New Tricks and the Hoop of Life

Students in one of my classes have been working this semester to bring the DSU literary magazine into the electronic world once again.  It had a brief moment in the sun of the internet years ago, when Dr. Dan Weinstein did some fancy html work to move the poetry from paper to pixels, but that moment passed and the site apparently disappeared.  So, here we go again with a dedicated site, not bound by the DSU biz.  Our site, New-Tricks.org, is up and running and waiting for the 2012 selections to be made and posted.

Sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society at DSU, New Tricks has been around since 1992, when the English majors sought to make things new by breaking with tradition at DSU.

We hope to shine a light on the good work that the writers and artists at DSU are doing, from students to faculty to staff.  If you're interested, check out the site, give us some feedback, maybe send us some of your work, and we'll have some new material there in the next few weeks.  Wish us luck!

All You Need to Know About the TCM Weekend (my version)

• The wife and I (taking Walter with us) went to Minneapolis on Saturday morning and stayed with my daughter and her guy.
• We enjoyed the TCM expo and picked up my packet.  
• We managed a trip to Trader Joe's in St. Paul.
• We loaded up on pasta at Buca di Beppo’s with DW, JW, KW, April, Chester, Casey, and his girl Christine.  We were joined by a couple, friends of Chester and April. 
• We went to the stage version of Louise Erdrich’s book “The Master Butcher’s Singing Club” at The Guthrie with April, Chester, Casey, and his girl Christine. 
• We survived a night of industrial-strength snoring from is, externally, at least, a fairly small dog.  
• I ran the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday morning, finishing in 3:45:22, on a beautiful day for running.  Number 1726, if you're interested in splits, times, or photos.  I was impressed with the cool stats they offer up now.  For example, I moved up in the pack from being in 3078th place after 3 miles to 2029th place at the end.  
• April, Chester, and the wife drove around town, cheering me on at various spots along the way.
• DW, JW, and KW also picked a spot near their home and cheered (posting this pic of me enroute).  
• We enjoyed some well-deserved lunch at the Highland Grill in Minneapolis.  
• We drove back, stopping at Jim’s Apple Orchard near Belle Plaines on 169, where we picked up some kickin’ root beer and some apples.
• We checked out the closed bridge south of Belle Plaines, just because you can never be too sure about those “Road Closed to Thru Traffic” signs.
• We drove back through Belle Plaines to get on a road with good bridges.
• We recovered slowly over the week (and weekend).  

DJ and the Bear

Dr. Dan had a companion in his most recent journey between home in MN and work in SD. Hand-made by Ms. Montgomery as a fund-raiser, the bear laid in wait at our for someone to claim it, and Dr. D recongnized the furry fellow as a potential charmer for his offspring. No word yet on the chemistry between the two. Stay tuned!

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.