Tripping on Proglottid

For vocabulary fans, a new site lets you easily text your skills while apparently offering rice to those who need it. Free Rice is simple and direct--given a word, you choose from among four choices to advance in your vocabulary. For every right answer, ten grains of rice are added to a little visual bowl, and after three correct responses, you gain a level. A wrong answer sets you back.

My best level is 46 (yes, with NO CHEATING). Proglottid got me. It's a tapeworm segment. If I'd only known!

Just remember that you have other things to do. It can be captivating.

Tiny Hail? Noisy Snow?

What some people might call snow pattered onto the lawn yesterday morning, what you might call a snow shower, except that it was really a kind of tiny hail, little snowflake-sized hailstones falling not-so silently, as you might hear in the video provided here.

(I tried to upload the video yesterday using Blogger's own video inputter, but was thoroughly thwarted! Finally I took the footage into Moviemaker, added the title and end, and put it on YouTube, so here you have it. Not worth the effort, but I was determined. )

DSU and "Dare to Do"

DSU is rolling out its new advertising campaign that uses the tagline, "Dare to Do." We'll get TV time, radio play, and a new billboard out of the deal. I look forward to seeing the new TV ad on Monday night on KELO TV.

My sources tell me there's a skydiver featured. We'll see!

Hello to Sylvia Again

So, she puts her head in your lap, calls you god-like, and gets all doe-eyed looking up at you after following you home from the park. She obeys your every command. She sits, she begs, she pulls at her leash. She's Sylvia, and she's making trouble in this marriage.

DSU's very able theatrical group put on a hilarious and touching version of A.R. Gurney's play tonight, starring Kari Hofman in the lead role. Director Kelly Macleod managed a skilled group, and the audience was (and will be) rewarded by the performance. It was every bit as good, or better, than the NSU performance I saw last summer. Just don't bring the kids.

The performance was preceded by an event at the DSU Foundation and dinner at El Vaquero, and poetry, music, champagne, and celebratory cake and finger food followed.

If you haven't been, go see it if you have the chance.

Remembering the Vets

It's the day we call Veterans Day, a time we should pause and reflect on the offer that many have made to serve the greater need of country. My family added its share to the roll of veterans, starting with my dad, who joined the Army Air Corps just as WWII was ending. My mom had a brother and sister in the Air Force. Among my siblings, my older sister Rita did her time in the Air Force, then me in the Army, then Jess in the Navy, followed by Renee and Justin in the Army and Jay and Jered in the Navy. We were examples of people with few options taking advantage of the opportunity that the military offered, turning the veterans benefits into college and a better life. Only my little sister had experience with conflict, spending time in the Middle East during the first gulf war. My own time in Germany in the mid-70's didn't seem like much of a contribution, but I did what I was told and thought about my role in the bigger world--not a bad thing for a 20-year-old to be doing.

One Foggy Morning

Yesterday and today both were beauties, especially for this time in the fall--temps over 50, just a bit of a breeze, sun shining. Both days were ripe for motorcycle riding, and yesterday I spun the Concours up to the fading village of Rutland, where a pile of leaves burning on the corner of a lawn was a rare sensation, its smell hearkening back to a time when a leaf-pile in the yard was quickly transformed into a fiery celebration, its embers glowing, inviting a young boy to transform those burning leaves into a giant volcanic inferno. I had to pause there in Rutland and soak it in, then turn and hotfoot it back again to Madison, where this morning the fog transformed our house and yard, a light mist lingering until the sun came on later in the day and set us back safely in the sunshine state.

Dan Weinstein is My Hero, iJot, and Other Cool Stuff

Our GPACW Conference today, a gathering of the Great Plains Alliance for Computers and Writing, has been a success, doing what it should do--confronting teachers with questions and offering an opportunity to consider how to answer them. Presenters through the morning and afternoon gave us a lot to think about, in terms of specific tools as well as concepts that need further consideration. Just as it should be.
The conference, hosted by our own Dan Weinstein, brings together some heavy-hitters, including Dickie Selfe, who has thought and written much about emerging literacy issues. Also in attendance as a sponsor and interested party was Marc Barrot, whose iJot software seems poised for bigger and better things. Marc was especially interesting to talk to, interested in what I was doing with my students and seeking out how his program could better serve our needs. Marc's concept and simple execution of an idea of collapsible and expandable outlines on the web is evidenced in iJot and on pages such as Salon's Slam in Salon. I'm feeling good about all that.

Thor Heyerdahl and Maureen Murphy

Is it any coincidence that Dr. Murphy was born the same year Thor sailed from Peru to Polynesia, or the Yankees took Brooklyn in the TV World's Series, or Americars began showing up at the drive-in movies, or the Tupperware party began, or Jackie Robinson broke into the big leagues, or an airplane first broke the sound barrier? I don't think so.

Aniboom's Animation Feature

Aniboom.com calls itself "The Home of Animation," and to back up their claim they offer a free online animation feature called Shapeshifter that allows you to create sophistacated animations (or crude ones) in a few minutes of tinkering. Check them out. Thanks to Brad for the tip.

Cloudwest Pottery Arrives, Mostly Intact

My brother Jered Nelson is a potter living in the San Francisco region who works for Heath Ceramics and makes his own pots on the side. He just keeps getting better, and his current work is elegant and beautiful, as the photos here show. Our cups, bowls, and salad bowls arrived recently, and though several cups were damaged, most dishes made the trip intact, and they're now finding good use, making our dining experiences even better than before. He'll take orders. Let me know if you're interested or contact him at cloudweststudio at yahoo.com.

