Stones of Erasmus — Just plain good writing, teaching, thinking, doing, making, being, dreaming, seeing, feeling, building, creating, reading
5.1.24
Things in My Type ‘B’ Classroom that just Makes Sense
20.7.23
Sprinkles and Bazookas: A Candid Conversation Between Two High School English Teachers"
13.3.23
Meme: Ross Matthews and Otho Share an Uncanny Resemblance
Memes We'd Love to See: © 2023 Stones of Erasmus |
19.8.22
Photos Taken Near the Bronx River and Two Stories About New York City from Louisianians
A New York City subway train traverses the Bronx River. |
And then, I asked him to imagine what the city smelled like and felt like (using sensory details): “New York is fun and stinky and interesting, like a hot dog.”
When I asked my seventy-something-year-old aunt what people in Louisiana think about New York, she told me a story: “Greig, I would say they think it's too dangerous, but when I went to New York with Uncle Raymond in 1993, that's the only place that I was able to go out at night shopping. Even in New Orleans, even when we lived in Chalmette, I couldn't go out at night shopping. Oh my God. I forgot how many years ago. That was probably twenty-odd years ago. But in New York, I could go shopping. We had a hotel near Times Square, So I was able to go up and down that street without any restrictions in the middle of the night. Do you know? And, um, you know, I never go at night, and Uncle Raymond never let me go anyplace at night.”
6.4.22
POV: Counting Time as a School Secretary (If You Are Seated at the Front Desk)
Point-of-View: The Main Hallway of a School as Seen by the School Secretary |
Ms. Lauren Yandow walks down the main hallway with her kindergarteners and waves to the school secretary. |
16.9.21
Why I Love TikTok Content Creators (And So Should You) — And a List of Zany TikToks I Found
It’s possible that this edit is rather basic. But it's relatively early TikTok. I like the use of color and fashion and the sheer fact that the guy is having a lot of fun. And that's quite a mess for one less-than-thirty-second video.
7. The Five Minute Bathroom Break
8. Right?!
9. The Smiling Boy
10. The Histrionic School Lunch Lady Performance
11. It's Got To Be the Sweater
11.4.21
A Paean to Payphones (And Why I Feel Nostalgic for Old School Telecommunication)
When is the last time you used a working payphone? How sure are you that you can find one if your mobile phone goes dead? Do you have a quarter in your pocket?
Found a working payphone in the Times Square / 42nd Street Station in New York City |
Nostalgia is dangerous. Start feeling nostalgia, and suddenly, everything in the present is suspect. "Oh, I remember the days when you had to call someone on a landline."
But I like it when old-school technology still persists. I don't want to return to using payphones. They are clunky (and who has change, anyway?). And just when the conversation gets good, you have to add another quarter to continue the call.
You can find a working payphone in a few subway stations, strip malls, maybe a gas station in Duluth?
I used a payphone recently. I cannot remember why. It was when I was traveling. My phone was dead. I think it was in an Amtrak station (which I feel like is where I would find a working payphone).
Ironically, the school where I work has a payphone in the main hallway. But it does not work. It just hangs there on the wall. Hundreds of people walk by it. Heck. I didn't even notice it until like two years working at the school. I think it will become an art installation. Soon.
Fun fact: Payphones still exist. And one in five of them are in New York City! The Federal Communications Commission still regulates payphones. They still maintain a tip guide for using them and not get scammed when using a calling card. Remember those?
When was the last time you used a payphone?
5.1.21
Storytime: Anthony’s First Day at Kindergarten
17.11.20
Video Repost: Teen Entrepreneurs Start Their Own Trash Bin Cleaning Service Called The Wash Broz
5.11.20
Share Word Power With Students (Or, Watch a Frenetic Teacher Talk About Latin Roots)
12.1.19
Video Repost: Braden Gives His Bubblegum Book Report in Season One of the Mickey Mouse Club Reboot (circa 1990s)
6.7.18
Advice on Friendship from Charlotte's Web
4.7.18
The American Holiday The Fourth of July (Alternatively, Independence Day)
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia Latifolia) I found on a hiking trail in the Catskills. |
- It is hot, and humid in New York City. I hope you have air-conditioning - if not, get yourself to a New York City cooling center.
