Columns

Fly on the Wall—Virtual Convocation 2020

To all the 2020 graduands, congrats!  And for the rest of us grads, future and past, let’s rest on our virtual laurels for a moment and consider the conquest that’s been.  Many of our peers would shudder to attempt distance education.  AU is not for the faint of heart or slack of skill.  We learn… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—Solstice and Our Chosen Fate

Winter Solstice 2020: it’s cold, it’s dark, and it’s isolated.  As the sun’s light declines to its nadir we might wonder what there even is to celebrate.  Like receiving an outstanding course mark by email and then looking around and realizing with a sigh that nothing tangible has changed in our immediate environs, the turning… Read more »

Homemade is Better—Eggnog

It is the oddest thing, I could not find eggnog this year, no matter where I looked.  If you found some and have enjoyed it, that’s fantastic.  But in my case necessity birthed some looking around online and through several of my cookbooks to find some decent recipes.  The following is a hybrid of the… Read more »

How to Master the Skills for our Ideal Careers

A body in motion stays in motion.  The more time we spend learning skills, the more our focus turns into passion–and the quicker we arrive at mastery.  Like an exponential curve, the more we fixate on developing a skill, the faster we move along that curve until we turn upward into the heights.  That’s where… Read more »

The Struggling Student Rants—Your Wallet vs. You

Holiday Stress-Shopping It’s no secret: being an adult equals stress.  Some adults are more stressed than others, some handle it better than others, and some prefer to pretend they’re Peter Pan and hope for the best.  Then, once a year, you have your “festive stress” to add to the list.  Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas,… Read more »

Dear Barb—A COVID Christmas

Dear Barb: Bah Humbug!  This is going to be the worst Christmas ever.  This COVID virus has devastated so many of my family and friends.  Although I don’t know anyone who has actually got the virus, but the fighting has ruined so many relationships.  The people who believe the doctors and health officials want to… Read more »

Homemade is Better—Shredded Jerk Seasoned Chicken Tacos

There is probably a shirt out there somewhere that says, “Either you like tacos, or you’re wrong!” I have one with that saying about bacon, so I’m sure a taco one exists. This recipe is a fusion chicken taco recipe between Caribbean jerk seasoning and Mexican tacos.  This chicken is not a traditional jerked chicken… Read more »

The Study Dude—How to Memorize

At times we need better ways to memorize facts than simply rereading texts, which can be cumbersome and, frankly, time wasting.  What we need instead is the silver bullet of memorization mastery, called mnemonics.  And, in the case not even mnemonics works, I’ve covered other methods of memorization for us to try as well. I… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—Two Sides to Every Dilemma

A notorious recent exposition of the vicissitudes implied by post-truth culture is Jeff Orlowski’s documentary titled The Social Dilemma.  At first blush the show elucidates just how far social media has permeated our culture and our consciousness.  Yet, when pressed to describe the problem in words (not only feelings, as would fit the standard definition… Read more »