School's Out for Summer!!!

Actually the title is a little misleading. BG is out, but I am taking summer classes so I am not really free. Got a mixed methods research class and MCOM history. Foust's class seems really interesting. I am going to explore historiography as a research method for my dissertation. Need to talk to OBB as well because I need to find a way to blend vis comm, emerging media, and political economy. Oh the fun that is grad school. Well, I wanted to make at least a brief appearance on my blog. Now it's off to yard work and studying. Quite a day planned!

Still not a better blogger

Well it's April, and I'm still not a better blogger. I do have my journalism class using them though. And to top it all off, yesterday was my birthday. The big four three! Yikes that sounds old. In seven years I'll be half of a century old. How depressing is that. And once again, I'm at the end of semester with too much to do and too little time. Tomorrow I leave for the Central States Communication Association (CSCA) conference in Indy. That's kinda exciting. My first conference as an academic. I am starting pretty low though since I am presenting as part of a panel. I guess it's a way of easing into this. The people I am working with are great though, and in my humble opinion, much more brilliant than I. Jake, Ian, Amy, Nikki, Rucha, Mike, Nick (or should I say Face!)...you guys are great and it is a privilege knowing and working with you. If I missed a name, my deepest apologies. Next fall I need to aim for NCA which is in San Antonio I believe. Ought to be warmer there than Ohio. That's definitely something to cheer the soul. I guess it's time to sign off. Got to read about Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. There's a good night's sleep in my future.

Take me to a warmer place

It's Been Awhile...Again

Oh, my dear blog...how I have neglected thee. It is time for an additional post after 1/2 a year's absence. I must admit that I was inspired by a friend of mine known as The Masked Doctoral Student. Check out his meandering ways if you get a chance. This entry is probably going to be depressing, so if you don't want to feel as crappy as I do, STOP READING NOW! The truth is, I do feel crappy. Physically, I am ill. Sore throat, nose, headache, tired, just want this semester to be over kind of BS. Mentally it is pretty much the same. Too much academic red tape to deal with. Thankfully, it is all winding down. Turn in my teaching portfolio tonight, show up for a brief class tomorrow (hasta la vista 600!), and then all I have to do is finish the research proposal for 640 (which I have conveniently procrastinated on for weeks). On top of it all, it is just too damn cold in NW Ohio. Precious commented last night that those of us who live here must be used to it. Not even close. You never get used to it although it might be easier to deal with than those, like Precious, from California.

On the positive side, Christmas is almost here, so if you are from California, or any other warm state, enjoy Christmas as it was meant to be enjoyed. After all, Santa doesn't wear a thick, red suit for no reason. Another positive - in just over three weeks, I will be enjoying the warm sunshine from a cruise ship in the Bahamas. We are sailing on January 2nd, and for all my dear friends out there, I will not be thinking of you! When I am in the Caribbean, my thoughts will basically be:

The weather is here. Wish you were nice.

Hey, I am starting to feel better all ready. Nothing like pounding out your worries on a keyboard. :) Perhaps I will now be inspired to be a better blogger. Till next time...

Well, summer is officially here in Northwest Ohio. It has been in the high 80's and low 90's all week and it looks to be that way for a while. You know what? I love it! Been working on getting our pool open so that we can enjoy the outdoors more. Unfortunately the pool pump died and we had to wait on a new one to arrive. On the positive side, I have spent a few mornings eating breakfast outside, reading the paper, enjoying the sunshine. You gotta love the academia! Even though it has slowed down quite a bit, there is still so much to do. There are chores to complete around the house that have needed to be completed for quite a long time. The school year is just so busy. But I love losing myself in the mundane, everyday minutiae and it feels good to work with my hands and body instead of my brain - not that there's anything wrong with that! It keeps me grounded. I've been able to spend more time with the family as well. Makes me realize how much I miss my wife and kids during the other nine months. Good start to the summer.

On the negative side, our dog is no where to be found. She is a 13-year-old collie-shepherd mix who is hard of hearing. Great dog. We've had since she was six-weeks old. The pisser is that it is probably my fault. Susan woke up this morning and found the back door open. I must have let her out while getting a midnight snack and forgot to let her in. One of our side gates was open just enough for her to get through. We spent the entire morning looking for her. No luck. Called the Humane Society, Animal Control, Police, Street dept. Veterinarians... Still no luck. My kids are upset and if we don't find her, my wife will be crushed. Sydney has really been her dog and has made Susan a faithful companion. Not sure how this will go down, but it will certainly be a tough couple of days unless she shows up. Say a few prayers.

It's been a while

Well, it's been a month since I last posted anything to this blog. Things just kind of got overwhelmingly busy, trying to finish up all of my school work and finishing my own grading for the composition class. It all worked out though, and I took last week off. It was nice. Worked a little around the house and rested a bit.

Anyway, I am beginning my internship now and have decided to complete a practicum instead of a thesis. There was simply not enough time to complete a thesis and "I already got one!" For my internship, I am working with Dr. Sue Carter for her distance ed course. I am hoping to complete a website for her, but haven't heard back from her yet. I will be maintaining a separate blog to document my daily accomplishments for the internship. Check it out if you like at http://bgsu-i-log.blogspot.com/. TTFN.

Bibliographic Style

Bibliographic Style - What is it? Quite honestly, I don't know! Up until now, I really haven't completed a bibliography - ever. I have done reference pages in APA. I have completed works cited pages on MLA. But I haven't created an official "bibliography." I know there are differences such as that a works cited page contains only those works cited within the text. A bibliography can be more inclusive, but what is meant by the style? I am assuming that Dr. Mara is referring to the style manuals such as APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. Assuming those are the choices, I guess that I will be using MLA.

It is also probably important to substantiate why I have chosen MLA so here goes. My primary reasons for using MLA are:

• It is a good fit for examining blogs since I will be examining the content of the writing in attempting to determine genre
• I am looking at language and hello, MLA stands for Modern Language Association
• It has been six years since I used APA
• I am most familiar with it through teaching it in English 111 and 112
• I am most familiar with it, and
• I am most familiar with it

At any rate, those are my top six (four?) reasons for choosing MLA. We are supposed to have 250+ words for this entry, but I just don't know what else to say. I am out of words, which is actually strange for me. I usually have no trouble filling up my blog. Oh well - Have a great weekend!