Introduction to The Skin of Our Teeth (optimistic, absurdist metatheater; Thornton Wilder, 1942)

Similar:Stop trying to figure out if screentime is good for studentsPro-technology response to the NYT “No C…AcademiaEnjoying more live theater.CultureMy 13yo homeschooler had no idea how to open a little milk carton. I had to show her.CultureHow the Midwest went from the idealized to the deridedWhile Pittsburgh has become more metropo…AcademiaCharlie and the Chocolate Factory…

When People Only Read the Headline — Misuse of Journalism

The Society of Professional Journalists links to an interview with an MIT professor who’s studying misinformation on social media (which is not the same thing as bad journalism — some bad actors take journalism out of context in order to deceive). Responsible journalists are aware that sensational headlines can harm the public. The truth is…

The girl asked me to read R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) to her. #quarantine #partylikeaprofessor

Similar:Snape and Ginny at the Hogwarts Club event.PersonalKing Hedley II ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle, 9 of 10)August Wilson’s Century Cycle >  Spoi…BooksWall display by the talented Jess Lohr, interpreting an infographic by Norton (textbook pu…PersonalThe other day I did a socialize with some of my Humanities colleagues. (I am proud of myse…PersonalBlood Oath (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch,…

In “World Drama” I’m adding the absurd, optimistic “The Skin of Our Teeth” (dropping bleak “Waiting for Godot”)

In light of current events, I’m dropping the bleak Waiting for Godot from my World Drama class (actually I’m making it optional; students could drop a different play) and adding Thornton Wilder’s absurdist but optimistic The Skin of Our Teeth.   Writing while World War II was still raging, Wilder depicts a representative American family…

Rhinoceros in Love (World Drama — China, 1999)

The blurb for a 2011 English version of the 1999 Chinese play I’m teaching this week: China’s most popular and provocative drama. A modern story of love and obsession, Rhinoceros in Love tells the story of a rhinoceros-keeper who develops a dangerous romantic fascination with the woman of his dreams: the uncompromising, unobtainable Mingming. Hear…

The Survivors (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three Episode 3) Charming geriatric love and a pacifist morality play

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. After the Federation colony on Raina IV is obliterated, the Enterprise discovers a perfectly preserved house with two elderly survivors. The standoffish Uxbridge impresses Worf by confronting strangers with a non-functional hand phaser, and the hospitable Rishon tells a charming story of how the two fell in love on Earth.…

What gives you comfort? I collect lights. Some of these have magnets!!

Similar:Just a handful more of these elegant #steampunk control panels and I can move on to the ne…AestheticsSome editing and cropping makes this cartoon a perennial. EthicsDog and TP WallAmusingParty Like a Jerz My dad just made us root beer floats.PersonalChatGPT answers more than half of software engineering questions incorrectlyThe results showed that out of the…

MoonBot is back. This time he fights a new adversary. #Blender3D physics practice.

I submitted midterm grades at about 11 last night, quickly modeled a new object, and let the animation render overnight.   Similar:Hasbro removes embedded typeface from My Little Pony website after copyright infringement … Considering the scope of the alleged in…AestheticsIn August, 2000 I was blogging about poetry, presidential wordplay, home-schooling, online…In August 2000, I was…

How are you holding up? What difficult choices have you made? How can we all help each other get through COVID-19??

Carolyn and were recently cast in a historical film. I recorded my video audition last week, feverish with an upper respiratory tract infection, coughing and gulping from a mug of tea between lines. Our characters are in different time periods, but we each get to fight someone in a duel. Filming for our scenes was…

Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling Dad

Similar:Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling DadAre you unexpectedly home-schooling your…CultureJimmy Maher's Appreciation of Infocom's Classic Sherlock Text AdventureI learned a lot while reading this enjoy…BusinessIn October 2001, I was blogging about nothing, apostrophes, the anthrax scare, and Boilerp…In October 2001, I was blogging about …AmusingMaking more retro props for a #blender3d project. The way to…

Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling Dad

Are you unexpectedly home-schooling your kids? Every family is different, and every kid is different. But I think anxious parents who are in unexplored territory probably need to hear this: you won’t hurt your children if you don’t keep them academically occupied for a block of 7 hours. On a typical brick-and-mortar school day, kids…

Oedipus Tyrannos (Oedipus Rex) — Brief Introduction

My first lecture screencasts for my newly-online class. (Thanks, COVID-19.)     Similar:When the Bough Breaks (TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 16)Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CultureFreedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy. Freedom of the press is not just impor…CultureLetter to the editor: Why our English department deserves…

Trump, finally, takes the coronavirus emergency seriously

CNN’s Stephen Collinson praises the president’s Monday press conference. This version of Donald Trump will save lives. The President offered Americans something they have rarely seen from him in his latest and most somber press conference yet on the coronavirus pandemic on Monday. He dispensed unimpeachable information based on fact. He called for national unity and…

Coronavirus Tribute to Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” (1942)

I found this image on Facebook (where it was being shared without attribution). Similar:Captain’s Holiday (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 19) Picard’s Archeologica…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….AmusingThe Case for Breaking Up With Your ParentsI already felt fairly independent from m…AcademiaEveryone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom do…

Those mean fake news people at the Washington Post are at it again, this time publishing a vivid simulation of the effect of social distancing

Those mean fake news people at the Washington Post are at it again, this time pushing a series of four simulations that vividly illustrate the impact of social distancing. Where do they get off, creating clear and informative graphics to illustrate a scientific principle? What do they think they’re doing, some kind of public service?…

Social Distancing: Because the Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few

Similar:Social anxiety is linked to impaired memory for positive social eventsPeople with social anxiety tend to have …CultureSlash: Not Just a Punctuation Mark AnymoreI will have to watch for these uses of “…AcademiaYork Plays 2025: Five cameras, adding up to ~100 hours of footage.Five cameras, adding up to ~100 hours of…AcademiaMount St. Mary's president fires…