Monthly Archives: May 2005

Take a Stanza: Spring and Fall

May 29, 2005
May almost slipped away before I got a chance to post the month’s stanza. This poem, “Spring and Fall,” was written by one of my favorite poets of all time, Gerard Manley Hopkins. A couple of the lines are hard to unpack, and the syntax is a little convoluted in places, but most of the sense of it is pretty straightforward…
Posted in language | 1 Comment

Making the Switch: iMac First Impressions

May 26, 2005
So I finally bit the bullet, took the plunge, made the switch from the dingy Windows of old to a bright new OSX future. Well, I’m not getting rid of my Windows PCs altogether, but last week I plunked down a fair bit of change and purchased an iMac G5, the new one with the gorgeous 20-inch monitor. Now it’s sitting pretty on the desk in my study, having replaced the behemoth PC with its Scylla-like cables and painfully loud fan…
Posted in technology | 16 Comments

More on Bush at Calvin College

May 19, 2005
Here’s a quick rundown of what some people have been saying lately about Bush’s upcoming commencement address at Calvin College.
Posted in society | 11 Comments

Everything I See Is Blue and Green

May 16, 2005
A couple weeks ago my daughter put on for the first time a beautiful dress that friends of ours had given her. I loved the pattern, and I loved the colors–blue and green. In fact, I decided to redesign my website using the dress as a color palette. Bright greens. Bright blues. Maybe a dash of yellow. All very spring-like. Fresh, youthful, fun…
Posted in miscellany | 8 Comments

The Problem with Student Evaluations

May 11, 2005
In a blog entry titled “What’s wrong with academia, part two hundred and twenty-four,” the pseudonymous B**ch PhD complains that the student evaluation is typically “the only regular feedback [professors] get on any aspect of our jobs.” Let me tell you, her entry, as well as many of the 110 comments, gave me the willies–because of how much I could identify with the sentiments…
Posted in language | 3 Comments

Words I’ll Probably Never Use in a Sentence

May 9, 2005
There are some words that I may not use because they are too vulgar. Others I try to avoid because they may offend someone (and I try my best never to offend). And then there are those I won’t touch because I don’t have the gravitas that such words require. Here is a small sample of the many words I can’t get away with saying–or couldn’t utter without giggling…
Posted in language | 11 Comments

San Francisco Photos

May 8, 2005
The most vexing advantage of digital photography is that it allows me to take 400 pictures on a six-day vacation. One day I will be able to sort through all of them. For now, here are a few snapshots of our trip to San Francisco and environs…
Posted in photography | 2 Comments

Back from San Francisco

May 6, 2005
If you were wondering why things have been quiet on the blog for the past week or so, it’s because I was on vacation with my family in San Francisco. A great time was had by all. Thanks to our hosts, Andy and Pamela and Shoshana and Isaac, for a wonderful time…
Posted in family | 6 Comments