A stranger approached me today. I was actually kind of terrified at first, since the last time a stranger approached me it was a security guard telling me I had overstayed my welcome in a mall that was closing for the night. (I was trying to get work done while waiting for a family member…
Today is my last official day teaching a compressed winter term “Special Topics in American Literature” course devoted to August Wilson’s Century Cycle. Last night I had a dream that Wilson wrote an eleventh play that I didn’t know about; or that I somehow missed covering one of his ten cycle plays. In my dream,…
August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoiler-free scene breakdown. Premiere: 2003 Setting: Aunt Ester’s parlor, 1839 Wylie, Pittsburgh. 1904. Prologue (late at night) Troubled Citizen Barlow arrives, seeking Aunt Ester. Eli (handyman and “gatekeeper”) tells him to come back Tuesday. Citizen tries to push past him; they tussle, upsetting a lamp. Ester picks up Citizen’s hat…
Similar:The ‘Little Free Library’ arrives in the D.C. areaThe “Little Free Library” concept starte…AmusingReport: Many U.S. Schools Can’t Afford Mannequins, Human Urine For Art Classes“It’s sad, but my students don’t even ha…AestheticsThe secret life of a public library security guardThis made me think of a college friend w…CultureWaiting for a talk on preserving artifacts from…
I really never paid much attention to Schwarzenegger’s time as governor of California, but because I was in living in Wisconsin during part of former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura’s time as governor of Minnesota, I guess I expected bluster and bravado. Yes, waving the Conan sword certainly provided manly spectacle for the groundlings, but the…
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is scaling back its print edition to two days a week as part of the 235-year-old newspaper’s transition to an all-digital news operation, documents show. The plan is to eliminate its Friday print edition beginning Feb. 27, according to a letter from Post-Gazette’s human resources manager provided by the newsroom’s employee union.…
Journalists face a unique threat when covering events, especially the upcoming inauguration where there have been posts on message boards saying reporters are soft targets and free game. The aim of this guide is to give a few broad tips on how to react and survive in a situation that could result in a mass…
Traditional journalism values a focus on news reporting that is fair and impartial, guided by principles like truth, verification and accuracy. But those standards are not observed across the board in the “news” content that people consume. Tim Groeling, a communications professor at the University of California Los Angeles, said some consumers take too much…
Rewatching ST:TNG After discovering that the crew on a missing science vessel has met grisly deaths, the Enterprise crew gets stuck in a Space Thing of the Week, and everyone starts getting unusually irritable. Meanwhile, Troi has recurring nightmares about being suspended in a flying harness. On my rewatch it seemed contrived that the Space…
Similar:See The Nutcracker!@laurelballetperformingco dancers and full @westmorelandsymphony orches…DanceWhen you see a show alone often you can get really good seats. Idaspe @quantumtheatreCultureSeton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabeth Burns, Jake Carnahan-Curcio and Carolyn Jerz in …Seton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabet…AcademiaPhysics simulation demo: crate made up of mostly loose boards. #Blender3d #design #practic… https://youtu.be/OqqlWZvWaqM Physic…AestheticsI spent…
Bryson Gray, a 29-year-old rapper and Donald Trump superfan from North Carolina, wants to make one thing clear: It was a group of the president’s most loyal supporters that rioted in the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, and nobody else. When I spoke with Gray yesterday, he said he had been “too late” to get…
Apple Inc has threatened to remove the Parler social networking service from its App Store unless the company changes its content moderation policies, Parler Chief Executive John Matze told Reuters on Friday. Parler is a social network where many supporters of President Donald Trump have migrated after being banned from services such as Twitter Inc.…
Twitter suspended Donald Trump’s account on the site Friday evening in the latest escalation by social media companies against a president they accuse of spreading misinformation and inciting violence. —Yahoo! News Similar:High Schooler's Fake Story of Stock Riches Fools New York Editors”If your mother says she loves you, chec…BusinessFCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules For…
Similar:We found a mushroom fairy ring in our yardIt won’t make the afternoon of mowing mo…AestheticsOkay yes, this affirmation does matter to me and it will go into my annual review for next…Marked 832 AP English essays in a week o…AcademiaSunny but cool. Great day for a long walk with my son.PersonalMy more or less…
This is not just an issue of a double standard between BLM protesters and white, Republican rioters. It is an issue of safety and justice. Black people asking for accountability when police are violent were met with violence from police. White people attempting to stop an election by force is met with sympathy and seemingly…
I was honored to play Alquist in Artistic Prosperity’s virtual production of RUR over the summer. I’m glad to see Čapek’s play is getting some attention in the Guardian. Not many plays introduce a new word to the language. One that did was Karel Čapek’s RUR: Rossum’s Universal Robots that had its premiere in Prague…
According to the Internet Archive, this is a story NPR posted at 9:33 this morning. As events developed, and the story changed, NPR updated this page — drastically. As you can see, the headline and the picture are different; though the date the page was first created is still there, the page now also includes…
Similar:The Best Word Book Ever, 1963 and 1991.As a child, I obsessed over many Richard…BooksThe spoils.PersonalI think I smelled a hint of my mint toothpaste just now. Wishful thinking, or another sign…For the past 2 weeks I have slept a lot,…AcademiaThis morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca.…
Similar:My "Writing About Literature" Students Are Sampling Text Adventure GamesI’m having my students play Adam Cadre’s…CultureCrossfire #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 13) Odo's feelings for Kira complicate…Rewatching ST:DS9 Odo meticulously ar…EthicsStuffed planet Venus, made for me by my dear mother, around 1974.AestheticsToiletries for a steampunk villain who needs to look dapper. Straight razor and…
I noticed this meme a few days ago. I recognized the “friend of a friend who has insider knowledge” formula that makes people want to share a memes. I know better than to trust anonymous online sources that claim to have special knowledge, so I just re-read what the CDC says and moved on. Here…