Well-Swept Yard

Gmail is pretty clever at placing ads next to messages--ads that pertain somehow to what is in the message. I've noticed recently that when message from or about my university show up that an add for the University of Phoenix appears. I wonder if this means that Gmail thinks that I might want to work at another place or that it likens my university with UPhoenix. Hmm . Well, yes.

Ten years ago. I vividly recall the moment when I heard that my bombs were raining on Afghanistan. I was working in the garden. A neighbor was playing his radio or TV loud enough that I heard the "news flash." I stood frozen for a moment and then dropped the tool and screamed. I saw old friends and their children and grandchildren exploding, dying, suffering. I ran inside. Tears ran down my cheeks.  I told my wife. We held each other. What else to do?

October is the month for rose bush propagation. And helping rose bushes multiply is easy. Look for a cane of goodly diameter, large enough that you will be able to push it or hammer it into the soil without the stem breaking, and yank the stem from the bush with enough violence that you pull a strip of bark from the mother branch.  Flat cut the branch 4-5 inches above the tear (being certain to leave 2-3 stem segments between top and bottom). Poke the branch, rip end down, into the earth. If need be, gently hammer the flat top of the stem to help the sinking. (If the earth is hard, place a gallon plastic jug of water over the spot where you want to sink the stem. Make a small hole in the bottom of the jug and allow the water to seep into the earth and soften it). Push the stem into the earth so that the earth remains compact around the stem (that is, do not dig a whole or poke a hole with a tool).  Walk away. Forget about the bush-to-be until spring.  While you have forgo

This is what my mother told me about a family obligation to take care of the yard during the time when she was growing up. The yard of the house was neat and cared for by sweeping leaves, twigs, or anything else from the yard to some other place. I forgot to ask where the other place was. Anyway, in addition to sweeping, everybody in the family understood that they shared a duty to pluck any growing thing that appeared in the ground. A blade of grass stood no chance. The yard was a point of pride. The swept yard should not be imagined a field of dust. With care, the dirt was compacted by use. The yard usually had a tree and under the shade of tree a family spent time in the yard, the coolest domestic space available during long, hot southern summers. With her usual grace, Sharon Astyk describes the beauty and utility of a living, used packed-earth living space.  Instead of attempting to grow grass or other ground covers in the hot south often on red clay, rural southerners woul

A search by Goggles Originally uploaded by woodpainter I love some of the similar images provided by Goggles. Some nice company for the Harrisburg courthouse. I wonder if these buildings are now introduced to each other.

2011-07-04 07.13.09.jpg Originally uploaded by woodpainter When time passes and the weather gets hot lettuce is bitter and unappetizing. However, lettuce left the summer to go to seed is beautiful. Give lettuce its place and time and add some water and the vegetable returns beauty.

I met today with a a summer general education class. I like gen ed classes. They provide the greatest potential for reaching students. They also present challenges when a goodly number of the seats are occupied by students who have a commitment to a strict path to a degree that satisfies a yearning for money or another life desire. With first-year students a discussion of what could happen to the in four years' residence. For so many students the first year of college is the thirteenth grade, something they do because a college degree is what comes next. Parents think so, friends are on board, somebody told them that a college degree is worth money in the world of work. Do not overlook the prospect of independence and fun. Ask about any one of the usual reasons, ask if that is what put them here, and one notices a hesitation, as though the student is thinking about the reason for going to college for the first time. In thinking about the usual answers some students exhibit some

Photographs reveal more than the subject. A photograph always speaks of the intention of the maker or the intention of the subject cooperating with the maker. Alexander Gardner’s Civil War “ What Do I Want, John Henry? ” speaks volumes on the social attitudes within the Army of Liberation . The decision of Roy Stryker to widely release only one image of the Dorothea Lange Migrant Mother series tells us about a sway from reportage to poignancy. The several views of Che talk to us about the cooperation of the photographer in establishing the fame of the hunters (everybody gets his chance). So, I do not want so much to see the Osama bin Laden death photographs as I would like to see them and think about what they mean, to see if I recognize an emotion or an illusion. Or maybe myself. But I am also content to wait for the release. After all, that will not be long. I can see them in the grocery store checkout next week.

At times I reflect on the digital humanities. A transformation is afoot. I ask myself "Just what is it that's going on here?" I don't know. But I get hints. I follow others who find the relatively new world called "digital humanities" a world of interest. We explore and talk to one another. Most of my talk is via Twitter. Some of it is marginalia scribbled in comment boxes of blogs. I listen to others via all of the media available, including digital media. We digital humanities folks take pride in impressive accomplishments in finding and receiving content in new ways, via new tools. What occurs to me is that the digital humanities movement is at a moment of conversation. As we converse, we discover. Our communications are pointers. We discover new paths. And we share maps of our journeys.

Eleventh grade. A tough one. Acne. So on. Eleventh grade: English and PE classes and other classes I don't remember at the moment. English class was into verb conjugation. PE class was not into exercise because it was my turn for locker room duty--caged room with baskets to hold student stuff. So. Back to English. We had a book with lots of examples of conjugations. Each example was presented in two columns, one singulars and one plurals. Hour after hour I stared at all the examples and tried to learn the conjugations. Memorizing all the examples was tough. I would stare, close my eyes and try to remember what the conjugations looked like, and then open my eyes to check. I wrote the examples over and over. I was making progress. But. Test. An English test over these conjugations was coming up. In fact, on the particular day I am remembering the test was later that day. While protecting the PE baskets I kept pouring over the illustrations and I knew that I was making progress

Yesterday. Yes, it was yesterday. Yesterday I was watching a news report about Japan on my Android. All of a sudden the video froze and up popped a message. A message. Typed. "Incoming call." Nuisance. Dismissed the call and had to refresh browser to return to the report. Some people just got no consideration.

Massive tsunami devastates Japan - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English : "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Cat sleeping Me watching Cat shifts I put my head near Cat awake We stare Cat paw out and touches my nose Cat purrs

Pannapacker at MLA: Digital Humanities Triumphant? - Brainstorm - The Chronicle of Higher Education : "I wouldn’t worry about community colleges. Although two-year schools sometimes show little interest in theory, they have been ahead of the rest of us in using new technologies, at least in pedagogy." That is a comment by Henry_Adams on Pannapacker's post in the Chronicle. The comment is right on target. I made the same observation when I was directing a tech center for faculty (some years ago--during that fuzzy time between Web 1 and Web 2). The two-year faculty had pedagogical question but mostly they had questions about how to stretch capabilities of common software--from presentation media to web work. As Blackboard made its appearance at the four-year campus, the community college regulars asked for accounts. I gave permission and even assisted in moving content from their WebCT LMS to our Blackboard system. The reasons? I find them embedded in the post a

10 Hottest Careers in America - CBS MoneyWatch.com : "5. Feature writing on the web. Is this where all those newspaper reporters who lost their jobs will end up? - Sent using Google Toolbar"

The time arrived. I must complete my annual report form telling my university what I did last year that ought to be regarded as meritorious. We faculty members used to refer to the form as the "merit pay form." Not so many years ago faculty members got pay raises based on a chair and/or dean evaluation and ranking of the reports. I talked to a colleague who said that submitting the productivity meant that he was being used. The university could use his achievements to show itself active without giving him a dime for what he did. The mention of his achievements might even be considered false advertising. Marketing scheme. Interesting.