Friday Fragments

Once again, thanks to Ms. 4444's hot hosting Friday Fragments.

Last week was such an exciting week with so many great moments, I thought this one would be a let down.  Once again, I am proven wrong.

• On a related note, can someone please invent a time stopper for me?  Just give me one eight hour block to try and catch up while the rest of the world stops.

On Tuesday our department hosted our annual, Cheers to the Future Event.  We had 80 students and about 40 industry partners come to Lowndes Grove Plantation for a meet & greet function.  Last year, I personally know of 12 students who either got a job or internship as a result of the event.  Here's hoping this year it is even better.

• One a related note - see the picture below - just wow!   People stood on the deck mingling as the set set over the Ashley River.   What a venue.  

• The next night, was Robyn & I went to Charleston Fashion Week.   I was kind of dreading going but Robyn really wanted to see it and I wanted to spend time with her - so a compromise was met.  

• On a related note: it was really fun.  If you want to see more, come back to see my Sundays in the City post this week hosted by the mos talented, blogger extraordinaire Unknown Mami.
• On another related note: Apparently fashion and I ware not well acquainted.

• While I was out at five star plantations and attending fashion shows, Heather has carried a heavy parenting load.  
• On a related note: I am sure she will have a very interesting side of he said/she said this week.  Stop by later tonight to see what she says.  I am afraid.

Now that I have fragged this up, go see how other do it better by clicking the button below.

Friday Fragments - Tenured Edition

First and foremost, thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting Friday Fragments.

• Got the letter this morning from the university president - I am now official tenured.

• On a related note, I have once again starting to breathe.

• I am thankful to my parents (who without their support - I would be saying today - 'would you like fries with that?')

• On a related note, I truly believe that is one surrounds themselves with good people, good things happen.  I was lucky to start life with the best of people and be taught this lesson by them.

• I am also thankful for Heather who has put up with me all these years.

• One a related note, did you know we started a new Saturday Meme called He Said/She Said.  You can check out last weeks' edition here.  I will post later today, this week's edition, feel free to join in the fun!
• This weeks' question to ask your SO, "How did you and your SO meet?   Follow up question - what was your first date?
• Of course, my version of the story is the correct one.

• Last night we celebrated we took Robyn to sign up for her grade nine classes.  Wow, does she have a tough curriculum to follow.  Her school next year is usually rated in the top ten high-schools in the USA and one only has to see their workload to see why.  

• On a related note, I may have tenure but I am not smarter than a ninth grader!

• I am going to start a new post this week called weigh in Wednesday.  I am going to post my weight every week.  I figure if I publicly embarrass myself, that will keep me motivated to reach my goals.

• On a related note; the related note above combined with this point, once again proves, I am really not that bright.  This idea has backfire written all over it.

Overall, this week has included my birthday and the confirmation of my tenure.  My family is a happy one and everyone is healthy.  While nothing in life is perfect, I have to admit, life has been very, very good to me.

Friday Fragments - v18

Once again, thanks to Mrs. 4444's and her blog www.halfpastkissintime.com for hosting Friday Fragments.

Call this my suggestive version of Friday Fragments...

• Heather and I came up with a new idea for a potential blog hop.  We are thinking of calling it "He said/She said".  The idea behind it is that we ask three questions and the blogger has to not only write their responses but that of their significant other as well.  We are thinking it would be a good Thursday or Saturday blog hop.  What do you think of this idea?  
• On a related note, did you know that the number two reason for divorce (behind finances) is that couples do not spend enough time with each other?
• This week was spring break and I spent time in the office: Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  
• On a related note, the majority of my department has been in everyday this week not counting the faculty member that is leading a group of students on a trip to Africa.  It is nice to work with such a dedicated group of professionals.  But I get the feeling the line between dedication and obsession is not as clearly defined as one would think.
• I planted roses, strawberries and tomatoes this week.  Being Canadian, I am used to planting on the May 24 weekend.  Planting at the beginning of March just seems wrong.
• On a related note, we need to harvest before we leave for Canada at the beginning of June.  Scary eh?  Got any other suggestions for high sun/heat plants that would be fun for my garden?  I like colors and fruit.  Also, they have to live in planters as well.
• How do you like my new button on the side?  I am not sure about it, was thinking of changing it and going with a design that looks like a passport stamp?  Any suggestions?
• On a related note, thanks to my lovely and talented wife for creating said button.  
• So far on my personal sabbatical to do list: 
• Study for and pass my French test and get my Global Scholars designation;
• Lose 25 pounds (gets me under 200 lbs);
• Get my blood pressure back of under 130/100 - yes, I know I am a heart attack ready to happen;
• Train my sons to sleep in their own beds and use the potty;
• Have at least two hours of kid free time alone with my wife twice per week;
• Read 25 novels that have nothing to do with my research; 
• On a related note, any other suggestions for what I should add to my sabbatical list?
• Sunday is my birthday.  What should I do on said day?
• On a related note, what a spectacular year it has been.  Three great kids, one fabulous wife along with  a healthy and happy extended family.  Soon to add tenure and promotion (March 15 - if all goes well) as well as a sabbatical for doing a job I love.  Life has indeed been very, very good to me.

