So the only camera I had when we stumbled across the Kansas City Disc Dogs demo in Southpark Last week, was the ancient 3 megapixel – which is enough a camera to outpace my talents as a photographer. So this…
Body art
I know stories of people not getting jobs (in banks, as nurses) because of their tattoos. I keep thinking this would make a good paper topic for the SRTOL paper, but I haven’t seen it done well yet. Cracked has…
The problem with a social D
A report currently excerpted on Doonesbury in the “say what” (a kinda WTF quote of the day) states: The National Institute for Literacy estimates that 47% of adults (more than 200,000 individuals) in the City of Detroit are functionally illiterate,…
On the relevance of Media to Composition
I always get a few students who don’t see the point of using media in a composition classroom. This always surprises me. How many people see themselves writing essays for a living? How often will we write essays in our…
Finals schedule
Here’s the finals schedule for JCCC. Evidently I’m not the only one who couldn’t find it. Lesson: when in doubt, ask the administrative assistants. They know everything. This reminds me of a classic XKCD cartoon. Include Finals Schedule for something…
Rules for beginning writers.
Got wind of this advice for beginning writers from BoingBoing, who found it from VS Naipaul. 1. Do not write long sentences. A sentence should not have more than ten or twelve words.2. Each sentence should make a clear statement.…
Review: Lost on Planet China
I found this book on MP3 audio at the Lawrence Library. His introductory admission that he is, in no sense, an authority on China nor on any things Chinese, drug me into this book. While an admitted non-authority, he did…
Metaphor paper explained
Once again too many papers start off with a paragraph to a page of random BS on the nature of metaphors in general. Papers should get to the point quickly – and focus on the text one analyzes. Here’s an…
Why doesn’t this work in my class?
If you want to know why this won’t work in my class, read the syllabus.
Master Teacher Retreat
This weekend I’ll be co-facilitating a Master Teacher Retreat in the bucolic splendor of Tall Oaks. We’ve got the wiki started up, and I’ll give anyone attending rights to add and edit content. If you’ve never participated in a wiki…