I haven’t written anything other than emails and lesson outlines in almost a week. The new semester is kicking my butt! I need to find a way to budget time into my schedule for writing so that I don’t get too out of practice and lose my edge. Luckily, today is the first meeting ofContinue reading “Shaking the Rust Off”
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
An Odd Typewriter: Mystery Solved!
Last month I wrote a post about an old typewriter that I found in a vintage shop which did not have a 1: https://danielshankcruz.com/2012/08/11/an-odd-typewriter/. Yesterday I was talking with an older friend who learned to type on a similar model that also did not have a 1. She said that she was taught to useContinue reading “An Odd Typewriter: Mystery Solved!”
Being Grateful for Education
I always assign an essay early on in my first-year composition classes that asks students to reflect on their educational experiences and how those experiences have led them to enroll in college. This afternoon I read one of these essays by a woman who grew up in Afghanistan. Her family moved to Pakistan when theContinue reading “Being Grateful for Education”
UHF and the Loss of Cultural Memory
Last night for some reason I was thinking about Weird Al Yankovic’s 1989 film UHF (the film’s imdb.com page is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/). It occurred to me that this film would completely baffle my students because they would have no idea what a UHF dial is, having grown up solely with remote-control televisions and cable (myContinue reading “UHF and the Loss of Cultural Memory”
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
I had this classic Monty Python sketch in my head this morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI It struck me that now when I hear the words “Spanish Inquisition” my first reaction is to laugh rather than to be horrified by all of the lives it unjustly destroyed. I am not sure how to feel about this. I suspectContinue reading “NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!”
The Beginning of the Semester
I love all of the pageantry associated with the beginning of the college school year. Aside from all the fun stuff in class–the awkward get-to-know-you games, the endearlingly horrified look on students’ faces when I tell them how many books we will be reading, their nervous laughter at my wry jokes–there are the gatherings ofContinue reading “The Beginning of the Semester”
The End of the Summer
A new semester begins tomorrow. I am excited to meet my students and get things going, but I will also miss the free time that this summer has afforded. I’ve had a very productive three months, writing two conference presentations, a book chapter, and some productive brainstorming notes for another book chapter that is dueContinue reading “The End of the Summer”
An Odd Typewriter
Yesterday I was at one of my favorite non-bookstore stores in Salt Lake City, the vintage shop Unhinged, when I came across a nifty green typewriter. Upon taking a closer look, I discovered that, though it was completely intact, it didn’t have a 1. I have never seen a qwerty keyboard without all ten numeralsContinue reading “An Odd Typewriter”
The Best YouTube Sing-Along Ever
This is a video of Swedish Olympic handball star Isabelle Gullden (driving) and some other woman singing along (well, sort of–maybe “riffing on” is a better term) to Jason Derulo’s “Whatcha Say” in the car, and it is hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemIK39WmLA The video raises so many questions (perhaps all of which would be answered if IContinue reading “The Best YouTube Sing-Along Ever”
Thoughts on Yogurt
Yogurt fascinates me. I don’t like eating it because it is just too weird, a bizarre amalgamation of other dairy products: part liquid like milk, part flowing solid like ice cream, part fermentation like cheese. But I really enjoy watching other people eat it because I get to observe someone interacting with the above oddContinue reading “Thoughts on Yogurt”
Daniel Shank Cruz 