I have a suggestion for you all.  Now that you have read my fraggy thoughts, how about clicking on the button  below and visiting some others?

Friday Fragments - v17

Once again, thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting this great fraggin' party!

• How come when everything is starting to work well is when administration decides it is time to change things?  
• On a related note - my sabbatical is approved and perhaps some time to step away will recharge my batteries after a long 10 year run I have been on.  Perhaps my cynicism is partially due to a little case of the 'burn outs.'
• I love my students. Yesterday, I got to have great conversations with about 25 of them at various points during the day.  They are intelligent, well-mannered and humble people.  People who talk about millennials' as self-entitled brats know not what they are talking about.  
• On a related note -  if you treat people with respect and dignity, it tends to come back to you.
• Last night was the opening of the Charleston Food + Wine Festival.  Everyone always tells me, you get to go to all these cool events, your job must be awesome.  I however, feel like a fish out of water at such things.  I am by far not sophisticated enough to fit in with such a esteemed crowd.  I did like however; that I was able to bring one of my students with me to the event and introduce her to influential people.
• On a related note - Why yes, it is awesome to have my job!
• Got a paper accepted to the Journal of Travel Research this week (probably the top journal in our field).  Congrats to my co-authors Steve and Bob!  This paper (which we will feature on a future blog post) is absolutely a brilliant piece of work thanks to them.   
• On a related note - a student just submitted an absolutely brilliant paper for a contest and somehow that is so much more exciting to me.  Sorry guys.
• Only 15 days until I get my formal notification as to whether I receive my tenure or not.    I passed my department with a 5-0 vote in favor, got the highest ranking in each category from my dean and received a 5-0 vote in favor from the College wide committee.  
• On a related note - I feel confident but not secure.  One never knows.  Plus tenure is not what it once was.
• One final note - While I love my work, it can sometimes be hard of my family (especially at certain times of the year).  Thanks to my beautiful bride Heather (check out www.actingbalanced.com) and the kids for putting up with my insane schedule over the past couple of weeks (mid-term time) and into next.  
• One a final related note - is it sad that I found out about my daughter social status via facebook?  Oy vey!

Friday Fragments - v16

Did some one speed up time and not tell me? Are we now living on 23 hour days instead and I missed the news?  Then again my week started with my most beautiful and loving child waking me by puking on my face. Perhaps that should have been considered an omen for the week ahead.

Einstein was once again proven correct. Seems technology can not yet beat a sufficiently genius mind.

Hope my in-laws are enjoying their cruise.



Hope my mom enjoys being able to give the finger once more. She has hand surgery last week and it would be nice if she regained use of her left hand. How will she babysit without it?

My deparent chair has a thankless and crappy job. Kudos for him for actually doing it so well. I think I would want to shoot myself about a week into the role.

Getting ready for the BB&T Charleston Foood + Wine Festival next week. The event is always spectacular in and of itself but add the Charleston setting and it is a must do at some point in your life.

Once again, thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting Friday Fragments.  Now go visit other fraggers by clicking the button below.

Friday Fragments - v15

What a big week this was personally.  On Wednesday, I received the official notice that my sabbatical was approved, got the report that I passed the third level of my tenure evaluation with unanimous support and most important to me, I got to have a date night with my wife.

Thanks to my in-laws. Taking the kids overnight was the best possible gift I could ask for.  Date night could not have happened without you.  BTW you can check out my mother-in-laws new blog here.  The family that blogs together...

Speaking of date nights, I love The Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes Resort.  High quality service, beautiful surroundings and a first class experience.  I highly recommend the resort for your vacation needs.  Thanks to Frank and Kristie for helping me out on that.  Sending up the chocolate covered strawberries with a beautiful wine along with some yummy cheese and crackers was the perfect romance enhancer.

