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I’m still writing about (drum roll, please) snow
Sunday a.m., looking down my street while the wind gusts Dear readers, you’re about to be treated to another entry about the weather here in Boston. We’ve got our fourth consecutive weekly Big...
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If you’ve got some time to kill…
As some of you know, I’ve been writing a professional blog, Minding the Workplace, for over six years. A lot of the material is heavier stuff, looking at employee relations, workplace bullying,...
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“Airplane!” is 35 years old
Airplane!, the gut busting, hilarious send-up of airplane disaster movies, turns 35 this year. For a long list of reasons, I’m not sure that a similar kind of movie could be made now, but especially...
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Before the college application process went haywire
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni is getting a lot of attention for his new book, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania (2015), which urges young people and...
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On being a college sports fan: A waif’s journey
From SBNation.com Although I’m a moderately serious sports fan, and I’ve been associated with a good number of colleges and universities over the years, I’ve never attended a school with a big-time...
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Final exam season: Recalling late night munchies for student chow hounds
You’ve come a long way, baby: Late night college chow has upgraded its game If this headline and photo are to be believed, collegiate munchies have definitely stepped up a notch or two since my student...
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As summer approaches, winter has given way to spring in Boston
Boston Common (photo: DY) The brutal winter that we experienced here in Boston has finally given way to more civilized weather, even if piles of snow collected during January and February and deposited...
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Throwback Thursday: Vienna waits for me
Prater Wheel, Vienna (Photo: DY, 1981) On Thursday evening, I’ll be hopping on a plane for Vienna, Austria, for the biennial International Congress of Law and Mental Health, a week-long event that...
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Throwback Thursday: Old haunts and lasting friendships
I made an extended weekend trip to northwest Indiana for a long overdue visit with friends and family, one filled with both nostalgia for the past and appreciation for enduring friendships renewed....
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“Welcome to first-year orientation” (Gulp)
Samuel Morse’s allegorical landscape picturing the university as paradise, placing NYU’s original Gothic style building at left (1835-36) For many educators, mid-August brings a sort of foreboding:...
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Throwback Thursday: My career as a collegiate journalist
My first-ever published newspaper articles! Those who ask me about the potential value of extracurricular activities for college students risk being on the receiving end of a verbal serenade about The...
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First-time sojourn across the pond
Thirty-five years ago, I joined a group of fellow Valparaiso University students at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, where we would board a TWA flight to London. We were to be the 27th group of VU students...
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A view from the Garden
This 1940s wartime era photo prompts a nostalgic moment for me, even if I wasn’t around back then and my soggy sentiments have nothing to do with the picture itself. This is the old Madison Square...
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Learning about the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter weekend in Dublin, 1981 (photo: DY) The 1916 Easter Rising was an armed insurrection centered in Dublin, and led by Irish Republicans who opposed British rule and sought to establish an...
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On typing and typewriters
No power needed, except that of your fingers and your mind. (Vintage typewriter courtesy of Adeline Moya) For many years I’ve quipped that Introduction to Typing and Driver’s Education were the two...
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The new boarding houses: Dorm life for graduates
Okay, college graduates, if you could continue dormitory-type living even after leaving school, would you opt to do so? If your answer is “yes,” then you may be pleased to see this option developing...
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From college move-in days to reunions
Hello dear readers, it has been a while since I’ve posted! I’ve been hip deep in various publication projects related to work, and they’ve drained much of whatever writing energies I’ve had this...
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That final exam anxiety dream
Marlene Cimons writes for the Washington Post about a recurring anxiety dream experienced by many, including yours truly: For most people, including me, it goes like this: We’ve signed up for a course...
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Homecoming 2016
An autumn sun sets on VU’s Chapel of the Resurrection (photo: DY) Sometimes we can go home again, and if we’re lucky, the experience can be even sweeter than the first time around. In a year of ups and...
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Two memorable semester breaks
Brandt Hall dormitory, Valparaiso University, Indiana (photo: DY) Even though I’ve been teaching for some 27 years, I don’t get overly enthused about semester breaks. They usually involve a fair amount...
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