Echo Cliff

Discovered a hidden gem of Kansas geology this weekend at Echo Cliff near Dover just outside of Topeka. It started at the sunflower field near Lawrence - where the boy discovered some Sioux Quartzite and got really interested in my stories of glaciers and how the rocks ended up in Kansas so far from their home in Minnesota.

That lead us to the Kansas Geological Survey site, which noted an anomalous sandstone deposit less than an hour from our home. The sites we found had less than impressive photos, but they hinted at something interesting - and that called for a road trip.

There is an echo - and some bizarre steam punk out houses, picnic tables

and wild folk art trash cans. But the landscape looks alien to Kansas.

Alcove Spring

There isn't too much on Alcove Springs online yet, except where it's mentioned in just about every account of the ill-fated Donner party. I'm collecting resources, so let me know if you have anything. I'm helping a niece with a research project and started to get interested. It has an undiscovered feel to it, though it was one of the first and most popular stops along the Oregon Trail.

When I was growing up nearby, the spring was private property, and so not many people actually saw it. That helped preserve the site. The associations with cannibalism and doom likewise didn't appeal to many (not to mention band of agnostic vigilantes rumored to protect the site), but as several pioneers noted in their logs, it might be one of the most romantic spots in the country, and it feels unspoiled.




Don't know why blogger want's to rotate the ancient graffiti. Ironic that preserving graffiti is important to maintaining the spot, but the name was carved by one of America's most famous cannibals.


Been thinking about the bittersweet my niece found on the trail. There was no vine in sight and I looked, and the stuff brings a good price at farmer's markets... so I'm thinking somebody inappropriately harvested it and dropped a twig on the way out.

I love this place, but don't want it to get more famous.

Persied meteor shower?

Last night Perseid Meteor shower reached its peak, and we bundled up the family on a picture quest. My wife captured the moon over KU campus with 3 planets aligned - Mars, Venus and Saturn - over the top. We also experimented with sparklers while we waited for the meteor shower to start, but clouds moved in by 11, when the action was due to start. The lingering heat, persistent bugs and dust from the infrequent traffic on the old country road contributed to our heading home before midnight, without having gotten a pic of a shooting star, but I may try again later.

Taste test: Lilies

I've eaten lilies in soups, but only recently learned those same lilies grew almost wild. The same lilies you find around old farms and homesteads are tasty - and a surprising number of sites offer recipes, advice and information.
Some say the taste like asparagras when stir-fried, but we found the taste lighter. BTW they cook FAST.
I've found older (possibly spent) or post bloom flowers in soups in Asia - so using the tender buds didn't replicate anything I'd eaten - but it worked.

Grammar matters (?)

Oddly enough - non-standard grammar / spelling bother most people even more than it bothers English teachers. English teachers just see so much of it; however, nothing makes people feel more superior than reading someone else's mistakes.

Failure to proofread is anti-social and indicates a lack of respect for the reader and whoever wrote it.

On End of Semester Assessments.

My reviews on ratemyprofessor.com have been pretty good, but some of the comments have been bewildering and contradictory, but it could be worse - considering a response another teacher got (courtesy Huffington Post). The student was wicked clever and brutally cutting. Ah... the joy of anonymity.

doldrums and the kracken

It's that time. Students who can afford to relax - don't; some come to grips with academic and personal goals for the first time; and some need help getting out of bed at the crack of noon.

I feel it - but you can't step in the same river twice (Heraclitus), and the water's different for everyone.

Teachers hustle to keep up with grading - and judging/evaluating takes its toll - and can result in little patience for ... how do real people say insouciance? Where can we find motivation?

Needing empathy, I started my own iSearch. I forgot that databases tell you were to find info - but often don't have direct link/ download. It can make you feel like you're in over your head.

Check google scholar if your school library doesn't have a journal or source you need - and if that fails interlibrary loan is pretty quick - talk to a librarian. I should walk the class thru it. The process for tracking down sources changes every 6 months, but once you get the hang of it, you can figure it out and it can be fun.

The important thing: try something new. Look in new places. Have fun.

Perhaps we should collectively reassess our goals and objectives. Please check out the video. I especially noticed the phalanx at 2:30... the paramilitary utilitarian outfit and choreography had to influence Public Enemy. They make a statement on the paradox of fitting into a system that encourages uniform expression, while discovering one's own voice: intense emotional engagement while simultaneously detached and objective - or cold and mechanical.

It's performance art/punk rock at its finest; Devo flourished in the shadow of disco - and made a bigger impact in Europe and Japan than in the Midwest, tho they did help pioneer the music video. Mark Mothersbaugh - front man - you may know from The Rugrats, or any of a bunch of movie soundtracks. That dude can compose: visually, musically and lyrically.

Another of Devo's songs could sum up my andragogical theory, our course objectives, and the idea - or more accurately a reaction to an idea, that explains most decisions I made up until 2002. Haven't reassessed my life re: said song since. The message is in the vein of Lloyd's dinner party speech from Say Anything.

I'd probably get in trouble for showing you the music video in question - or even using it's name in print.

BTW anyone else want to read Punk Power in the First-Year Writing Classroom? It'd better live up...

word

All grammar and style advice should be funny

Fake APStylebook posts style advice for writing - the site makes me laugh consistently and sometimes I agree with their point. Sometimes it's bogus - but generally funny. attached is a screengrab from what I found worthy of retweeting (BTW: follow me here on twitter if enough people did I might actually keep up with it).

I decided to follow them on the advice of a student who gets updates to his cell phone.

This reminds me somewhat of The Transitive Vampire - a grammar handbook for the doomed. It actually does a great job teaching grammar - on purpose.

Is this funny?

AT-AT's from Star Wars invade Overland Park

Kevin Burg, a local now living in New York and working in technology, created this using Photoshop. He explains that his mom:

has been sending me pictures of wintry fog in Overland Park, Kansas — and to me it always looks like the ice planet Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back. So, I took it a step further and added some AT-ATs. That’s my high school football stadium in the background.

See his original post.

Awesome grammar lesson /find from "The Oatmeal"

Double click to see images larger. Find the complete interactive digital artwork at their website which includes common mechanical errors with fun, accessible, explanations. I embedded a few such as one of my pet peeves:

and here's another common error.