Now That the Smoke Has Cleared

Words won't kill you unless they are "Ready, aim, fire!".

Bravo, Attilio!

Kudos to Attilio for his insightful look at post-9/11 editorials from the New York Times, but more impressively for his writing and receiving a response from Noam Chomsky! I save my e-mails from Muriel Harris in a mayonnaise jar in my garage, but Attilio trumps us all with his correspondence from the one and only Chomsky. Very nicely done!
Buon Natale, Attilio! Happy Hanukkah, Dr. Gordon! And to the rest, happy holidays, happy kwanza, happy festivus and Merry Christmas. . .if that's okay. God bless us, every one.

Entertainment News- Pamela Anderson Splits From Kid Rock

Entertainment News- Pamela Anderson Splits From Kid Rock

Steve Martin: "Grandmother's Song"

Thank you. You know folks, when I was a kid, I was pretty close to my grandmother and she used to sing a song to me when I was about this high. It always meant something to me and I'd like to do it for you right now because it does have meaning in today's world even . . . all these years, you know those, even during the "hip drug days" you know when everybody was supposed to be so cool and everything had double meanings and this little simple tune would keep coming back to me and I think it kinda guided me through those years and I'd like to do this song for you right now, I think it might have a little meaning for you, so here it goes.

Be courteous, kind and forgiving,
Be gentle and peaceful each day,
Be warm and human and grateful,
And have a good thing to say.

Be thoughtful and trustful and childlike,
Be witty and happy and wise,
Be honest and love all your neighbors,
Be obsequious, purple, and clairvoyant.

Be pompous, obese, and eat cactus,
Be dull, and boring, and omnipresent,
Criticize things you don't know about,
Be oblong and have your knees removed.

Be tasteless, rude, and offensive,
Live in a swamp and be three dimensional,
Put a live chicken in your underwear,
Get all excited and go to a yawning festival.

O.K. everybody!

Be courteous, kind and forgiving,
Be gentle and peaceful each day,
Be warm and human and grateful,
And have a good thing to say.

Be thoughtful and trustful and childlike,
(O.K. everybody on this!)
Be witty and happy and wise,
Be honest and love all your neighbors,
Be obsequious, purple, and clairvoyant.
(Let 'em hear you outside!)

Be pompous, obese, and eat cactus,
(Everybody sing!)
Be dull, and boring, and omnipresent,
Criticize things you don't know about,
Be oblong and have your knees removed.

(Ladies only)
Be tasteless, rude, and offensive,
(Now the men)
Live in a swamp and be three dimensional,
(Everybody)
Put a live chicken in your underwear,
Go into a closet and suck eggs.

You guys are going to be on a record. Maybe - someday. Not mine of course.

Tom's progess

Hi Gang:
First, please accept my sincere gratitude for your patience with me. I've been hospitalized twice in the past three weeks, once for heart surgery and once for my back, and I apologize for being unable to participate more fully in our coursework.
My project initially explored 17 academic journal articles whose subject is online writing tutelage. Six of the articles inadvertently came from the same academic journal, Computers and Composition, a predictable detail considering the subject matter. Three articles from 1995, the renaissance period of this technology, complement and serve as preambles to three from the 21st-century. In addition to scrutinizing the discourse of online writing tutoring, the effectiveness of language used between tutors and clients during these exchanges, I also examine the efficiency of this technology. This lack of human presence may be beneficial in some circumstances, while some elements that derail “in-person” sessions may also exist online. Finally, “the ideology of ease” is explored—is there an actual ease to online tutoring and is this minimalist approach truly desirous?

Separated at birth?

This has nothing to do with our class, but it's worth sharing. The first reading response I assigned my students was Dick Gregory's "Shame." Gregory, as you may know, is an American comedian, social activist, writer, entrepreneur, and nutritionist. He ran for president of the United States in 1968 as a write-in candidate of the Freedom and Peace Party, which had broken off from the Peace and Freedom Party. He won 47,097 votes, including one from Hunter S. Thompson.
In his reading response, one of my students said he was surprised to learn "Greg" was so socially active and accomplished so much with his life. The student said when "Greg" was on Sanford and Son, he was a really funny guy. I had to burst this kid's bubble, though, and tell him Whitman Mayo played "Grady," and that if he had actually read "Shame" he would have figured it out.
Although, now that I think about it, I do kind of see a resemblence.