Author Archives: Katherine Wikoff

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About Katherine Wikoff

I am a college professor (PhD in English, concentration rhetoric) at Milwaukee School of Engineering, where I teach film and media studies, political science, digital society, digital storytelling, writing for digital media, and communication. While fragments of my teaching and scholarship interests may quite naturally meander over to my blog, this space is intended to function as a creative outlet, not as part of my professional practice. Opinions are my own, etc.

Farewell, Iconic Dinosaur

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

I wrote a post back in 2012 about this relic from a long-closed amusement park on Milwaukee’s northwest side. The dinosaur has been a familiar fixture on North 76th Street in Milwaukee for at least 40 years, and for the past five … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Meal Inspiration

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Originally posted on What's for Dinner Moms?:
Someone asked where I get meal ideas. They come from many different places. Cookbooks, Pinterest, and menus are some of my favorite places to find inspiration. I have been known to snap…

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Remembering CCCP 1

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

Last week’s 10-minute interruption by a state-run Russian television network of the CSPAN 1 television feed of Rep. Maxine Waters speaking from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives reminded me of SCTV’s prescient programming back in 1981. First, … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Political Analysis, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

What’s in a Tagline? (Or: My Blog’s Identity Crisis)

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

I’ve had this sinking feeling for a while that the actual content I’ve posted on my blog for the past almost-five years had almost nothing to do with the blog’s original tagline: Ideas on creativity, innovation, lifelong learning, and other random stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A Downton Abbey Anachronism?

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

(Note: See comments for an updated answer to the question asked in this post’s title.) My daughter and I both had projects to work on last night and, wanting some familiar, companionable television in the background, decided to put on … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

When you forecast the weather in Wisconsin

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Milwaukee’s Fox 6 meteorologist Rob Haswell walks the talk😄  

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Drinking the Kool Aid

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

It still kind of shocks me to read or hear people using that phrase to describe positive buy-in to a new idea. As in, “We’re extremely excited about our company’s new product. Everyone has been drinking the Kool Aid, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Milwaukee, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Umbrella Graveyard

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

It rained all day long in Milwaukee yesterday—so windy that umbrellas turned inside out or were wrenched away. Lots of people, like me, gave up and decided to brave the elements in raincoats alone. Yes, I felt like an idiot walking down … Continue reading →

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A Windy Autumn Day!

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

I actually prefer some of my other attempts in terms of composition, but in the end I decided to go with this photo because of that lone leaf whirling into the frame at the very moment I snapped the shutter. (Or whatever term is correct … Continue reading →

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Texture – Damp Crabapple Bark

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

First of all, is it “Crabapple,” “Crab Apple,” or “Crab-Apple”? I grew up thinking of it as a one-word tree name, but I see it spelled all three of these ways and could probably find even more variants if I … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Photography | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments