As I look back on a teaching career that began (somewhat haltingly) in the 1990s, I am more and more convinced of the wisdom in this piece by
@author-calnewport.bsky.social:
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/o...
Someday, with luck and hard work, she will have a name too.
Oh, I’ll be using that word from now on….
ICYMI and wished you hadn’t, my take on Trump’s infamous ballroom. Spoiler alert: I really dislike it, but here I try to explain part of the reason why rather than just ranting.
@toondreessen.bsky.social, might this serve in the hypothetical future newsletter? 😉
carleton.ca/aah/2026/cla...
A wooden ceiling spirals upward toward a bright apex.
Église du Précieux Sang, St-Boniface, Manitoba, 1969, by Étienne Gaboury.
#CeilingsOnSunday
A formal, dignified Classical building of two stories with pediments above windows, emphasized quoining, corner pilasters on the 2nd story and an entablature across the top. Mainly deep yellow, with deep red accents.
A bit of a twist on #SundayStonework: The Masonic Lodge, Dawson City, Yukon. Designed by Robert Moncrief, built in 1903 to serve as the public library, funded by the Carnegie Foundation.
The twist is that the ‘stonework’ is actually pressed tin.
Yes, I know that right now, this is perhaps the least of Trump’s crimes. But the DNA of all of them somehow seems to be encoded here.
carleton.ca/aah/2026/cla...
😮
A dark, gloomy staircase rised from a bare floor before flowing into two symmetrical branches going to the left and right. They lead top an elevated walkway against a rough stone wall punctured bu arched openings.
Kingston Penitentiary, Kingston, Ontario, opened 1835.
The ghost of Piranesi smiles.
#StaircaseSaturday
#SaturdayStairs
We all have days like this
That’s a shame! After my defence, the committee, guests, and a few friends all came over for a barbecue.
Of course, it would have been a tad awkward had I failed the defence. But I took it as a good sign when the external dropped off several bottles of wine the day before.
👏
Looks really interesting, thanks!
As I keep telling my students, this is the kind of mess you get into when you get AI to do your writing for you.
I wonder how these numbers break down by gender. In university I find that more and more of the most engaged students are women, fewer and fewer are men. This trend has been quite pronounced in the last few years.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
A man and woman perform on a dramatically lit stage.
Fortunate to be seeing Fortunate Ones tonight at the NAC.
There’s a lot here that shines a light on the weaknesses of our heritage protection laws. Starting with the weird fact that heritage designation, once bestowed, can be removed - as if it somehow suddenly lost its heritage value.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
In Bruges scene where Colin Farrell is pointing a gun at his head and Brendon Gleeson is also pointing a gun at Colin Farrell's head
Current status of the Strait of Hormuz dispute
On a normal day, if both my phone and my toilet malfunctioned, I’d be pretty pissed. But if I went all the way to the moon and back and that’s all that went wrong, well, I guess that would be okay. 🌖
AI seems to be the topic of the year — nearly every conversation I have in my role as academic lead for good research practice touches on it in some way. I’d like to lay out my developing thoughts for conversation and critique. (1/7)
A dark brown beaver, viewed in exact profile, floats with the top of its body and face visible just above the surface of a sea of liquid jade (which is in fact green summer foliage reflected in a pond on a sunny day).
How did I not know that yesterday was #InternationalBeaverDay?!
Anyway, a day late, here’s a beaver. An Ontario beaver.
Thanks, Toon! As for volunteer things… possibly, but I’m making no commitments. I want to go into retirement with a clean slate, not simply another list of commitments that I’ve already made. Gradually, one project at a time, I’ll figure out where I want to focus my energy. 🙂
Thank you Miranda, this watershed is truly a joy, albeit of course a slightly bittersweet one. There’s plenty that I’ll miss, but I’m hugely grateful to have had the privilege of doing this work and excited about moving on to the next season. Timing is everything, and the timing is right.
Actually, I think it must have started to sense its greatness after your 100-image grid of the façade of Wells Cathedral.
Disney World, surely.
Hasn’t the US already, de facto, left NATO? Is there any NATO member who believes the US would fulfil its NATO commitments if those commitments didn’t match POTUS’s agenda or mood? Is there any evidence that POTUS understands or cares what NATO is - and isn’t - for?
Thanks, Marta! And congratulations - I didn’t realize you’d retired!
If Trump does give an order to attack civilian targets that have no military value as a means of collectively punishing the Iranian people - and make good his threat to begin a genocide - Marco Rubio should resign and the military must refuse the order.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Today’s the day….
