Curious Pages Blog

If you're a fan of the obsurd, check out http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/
It approaches (mostly) the illustrations of not so innocuous children's books from an adult sense of humor.

The nerd in me most enjoys Grammar Can Be Fun by Monro Leaf featuring the so lazy he is nearer death than most Ain't who graces the cover but unfortunately doesn't survive beyond the first page.  I'm not sure what's funnier, Leaf's prose or the blogger's commentary.

This book and others feature detailed illustration that make the experience especially enjoyable.  It's akin to watching a movie on mute and creating your own dialogue except without the embarrassment if someone walks in on you doing it alone.

Check it out and share your favorite or now favorite children's book.

Haiti Needs Our Help

All of  you know by now of the terrible effect of the earthquake in Haiti. 
There are many ways we can help.

If you'd like to donate time, money, or other resources, you can check out these websites for details:
http://www.redcross.org/
http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/h/blog/volunteering--2010-style


The $10 text donation has become quite popular.  Millions of dollars have been donated thus far. Here's how you can join in:


TEXT "HAITI" to 90999
This mobile fundraising initiative is a partnership between the American Red Cross, Mobile Accord and the mGive Foundation that is supported by the U.S. State Department.

Customers of participating wireless carriers can text message "HAITI" to 90999 and make a $10 donation to support the American Red Cross Haiti relief efforts. Donations will appear on customers' monthly bills or be debited from a prepaid account balance. Message and data rates may apply. To opt-out, send "STOP" to 90999. To see the terms applicable to donations, please visit www.mgive.com/A. Receipts for donations are available at www.mgive.org/receipt.


Participating Carriers:
Alltel                              nTelos 
AT&T                             Sprint 
Cellular South                 T-Mobile
Cellcom                          U.S. Cellular
Cincinnati Bell                 Verizon Wireless
Cricket                           Virgin Mobile

30 in 30 Update

So the challenge is days from over and I'm far behind schedule.  I've written a few words here and there but surely not 30 of them.  I think I'll post them in groups of 10. I have 5 full days so there's hope yet!  Check out the progress of others who have accepted the 30 in 30 challenge at http://30poems30days.wordpress.com/
and be inspired to start or complete your own!

Happy New Year!

New year, new goals, new things to look forward to.  This is the year I will push myself to new limits.  That said ( ;) ), the 30 in 30 challenge is still on, I have a lot of catching up to do.  I'll be delving into more discussions of language as I read, write, and perform (yes perform, I'm returning to the stage, albeit the small stage of lounges and cafes). I look forward to travleing this leg of my journey with you.

30 in 30

In my previous post I alluded to my hesitation to...
The finality of a text...
(See what I mean? You will.)
I tend to feel like a work needs time to marinate, then I can return to it, edit, and then repeat the process before I consider it complete.
As I sit here, masters degree (figuratively) in hand, on the cusp of assigning papers with deadlines to undergrad students, I think I need to experience these deadlines more intensely, in a way my recent classes have not required of me.
A friend of mine mentioned a few days ago that he was going to challenge himself to complete a 30 in 30 - to write 30 poems in 30 days. He told a few friends and now its grown into a movement (of sorts). What better way to get back into the groove of writing poems than with a challenge that also shakes my core beliefs about writing. So I'm on board. I'll post my haphazard, underwritten, incomplete poems here and, as they spark my mind and spirit, maybe they will spark yours.

Find more information about and join this 30 in 30 challenge here:

http://30poems30days.wordpress.com/welcome-faq/

And it started yesterday, so hurry up and get started!

Theories & Models of Literacy: The Papers

I've avoided this post for as long as I could. With less than 24 hours to go, I somberly submit my midterm and final papers for all to view. I tend to hesitate to post items such as these because posting gives them a finality I rarely ascribe to them. I have made a few cosmetic changes to the original submissions but the content is largely the same.
The first, entitled The [R]evolution of Silent Reading, explains how silent reading became the linchpin between text technology and cultural change:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AdCBUY5KczCDZDl2YjY0Y18xN3ZjemQ2aGg&hl=en

The second, entitled The Intersections of Culture and Literacy, discusses the obvious:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AdCBUY5KczCDZDl2YjY0Y18yY3h4cDZoY2g&hl=en

As I am constructing this post, I am becoming increasingly aware of my desire to seek/consider connections, the places and moments where and when ideas meet, touch, converge, and diverge. Perhaps, these connections will be focus of future posts and discussions.

Discussion Flyer: To Read

In my Theories and Models of Literacy class, we read and discussed the chapter entitled "To Read" in Ross Winterowd's book, The Culture and Politics of Literacy. I created the discussion flyer for this interesting chapter full of endophoric and exophoric clues that assist comprehension.
Check out the link below and the previous sentence will make sense ;)

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AdCBUY5KczCDZDl2YjY0Y18wZHN3anRtZzI&hl=en