Education in the Margins, Winter 2019

I'm a big note-taker. But not everything I write down or learn is strictly related to the course. Much of life-long learning comes from this, 'education in the margins.'

Physical Science:

Experiments on Youtube: "Don't try that at home. There are idiots who've done it for you."

Be careful with your hearing. It doesn't come back. 

"Scriptures are like packets of light" -Richard G. Scott

"inasmuch" = proportionally. Alma 36:30

Powdered sugar is explosive: do with that what you will.

If you buy an older home, make sure it has copper, not aluminum wiring. 

Work at your marriage--it takes work to fight the entropy of  "increasing disorder."

The "When it rains, it pours" motto from Morton was coined just because they were the first company to figure out how to make salt that didn't stick together in humidity. 

"God tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go." - Galileo 

There are evidences of water on Mars, but no current water.

Skepticism doesn't kill science--it grows it. 

Science does the almost impossible and gets a picture of a black hole. The press immediately responds with, "are you trying to make it higher resolution?" Typical. 

We do need people who understand people. 

ELANG 430:

The bigger the font, the closer you have to look (preventing errors)

Don't "false foreshadow" and have details that don't matter.

X-files: "There's another alien thing, there's another government thing. there's an alien government thing."

Be suspicious of everything. 

That's the dream. Get paid to read books that you otherwise pay to read.

Learn to let go of commas and see big picture. 

Be liberal with praise, even when you're in a hurry. 

Jennifer Nielson: Psychology of Characters 

A happy reader is an engaged reader

First lines and chapters. Get to extrordinary ASAP. 

Twitter account: Brooding YA hero

Find what you like, become an expert, find a client

"I don't feel like being 'super Suzy' right now"
McKan's "Law": Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error. 

Book recommentations

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hegDRPE58N28pRVeSr8AJ0j67XQiA-WsFrSQwJu6hS8/edit

Art History:

"Dante is bae. Dante is hell bae."

Italian Renaissance: women of the time period plucked their eyebrows and their hairlines. Who knew?

"Satan somehow turns into a woman in the Catholic narrative. So, you know. I hate that." -Prof. Hale

Oh to be a tourist in the 70s, before sites were popular.

Single candle= God's presence

The first-ever known painting of Michelangelo was a copy of a print.

"For me, the fact that archetypes pop up in other cultures and beliefs is actually proof that God exists." -Prof. Hale

They killed the two Venetian glass makers so NO ONE else could have the Palace of Mirrors. 

"You know you'll have to ask him. Save it for the spirit world." -Prof. Hale

"Our brains are not as photogenic as we'd hope they could be." -Prof. Hale

Medieval History

"Oh, she's wearing pants? Feminist."-Prof. Wilcox

In chess, a pawn can become a queen, In Medieval times, a queen is merely a pawn. 

We are so worried about bloodlines, but, anciently it wasn't strange for a king to marry the female slave of a conquered people. 

"To what extent are you supposed to fight?"

Acting is 9/10 of action. Fake it til you make it. 

Middle English becomes a big mash-up because of wars and politics.

A loved one, an "other < love one another

culture doesn't translate in the Bible

Victorian Periodical 

Academic writing's basic purpose: to quote or be quoted.

Victorians did "Vinegar valentines" (anti-valentines)

Victorians were really in taxidermy.

You can't really know when people are telling the truth.

You torture the text long enough, it'll confess to anything

Middle class target why? "Poor people don't read, rich people don't care"-Joshua

Rubricated letters: Big fancy letters in Gothic text. 

The ubiquity strategy.

If you torture the text long enough, it'll confess to anything.

Famous authors in their own "write"

"If you use one word when you could use ten, you're not really trying." -Prof. Horrocks

Prof. "Did you study any women?"

J: "Yes."

Prof.: "Who?"

J: "Um...letters from a homestead woman..."
Prof.: "Yep. That's the story of women in literature."

Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel:

More than reading black words on a white page. 

Know that you're loved.

My Musings:

Write in complete sentences. Write incomplete sentences. 

Graduation= gradamnation (a life without student discounts, library access, etc.)

Macabre cards: Gothic Greetings, Bleak Birthdays, Horrid Holidays.

Recommendations/Favorites:

Do a fun interview with your kids every year and ask the same questions. You can make fun videos. 

Hugh Nibley "Pride Cycle" talk. 

Gunner glasses/ computer glasses: save your eyes from screens. 

Halloween stuff, Joyce Carol Oats short story: "Where are you going, where have you been"

"You belong with Steve" hilarious music video. 

"The Way of Joy" Greg Olsen

Tulip Magnolia trees

"These is My Words" Nancy Turner

Quotes:

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."-Albert Einstein

Education in the Margins, Fall 2018

Education in the Margins

Writing with Style:

The rhetorical device for “Yoda speak” is called anastrophe

Discussing “Joyas Voladores”: So frantic and fast-paced that I felt frazzled by it.

Sometimes classes work out like “syntax support groups.” You defend your choices and it helps you refine your work.

Viewing punctuation as traffic signals. A period really is a “full stop.”

The present is such a pleasant place.

“Use accuracy and restraint, like a burn to an in-law.” (certain style principles)

That hilarious moment when our professor forgot the projector screen was down and went to underline something: we brought a magic eraser for the mark, but it was there for quite a while.

Getting frustrated is part of the assignment.

“Variation in sentence types as well as length is a mark of the professional.”

 “Excess is the common substitute for energy” -Tuftee.

“It’s like we’re doing yoga, but with English.”

Punctuation is the unsung hero, determined more by choice than by rules. Dash their hopes with an em dash.

Reasons for letter writing: “You can’t ‘scent’ an email. You can put cologne on a letter.”

“A problem well-put is half solved” – John Dewey

Freelance Editing:

It’s very vulnerable to be a writer.

It can be “fine” even if it’s not “mine.”

Making every word count

Sometimes you strive not to burn bridges. Other times, you light the fire yourself.

Personalization pays off.

Just get a job and move from there.

“I have found that threatening works great.” -Professor Bills

Spain Culture and Civilization:

Practicas, Productos, Perspectivas.

So the Koran says not to drink alcohol, but the word is Arab, and their culture made great developments in the fermentation process. It’s hard to practice what you preach.

“Le digo por secreta, chicos: la vida es aburido.”; “Si escucho Ingles, me pongo como Franco”

 -Profe Stallings

“3 minutos de calidad y 2 horas de basura.” -Profe Stallings, movie review.

Everything is a reworking of Don Quijote.

The current art trend is Neo-Baroque.

Picaso could draw like an old Master at 15, and spent the rest of his life learning to draw like a 5-year-old.

We read to “entrar en la mente de alguien diferente”

“Become acquainted with real nobility as it walks the pages of history and science and literature.” -President Hinckley.

The Humanities: Our aspirations for the good and the beautiful

The moon is a symbol of Romanticism: it reflects reason, but is its own “ser.”

“lluvia de ideas” = brainstorm

Interview tips:
Practice your voice: Am I squeaky? Am I Star-Lord?
study and practice for an interview like you would for an exam.

European History:

“Oh, nobody falls in love” regarding the nobles of ruling countries.

The word “freelance” probably comes from the mercenaries (paid/professional soldiers) in the middle ages, also known as “free lances” because they worked without nationalistic ties.

“Quarantine” comes from the 40 days ships had to wait in the harbor during the plague outbreaks to prove that they were “safe” to allow in.

“hock es corpus mayum” (or something like that) is the Latin “spell” for transubstantiation (This is my body) Misinterpretation of this phrase gave birth to the popular phrase “Hocus Pocus”

Pre-internet days: “I remember when you just had to wonder about stuff instead of looking it up.” ; “I must be listened to”; “When it comes to revolutions, it doesn’t matter that the facts really are—it’s what the people believe.”; “No one say any of this in your Sunday School ever” (speculation of the fate of dictators) -Professor Carter.

Russians were literally “behind the times” in the 16^th century because they didn’t skip October 3-13^th like most other nations did.

Perks of being a professor: “I am paid to read and tell other people what I read.” -Professor Carter

“Cities eat people” – why there’s a higher death rate in urban areas than in the country.

“I don’t believe in changing the days of the week” – Regarding the finals week schedule.

Fighting European battles on colonial ground; Malaria has killed more people than any other disease in the history of the world ; Africa was called “White Man’s grave.”

“A lot more things get resolved in this era just because people die more frequently.” (Era of reformation)

Oliver Cromwell = The White Witch

What if Russia was France’s Frankenstein’s monster?

The mentality of everyone ever throughout history: “Let’s just blame the Jews for the political problems and the women for the social problems. We’re good.”

European Studies:

“I feel most at home when I am abroad.” -Professor H. Belnap

“Lifelong learner” is an ideal you should shape for yourself.

Geography molds people.

Everything looks different behind the iron curtain.

“A little taste of Freedom in the form of a Big Mac.” (The Baltics/Gorbachev)

“You have to learn acronyms to speak ‘European’”

People created schools to indoctrinate the children for nationalism.

Our modern trench coat came from the uniform for soldiers in the trench.

“Anxiety is now an existential condition of the modern world” – a therapist

“The French pride themselves on everything”

Book History:

Samuel Johnson, “sea of ink”

How can you navigate being approachable and not reproached?

“A book exchanged between lovers—notes on the text and notes to each other” – Tom Mole

I found the source of the word "Muggle?" : The Muggletonians, named after Lodowicke Muggleton, were a small Protestant Christian movement which began in 1651 when two London tailors announced they were the last prophets foretold in the biblical Book of Revelation.

My Musings:

How cool would it be to collaboratively annotate a well-loved and well-known book?

Where did the phrase “stem the tide” even come from?

She is strong

I am human, I can exhibit human emotion. I am allowed to exhibit negative emotion.

When did my generation stop wearing watches?

It is better to be at rock bottom with someone who knows how to climb than to be well-established with someone who will only fall.

I’m surrounded by companionable strangers.

An armchair traveler = a reader

Recommendations/Favorites:

How to write a great title
Sexy : Not sexy

“Woman in Gold” (movie about art in WWII)

Amy Cuddy, Power stance Ted Talk

A James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan was filmed at the Guggenheim. Look it up!

Contently.net ; ldsjobs.org ; moonlighting.org ; etc.

*Conversation with a Korean citizen overheard in the frontrunner: “Wait, you did military service?”
-“Yeah, we have that crazy neighbor named North Korea”

Book: “Policing the Veil” (or something like that)
“Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg
“How to live, work, and play when nobody has the time.”

TV show: “Slings and Arrows” a Canadian theatre company

Art-house cinema: “The Broadway” and “The Tower”. Get student passes to Sundance.

Words:

Splenetic: bad tempered, spiteful.
Epistemic: relating to knowledge (degree of validation)
Ecumenicalism: promotes cooperation among religious denominations.

Ostensibly: apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually.