Author Archives: Katherine Wikoff

About Katherine Wikoff

I am a college professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering, where I teach literature, film studies, political science, and communication. I also volunteer with a Milwaukee homeless sanctuary, Repairers of the Breach, as chair of the Communications and Fund Development Committee.

Treating your holiday delivery people right

Posted on December 7, 2019

I saw this in my Twitter feed today and thought it was a wonderful idea. Pass it on❤️

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How to write a bestseller #@#%$!!!!!

Posted on December 6, 2019

Who the BLEEP knew?!?!?!? While buying paper towels and other staples at Target last night, I decided to swing past the books and maybe treat myself if anything caught my eye. Well, these did catch my eye, LOL. But they … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading | 4 Comments

A video to prompt playtime memories

Posted on December 4, 2019

WIRED (which styles itself with all capital letters) just posted this 40-minute video on its YouTube channel, featuring commentary from the chief curator at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, about the most popular toys each year … Continue reading →

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In honor of Thanksgiving . . .

Posted on November 29, 2019

Here is a great article from Rolling Stone from five years ago (link HERE)  celebrating the 50th anniversary of Arlo Guthrie’s hilarious 18-minute musical saga recounting the consequences of taking out the garbage after Thanksgiving dinner. And here is the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Music | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

No one plays here now

Posted on November 21, 2019

Or ever. I pass this abandoned playground frequently, and during the late summer, as weeds grew up around the play equipment, I often thought about stopping to take a photo. Sometimes in slanted morning sunlight, mist hanging in the weeds … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Heat Waves😄

Posted on November 12, 2019

The little crinkle-flashes you see along the sidewalk are literally heat waves. There’s a set of vents about seven feet up the wall on the side of our Campus Center building that exhausts (exhales? like the building is alive and … Continue reading →

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Gearing up for Great Books – Nazi VR and Man’s Search for Meaning

Posted on November 11, 2019

In between grading and meetings, today I’m also getting ready to lead the discussion of Viktor Frankl’s classic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Wednesday night at MSOE’s Great Books Dinner & Discussion event. As part of my prep, I found … Continue reading →

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Salt shadows

Posted on November 9, 2019

Took these pictures yesterday on my way back to the office from a meeting. These leaves must have been frozen to the ground when the wet, slushy snow hit. Then the salt went down, the temperature dropped, the air dried, … Continue reading →

Posted in Milwaukee | 2 Comments

Daylight savings (robbing Peter to pay Paul)

Posted on November 7, 2019

These first evenings after daylight savings time ends are always disorienting. When you’re used to leaving work under an orange, twilight sky, the abrupt shift to stepping out into darkness is too jarring to make sense of. For example, my … Continue reading →

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And the sun came out . . .

Posted on October 21, 2019

Very windy rain showers hit Milwaukee around mid-day today. I took this series of photos from my office window after returning from a couple of meetings around three o’clock. For some reason the title of a favorite picture book of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged | 1 Comment