Category Archives: Life

“Hoosiers” – Evoking Nostalgia for America’s Midwestern Autumn

Posted on October 16, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Hoosiers (1986) gets Midwestern autumn exactly right, both the beauty of the landscape and the nostalgic harkening to a wholesome, mythic era that has slipped into the past. I love this film’s quiet opening, from its first image of headlights … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Movies and film | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My own little light at the end of a tunnel

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Stayed late at work last night, although not quite as late as this darkness would seem to indicate. Sunset is coming earlier in Wisconsin these days, and the Grohmann Museum closes at 5 PM. I took this picture on my … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

When life imitates art (or, the imperfection of perfection)

Posted on October 4, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

I walked into my office in the Grohmann Museum on MSOE’s campus the other day and really liked the golden autumn glow of light reflecting from the locust tree outside my window. Especially appealing was the correspondence between the dead … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, Life, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A post for Labor Day

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Here’s a Smithsonian article about the Battle of Blair Mountain, a labor uprising from a hundred years ago by coal miners in the hills of West Virginia: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/battle-blair-mountain-largest-labor-uprising-american-history-180978520/ The Battle of Blair Mountain occurred about a year after the Battle … Continue reading →

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

A September haiku

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

My slightly melancholy ode to the fleeting season . . . September Swallows gathering Morning fog on the water Summer has ended I was looking for a video of swallows gathering to illustrate and found this one. Yikes! Calling Alfred … Continue reading →

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

Oh, cruel harbinger!

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Yes, I know it’s the end of August. But couldn’t we wait just a little longer for the autumn colors to arrive???

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Nature | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Writing Exercise – “Looking in the Rearview Mirror”

Posted on July 16, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

I wrote this essay as my exercise for this week’s writing group meeting. The prompt was “looking in the rearview mirror.” When I was in high school, one of my friends used to pull out a little compact with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Learning, Life, Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Shaded sunlight through slanted blinds

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

It has been a while since a collection of geometric shapes caught my eye, but I really liked the patterns of light and shadow seen here in the dark vertical, light horizontal, and even-lighter slanted lines created by sunlight filtering … Continue reading →

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

Some songwriting magic

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Have you played the online game of Heardle? It’s obviously similar to the smash hit Wordle in that a new short puzzle appears daily. At some point in the last several months I began playing both of those games plus … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Life, Music, Popular culture | Tagged | 2 Comments

Two lists

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Katherine Wikoff

Or in plainer text: Diversity = Variety, Biodiversity (including gut/diet), Social diversity, Cultural diversity And is associated with: Resilience, … Two lists I really like this! So many things to think about related to creativity, the environment, social/political contexts, etc. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Digital society, Learning, Life, Nature, Political Analysis, UX (user experience) | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments