Epistemographer

Tonight I think I finished my fourth chapter (which will actually be the sixth chapter of the final thing, thanks to the screwy way I wound up working on things)…the ending isn’t as tight as I’d like, but I’ll need to return to it after writinig the two chapters that precede it, since it relies [...]

The cubicle in which I work:

The classroom in which I teach:

The odometer that just clicked over to 70,000:

Like I said in the last post, I’m a boring, boring man these days…

I’ve been sitting at my desk on campus for most of the past three days, and I’ve got another month or so of this to look forward to. Between teaching and trying to finish my dissertation, it’s going to be a loooong month.
In other news, I got my webcam hooked up at my desk, so [...]

Just spent the past hour setting up 17 student blogs for a writing course I’m teaching this semester. Movable Type really, really needs a batch blog create function.
The course itself will be an adventure: teaching a course I’ve not taught before, using a technology (Movable Type) I’ve not used in a class setting before, not [...]

How cold is it tonight in New York City, you ask? Well, according to weather.com it’s currently 1 degree Fahrenheit, though with the wind it feels like -19.
But those are just numbers. How cold is it, really?
Well, Jenny’s apartment is well heated, and the windows are tightly-fitted, double-paned glass. And there’s frost on the inside [...]

For anyone in the NYC area this weekend:
RIVER ALEXANDER’S MAD JAZZ HATTERS
SAT. JAN. 17, 7-9PM, BARBES
aLIVE, aLIVE – OH! Hello Friends. Come experience the Mercurial Exuberance of delightful song and novelty of the 20’s and 30’s. Dance, Cavort, Frolic and Gallivant to Jazz, Vaudeville, Hokum, Swing and Soulful Undescribables (It’s getting [...]

After several days of wrestling with a chapter that just wouldn’t work, I realized a structural problem with my dissertation, and just spent the past hour and a half gutting and rejiggering. Once the smoke cleared, I was left with an outline that included one chapter more than I’d planned, but which also made a [...]

This is exciting – Dan Froomkin, my old boss from washingtonpost.com just started writing a daily media round-up column called White House Briefing. Dan’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met when it comes to the intersection of politics, journalism, and new media, and I can’t think of anyone better to tackle this sort [...]

Back in New York City for the next week, with nothing on the agenda but dissertation writing and exercise (both of which I’ve sadly been neglecting while out of town). With that in mind, I’ve established a self-imposed moratorium on the reading of blogs of any sort until I get my next chapter finished…while this [...]

Sorry for the delay, you hardy few who read this space on a regular basis – I’ve been busy doing not nearly enough down in Florida, where lots of sun and swimming pool time has been on the agenda. Tomorrow, we’re heading down to Miami for a few fun events, including an evening of Jai [...]