The view from our room...

Also related to date night.  We had a great meal at an Isle of Palms restaurant called Huck's Lowcountry Table.  Too bad the server was mediocre.  She completely mailed it in, (ignored me multiple times, and then  had audacity to auto-tip us.  The funny part is that she auto-tipped it at 18% when I normally tip a minimum of 20.  She cost herself money.  Well at least I have a interesting service quality story to tell my students for the next few terms (especially when juxtaposed next to the level of service we received at the resort).

My wife is one cool woman.  I am kind of fond of her.  Also, congratulations are in order for my wife's blog www.actingbalanced.com.  She apparently now has a Google page rank of four.  Also, she is hosting a new blog hop called Meet Me on Mondays.  I am going to try it out for the first time this week, I encourage you to do the same.

Speaking of blogs, this week my Monday story about poverty in America had a whole 15 hits yet my Youtube clips about lust has had hundreds.  Should I make a commentary out of this?

Had a very interesting conversation this week about the carrot and the stick.  I argue that people will work harder if they are rewarded than work hard to avoid being punished.  What do you think?   I know I work better for praise.

I am now all fragged out.  Go visit our gracious host Mrs. 4444's and the other fascinating fraggers by clicking the button below.

Friday Fragments - v15

What a big week this was personally.  On Wednesday, I received the official notice that my sabbatical was approved, got the report that I passed the third level of my tenure evaluation with unanimous support and most important to me, I got to have a date night with my wife.

Thanks to my in-laws. Taking the kids overnight was the best possible gift I could ask for.  Date night could not ave happened without you.  BTW you can check out my mother-in-laws new blog here.  The family that blogs together...

Speaking of date nights, I love The Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes Resort.  High quality service, beautiful surroundings and a first class experience.  I highly recommend the resort for your vacation needs.  Thanks to Frank and Kristie for helping me out on that.  Sending up the chocolate covered strawberries with a beautiful wine along with some yummy cheese and crackers was the perfect romance enhancer.

The view from our room...

Also related to date night.  We had a great meal at an Isle of Palms restaurant called Huck's Lowcountry Table.  Too bad the server was mediocre.  She completely mailed it in, (ignored me multiple times, and then  had audacity to auto-tip us.  The funny part is that she auto-tipped it at 18% when I normally tip a minimum of 20.  She cost herself money.  Well at least I have a interesting service quality story to tell my students for the next few terms (especially when juxtaposed next to the level of service we received at the resort).

My wife is one cool woman.  I am kind of fond of her.  Also, congratulations are in order for my wife's blog www.actingbalanced.com.  She apparently now has a Google page rank of four.  Also, she is hosting a new blog hop called Meet Me on Mondays.  I am going to try it out for the first time this week, I encourage you to do the same.

Had a very interesting conversation this week about the carrot and the stick.  I argue that people will work harder if they are rewarded than work hard to avoid being punished.  What do you think?   I know I work better for praise.

I am now all fragged out.  Go visit our gracious host Mrs. 4444's and the other fascinating fraggers by clicking the button below.

Friday Fragments - v14

Welcome to another edition of Friday Fragments.  Once again thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting such a wonderful hop.  On to the frags:

1. I wrote earlier this week about the problems occurring in Syria.  Apparently we have no problem intervening in Libya but can not protect children who are being tortured in Syria.  Oh wait, Syria has little oil?  Okay, I get it now;
2. Got to take a great group from Clemson this week on a walking tour of downtown Charleston.  Thanks to my good friend Dr. Bill Norman for setting that up;
3. Welcome to my in-laws who are visiting this week.  I hope they enjoy the visit and their grandchildren.  I know that they will get in their exercise while they are here;
4. This week has been insanely busy and every time I turn around what I had planned has melted into capriciousness; and
5. I got my hair cut (well shaved off is a better descriptor) this week.  

Here are the before pictures:

Here are some after shots:

Heather dislikes it immensely.  Though not so much she didn't agree to go on a kid-less overnight excursion next week.  So now you get to chime in, hair? or no hair?

After you do that, go and visit other frags by clicking the button below...

Friday Fragments - v12

Once again, thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting FF.

