In a recent blog post I mentioned finding old notes about various things that might become future blog posts. Well, the future is now! Four of the notes begin: “Dream:” and have some mention of what happened in some dream I had years ago. Often when I take notes, such brief phrases are enough toContinue reading “Notes About Dreams”
Tag Archives: doctorate
“She Tipped Me A Crystal”
At Berkeley, we had a summer lunchtime theatre series. Each show rehearsed for two weeks (one week in the morning, one week in the afternoon) and then a week of performances. I directed two shows in two summers: Noel Coward’s We Were Dancing (in the Durham Studio Theatre) and Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost—which I cutContinue reading ““She Tipped Me A Crystal””
Questions Only
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain. Over the years, the questions that made me uncomfortable have changed. I guess that corresponds to my level of maturity and leads me to where we are now. First, speaking generally of questions, I always like to come back to the Bernard Pivot questions usedContinue reading “Questions Only”
Don’t Tell Me I Can’t
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? One of the quickest ways to encourage me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it, or to speak the more passive phrase, “it can’t be done.” That’s precisely the motivation I’ve often needed to accomplish a goal. ItContinue reading “Don’t Tell Me I Can’t”
I Left My Heart…
Describe the last difficult “goodbye” you said. For most of the people I’ve said “goodbye” to over the years, it’s really been more of a “see you later.” We mostly still keep in touch, however sporadically, and I’ve lost only a few whom I’ve really cared about. But California, now… Well. That’s different. I leftContinue reading “I Left My Heart…”
Wuxtry! Wuxtry! Read All About it!
You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do? In the old days of kids hawking newspapers on street corners, they’d yell, “Extra, extra, read all about it!” to announce that special edition of the paper containing what CNN labels every story, “Breaking News.” (I maintain it’s not really breaking newsContinue reading “Wuxtry! Wuxtry! Read All About it!”
Hard Choices
What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why? Sometimes, you’re asked a question, and you have to replay your entire life in your mind—rewind, fast-forward, stop, play, then more rewinding… Did you miss any details, and did you see enough of the highlights? Rewind again…. Or maybe it’s more like checking your analytics.Continue reading “Hard Choices”
Caught in the Web(page)
What are your favorite websites? Do I have favorite websites? There are those places I love to hate: Facebook is one of these, and how many of us are sorry we sold our souls (and posted all those photos we probably have no other access to now) to the great and powerful Zuck? Sidebar: yes,Continue reading “Caught in the Web(page)”
Nickname?
What’s the story behind your nickname? In another blog post I talked about the origin of my avatar’s name, and how I came up with Phorkyad Acropolis. Here we focus on my real life name. To begin, I don’t really have a nickname, per se. My birth certificate says, “Stephen Alan Schrum.” My mother onceContinue reading “Nickname?”
Pirate or Ninja?
Are you a leader or a follower? My title is not an equivalent question to today’s prompt (“Are you a leader or a follower?”) but it’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the question. I would always ask students to introduce themselves on the first day of classes, and I wanted themContinue reading “Pirate or Ninja?”