when will the arts join the sciences in space?

I’ve been caught up in space lately. The combination of the Mars Phoenix lander (arrived a couple weeks ago) and the shuttle (orbiting with the space station the last week or so) plus the NASA channel, and I’m a bit distracted. I watch the space walks, try to imagine the world-view and the weightlessness. [...]

start off with the answer?

I was just skimming this post of mine from last year about the pedagogical and cognitive limitations of PowerPoint presentations. The research suggested that
the human brain processes and retains more information if it is digest in either its verbal or written form, but not both at the same time.
I concluded with this note:
Professor Sweller [...]

34F and snow

Yakima weather this evening: 34F and snow. Okay, now I’m really homesick! First snow of the season. Deb says it’s slushy, but I don’t care. I love snow. Hmmm… should I finish this book review or rush home to Yakima so I can slosh in the snow? Hmmm
Here in Corvallis, it’s 43F [...]

one brief break

It’s noon and I’m sitting near Blimpie’s in the MU, working on revising my WR 511 paper. I’m glad I’ve already got some revising done because the loud music from upstairs is distracting. I should be more thankful there is live music here during the lunch hour, but I’ve yet to take [...]

Deathly Hallows, All Hallow’s Eve, and The Forest Again

Tonight is one of my favorite nights. But this will be the first Halloween in many years that Deb and I don’t celebrate with pumpkin lights, cider or wine in skeleton glasses, Nestle Crunch bars, brie cheese, our friends, and our friends’ kids in costumes. I’m 230 miles south of home, smack dab [...]

luxurious two-day vacation!

Deb drove down from Yakima to spend the weekend with me.  And I actually took almost two whole days off from studying — woo hoo!  On Saturday we drove and hiked up to Mary’s Peak. It was a clear day so we could see Corvallis and the Willamette Valley to the east and almost to [...]

Annual Leaf Collection Program!

I was just reading in the Corvallis city newsletter that The Annual Leaf Collection Program will run from November 5th to January 4th. How cool is that! An Annual Leaf Collection Program! Okay, I know — I’m a little too easily entertained. But I love fall. It’s still such a new [...]

Brad Paisley’s satire

Okay, so what is it with Brad Paisley? He likes to do cultural criticism, doesn’t he. I just heard his new song “Online” on the radio. It’s much like his “Celebrity” from a couple years ago. The first satirizes people who assume fake online personalities, while the second satirizes the cult [...]

“Students Flock to Seminaries, but Fewer See Pulpit in Their Future”

Okay, file this under “things that help me feel better about the twists and turns in my life.”
Last Spring, Neela Banerjee at the New York Times wrote about the increase in the number of people attending seminary and the decrease in the number heading to any parish ministry or leadership (“Students Flock to Seminaries, But [...]

enjoying home-improvement but craving some read/write time

Well, my parents have been here visiting Deb and me since last Thursday. I should find some other verb than “visiting,” though because having my Dad here is like a Christmas morning for the home-owner. Or like rubbing a bottle and getting a contractor-Genie who is granting us not just three wishes but [...]