Usually in these blog posts, I like to focus on something related to Online Ed or Instructional Design. But today I want to write about something a little more personal and fun…. I recently got a hamster! I just moved into a new apartment two weeks ago, after living for four years in various places where I wasn’t allowed to have a pet. I really love animals and was excited to have a pet of my own, but wasn’t willing to pay the expensive deposits and extra rent to own a dog or a cat at my apartment, and wasn’t quite sure if I was ready for the responsibility of owning an animal that requires frequent walks and vet trips, especially when I work part time and take classes. That left me to look at the world of little critters, and after reading up on the differences between gerbils, hamsters, and guinea pigs, decided I was pretty sure I wanted a gerbil. Then, I went to the pet store, held a gerbil…. and wasn’t all that impressed. He was adorable, of course, but I just wasn’t sure. So I asked to hold a Black Bear Hamster, and the store clerk picked out the fattiest, fluffiest little guy in the bunch. As soon as I held him and he looked up at me, I knew I just had to have him. Could you resist this little ball of fluff??

A note of explanation:  I arrived in Toulouse, France on July 1 for a year-long sabbatical stay.  I spent the first 5 weeks on my own, settling into my apartment and learning my way arround.  In the second week of August, the rest of my family arrived.  My wife, Betty, and youngest daughter, Rachel, will stay the year with me.  Betty is also in Psychology and an Associate Dean in the College; Rachel is in the fortunate position of just having graduated from high school, so we offered her an "off year" before college to learn some French and some French culture.  My oldest daughter is one year out of college and will visit 2 or 3 times this year, but will live in Lexington and keep my mind at ease because my 2 golden retrievers were left at home.  With that, this is the first of several blogs that I created for my family.

Fromage and Toilettes (14 Juillet, 2011)

This semester, as part of my Instructional Systems Design Master’s program, I am taking EDC 605: Distance Learning Research and Design. I’m really excited about taking this course, as I think it will greatly benefit the work I currently do in Online Ed. What I’m really interested in is one of the books that we are assigned: Face to Face Communication over the Internet: Emotions in a Web of Culture, Language and Technology, edited by Arvid Kappas and Nicole C. Kramer. I think this is a really interesting topic, as I had never really thought about how emotions and nonverbal communication could affect online F2F communication, using tools such as Skype and Adobe Connect. There are also several articles which discuss race and gender and how these affect communication online. I’m really excited to begin reading this book, and hopefully I will be able to write another blog post once I have begun reading the articles.

#1 on my “bucket list” is arranging a private concert by Diana Krall for me and 30 or so hand-picked friends and family.  (Ella is no longer available.)  The playlist will be chosen mostly from her “Live in Paris” CD and her “All for You” CD.  The finale will be Diana’s version of Joni Mitchell’s “A case of you.”  The champagne will be French; Kentucky will, of course, supply the bourbon.  Mr. Dave and Ms. Betty will put together the menu. 

There must be at least one dream on your bucket list….

My two current internet obsessions are Mashable and Turntable.

According to their website, "Mashable is the largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world." Besides the insanely cool and relevant articles, I really like their use of "infographics." Instead of traditional black text on white background articles, These infographics sort of take graphs and charts and mash them up with traditional articles. I think it's a great way to get your information across in a simple and quick manner. These days, no one spends more than a few seconds on a webpage, so getting their attention is paramount. 

Here are some of my favorites: How are people using Twitter?; The Rise of the Mobile Workforce; Social Network Wars.

WELL.

With classes looming just around the corner, many of us are starting to think (and worry) about how we're going to afford our textbooks. This article shows many tips on how to get textbooks for good deals, or even for free!

http://distancelearn.about.com/od/managingyourwork/a/cheaptextbook.htm?nl=1

I just read this article, entitled, "Missouri Outlaws Student-Teacher Facebook Friendship." Again, it seems like these discussions about social media effects and applications seem to gravitate towards me. But, I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts. As new technologies develop, new laws sprout up governing the use of such technologies. Don't believe me? Is sexting inappropriate? Would making it illegal be an infringement of privacy? What about spam? Shouldn't it be protected under the 1st ammendment? What if the one doing the spamming resides outside the United States? I had the pleasure of exploring these topics a few semesters ago in my Media Law & Regulation class. Neat stuff, right?

I dig musician/songwriter Bill Callahan. He's been at it for a long time - working under the "Smog" moniker for many moons before shedding that skin and performing under his own name for the past few years. He's run the gamut from lo-fi home recording (long before GarageBand) to his current, more polished sheen. "America!" from his new album Apocalypse is filled with great imagery of a nation past and present - shifting gears from name dropping some of his songwriting heroes, to pop-culture references to war and the political. 



Just watched the video and it really struck me with its lyrical style and amazing visuals - separately unique, but also equal to Callahan's songwriting. It's the kind of piece that I hope that the talented people here at A&S can explore making - a great example of blending cool illustration/animation with narrative. Not only complemeting it, but enhancing it to new heights. It's pretty inspiring stuff - to me at least. Major props to the team behind this - Okay Mountain/Dave Bryant. 

            Opulence and squalor usually seem worlds apart. Country clubs usually don’t border low-income housing, designer clothing stores purposefully keep access to their goods limited to only a certain clientele (if you haven’t seen the movie Pretty Woman, watch it and you’ll get the reference), and the checking accounts that most people take for granted are a privilege offered only to people who have quality credit. Yet, I just experienced an exception to this rule.

            I just landed in Kunming, which is a town in southwestern China. My hosts Xinyue Zhou, Ding-guo Gua, and I flew here to attend the biennial Asian Association of Social Psychology conference. (We’re usually in a town called Guangzhou, which is located in south central China.)