Read-Think-b4-u-Write

So you're driving through Hollywood somewhere and spot Kirsten Dunst of Spiderman fame - what do you do? Do you stop, jump out your car, and take a selfie? Well, that's just what happened in this short film. Think this is just a bit of exaggeration? I doubt it. But that's not the only sign that you are addicted to your cell phone. You know you need to kill your cell phone if . . . you have ever run into a pole (or any other large item) while texting. you can't remember how to write with a pen or pencil anymore and find yourself just taking pictures of the notes on the board. feel an event didn't happen unless you take a bazillion selfies on your phone while attending. can't make it through a family meal (or any meal for that matter) without picking up your phone. can feel your phone vibrating inside your pocket when it is in your purse or backpack. can't handle not being able to see your cell phone 24-hours a day because it causes you menta...

"Until you're actually in a catastrophe you don't know how you'd behave."  That's how Glenn Stutzky prefaces the MSU Summer 2014 class " Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse – Disasters, Catastrophes, and Human Behavior ". When I first heard about this class, I didn't give it much credence.  Another crazy pop culture class - but then again, as a teacher of comics and all things related, I had to step back.  After all Walking Dead is one great comic book series that was serialized on television.  Although, I have to say, I still wasn't convinced that the zombie apocalypse was an appropriate fit in classes on the study of human behavior. That was before I watched the above video. What changed my mind?  The Mt. Diablo Fire of 2013.  I had always thought of myself as one of those people who, in the face of disaster, would remain calm, cool, and collected, rescuing neighbors and pets alike.  But, no, when Mt. Diablo was engulfed in fla...

It may be hard to see in this home/work space, but there it is a cute little picture proclaiming "Do What You Love" next to another cute little graphic "Love What You Do." We've all heard this phrase, but at Jacobin an article entitled "In the Name of Love" claims that "There’s little doubt that 'do what you love' (DWYL) is now the unofficial work mantra for our time. The problem is that it leads not to salvation, but to the devaluation of actual work, including the very work it pretends to elevate — and more importantly, the dehumanization of the vast majority of laborers." After all, we're not all Bill Gates building computers in our garage. Is DWYL just a bit of self-aggrandizing fluff? Jacobin makes a good point when saying, "By keeping us focused on ourselves and our individual happiness, DWYL distracts us from the working conditions of others while validating our own choices and relieving us from obli...