Category Archives: Life

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

On my way to work this morning I saw this fragment of litter lying on the ground. Obviously, it’s the outside edge of continuous-feed printer paper. Anyone younger than thirty may not know what that is, so here’s a photo for reference. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Popular culture | Tagged childhood, continuous feed printer paper, nostalgia, printer paper, roll caps, sprocket holes, sprocket wheels, toy guns | 5 Comments

That winter quality of light

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

People who brave winter in the North know what I’m talking about: the strangely bluish quality of cold air and golden flash of low-angled sunlight. When we say we appreciate the change of seasons, this “quality of light” is almost always … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Nature, Science | Tagged winter sunlight, winter trees | 3 Comments

Resolved: To Be Good Enough

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

You’ve surely seen the motivational posters before. Possibly you’ve also seen the “demotivators” from Despair.com. This one has always been my favorite, mostly because of the contempt I’ve always felt for people who practiced mediocrity. Ha! What’s that saying about … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Popular culture, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer), Writing, blogging | Tagged D is for done, despair.com, kindness, Margaret Edson's Wit, mediocrity, mythology, New Year's resolutions, parable of the talents, perfectionism, personal achievement, personal best, personal growth, Steve Jobs | 8 Comments

Christmas shopping in “The Village”

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I don’t like shopping malls at Christmas. Too crowded. Too many harried people with too many gifts to buy and too little time. My husband and my younger daughter don’t mind all that. In fact, for years now they’ve had an annual … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Books and reading, History, Life, Milwaukee, Travel | Tagged boutiques, Christmas shopping, downtown storefronts, historic preservation, living history, old-fashioned Christmas, shop local, traditions | 2 Comments

Communication lessons learned from the Indian Ocean tsunami and other natural disasters

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

It has been ten years since the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami. Many “anniversary” articles today will look back at this event, so this post doesn’t cover the same ground. Because my academic specialty is communication, I wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Learning, Life, Nature, News, Science, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged 1999 Vanuatu tsunami, communication infrastructure, crisis communication, culture of preparedness, disaster training, disasters, FEMA, Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean tsunami, tsunami, UNESCO, Waffle House Index, Wal-Mart | 1 Comment

One Grecian Urn

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m searching for a term that would help me find some sort of documentary evidence, preferably video, of a style of dance that was popular around the start of the twentieth century. Backstory: I encountered a reference to John Keats’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Life, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged "One Grecian Urn", dance, Danse Serpentine, Loie Fuller, Lumiere brothers, modern dance, Serpentine Dance, tableau dance, The Music Man | 6 Comments

Random thoughts on time, nostalgia and the human experience

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

This photo taken on my way to work doesn’t do it justice. but the sun looked really eerie here, like a science fiction movie. As you can see, the light was directed upward, while the ground below was in shadows. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Life, Milwaukee, Science, Teaching | Tagged existentialism, Grohmann Museum, horses, humans and technology, nostalgia, philosophy of technology, technology, time, time measurement, Victorian railroads, work | 2 Comments

No (Introductory) Christmas Lyric Left Behind

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

“The sun is shining / The grass is green . . .” Thus begins one of my favorite Christmas songs. It continues: The orange and palm trees sway There’s never been such a day In Beverly Hills, L.A. If you don’t recognize … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Music, Popular culture | Tagged "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "I lLeft My Heart in San Francisco", "Rudolph, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", "The Christmas Song", "Winter Wonderland", Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas season, Christmas song lyrics, Christmas songs, introductory lyrics, introductory verses, song lyrics, the Red-Nosed Raindeer", white christmas | Leave a comment

The original HONY – O.O. McIntyre

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Everyone seems to know and like the extremely popular “Humans of New York” (HONY) blog by Brandon Stanton. Intriguingly, another man was putting an equally human face on the people of New York City, both celebrities and ordinary folks, nearly 100 years … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, History, Life, Popular culture | Tagged "New York Day by Day", Brandon Stanton, Cosmopolitan Magazine, HONY, Humans of New York, New York, New York City, O.O. McIntyre, The Great Depression | 3 Comments

How Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer teaches like a humanities professor

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

As yesterday’s 59–0 Ohio State victory over Wisconsin shows, something is working very well in the Ohio State coaching strategy. A story in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal provides some insight into what that might be. “Taking the Buckeyes to School” talks about how … Continue reading →

Posted in Higher education, Learning, Life, News, Teaching | Tagged coaching, flipped classroom, football coaching, football team, Ohio State, ohio state football, sports, teaching, teaching humanities, Urban Meyer | 1 Comment