By Any Other Nerd

Title:  The Hound Author:  H. P. Lovecraft Summary: The narrator explains that the tale he is about to discuss is one of possible madness, but that he must explain it before he blows his brains out.  His good friend, St. John has been torn to shreds and the narrator would rather not face that end.  He explains that hee and St. John after growing tired of all the worldly adventures and pursuits, took up grave-robbing and began to collect a vast collection of corpses and buried artifacts a removed home.  They delight in taking body parts, stuffing corpses, and other such dark pleasures for quite a while, when they hear about a potential grave robber's grave from hundreds of years ago.  They decide to rob it and find a curious and hypnotic amulet in the tomb.  However, from the day that they take it, stranger things begin to occur.  They continue to hear a howl in the background (or howling wind).  Knocking at odd hours and other noises ...

What Is It An advertisement from the Wellesley News, the student newspaper of Wellesley College, from the late 1910s.  Why I Find It Interesting Again, we tend to think of our modern consumer culture as unique in its desperateness to turn everything into an opportunity to profit.  They give us all those supposed Halmark Holidays, right?  But this ad reminds me that this seems to have been a long-held tradition.  Here is a florist trying to capitalize on Halloween to get people to buy more flowers.  Not pumpkins, not cornstalks, but flowers, which seem to be the one thing you don't really think about on Halloween.  I wonder how many Halloween orders Fraser fulfilled that year. This submission is  part of the Image of the Week series .  For access to all photos, which are open for reuse under a Creative Commons License, check out the  full album on Flickr . Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to br...

I started this year with a goal to actively practice gratitude ( My goal with gratitude ) and to reflect on it as best I can.  I started my gratitude journal, wherein I acknowledge daily what I am grateful for.  Right now, it's a series of statements (usually three) wherein I acknowledge my gratitude for people, opportunities, and privileges, etc that I have within my life.   Word cloud of gratitude - February 2016 I've added to this by also reflecting on the whole of the month by seeing what filters through that journal into a word-cloud, giving light particular themes and ideas.  Here is what I wrote for  January's Gratitude .   Last month, I asked if people had their own ways of being grateful and how they did it.  I got a few recommendations from people.  Thank you to those that took the time to respond--I always appreciate when people engage with me here.  Though they were great, none of them clung to me, but I did end up adapt...

You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself by David McRaney My rating: 5 of 5 stars Books like McRaney's are great as I find them to help center me and keep a wide open perspective about how people come to see the world (including myself) and how even when we may think we are right or see something clearly, we are substantially bogged down by external and internal forces that lead us to believe we know more than we might. It earned a 5-Star rating (meaning I think it's required reading for everyone!) because I think so much of dialogue on so many different subjects could be enhanced through learning about the different ways in which despite our best efforts, we often fail at communication. View all my reviews Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and  check out some of my other posts! . You might also want to keep up to da...

Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age by Alice E. Marwick My rating: 5 of 5 stars Alice Marwick provides an insightful and fascinating look at understanding social media, culture, and class identity in this book. Through her text, it's quickly evident that though social media presents itself as this utopian world of access and connection, there are many misrepresentations and much gesturing that more than creates a distorted view of what social media is and how we use it. These questions of access, presence, and celebritism create different outcomes and rather than diminishing class boundaries, often reinforces them. It's an essential text for people looking to understand social media either in general or for professional and personal use. View all my reviews Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and  check out some of my other posts! . You might also want to keep up to date with m...

Citation : Gorski, P., & Clark, C. (2001). Multicultural Education and the Digital Divide: Focus on Race. Multicultural Perspectives, 3(4), 15-25. Summary : This literature review examined the racial digital divide through a sociopolitical, multicultural education framework to capture the implication of the divide and provide recommendations for improving access for racial minorities. The authors split access to computers and to the internet to show that even those with computers may still not have internet access, creating more divides. Even at schools, universal access to computers, never mind the internet, had not been achieved and access clearly correlated with racial make-up of the students. They identified trends in usage for students and teachers that reinforced Eurocentric views in classrooms and schools that further alienate racial minorities. The authors provided the following research-based tactics to help bridge the divide: computer loan programs, aftersch...

Title:  The Tomb Author:  H. P. Lovecraft Summary: The narrator, Jervas begins by explaining that he knows the reader is not likely to believe him since he has been confined to a room in what appears to be an asylum, but he goes forward with his tale regardless.  He explains that he grew up on the grounds of an ancient house that was owned by the Hydes who had largely died out, though his family had a loose connection and the house had been burnt to the ground years ago in a fire caused by a thunderstorm.  He always enjoyed exploring the words on their property and eventually stumbled upon a vault of tombs that was all but forgotten and covered in woodlands.  Throughout his youth, he spends much time here staring at the door with hopes of gaining entrance.  He is intrigued by the place and hints that much in the woods spoke to him in curious ways.  One evening when he visits the vault, he seems to be hypnotized by the sound and t...

What Is It An article from the Wellesley News, the student newspaper of Wellesley College, from the late 1910s.  Why I Find It Interesting I found this small piece to be a curious oddity in the Wellesley News.  It's not the refrigerator that we come to know, but something else entirely.  There's no clarity on what it is--which is interesting because today, I could google the answer and find it ( which I did and found this ), but how would one be able to find out more information from this simple post.  The piece also makes me wonder what other things were invoked for usage during World War I to help people adapt to the shortages.  This submission is  part of the Image of the Week series .  For access to all photos, which are open for reuse under a Creative Commons License, check out the  full album on Flickr . Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and  check out some of my other po...

It's been a few months since I've dedicated any posts on running.  Clearly, there have been other priorities.  But with the spring approaching, I'm revving up to get in some races this year. Last year was both a struggle and a success.  I struggled with a hip-strain which killed much of the summer.  I floundered a little bit during June when I started the PhD program and during the semester when things got really busy.  Most recently, I had to take at least three weeks off from running to let a cold finally go away that had been lingering around way too much.  Yet, it was also a success.  I ran my first half-marathon in under two hours.  I followed this up with a five-mile race where I ran in under 43 minutes and a 4 mile race on New Years' Day where I ran close to 33  minutes (8:15'ish minute miles!).  Something over the course of the year had changed that helped me find the right pace and approach to running to help me increase my ti...

How to Think: The Liberal Arts and Their Enduring Value by Michael D.C. Drout My rating: 5 of 5 stars I willingly admit that I am a total fanboy of Michael C. Drout's work. He is the author of several lecture series from Recorded Book's Modern Scholar line. His lively voice, amusing asides, and excitement over nerdy things add a level of interest to the lectures that other Modern Scholar lecturers seem to miss. This lecture series is no different as he delves into the history, the values, the importance, and the problems with the Liberal Arts as a major centerpiece of modern education. It's worth a listen for everyone who works in the liberal arts and more so for those who wish to devalue (and ultimately, defund) the liberal arts as it provides a good strong explanation as to their cultural importance. View all my reviews Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and  check out some of my other posts! . You might als...