A Memorable Fancy - Latest Comments

Re: Dreamhost: A rant

Sean (DreamHost Support) — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:11:38 -0000

Thank you for your honesty here and your patience with us throughout that whole restore process. I've emailed a response to your ticket and hope to help the remainder of your stay with us a much more positive one. Please reply to me there if there is anything I can do (like checking out what happened with the referral)!

Re: 10 tips for surviving a dissertation defense

Charles — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:25:24 -0000

My defense was a success. The 'know when to shut up' advice was probably the most useful. Most faculty that you will have in the room already know your work and likely assume that you are going to pass, so you should definitely provide them a forum to 'impress' you with their knowledge.

Great advice again and thanks. Now I just need to find a job :-)

Re: In which I tell you what I have been thinking about for the past month

Molly Laich — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:59:03 -0000

I thought this post was going to contain a big announcement about your return to meat eating.

Re: 10 tips for surviving a dissertation defense

Charles — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:39:08 -0000

A very nice list and I believe every point except for the 'know when to shut up' has been mentioned by a faculty member to me. The 'know when to shut up' is really great advice and I will use it this Friday. I defend Friday and I will do my best to adhere to the advice of this page and the posters above.

Best,
Charles

Re: 10 tips for surviving a dissertation defense

Earnest Ako — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:33:16 -0000

Excellent advise. Will be defending beginning of March and I found the ten points very useful.

Re: Blogs in class

Molly Laich — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:49:27 -0000

I used blogs in lieu of handing in weekly assignments for much the same reasons you listed. Students' feedback generally amounted to, "I hated the blog at first, but by the end it became my favorite element of the class."

For me, using blog writing was a way of combating a constant complaint I hear from students, that they want to read and write what's "interesting" to them. With a blog, you can give them lots of open ended opportunities to explore and write about whatever interests them within a broader subject.

The soul-crushing thing, really, is that the experiment inevitably uncovers a far greater problem, which is that left to their own devices, college freshman are not interested in anything. but that's a whole other subject.

Re: DIY Political Parody

aristotle_julep — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:07:06 -0000

This is probably the reason Air America didn't work, but outlets like The Daily Show and Funny or Die are thriving. Humor, particularly satire, disperses the rhetorical power of the elite. Also, I'd fight a chicken with hands. A real chicken.

Re: 10 tips for surviving a dissertation defense

Jttrmorr — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:39:09 -0000

I'm a little worried that Emily didn't reply.

Re: Allen Gregory

Erik Marshall — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:50:05 -0000

I feel a little ashamed of liking it as well, but I agree with you that it's not likely to change.

Re: Allen Gregory

excellenteb — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:45:15 -0000

i've been watching it online, since i watch something else during that time slot, and it sort of bothers me more than i enjoy it. it's sort of offensive at times. i don't really see the entire premise of the show changing, so i'll probably stop watching.

Re: Social blackout

Wa Ching HU — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:47:36 -0000

The student's, faculty and staff are pretty much embarrassed by the "experiment" and it was and continues to be nothing more than a publicity stunt. Harrisburg University is mostly a commuter campus although there is a school apartment building. Students have smart phones and the campus is located in downtown Harrisburg where free wi-fi abounds. The "experiment" was not scientific and any way and has no merit. http://watchinghu.blogspot.com...

Re: Academic podcasts

UCDscholarcast — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 07:41:39 -0000

Check this out on Old and New Media after Katrina
http://www.ucd.ie/scholarcast/...

Re: 10 tips for surviving a dissertation defense

Erik Marshall — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 21:56:25 -0000

Good luck, Emily.

Re: 10 tips for surviving a dissertation defense

Emily — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 21:16:40 -0000

I defend tomorrow-thanks so much for posting this! It's helped some of my anxiety about the whole thing. If I have any other insights after I defend, I'll post another comment.

Re: Midnight in Paris: A review

Web0n — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:34:46 -0000

What was so funny about Dali? I didnt laugh at all.

Re: Tree of Life

Erik Marshall — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:43:31 -0000

I agree with Julie that you should definitely see the film and not let me deter you in any way. It is brilliant.

