Yup. Time to go to the theater! 🙂 Saturday night, we went to see “Wicked” at Fair Park with our friends Gary and Rachelle. As part of the now-defunct YAP book club some time ago, I tried to read the book on which the play is loosely based, and failed miserably. I could not get …

Well, let’s be honest, I was the very opposite of “adventurous” in Chicago this past weekend, but it was a good trip. This was the big to-do political science conference I’ve mentioned before, where I got to present my first solo paper in front of people who may one day be on a committee deciding …

I work hard to avoid watching scary movies — I am really easily influenced and have bad dreams for days after seeing one. I just watched “Jesus Camp,” and I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been more frightened by a movie than I am of this one. Whoa.

Last week was UTD’s spring break, a week earlier than most schools, and instead of using the seven days off to cram in lots of extra tutoring and catch up on all the reading and paper-writing I’m so behind in doing, we skipped out of town to go to a “conference” (for me) in Las …

Tying the Knot is a documentary film that takes a critical look at the debate over gay marriage in America. It’s both provocative and moving, and something I’m considering showing to my students — writing students and otherwise. I just finished watching it — minutes ago, really — and can heartily recommend it. Bravo. I …

I get a lot more traffic on my blog these days, heaven knows why, so I’m hoping to spark a good discussion here… something we haven’t had in a while. Two people are in a relationship. Like many others, the guy spends a portion of his time alone looking at online porn. It’s never a …

I’m quite sure it’s hard for most of you, who don’t see me regularly, to understand the extent to which I’ve become consumed and transformed by my academic experiences these last 18 months. So let me try to explain via an example: Hearing the news today that Sage Publications is offering unlimited access to its …

A friend at school told me the other day that the hybrid Prius is under fire for being too quiet, that people want Toyota to manufacture artificial road noise so people can hear it coming. My initial reaction was laughter motivated by disbelief. Then disbelief turned to disgust, when Charlie on “Two and a Half …

This story is one of several in the Dallas area lately that just unnerve me. Scandal: Cheerleaders Run Amok in Texas Boozing, bikinis and bullying: how the scandalous behavior of five high-school cheerleaders rocked a bedroom community near Dallas. By Gretel C. Kovach and Arian Campo-FloresNewsweek Jan. 2, 2007 – The pictures posted on MySpace.com …

It’s not that I do or do not love Microsoft Access, but I can say for sure right now that I wish I were doing something else…. which is probably why I’m blogging, right? 🙂 I’m in the campus library trying to get motivated to code data for my Midwest paper, an important thing to …