And now that June’s almost over, it’s time to start prepping for the fall term. (Sigh.)

Similar:Everything is beautiful at the ballet.DanceDesk trays, with procedural wood materials by Blendermada. #blender3dAestheticsMasked, vaxxed, and settling in to watch live theaterBarebones is a little black box theater,…BooksWhen you need to record footsteps on a sidewalk, and the carpeted studio has a brick wall.AmusingApple Hill Playhouse is closing, leaving theater group seeking new homeConfiguring socially…

Capitalists Tell Facebook They’ve Had Enough

It started as a murmur of dissent, but over the weekend the campaign to persuade brands to boycott Facebook ads for the month of July turned into a major crisis for the social media giant. It began badly on Friday when Unilever, one of the world’s biggest advertisers, announced it was joining the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which had already been backed by Verizon, Patagonia, and Ben and Jerry’s.

After a pretty crappy day, I found shreds of joy in this clip of socially distanced salsa.

In my discipline, teaching small seminars typically depends on students sharing their weaknesses and vulnerabilities in pairs and small groups, gradually building trust while the teacher moves through the room, listening and joining in and backing away as appropriate. Masked students who are 6 feet away from each other will have to shout their failures…

Me as a highshool photo-bomber, I presume at the cast party for The Music Man.

Similar:Another 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel. Trying to add a subtle pattern to the light-…One of many steampunk control panels I’v…AestheticsMS-Word's helpful "View -> Focus" mode delays stress-related breakdowns.You won’t usually catch me saying anythi…CybercultureThe Complete Deaths: all of the Bard's 74 scripted deaths in one new play.Over the past four centuries, the…

Theatre Crowd Mustn’t Be Bitter

The en­ter­tain­ment in­dus­try seems up­set that pubs are to be opened be­fore any theatres or mu­sic venues. But you can un­der­stand why the pubs have pri­or­ity – it’s a mat­ter of safety. Theatres are wild places where you can’t con­trol the public. So of­ten, dur­ing a show by a comic, the au­di­ence spreads viruses by…

Hollow Pursuits (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 21) Misfit Crewmember Faces Holodeck Addiction

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Awkward, stuttering junior engineer Barclay spends too much time in an alpha male holodeck fantasy. His swordplay, barroom brawls and over-the-top moments of swagger and seduction approach Kirk-level bravado. A predictable but enjoyable riff on Thurber’s short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” LaForge and Riker have given up…

Okay yes, this affirmation does matter to me and it will go into my annual review for next year.

Marked 832 AP English essays in a week of online work. Rating is based on how accurately I marked the pre-graded training examples scattered in amongst the flood. A really good professional development tool, that helps me to align my assessment with what my peers feel is high school writing skill that deserves college credit.…

When is Donald Trump kidding? When is he being sarcastic? When is he being serious? Who gets to decide?

Earlier today a reporter, following her journalism training, asked Trump, “Were you just kidding, or do you have a plan to slow down testing?” His response: “I don’t kid, let me just tell you.” At this weekend’s Tulsa rally, the president had said, referring to the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, “I said to…

I am at that stage of life where I am excited about loading a new dishwasher for the first time. (The one that came with the house in 2003 finally died.)

Similar:Why Were Old Video Games So Pixelated?I get all my news online now, but I grew…AestheticsThe ballroom of my #steampunk fantasy space cruiser is now a less lonely place. Thanks to watching many, many YouTub…AestheticsThe daughter is home from London.PersonalThe storage shelves of my fantasy steampunk CGI starship will need props with appropriate …  AestheticsDance…

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

In June, 2000 I was blogging about anagrams, 1750 Paris, ambiguity, a hyperlink patent claim, and reading posture

In June, 2000, I was blogging about Poems inspired by anagrams (T.S. Eliot = Toilets; Emily Dickinson = Skinny Domicile) Where to go if you wanted to know what was happening In 1750 Paris The Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations A patent lawsuit that claimed ownership of the concept of hyperlinks Reading posture (how do…

Happy Father’s Day

One of my favorite pictures of my father. This is our Chevrolet Caprice station wagon, circa 1971. I’m rocking the stripes. Similar:Jaw-dropping moments of insight and humanity. So funny, so edgy, so affirming! I did not e…PersonalServing at Christmas on the Hill 2025PersonalPerspective | Whoops of selfish delightThe whoops echoed through airplanes as f…CultureThe Duolingo owl…

A father gives his happy toddler a ride on his shoulders.

Only a Dad (Edgar Guest poem, read by Carolyn and Peter Jerz for WAOB Audio Theatre)

Carolyn and Peter Jerz recite “Only a Dad” (directed by Leigh A. Jerz for WAOB Audio Theatre) Similar:Life Support (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 13) Bashir keeps the gravely injur…Rewatching ST:DS9 An accident aboard …CultureOur 2014 class banner was an iPad. I can’t believe I just noticed that today.PersonalThe Anatomy of an Amazon 6-pagerIn…

Sharing memes about news you don’t see is lazy. Be part of the solution!

Similar:You don’t hate millennials. You hate 21st-century technology.A favorite observation about millennials…CultureCarolyn at about 7yo drew Titania in love with Bottom. #tbt #midsummerArtColossal Cave: The Board Game by Arthur O'DwyerThe kids and I enjoy nerdy board games. …Culture‘WarGames’ and Cybersecurity’s Debt to a Hollywood Hack After finishing his synopsis, Reagan…CybercultureRules of Engagement #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch…

Canadian teen’s short film captures Spring 2020

Not graphic, but emotionally powerful. Similar:Line breaks are really, really importantI’m sure that whoever wrote this headlin…Current_EventsThe daughter sings and performs Shakespeare at the Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival t…CultureA Quick and Comprehensive Guide to Type A Quick and Comprehensive Guide to T…AestheticsSo Long Blogging. Hello—Yep, We're Going to Say It—PloggingI still blog, because I…