Alan and His Art

Some people dabble; others dive in. My colleague Alan Montgomery is a diver, a guy who paints and paints, even as his teaching load, like mine, keeps him plenty busy. I saw him with his students out on the lawn south of Beadle Hall the other day, leading them through an art project. He recently had a show and artist reception at the Museum of Visual Materials in Sioux Falls. But he's also got a lot of material on the web. You can look at his site on SAATCHI gallery here, and he's got his own site here.

I like his painting "Codes," shown here.

Warm Yourself at Your Computer

Here's 30 seconds worth of firewood you can enjoy. If you keep your sound on you can enjoy the popping and crackling of the logs in the fireplace. When things start to cool off, just play the video again. Let's call it my BTU to you.

Index Cards as Insights

Okay, so I'm not working all day today, nor resting, but working, resting, working, etc., etc. Jessica Hagy has been busy with her blog consisting of what she's written on index cards. No, it's not poetry, but it's got her a book deal. Go figure.

I Was Not Alone

I learned today a statistic that puts me more at ease with a dark element of my past. I stole candy from my children's Halloween stash. But, now I know I was not alone. The candy industry reports that 90% of parents admit to such theft. The other 10%, I suspect, are liars as well as thieves.

Teeny Weeny Halloweeny

It's little troopers that look the cutest for when they're all dolled up in their little costumes begging for candy, and even the little pooches sometimes get caught up in the action, through no fault of their own. Then some people go wacky on the other end of things, getting the stage set at home for the little candy-beggars to arrive. And now, it's a startling thought that some people are already putting up their other holiday decorations. Got your shopping done?

Playaway Style

If you've gone through the trouble of loading books on CD into your mp3 player so you could enjoy Huck Finn on your jog, you might enjoy what might seem to be a step backwards in technology--a dedicated, single-book device. It's the Playaway, an electronic book that our library has bought into.

My first trial was a success, though Bill Bryson's reading of A Short History of Nearly Everything was a little less clear than I'd like. Either that, or the sound quality on the device is a little muddy.

Either way, the device brings books into a simple, stand-alone device. It worked well on my jog, and I look forward to trying it again.

Another Weekend

This evening marks the end of another weekend, one that featured some good fiction and poetry, some work and a presentation, and more work and a good meeting, then a quiet evening.

Last night was our first frost, with the temperature at 27 degrees when I took the pooch out this morning. The tomato plants felt it, but nothing else much seemed affected, except for the bright yellow-leafed maple tree out front, the last one with a full head of foliage. When I went out to get the paper, there it was, giving up its leaves like a slot machine kicking out quarters, or a fountain sprinkling the lawn with its brilliant leaf cover. So I got the camera out and filmed a little action as the tree gave up its gold. I'll try to put it up here a bit later.

Friday the B's and I zipped on down to Vermillion to hear Brian Bedard read a new story, then to join him and the B's and poet Dave Evans and his wife Jan. Good stuff. A night at the motel, and the morning at the John R. Milton Conference listening to Phil Block, Dennis Sjolie, and John Dudley spin their analytical positions, while I gave my take on Indians in video and computer games. More good stuff. Lunch with conferees at the National Music Museum, then a ride back home again to Madison. A quick trip to see DSU get its back pockets handed to it on Trojan Field, then some work, and a quiet night with friends.

Sunday I stayed in and graded papers, then ran the Lake County Historical Society annual meeting where Kelli Wollman sang us some old tunes and we awarded our first Krueger Awards. We're riding the wave of our highest membership yet--215 people.

Sunday evening's been quiet with a little work.

You Say It's Your Birthday

It's the wife's big birthday today, so send birthday greetings her way if you see her or have her email (she'll also take well wishes here too, so feel free to comment). It will be her birthday all day.

Her mom called this morning to wish her well, and she told the story again of loading hogs the day before and being run over by a wild pig, falling on her belly, and lying in bed later wondering whether her little babe was still okay. Born with a bruise on her butt, the babe was otherwise fine, growing into a fine, still-young woman.

She shares a birthday with Pablo Picasso 1881, Minnie Pearl (Sarah Ophelia Colley) 1912, Bobby Knight 1940, Ann Tyler 1941, Helen Reddy 1942, Matthais Jabs (The Scorpions) 1955, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) 1962, Ed Robertson (Barenaked Ladies) 1970. And, in an event that has changed the lives of people throughout the world, today is the anniversary of the introduction of the microwave oven, for home use, by The Tappan Company in 1955.

Now you know.

An Attack on Vine Country

The encroaching vines got a big dose of setback today as I did some species cleansing in the lilac bushes, digging, chopping, and pulling trees, shrubs, and especially vines out of what is supposed to be a section for lilacs. The foliage now seems thinner, but next spring I hope to see a thicker crop of lilac bushes.
I moved a few trees, too, and tidied up the yard. Four days of rain had put the grass in overdrive, and I found these mushrooms back in the trees. The wood reminded me of Frost's poem "The Woodpile,"
with the lines, "I thought that only
Someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks
Could so forget his handiwork on which
He spent himself."
The old wood, some of it from an old apple tree in the yard, was giving off the enchanting, musky odor of apple wine, damp and delicious. After a beautiful day, some of it outside, my thoughts often turning to the moment, five years ago, when my wife and I first held hands, I was pleased to turn to the house, its back light lit, the day fading, a good day of work done.

A Conjunction of English Majors

Well, what DO you call a group of English majors? A collaboration? A paragraph? An edition? A collection? We do have a capital group of English majors. They came to our house last night and I think had a very good time, met some professors and other students they hadn't had a chance to talk to yet, and devoured some good eats. Maybe it was the free food that got them here, but they enjoyed each other's company, you could tell. There was evidence, plenty of examples, a fully developed essay full of examples--easy talk, loud talk, game-play, and plenty of laughter. These aren't the greatest pictures, and we missed a few people, but we hope the word spreads that this group deserves an exclamation point.