• I had a conference two weekends ago, then last weekend and most of this week I have been qualmish - my grading pile is now officially two inches think. 
• Is there such thing as a grading fairy that will come and catch me up?
• Yesterday, I wrote about how Customs officials used someones tweets to deny them entry into the USA.  The more I think about it, the more I believe that this generation has it much tougher than previous ones.  There are very few secrets in this social media world.  
• In 20 years, we will have the first president who had a Facebook page in College.  Are we going to drag up pictures from a frat party they attended as a freshman and judge their character on it?
• This is an email I received today...

Do you have a writing project underway? Do you find it hard to find time to think and write during the semester? Have you lost momentum on a manuscript project? If you had a couple of solid days, could you get an article out for review? Are you poised to begin a new writing project if only you could find the time?  

If so, consider applying for one of ten spots in the pilot Spring Break Writer’s Retreat. 

For three days over spring break—Monday, March 5 through Wednesday, March 7—we will provide up to ten faculty with a private, quiet space in Addlestone Library to write. We’ll provide some accountability, care and feeding, and a supportive collegial environment so that you can focus on your writing.  In return, you agree to write and not grade, check email or Facebook, or leave the retreat for other meetings.

•  Scary part is, I thought this was a really cool idea and am seriously thinking about applying for it  as frighteningly enough, it sounds heavenly -  Then again, I get my official tenure letter on March 1st - hummm...I may want to party (or cry) my spring break away...:-)

Well that is a fraggy as I can get at the moment...Go visit some other FF submissions by clicking the button below.

Friday Fragment - v11

First, thanks to Ms. 4444's for hosting Friday Fragments.

This week I am going to be less loquacious and more restrained in my analysis...

1. Conferences are like bars, fun while your there but you pay the price the next day - not sure they are worth it.  Yesterday, I posted part of the presentation I gave last week.
2. My wife has a great blog hop she co-hosts on Thursdays on Actingbalanced.com called Thirsty for Comments Thursday - Check it out!
3. I teach some great students - twice this week, I couldn't finish my lecture because of the amount of questions and comments I was getting.  I am truly impressed by their work!
4. I have had the privilege to work with two of the best writers in my field, Dr. Litvin and Dr. Smith (no relation) - Yesterday, Dr. Litvin handed me an manuscript he worked on and I will say - no one makes my hair-brained/ half-baked ideas sound more intelligent than he does.   I spent months trying to make the article sing but within a few days he made it into an opera!   He truly is a master at his craft. 
5. The last point broke my loquacious promise - so go read other FF by clicking the button below:

Friday Fragment - v10

This has been an extremely busy week here in Charleston.  The Republicans are coming to South Carolina and the campus has been abuzz with speakers and tv shows airing from our campus.  Today Steven Colbert and Anderson Cooper are on deck - while I find both interesting I wish I didn't have to be on campus dealing with the traffic and congestion.

P.S. I am apolitical by the way.  Since I am not permitted to vote in the USA, I do not form an opinion about the parties and politicians.  I just know that had a tea party once when the key theme was 'no taxation without representation'. I pay taxes, yet have no vote...hummmm.

I am getting out of town this weekend.   I am headed to Charlotte to present at the annual ShowFest trade show and conference.  It is an honor to be invited to speak to the 200+ festival directors from across North and South Carolina.  To make sure I don't get too big of an ego - here is the description of my session in the program - I promise I would have sent you a better picture if you asked...

P.S. I am presenting an annual study we do of Festival Directors. To see last year's results, click here.  One of the most interesting findings from last year's was that festivals in North and South Carolina spent approximately $33.7 million in producing their various events.

Will someone pease let me know when I can get some sleep?

The world of the week adrenaline.  What I am running on at the moment.

 I work with a great group of people and I am not just saying that because they may read this... In all seriousness, I must finished my annual report and I look at the things I did this year and very little of it was done in isolation.  It was a great reminder of how much I enjoy working with the people I do.

Once again, thanks to Ms. 4444's for hosting FF.  Click the button below to see read more frags.

Friday Fragment - v9

Once again, thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting FF. Click the button at the bottom to see more great FF posts!

Classes have once again began. It looks like I am going to have about 105 students this term over three classes plus three independent study students and a honors student. Busy but not crazy.

P.S. The classes seem to be very good...lots of participation and good questions already!

I had an old British prof when I was an undergrad whose first words to the class was. 'look left, look right - one of the three of you is not passing this class.' Somehow, I don't think I could pull that off and be believable.

One does not know about lack of sleep until they have children.

