The semester starts tomorrow, but I've been so busy there's been very little sense of a break. My time has been filled with the second half of an online genealogy class (offered through FutureLearn, taught by instructors associated with the University of Strathclyde, the first MOOC I ever loved, see more on my genealogy blog), visiting my dad in El ( Read more... )

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Am I the only one who finds that the mobile LJ app is lacking in a few features we take for granted on a desktop computer? Or, am I just being clueless, and missing them?

First and foremost, imho, is the ability to select a user icon for posts and comments.

ETA: I just posted a reply via clicking a link in an email, and I was given the option to ( Read more... )

Nearly two years ago, my son Keith gave me a smart phone for my birthday. He pays the monthly bill, too. A few days ago, my phone was stolen. My replacement, supplied by the insurance on the phone and  $150 from Keith, arrived today. For much of the afternoon, I have been reestablishing various accounts. But, I have only just connected the phone to ( Read more... )

When my husband and I got together, we knew that we would never have children together. We were both in our mid-40s, plus I have two sons from my first marriage and he has three, so our family was already going to be a large one. We also had between us a rather large assortment of animals, but somehow another pet didn't seem as daunting. So, when ( Read more... )

Thanks to gillpolack, I learned a new word today: "idiolect."

What does this mean, you ask? (You did! I'm sure I heard you.)

"In linguistics, an idiolect is an individual's distinctive and unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Idiolect is the variety of language unique to an individual ( Read more... )

So much of my friends feed is filled with people at Sirens in Denver, Colorado. Traveling is not in my budget, so I am not in Denver. Instead, I'm at work, taking a brief break because there's only one student (nope, as soon as I wrote that he checked out, so now there are no students) left in the learning center. Or, at least, none looking for ( Read more... )

Recently, I spent the day with my oldest son. Our visit was centered around food and discussions of creative projects, so it was a really satisfying day ( Read more... )

A student came into the writing center, distraught over an assignment. The assignment was to write about the most traumatic event of their life and how it had changed them. I suggested that perhaps the teacher would be willing to let the student write an alternate assignment, but the student had already asked, and the instructor had not been ( Read more... )

As a writing tutor at my local community college, I've learned a tremendous amount about how to help beginning writers discover what they have to say, as well as how to say it clearly. I hope some of that skill has found its way into my own writing and editing process, too ( Read more... )