Thursday, February 22, 2007

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Sick

Or rather, I am sick. I have an upper respiratory infection. The only question, really, at this point is whether it is viral (in which case I simply have to get better or die) or bacterial (in which case I have to go see a doctor). The problem I keep having that complicates things is *asthma* (which means every time any little thing goes wrong, my lungs close in to, I suppose, keep out germs-- after the fact).

To make matters more fun, Todd and Olivia are also sick. Olivia has not been to school this week because she has been running a fever. Todd tried to go yesterday, but his principal sent him home, assuring him that she could find a sub.

I have some work to do on the Disneyworld website. It is shaping up to look pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This morning, during my 8 o'clock class, I was convinced that it was Friday, which it was not.

And now, Gerald McBoingBoing is on Boomerang when it is supposed to be Looney Toons. So I am cheating and watching Friends. Walker is playing a new video game, so he won't notice and Meleah is out with Todd buying me a vaporizer because I sound so pathetic. But a herpes medication ad just came on so I am not sure how long it will last...

And to make matters worse, today is Ash Wednesday and I was actually planning to go to church tonight. But at this point, I don't know that anyone wants to be in a room with me. One of my poor students sat beside me in large group today, but he assured me that he was also contagious, so I shouldn't worry about it...

Thursday, February 15, 2007

So I am evidently not good enough...

with html to make the quizzes look right without recoding the whole things (which I am simply not up for).

I found a futon with a frame for my parents' computer/guest room. It is a really nice one (I thought briefly about just keeping it, but decided I really don't have room for it).

Meleah is watching The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Walker is actually watching it with her. I really like that movie.

I really need to be grading some papers, but I just don't want to...

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Superhero

Because it was on the site that Alex sent me to in his bad-influence-ness...























Your results:
You are Green Lantern
Green Lantern
70%
Wonder Woman
68%
Spider-Man
65%
The Flash
60%
Hulk
55%
Iron Man
50%
Robin
48%
Superman
45%
Batman
45%
Supergirl
43%
Catwoman
40%

Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.



Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Supervillian....

Because Alex C-E is a bad influence...

Your results:
You are Apocalypse
You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.




































Apocalypse
76%
Dr. Doom
69%
Dark Phoenix
66%
Poison Ivy
62%
Magneto
61%
Lex Luthor
59%
The Joker
54%
Mystique
51%
Juggernaut
51%
Venom
51%
Riddler
46%
Mr. Freeze
46%
Two-Face
43%
Kingpin
34%
Catwoman
32%
Green Goblin
31%

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Perl Process

In my comp class right now, the students are composing using Sondra Perl's composing guidelines. I love them, but students have a love/relationship with them. That much writing is usually more than they want to do at one time...

I am researching this semester the teaching of professional writing, and my instructor is asking me to look outside the field of English studies for the sources. So I am traipsing through the world of journals I have never felt the need to look at before: Technical Communications, IEEE, Journal of Marketing in Education and more. And of couse, the ones I need are not available in full text in the databases. And many of them are not even available in our library here. Old Dominion has several of them in their print holdings, but that does not help me a great deal since I do not live in Virgina.

So for my annotated bibliography entry for today, I read eight pages where a couple of engineers argue that students should be exposed to visual rhetoric and document design. They used their observations as evidence. Fine. I am good with that. What they do not do is use much theory. They list one theorist, but do not summarize his argument. Instead, they show examples of how student work can be formatted to overcome common problems with illustrations commonly encountered with engineering students! So the middle of the article was essentially useless for any kind of broad sense...

Looking through some of the bibliographies posted by the other students, I am pleased to see articles that also seem applicable to my class idea. Of course, the avenue that I am ignoring at this point is the scholarship directly relating to honors students. I am not looking forward to digging that up. It is hard enough to find scholarship relating to the pedagogy of technical writing.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Meme from Chris

This was the most productive thing I did Thursday on my snow day.

From: chris
Date: Jan 23, 2007 7:29 PM

If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you!

1. How tall are you barefoot?
5'4"

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
I've never even smoked a cigarette

3. Do you own a gun?
No, but my husband has 3.

4. Do you play with the ads on the side of the screen?
No

5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?
I get nervous before meeting *anyone*

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
If they are fried in cornbread, then I can eat them.

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
Adeste Fideles

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee

9. Can you do push ups?
Absolutely not.

10. Is your bathroom clean?
Not as clean as I like.

12. Do you like painkillers?
When I hurt.

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
Getting married young and not having to worry about it :)

14.Do you own a knife?
The kind that go in the kitchen

15. Do you have A.D.H.D?
I am not diagnosed ;)

16. Middle Name?
I changed it to my maiden name.

17.What's your normal bed time?
After John Stuart

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
Coffee, Diet Coke and Chai

20. What time did you wake up today?
Which time? (It is a snow day!)

21. Name one person that comes to mind right now.
Chris (he sent this to me)

22. Current worry?
UCA Messed up my paycheck

23. Current hate?
War in Iraq

24. Your favorite place to be?
In the Boston Mountains

25. Least favorite place to be?
Driving

27. Do you own slippers?
Yes

29. How many people have ever truly broken your heart?
I don't know that my heart has "truly" been broken. I have been disappointed in people...

30. Favorite color(s)?
Earth tones

31. Would you be a pirate?
No... And I would probably try to reform one if I knew any.

33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I don't usually

34. What did you fear was going to get you in the night as a child?
The clowns

35. What's in your pockets right now?
Nothings

36. Is anyone on your mind right now?
Olivia

37. Do you think you get enough exercise?
Not even close

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
I cracked my head open on the edge of a desk. I have a nice bride of Frankenstein scar above my left eye.

41. Who is your loudest friend?
I don't have loud friends. I do, however, have very loud children.

42. Who is your most silent friend?
Becky

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
I doubt it. A couple of years ago, I had a student who did and that was creepy.

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
When I notice them

45. What is your favorite book?
Today? Anything by Neil Gaiman. A couple of years ago it was Jeffrey Deaver. Before that it was Judith McNaught

46. What is your favorite candy?
Toblerone and M&Ms

47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
When I see you smile (originally by Bad English)

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
Anything but Karma Chameleon

49. What is one of your favorite quotes?
It is better to remain silent and be thought an idiot than to speak and remove all doubt (paraphrase from Mark Twain)

50. What was I doing at 12am last night?
Sleeping

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Snow Day

Classes were cancelled, school was cancelled. But what did I accomplish?

I lay on the sofa and tried not to throw up. Mostly I succeeded.

Tonight we're watching John Houston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040897/). This is an odd movie... Bugs Bunny borrowed/parodied a number of elements from this movie.

Olivia got a big kick out of playing in the snow. Meleah is over at NaDean's for the day. Walker played outside for a couple of hours and made me soup to make me feel better. Olivia is copying words off of packaging and having Todd read them.

My head hurts, so I am not being very interesting...