation success, more than ever, requires a demanding curriculum that includes extensive writing, facility with data and statistics, and extensive opportunities for collaboration and critical…
The media constantly takes things I say and then repeats them on their news shows and in their magazines, and they always leave something out, like the thing I haven’t even said yet that lets you know I don’t believe the thing I already said. If the media wants to be completely accurate, they should…
Enjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropolis I hadn’t seen any of the 20m or so of restored footage. Added main title music was good, but repetitive and not always emotionally aligned with the story. The print was very clear, with crisp details. Nothing like the version I saw…
August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoiler-free scene breakdown Premiered: 1999; Broadway 2001 Setting: 1985; backyard of row houses; Pittsburgh Hill District Prologue (starry night) Stool Pigeon, clicking ham bones, monologues to an offstage cat (which belongs to Aunt Ester). “The story’s been written. All that’s left now is the playing out.” I.i King (30s), ex-con…
Similar:SportsWorks Adventure at the Carnegie Science CenterI confess that I have never been all tha…CultureThe Anatomy of an Amazon 6-pagerIn the halls of power at Amazon, busy ex…BusinessI’m still teaching journalism and my usual courses, but after 21 years I’ve stepped aside …I’m still teaching journalism and my usu…AcademiaBehold this stack of August Wilson library…
Similar:What does the girl do with my iPad while I try to jump-start her mother’s car at a gas sta…https://youtu.be/tOYQc8vByoYPersonalNo interior yet. Getting there. Gotta start somewhere. Low-poly background detail for a me…No interior yet. Getting there. Gotta st…AestheticsMy outward-bound editor's graduation cap.PersonalAuditioning in Pittsbugh (flanked by shots from recent performances).CultureSharing a root beer float…
One former student said I’m the only adult male in their life who ever supported their creative efforts. A second former student posted an essay on social media, describing bouncing back from alcohol and cocaine addiction, and after mentioning several life-savers, mentioned me in the final line of the essay — thanking me for teaching…
Although considerable resources have been invested in helping teachers retool, not much has been done to assist their pupils. Instead, it has been taken for granted that 21st-century youth naturally become fluent in any technology, even without explicit directions. While supposedly clueless instructors are given a plethora of tips and tricks – like the OK,…
I enjoyed reading this short John Henry Newman poem for WAOB Audio Theater. Similar:Scientists should be goggled and in the lab, where they belong. Shut up and make me a vacc…Am I doing the tribal rage thing right? …CultureWilliam Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52 On this date — April 23, 1616 —…
I’ve been a college English faculty member for over 20 years and I just realized I’ve been spelling and pronouncing “detritus” wrong all my life. A short while ago I realized I had typed “detrius” — and that’s how I heard the word in my head — “DEE tree us.” But the word has an…
Similar:Narnia board game — enjoyable family activity (but it's weird that the Pevensies compete …It’s weird that in the Narnia board game…BooksJuly 7, 1936: Get a Grip — Phillips Screws Up the ToolboxThis Wired article also mentions the Can…BusinessThe Case for Banning Laptops in the ClassroomMaybe the students in this photo are dil…AcademiaA crushing backlash…
Ford built about a half dozen of these custom cars designed by Allegheny Steel. I’m not a car guy so I can’t place it beyond that. Similar:Has Academia Ruined Literary Criticism? “Professing Criticism” proceeds on the…AcademiaHappy retirement celebration to two dear colleagues.AcademiaNellie Bly statue to be unveiled at Pittsburgh airport ThursdayIn 1889, Bly became famous…
Playwright August Wilson Takes Center Stage on U.S. Postal Service Commemorative Forever Stamp 📬📃🖊 #AugustWilsonForever #BlackHeritageStamps https://t.co/Ezj04lKcPa — U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) January 28, 2021 Similar:Canon Australia video: 1 man; 6 backstories; 6 photographers; 6 photosCanon Australia wants to sell cameras. T…AestheticsFatal Encounters: One man is tracking every officer-involved killing in the U.S.Most cops don’t…