HEMINGWAY PART 1
In the January cold of 2016, I escorted my AP students to NYC to visit the Morgan Library. We then headed to Broadway for a production...
YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE
Back in 2013, the New York Times published a dialect quiz that I passed along to my students most years. Most of my charges were...
FUN AND GAMES
When I watch my grandchildren, or really any kids at all, I am often amazed at how sophisticated (even jaded at times) they are. They...
MYSTIC FROM THE EAST
My son, Devin, is the authority on all things comic. He has spent much of his life examining the stylings of a variety of comics, from...
WORDSWORDSWORDS#13 (Begging the Question)
Last week, Washington Post columnist Mark Lasswell penned a language column about a long-abused phrase- begging the question . My...
CRYPTOQUOTE
When I was a ninth-grader, I devoured books--often completing a book a day, if not more. Of course, as was my practice, I didn't always...
The Popular Song: AM I BLUE?
Recently I screened a 1929 film musical titled On With the Show and was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a wonderful song that I...
FLY PAPER
When I taught my Cinema Studies elective classes, I would always devote time to one of Buster Keaton's masterpieces--Sherlock, Jr. Early...
THE MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM
Every generation has its own music, and as a child of the 60s, I feel very fortunate to have grown up with the Beatles, and Bob, and...
WORDSWORDSWORDS#12 (Sike/Psyche/Psyche)
Even though I am a prescriptivist when it comes to the English language, I readily acknowledge that language is always evolving and I am...