Not of General Interest

  For the past few weeks, I've been giving a sharp look to every white flower with a flat top and tiny flowers that I see on my walks. ...

 Over at nicoleandmaggie 's, there's a post about what seasonal activities people enjoy.  Here's ten things that I like: 1. The ...

 Apologies for the long silence (March, really?).  The semester and the academic year is over, so herewith is a reminder/self-reminder about...

 You would think that someone who has taught Moby-Dick would understand the dangers of becoming Ahab and giving in to monomania and hunting ...

When I teach online, I use tools that allow students to comment, some of which allow a longer response in a discussion board, and some of wh...

  Reposted from 2013 because this is Dana Andrews's birthday. The original post has a comment by Carl Rollyson, who wrote a great biogra...

Grades were turned in a few weeks ago, and I didn't get much AI slop, as far as I know. How do I know? Their writing was consistent with...

It is Mark Twain's birthday--happy birthday, Mark!--and I am reading, or rather listening to, Ron Powers's biography of Twain as I d...

Whether you recognize my subtitle from Gilligan’s Island or from Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise,” you’re still getting the gist of it: teaching ...

 First, the stuff you know: the news has been terrible and keeps getting worse. I thought we were a nation of laws and, you know, checks and...

 So, amid all this stuff (cutbacks and much, much worse), are you ready for another year?  I think I am, despite what I'm hearing and se...

  Hear me out. I promise you that this is written by a real person, and possibly a Cassandra. Exhibit A : A long time ago, I had Feelings ab...

  It's (mostly) summer, and I hope your writing is going well.  (I hope that that does not sound too much like the ubiquitous email ...

  How's everyone doing? The Economist cover says it all, really. Teaching. This semester is all done & in the books, except for grad...

 It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that there are distractions in the country & in academe right now (waves hands in the direction o...

Undine: "Welcome to 2025! New year, new me! This is going to be the year when I get so much writing ---" Covid enters the chat, wi...

  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and (nearly) Happy New Year! I mostly wanted to post in order to give you this peaceful picture to ring i...

  https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/comparative-literature-zrinka-stahuljak-artificial-intelligence?fbclid=IwY2xjawHCkWJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHev...

  And now for something completely different: I'm shifting gears by resurrecting Dear Ms. Undine for a post. As an avid if shamefaced co...

 If you can't stand any more election stuff, skip this one.   This song (music by one of my favorite Old Hollywood bombastic composers, ...