- I am thinking of setting off some fireworks in the middle of the street and yelling, "I am from Louisiana!"
- Nationalism is deeply taught in this country so I find myself humming patriotic tunes and feeling nostalgic about the colors red, white, and blue.
- Last year, I did stake out a spot in Sunset Park with my buddy Anthony Charles to watch the Macy's Fireworks display.
- This year, supposedly, I could go to Long Island City - but I am thinking of just staying home and watching BBC adaptations of Terry Pratchett novels.
28.2.17
Adult/Teenager Banter in Manchester by the Sea
Nephew Patrick and Uncle Eddie squabble in Manchester by the Sea © 2016 Amazon Studios |
The movie is good and it has lots of witty examples of adult/teenager banter. I can see why it won an award at the Oscars for its writing.
Underneath the banter between Casey Affleck's character and his on-screen nephew, lies a serious and moving story. However, it's a hilarious movie even though it is about a man who is wracked with guilt over the accidental death of his three children and who is now faced with the prospect of raising his teenage nephew. For example, the conversations between Patrick, the nephew, who just lost his father, and his Uncle Eddie (Casey Affleck) are well-written and funny. A recurring string of dialogue is the nephew's hilarious pointed questions that undermine his Uncle's crotchety humanism - and poke fun at his complete lack of social aplomb.
At one point a stranger overhears the two arguing. He says something critical - like, "Good parenting," and Uncle Eddie - as he does throughout this movie when he perceives a slight to his character - goes ballistic and Patrick tries to defuse the situation and then, hilariously, whips around and says "Uncle Eddie, are you fundamentally unsound?" and, later, "Are you brain damaged?"
Here is another funny exchange - but this time it is Uncle Eddie. He tells Patrick that "if you're going to freak out every time that you see a frozen chicken I think we should go to the hospital."
#funny
26.8.16
Theater of the Absurd Charlie Rose Style
Charlie Rose supercut |
Anyway. A supercut is a kind of new media -- someone gets an idea like "What if I cut out everything in news media clippings of Donald Trump speaking except for when he utters "China"? You get the idea. Or a supercut of just blah blah blahs from across cinematic history. I posted that one on this blog. I must be obsessed with supercuts. I have wanted to create my own but never had the tenacity nor have I yet lighted upon a good idea.
This supercut from the Charlie Rose show was imagined as "if written by Samuel Beckett." By just paring down an episode on technology to a few buzzwords and phrases the creator has managed to create a nonsensical interview with Charlie Rose and himself. Here it is.
True story: I now utter "Google" nonsensically in public places. Thank you very much.
"Charlie Rose" by Samuel Beckett from Andrew Filippone Jr. on Vimeo.
20.7.15
L is for "Lying Prone on the Floor at Manhattan Mini Storage"
Looking like a bible salesman
who lost the key to his storage locker,
I lie prone on the floor of the Manhattan Min-Storage.
|
Lisa told me to ferret the key out with a flat ruler. It didn't work! And we needed to get in! Can you tell I'm opening this post like the beginning of a badly written situation comedy?
Feeling like a cartoon character, I got prone on the floor vainly fishing out the key to our storage locker. Am I a bible salesman trying to get my Gideon bibles? Or maybe I'm a bootlegger and this maximum-security storage locker holds my gin. Or maybe it's a year's worth of three-hundred-paged-glossy-covered coupon books —those artless tomes filled with fifty percent discounts for edible arrangements and vacation cruises. Mostly sold by high schoolers raising money for track and field. Or some other kind of extra-curricular activity.
5.4.14
Jesus Was A Slacker
image source: funny jesus |
1.4.14
Why the Scarecrow is Boss (Even Though He Doesn't Have a Brain)
How Can You Talk If You Haven't A Brain? |