Re: Tree of Life

Erik Marshall — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:41:47 -0000

Afterthought may be a bit strong, and I do say here that the female character (the only female character with a speaking role, if I recall correctly) organizes the narrative after a fashion. As the film is in part a reproduction of the 50s, perhaps the silent yet ubiquitous female that I pick up on is a sign of the times. The "angel of the house" that aristotle_julep alludes to is exactly what I mean, I think. Maybe not an afterthought, but a taken-for-granted presence with little (to) say in the family, left to stay home and heal the wounds the father inflicts.

Re: Tree of Life

Julie Arrigo — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:31:54 -0000

I saw it last night. I disagree that women are an afterthought; one of the first statements the film makes is comparing nature and grace, and you can read the father as nature and the mother as grace (it's almost a bit heavy handed). The film gives equal time to both parents, if not more time to the mother, based on the father's trip away. Perhaps this is part of that Rorschach thing you were talking about? ;-)

Having said that, I agree this film is at least partly a meditation on masculinity, and how it twists men, how it shapes who a child becomes, how both fathers and mothers shape a man's identity.

I like how you articulate the variable ways that a person can see Pitt's character. I found myself thinking that he was a hard and scary man, but also that the older son's "nature" appeared to be that he had a hard time accepting love. He fights against being loved. For me, the film was about creation, and our personalities are shaped by the people around us but they are at least partially truly "us" - our spirits are part of creation - and the son's spirit struggled with love.

It needs more time to sit with me too. I would encourage your other commenter to see it before thinking about it too much further. She/he might be surprised by how different the film looks through a different set of eyes.

Re: Tree of Life

aristotle_julep — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:06:45 -0000

I'm sure I will like this movie if and when I see it, but I have to admit that it makes me sad that women are an afterthought. However, because of the personal nature of this film, I understand Malick's decisions. I just get tired of seeing (again) the binary positioning of woman as caretaker of the sacred/emotional and of man as mundane/intellectual. It feels a little "angel of the house" for my tastes.

Then again, if I made a film about my childhood/life, I think a male voice would be somewhat of an afterthought. Due to the circumstances of my life my strongest memories were shaped by women, and men were more or less absent.

Re: My move to Android

Erik Marshall — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:31:48 -0000

Testing comments again.

Re: My move to Android

Erik Marshall — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:24:02 -0000

Testing disqus comments.

Re: Privacy and Professionalism, Part I

Nan — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:19:21 -0000

Erik, I can't agree more. I think it's past time that we open a conversation about the ways in which we are forced to always consider our professional role in our private lives. Unfortunately, some of the problems you've mentioned have wider implications. While not all businesses have social media policies, many businesses engage in "at-will" employment and can fire an employee at any time for no reason. While behavior on a social website may have led to the firing, the at will policy makes it impossible to contest the employer's action.

Re: Privacy and Professionalism, Part I

Erik Marshall — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:24:58 -0000

Part II will be about academic freedom and the Cronon case.

Re: Expectations of Technology Access in Education

part time mba — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 01:13:53 -0000

In college, YOU are expected to learn the material whether or not you are taught it well. I would definitely complain about the prof you mentioned, but in general, even if you couldn't understand a word your teacher said (and I've had a few), you find another way to learn the material.

Re: Tech ideology

Nick Schlegel — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:23:33 -0000

"using only my laptop, or maybe eventually a tablet, for web browsing. I think maybe being less often connected might help me be more productive, slow down and a little, and save a lot of money. Is it really necessary for me to be this connected, this often? Is it worth it?:

This has been what I have been doing for the past few years - ever since Iphone and Blackberry's etc became more ubiquitous. I use my phone for calls and texts and even though I'm not always crazy about lugging my laptop around with me when I want to stay connected to the online world. As to your question of of productivity. I find I am a lot more productive. Remember that girl at Stbux who had her facebook page open for two hours and had two sentences written on college paper? I think we'll always find diversions and ways of distracting - but like you realized on your retreat - take away the distractions and it IS a lot easier to concentrate with more clarity. You and I, as usual, are in total agreement on this one.