Had lunch with a alumni this week that was a lot of fun. I really like seeing my former students post graduation. It is very interesting to see how they grow and develop. I however, am not in any way, amazed that they are in successful, happy lives upon graduation.

P.S. Good people can find success with hard work and effort. One can take short cuts to success but it tends to be fleeting and not sustainable. People know who are the real deal.

Word of the week - paregmenon. I was guilty of this three times this week in my lectures. Hope the students don't know what it means.

I love Google Scholar but this week I found thanks to one of my colleagues Google Scholar Citations.  In 2011, my articles were cited 31 times.  The graph is going the right way...

P.S. Heather still says she has more people visit her blog - www.actingbalanced.com in a day than will probably ever read all of my academic articles combined.  Sadly, she is probably right.  How can I possibly compete though with Yummy Apple-Chai Cookie recipes.

Wishing you all safe travels...

Now go visit some other FF by clicking...

Friday Fragment - v8

Once again, thanks to Mrs. 444's for hosting FF - you can click either here or the button below to see more frags.

• On the bus this morning, I had the most interesting conversation with the driver Scott about the phenomenon known as Deja vu.  

1. One possible explanation for the phenomenon is that one is seeing slights tears in the time/space continuum.  If one believes existence occurs on multiple plains than this makes sense.  
2. Another postulation is that there is indeed a deity who provides us views in order to help us understand ourselves and the world around us.  
3. My personal theory of the phenomenon is more in the behavioral psychology realm. Personally, I think we are get good at the predicting behavior of others at the subconscious level.  When a given situation occurs and when our predictions are proven to be extremely accurate, we concoct this idea that we have seen this before in order to easily explain the situation away.

• You may now discuss your theory of choice among yourselves...

• Speaking of weird moments - yesterday was one large one featuring a special guest star - 'role reversal.'  My wife came to meet me for lunch and met one of my colleagues in the hall.  She got into a whole discussion of research and blogging while I was off chasing the little one down the hall.  Later in the day she informed me that she want to attend a conference in May.  Did I want to come and take the kids while she was attending her conference.  A fun day!

• Continuing on, when did becoming a university professor require a computer science degree?  Yesterday, I found myself designing my course websites, using our learning management software.  Heck I even added a QR code to my syllabus...

• The word of the week - troglobiont.  What I feel like since I am working with all of this potential technology.

Friday Fragments - v7

As we are preparing celebrate one more orbiting of the planet around the be spheroid made of gas we refer  to as the sun, many individuals use this time to be reflective.  I shall bow to social convention at this time and do so as well in this edition of Friday Fragments:

1. The word that best describes my trip around the sun is - matriculate - in this case from young adult to mid-life (and yes, it is an unconventional use of the term).  
2. It is amazing how one goes from newbie to competent professional in an organization. While it may be different in my colleagues eyes; this year featured in my brain this transformation and thus the switch to mid-career as well.
3. Along the same wave of thinking, I used to say to my classes that I was not that much older than them.  Over the summer, I did the math and realized that I was entering the grey area where I could be old enough to be their parents. 
4. Finally, in relation to career I finally made peace with the fact that I am happiest being Riker.    To translate that thought from geek to normal person click here.
5. The Mrs. is starting to evolve as well with her website doing well.  She is also secret shopping and starting to become more separated from the kids and creating more of her own path.  This has also caused me to work a little less in support of said endeavor and that has been fun. Perhaps her evolution is leading to both of us becoming a little more balanced in our approach to life...

6. Three children in the house has caused my parenting to change.  As each child is progressing, new and interesting personality traits are arising in each of them.  It is amazing how each child progresses but also how you as a parent react seeing as you seen that movie once or twice before.
7. Then again - new challenges like choosing high schools are arising.  Hard to believe the oldest is only a year and a bit from being allow a drivers permit (15 yrs in SC).  Was having a discussion with her about micro or neural biology as a possible college major yesterday. Fun times ahead...

See you all next week for a new edition of FF.  Now go visit Mrs. 4444's (our gracious host) and the other FF by clicking the button below:

Friday Fragments - v6

What a week it has been...

FYI, tomorrow night, you can watch Santa's trip on NORAD's Santa Watch.  If by chance while you are watching, you get some of those pesky questions about Santa, the facts of his trip can be found here.  The most important thing to know, is that if Santa was travelling at 99.99% of the speed of light, he could complete his trip in about 500 seconds and that Rudolph's nose would no longer appear to be red due to the Doppler effect.


