Prezi for Me

I saw this cool presentation software used in the TED talk I shared yesterday, and since then, I've become a user. Here's a representative presentation (not my own) that really rocks:

Power of storytelling on Prezi

I like it better than PowerPoint for so many reasons, a primary one being that it builds and moves like I do--non-linear. I also don't care much for monopolies like MSppt. Annnnnd, I hope to dazzle a few students with this stuff (since they've been numbed by ppt).

James Geary, metaphorically speaking | Video on TED.com

James Geary, metaphorically speaking | Video on TED.com

This is outright awesome and should get some discussions going in my classes.

InfoWhelm and Information Fluency

InfoWhelm and Information Fluency

THIS is something I'm sure to show my classes this fall, maybe in the opening week(s). It's really where our courses on research and communication need to be going. I hope to win over hearts and minds with such an angle.

Character--built!

A couple of entries back, I was dreading a trip due to my deep-seated fears of cities. I can't cross that off the list entirely, but I can say I have had some insights....

1) we're all the same, really, just a bunch of insecure bags of water making our way

2) people of NYC were indifferent, not at all preying on my ignorance but more helpful than I ever expected

3) nobody approached me for anything (back to insight 2) = anonymity and invisibility which I often prefer

4)NYC (well, we were really mostly in Manhattan) is just iron and stone, brick and mortar, and a whole lot of people squished together

This last one seems silly, but 'tis truly an insight. Like when our iconic heroes are leveled to be mere actors, like when our flawless parents prove to be all too human--the emblem of NYC that forever loomed over me as some Thing that I am not is now...well a very big town that one walks in, rides through, navigates about like anything else. It is not impenetrable. It is not impregnable nor impossible to manage. People there are, indeed, steeled up for speed, chaos, crowds, crime--but they are also very much still juuuust people. (You could take someone off the streets of NYC and dress them like a Kansan and no one could readily see a distinction.) They watch the same shows [Warehouse 13] we do (well, and some there also watch $250 a night Broadway shows). They eat fast food, [Subway] same as me. Even the TV channels were very much like I'd watch in Ulysses. This last insight, this "sameness," really surprised me. I don't know what I'd expect them to watch and do....maybe to be constantly cosmopolitan or criminal--I don't know. I have found, at any rate, that traveling together on planes, buses, etc. levels the playing field, puts us all on the same page, makes us all 'mericans.

This also puts me on the cusp of something that I know to be true, yet in my schema have yet to prove to myself: that even people the world over are more similar than different. We may not all be Americans, but we're all people...basically good people. I know that's right, but I have many more hurdles to overcome before I'll ever be able to walk the streets of Jakarta or Tokyo comfortably.

Someday I hope to be that savvy.

Lost Generation

So, a student exposed me to this piece of writing recently...


It's clever, and it's got a great message, too.

Rube

I am, admittedly, a rube (aka yokel, rube, hick, yahoo, hayseed, bumpkin) which by definition suggests a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture.

I am about to embark on a venture to the East, to the very core of all-things big-city, New York, New York. (Yes, the Sinatra song is now playing on my internal iPod.)

Image source

I am also hearing that old Pace Picante sauce commercial punchline, "New York City!"

So, here's the skinny. I'm pushing 50, yet I've never spent time in NYC. I've spent a week in London, a month in Mexico, weekends in KCMO and traveled to many big cities, but...

NYC is the epitome of all I grew up loathing. When I was a kid, I somehow, somewhere, developed this idea that all East of Wichita (well, more likely even Dodge City) was urban, citified, paved, and generally speaking, bad. Really, 'tis truth. I was under the impression that it was all a bunch of drug dealing prostitution and gangsters (of the urban and Italian strains). I had absolutely no interest in heading East.

I know full-well that all the above is poppycock. I am certain there are good people everywhere, that there is, say, even grass and the occasional tree in NYC. (I wish I had time to go to Central Park.)

Nonetheless, even the more realistic me expects to be lost (which I generally like, but not there!). I expect to be approached by panhandlers (ugh) and prostitutes (well...) and I know I will be "out of my element."

I also know that all such things build character, and I'm so hesitant to go on this venture (all expenses paid, even) that I know I must really be in need of a character builder!

Creating Creativity

I've always been challenged by my job. I feel like I'm teaching something that is intuitive--communication. I fumble over how to help very-articulate speakers become adequate writers. I worry that technology and the Modern Age will eclipse and out date me someday. I wonder, often, if I'm the right guy for the job.

Amplify all the above and put some spin on creativity, namely creative writing courses. My problem with instruction in communication or creativity is that these come very easy for me, so they are hard to teach. I might be a better math teacher. (he he he)

I am not alone in questioning this. In all probability, most teachers of performance arts ask themselves similar questions at times.

For me, it's too easy to say someone is born with it or not. I consider creativity to be something of a skill that can be learned. I try to offer creative writing as if it were helping people to flex their creative muscles and minds. Sure, it would be great if everyone were published, if everyone wrote literary masterpieces, but I more readily see my purpose in helping folks to express themselves more fluidly (composition) and then more artfully (creative writing).

I sure hope I don't miss the mark with this creative writing course I am constructing.

Explosion and smoke cloud of the Atomic bomb rise at Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Explosion and smoke cloud of the Atomic bomb rise at Alamogordo, New Mexico.

{click the link above to view the clip}

How is this any less relevant today than it was in 1945? We have thousands of nuclear war heads now, rather than an individual test of a tiny atomic bomb. We have militants the world over with a keen distaste for capitalism and the USA.

I know the threat of global warming is important. I know we should recycle. I know that terrorists abound and that we need to have a cavity search every time we cross a state line--but all these things seem to pale in comparison to the "brilliant, multi-colored fireball of the atomic bomb, many times brighter than the sun."

The newsreel closes with a forewarning that while the bomb might bring a swift end to the war, it puts a tremendous responsibility on those who possess the power of it.

I still am not convinced anyone, any nation, is that responsible.

Boom.

Rebel said "no!"

I've enjoyed 7 years of being the best friend (though I have stepped in as disciplinarian and always acted as father, too). I've been the favorite over TV, movies, even books at bedtime. Though there have been many skirmishes over whether the kids get another piece of candy or if they must clean their toy room, it's been okay...until now.

My 7 year old said no to a trip to town to see me, eat lunch, and visit his favorite barber, Chuck.

This is unprecedented.

Maybe I am reading too much into this, but it feels like teenage rebellion. How could he say no to a haircut?! He loves seeing Chuck, telling him stories, generally being at the barber shop. He loves coming to the college to see me, prowl the halls, use the hand sanitizer, see Jeff, etc...and all my boys love to eat out.

I am perplexed. I've asked him a dozen times, and he always says he had something better to do.

Trouble on the horizon?

I guess I should be happy that he's coming into his own. All four kids have distinct personalities, proclivities, likes and dislikes. They all have such spirit and drive. I have always fostered individuality, and if Jax wants his own space, I should honor that.

It just feels like he's outgrowing us, years too soon. I miss my little boy.