There’s a new post on Paul Lukas’s Show and Tell blog that is rather fascinating. Some of the objects are rare and weird and others are commonplace, but the stories surrounding the objects are just as interesting as the objects themselves. I love the idea of show and tell for adults in part because IContinue reading “Show and Tell”
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
The Great Gatsby
I saw The Great Gatsby this evening–the first film I’ve seen on its opening night since The Return of the King, which shows how eager I was for it–and I was quite satisfied with it, 7.5/10. It is mostly true to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterful novel (much more so than many film adaptations of books),Continue reading “The Great Gatsby”
Thoughts on Shopping and Lost History
This afternoon I was reading Elizabeth McNeill’s Nine and a Half Weeks, and of course I found the depiction of her relationship fascinating, but something else that struck me was her description of the various shops she and her lover visit on the weekends. The book takes place in the mid-1970s, and they go toContinue reading “Thoughts on Shopping and Lost History”
The Environmental Issue With Digital Media
Steven Hyden has a fascinating article on grantland.com today about how digital downloads of music are quickly becoming a thing of the past as they are replaced by services such as Spotify. He notes that, while record aficionados will continue to buy physical objects (and one could also make this argument for those of usContinue reading “The Environmental Issue With Digital Media”
A Fascinating Article About Internet Trolling
Today on Uni Watch, Paul Lukas has a thought-provoking interview with the site’s number one troll. I am still processing it–it is so interesting to see how the internet allows people to express themselves in idiosyncratic ways.
A Hilarious Photograph of the Harvard Band
Jay Caspian Kang has a hilarious column on grantland.com about this photograph of the Harvard band here. My favorite one is “Judith Butler.” I would love to know the bandmembers’ reactions to this.
The Northern Illinois University Shooting Five Years Later
Five years ago today, 14 February 2008, I was a graduate student at Northern Illinois University when a gunman walked into Cole Hall at the center of campus with a machine gun and opened fire. He killed five students and himself. I was fortunate enough to be several blocks away at the time of theContinue reading “The Northern Illinois University Shooting Five Years Later”
Sad Post Office News
The United States Postal Service just announced that beginning in August they will no longer deliver letters on Saturdays. This is the latest cost-cutting measure in the USPS’s continuing fight to stay solvent, which has become more and more difficult with the increased use of email and other forms of electronic communication, and with Congress’sContinue reading “Sad Post Office News”
Back in the Saddle
I haven’t posted in several weeks because I am currently on the job market and have had several interviews that have taken up all of my non-teaching time. However, my life should be a little less crazy in the near future, so I’ll be able to get back to my normal routine of posting aContinue reading “Back in the Saddle”
My Grandfather’s Diary
My maternal grandfather died peacefully two weeks ago, and going through his things the family discovered that he had kept a diary for much of his life. It is surprising that he lived to be 96 and no one knew that he engaged in this practice. He wasn’t being secretive about it; he was justContinue reading “My Grandfather’s Diary”
Daniel Shank Cruz 