In honor of the people behind the man in the red suit that is take a around the world trip tomorrow night, the word of the week is 

homunculus'

Got my 25th career refereed journal article published this week.  What made this one special was that one of my then undergraduate research assistants name is on the paper.  I really enjoy working with undergraduates and getting them their first publication.  Well done Emily!  If your interested in why people do not travel, click here.

My car is in today getting its Christmas present.  A new timing belt.  I am sure it is excited.  BTW, I hate my dealership and its fake customer service.  You can put up all the signs you want telling me how great your service is but if you tell me you are going to call me in an hour with the diagnostic and you take two, that is poor service. P.S. Why bother making appointments if there is going to be a multiple hour wait just to have a diagnostic done (especially when I can see you were not busy)?

It has been fun having my parents visit.  I enjoy having them around but I can tell they are getting older.  The kids are tiring them out faster.  They are however, having a fun time together.  The love is definitely showing.

Congratulations to Robyn on getting into the high school of her choice - Academic Magnet  While the school system in South Carolina is generally regarded as 'thank god for Mississippi quality,' the Academic Magnet High School was ranked number 15 in the country by Newsweek. The average SAT score for students of the school was 1882.  I just hope she finds happiness in her new school and remembers to have some fun along with all that school work.

Now that you have read my Fragments go see the wonder Ms. 4444's and other fellow fragmenters by clicking on the button below.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and loving holiday.

Safe journeys all!

Friday Fragments

Once again thanks to Ms. 4444's for hosting the Friday Fragments hop!

• Just finished entering in grades.  What a crazy time that was.  Being the geek I am, I just calculated that I graded 1,020 pages in the past 72 hours. I need some sleep and some stress relief.
• On a happy note, this term has the highest GPAs for all of my classes over the past six years.  I do not know if I was nicer this term or the kids are just getting smarter.  
• I actually think it is a combination of two things, I am getting better at teaching the material and the students are getting smarter as the College becomes increasingly popular.
• My parents arrived yesterday.  Happy to report grand parents and kids are already playing nicely together.
• Erik, will you please finish teething so we can all get some sleep?
• Geeky joke of the week is a one liner - "There are only 10 types of people in the world: those that understand binary and those that don't"
• While I am at it, the word of the week is: abrade - as in what you have to do to me to get me off the floor at the moment.
• This was a cute scene from earlier this week...

One of the weekly features on my blog is Technology & Tourism Thursdays.  Yesterday, was just way too busy to post it properly, so I thought I would tack it on here.

One of the most interesting technology markets at the moment is the one related to gaming systems.  With the expansion and explosion of the tablet market, gaming systems sales have been in trouble.  One of the ares that has really enhanced gaming systems however, is that usage of them as a online streaming system for a TV.    In a report by Forbes magazine, it was found that the Nintendo Wii in particular, was being used as a streaming device 33% of the time versus 55% of the time being used as a gaming device.   The 33% figure in 2011 is up from 20% in 2010. 

The full Forbes story can be found here

In our house,  we use the Wii to stream Netflix onto our TV.  What is really fascinating is that we use the streaming functionality more than we use the gaming.  The Wii in many ways has transformed how leisure time is spent in our household.  What is even more interesting is that we have taken our Wii on vacation with us and hooked it up to hotel TV in order to bring our entertainment system with us.  Now, the question is whether the gaming systems will survive the onslaught of the tablet.  For instance, next year, we will not bring the Wii as we have iPads which are easier to travel with and have much of the same functionality and have thus reduced the need to bring the Wii along.  Perhaps we will find however, that the bouncing around that comes with playing a Wii game is just the perfect way to reduce the energy after a long drive.  That is where the tablet can not compete.  It is amazing how the car trip has evolved with technology.

Friday Fragments

Thanks to Ms. 4444's for hosting FF.

It is exam time at the college.  It is amazing of how the atmosphere completely changes.  It is a lot quieter and the anxiety level is definitely up.  On the positive side, it is really fun to talk to students after they finish exams.  It is like they are experiencing a state of euphoria.  It is fun to wish them a happy holidays and hear about their holiday plans.

Given it is exam week - here is the nerdy joke of the week.

What do you call a tea party with more than 30 people?  A Z party!!!

Waiting for my tenure meeting with my dean next week.  Here is hoping that I am going to have a merry Christmas. that meeting will determine my holiday plans.

