Tag Archives: pop culture

A little bird told me to tweet

I’m not a Luddite. But I am ridiculously slow to adopt new tech things. Before I bought my first smartphone last August, I was still using an old prepaid flip phone — in 2013. The only two game consoles in my house are a PS1 (yes, that’s a 1) and a SuperNES (yes, that’s aContinue reading “A little bird told me to tweet”

But if Darth Vader got his hands on the Elder Wand AND the Ring of Power….

You can always tell it’s March Madness time when everyone starts breaking out tournament brackets for everything imaginable. And we hopelessly nonathletic nerds will not be left out of the fun! So Half-Price Books is running an online “Tournament of Villains,” a bracket of evil that includes baddies from film, literature, and comic books, mostlyContinue reading “But if Darth Vader got his hands on the Elder Wand AND the Ring of Power….”

America’s Next Top Author (and other fantasy programs for book lovers) (via Here’s To Us)

You know we all do this. I’ve actually filled notebook pages with ideas like this, and just the other day I was remarking to a fellow educator how I occasionally fantasize about precisely this sort of “Project Runway” / “Design Star” / [name your reality show] approach to a writing classroom. It would never workContinue reading “America’s Next Top Author (and other fantasy programs for book lovers) (via Here’s To Us)”

Student revenge: assign a teacher homework!

This April, when I return to the States and visit my family in Texas, I also am going to attend the huge conference of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, held this year in San Antonio. I’m reading fiction there, and I’m planning to reconnect with a bunch of scholars and colleagues I used toContinue reading “Student revenge: assign a teacher homework!”

Nancy Drew short story contest

I am proud to say that I am a HUGE fan of Her Interactive‘s Nancy Drew video game series.  (I’m slightly less proud to admit that I actually dreamed about the games last night–seriously.)  I confess I’ve never read any of the traditional books, though I have read the first half dozen or so ofContinue reading “Nancy Drew short story contest”

San Francisco and Pop Culture

As I did in New York, I decided to write blog entries about my conference in San Francisco, so my students can see what I’m up to at these conferences (this one over Spring Break no less!). But this time around, my conference hotel is not offering free wireless, so I’m having to write theseContinue reading “San Francisco and Pop Culture”

Good-bye, New York

Good-bye, Manhattan. Good-bye, Hilton New York. Good-bye Best Western President. Good-bye, Chrysler Building. Say hi to the others — I’ll catch them next time. Good-bye, Broadway. Good-bye 5th Avenue. Good-bye 59th Street. Good-bye corner of Grove and Benton — what great Friends you made. So long, Times Square. You’re a little flashy, but I likeContinue reading “Good-bye, New York”

Three things: notes from yesterday

To try and catch up from yesterday, I’m sitting on the floor against an out-of-the-way pillar in the conference hotel, writing this over a tiny, cold, and weirdly tasteless portabella mushroom sandwich that cost $7.50. Anywhere else, this sandwich would have come from a vending machine and cost $1.25, but this is New York. WhenContinue reading “Three things: notes from yesterday”

With apologies

For the three people actually reading this, I’m sorry: It’s been a long day. My morning started — after very little sleep — with my witnessing the motorcade of someone famous (I’ve yet to learn who) pulling away from the Fox News headquarters, and ended with some brilliant and engaging conversation about the creative processContinue reading “With apologies”