Category Archives: Life

Spring thaw: Oh, happy day!

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Nature | Leave a comment

The Russia–Ukraine–Syria connection (and why Turkey may be in crisis next)

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Sometimes looking at a map can tell you a lot. Take a look at this map, for example. It shows that Russia is a largely landlocked country. Unless you count its far northern shores deep inside the Arctic Circle. Public … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, News, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged Black Sea Fleet, Crimea, Crimean peninsula, Crimean Tatars, Istanbul, Russia, Russian, Sevastopol, Syria, Taksim Square, Turkey, Ukraine, UN Security Council | 5 Comments

Sweets for the sweet?

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

An article in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education describes new research on embodied cognition presented last week at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference. “Embodied cognition” is the idea that the nature of people’s minds is shaped by the form … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Science | Tagged "Smile" song lyrics, Embodied cognition, embodied consciousness, metaphors, mind-body connection, mindfulness, mood, psychology, warm and fuzzy | 1 Comment

To survive, bookstores should be more like funeral homes (were)

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

Interesting post over at The Shatzkin Files, “The future of bookstores is the key to understanding the future of publishing.” What will it take for bookstores to survive in an era of e-readers and online book purchasing? One possibility mentioned … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and reading, History, Life, Popular culture, Writing, blogging | Tagged books, bookstores, creativity, funeral homes, furniture stores, history, innovative retailing, McNally-Jackson, publishing, publishing industry, reading, retailing, undertakers | 3 Comments

Stovetop Hot Cocoa and Coal Furnaces

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I’ve been thinking about my great-grandparents lately. Our microwave died not long ago, and with it the ability to heat up coffee and milk instantly . . . IN the cup we plan to drink from. Instead we have to add … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Milwaukee | Tagged coal delivery, coal furnace, Great Depresssion, great-grandparents, microwave, polar vortex, stovetop hot cocoa, winter | 7 Comments

Moments of Classroom Grace

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

My friend and colleague, Lisa Rivero, posted on the topic of “Classroom Grace” last week over on her blog. I’ve been thinking about her remarks ever since. Lisa was talking about those magical moments that happen in classrooms, especially in … Continue reading →

Posted in Higher education, Life, Teaching | Tagged class discussions, classroom activities, Classroom Grace, conceptions of time, future, grace, learning, past, present, students, teachable moments, teaching humanities | 13 Comments

Countdown to Downton Abbey (1 day to go!) – The Rise and Fall of the English Country House

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

“History is bunk,” Henry Ford once said. What he meant was that most history, as written in textbooks and taught in schools, has little to do with life as lived by ordinary people. War and politics are on the periphery … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Popular culture, Television, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged "Downton Abbey", country houses, English country house, Grand Central Station, heritage, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, landed gentry, Parliament, urban renewal, Victoria and Albert Museum | 5 Comments

What it takes to keep your New Year’s resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a really good article on what it takes to keep your New Year’s resolutions, “More Rational Resolutions,” by Angela Chen. My main takeaway was a technique called “pre-hindsight,” which is part of a three-day workshop hosted … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Popular culture | Tagged achievement, Center for Applied Rationality, goal-setting, goals, New Year's resolutions, personal growth, planning, pre-hindsight, resolutions, Wall Street Journal | 2 Comments

Visits from Jack Frost

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

In my childhood home there was a window situated right at the turn in our staircase, only slightly higher than the steps themselves and just a short flight down from the second floor. Very dangerous spot for a window, if you ask … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Nature | Tagged Christmas, ice crystals, Jack Frost, window frost, winter | 2 Comments

Countdown to Downton Abbey (13 days to go) — The Dowager Countess’s “Mom” Jeans

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

Or at least the equivalent thereof. Have you noticed that as other women’s hemlines rise and hairstyles modernize, Violet Crawley (played by Maggie Smith) remains somewhat stuck in a pre-WWI Edwardian time warp? Her hats are a bit smaller and slightly … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Movies and film, Popular culture, Television | Tagged "Dinner at Eight", "Downton Abbey", Carlotta Vance, fashion history, George Cukor, Jean Harlow, Maggie Smith, mom jeans, pompadour hairstyles, violet crawley | 1 Comment