Heather's new job of secret shopping is a fascinating one.  Combined with her blog www.actingbalanced.com, I think she is starting to find a happy niche.  

My week was so discombobulating that I thought Tuesday was Wednesday - so I missed YouTube Tuesday and posted two Wordless Wednesdays.

I am going to add a new feature to my Friday Fragments, the word of the week.  This week: Synecdoche

I am not quite sure whether my boys mistake me for a jungle gym or a bouncy castle.  It could be dependent on the moment.

Alright, that is the end of my fragments.

Friday Fragments - Advice for Graduates

Thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting Friday Fragments (I love her blog).

1. Is it proof of my geekiness that I found the following joke absolutely hilarious - A neutron walking into a bar and orders a beer.   The bartender sets the beers down and says, "For you, no charge!"
2. A big kudos to my wife for putting up with sick children all last week.  She did an amazing job for a sleep deprived woman!
3. Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year.  Twice a year our department hosts a lunch with our graduating students.  As part of the tradition each professor stands up and gives a small speech.   Here is mine:

First, congratulations to you all. One of the reasons I teach the intro course is to be able to really see how much many of you have matured and developed over the past few years. It has been a privilege to get to know so many of you.

Second, my wish for all of you is to find happiness in your lives. How do you find happiness you ask? Happiness comes from constantly growing and developing over time. It comes from challenging your-self each and every day to become a slightly better person. I challenge you, when the time comes, to become a better father, mother, husband, wife, leader and community member. To find happiness one must learn to evaluate and learn from the past, enjoy and savor the present and to strategically place your-self in good situations for the future.

You are living in some of the most interesting times in the history of humanity. The amount of change you are going to see over the next decade is going to be incredible. While change is indeed frightening, it also provides opportunities for those who are able to adapt and innovate along with it. It takes leaders such as your-selves to be able to cope with change in a manner that takes advantage of the opportunity it presents.

Overall, only one person can determine your happiness and that is you. That judgment will come when you look into the mirror, what do you see? Will you see a person who is true to their core being; that is loving and caring to others; and who is willing to put the time, energy and effort required to consistently grow and develop over time. Will you be the person that looks in the mirror and can honestly say, 'I have a good life.'

I wish you all a good life.  Please keep in touch because we all want to know see where your path takes you.

Friday Fragments

I must have upgraded my brain, the past few nights I have been dreaming in HD.  Now, this wouldn't be so much of a problem if I was dreaming about watching something fun and maybe even a little naughty but I have been dreamin' more in the Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe realms.  Just like my computer, can I go back to the previous version?

I graded term papers last week and for some reason citing seems to be out of fashion.  I am not even picky about which style you use, APA or MLA, I just want to know where you got for information from.  This is stuff my middle school child is doing, so I don't buy the we never been taught this excuse.  Grrrrrr!

A sad day has occurred.  My five year old has discovered Barney and likes it.  What did I do to deserve this?

Every year my wife and daughter go out a midnight for black Friday shopping.  I do not myself get it but it is one of the things they share in common so it can not be all bad I guess.  Then again, why couldn't they share a love of cleaning?

Thanks to Mrs. 4444's and her blog Half-Past Kissin' Time for hosting Friday Fragments!  Click on the button below to see more!

Friday Fragments

Yesterday, I discussed a story about a school that outlawed balls on the playground. I know and understand that we live in different times and that we need to protect our children but at what cost? Children are now rarely getting to be just that, kids. I think back to when I was a kid and the freedom I had and the lessons I learnt as a result. How are the kids of today going to learn to be functioning adults if we continue to make all their decisions for them?

Congratulations to the Htmt 488 class on the amazing job they did presenting their business plan concepts. Thanks to our industry partners for taking the time to listen to the presentations and giving our students a 'real world' perspectives on their plans. Finally, a big thanks to Dr. Frash, a professor that works countless hours helping these students to create viable business plans.

I am a pretty big NBA fan (I am actually a Raptors fan sadly). The lockout really has affected my ability to think of the sport in an enjoyable manner. Billionaires and millionaires not being able to agree how to split their money is reprehensible especially in this marketplace. So, I will watch more of my College of Charleston Cougars and pay more attention to the NHL and my Leafs. I am not sure that when the NBA decides to come back that I am going to have space in my life for it.

Thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting the Friday Fragments blog hop. Click below to see many more great Friday Fragments.