Quoting Good Words

Historical works all may communicate traces, but they do not communicate truth. One who reads history ought to take these traces and nudge out the truths concealed within. Issai Sato

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Author Archives: CircleReader

Madison Reads Leopold, 2010

"Yearly, the feathered tempest roared up, down, and across the continent, sucking up the laden fruits of forest and prairie, burning them in a traveling blast of life....Today the oaks still flaunt their burden at the sky, but the feathered lightning is no more."
Posted in Reading Around | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

or, The First Meme

Acrostics -- lists and songs arranged alphabetically -- are of course a venerable tradition, uniting the ancient author of Psalm 119 with the youngest child learning to sing the ABC Song. One could say that the alphabet is the first & primary meme, the source behind every other, a natural fit for the blogosphere.
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Reading Aloud: the Words Endure

or, The Cosmic Bedtime Story

Our family's evening reading together was no more -- and no less -- difficult than all the other things we do together as a family. Day in & day out, this practice of reading builds up a foundation and a bulwark that will strengthen and protect us throughout our lives. Day in & day out, we parents are building up our children, our schools, and our communities, guarding them from a multitude of evils, just by reading aloud.
Posted in Arts & Literature, Local Life, Reading Around | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Little Things

or, The Lives of the Flu Cell

For me, microbiology always communicates a sense of secret revelation - it is so intimate, our very flesh & blood, and yet so intricate and strange. What a wonder to be able to see some small portion of the invisible entities that underlie our physical life! Here's an animation of a flu virus attack, from Zirus, Inc. via NPR.
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Remebering Labor, Entering Rest

To truly make this a holiday, to truly rest in praise of the goodness, truth, & beauty of Labor Day, requires contemplation.
Posted in Mind & Society, Reading Around | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Better Widgets with Science!

WordPress version 2.8 was released earlier this month, and whether the developers actually read them or not, I’m glad that they seem to have implemented my suggestions for a cognitive science-based redesign for WordPress Widgets. In WordPress 2.5 Widgets: Taking the Load Off Your Mind, I argued that what a user sees on the back [...]
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Watching the Cubs from Bahgdad

Here is what Memorial Day means to me today: it means remembering the connections we have to those who are elsewhere, remembering that the small things we enjoy here at home exist in a larger system of past and present service, sacrifice and justice.
Posted in Local Life, Mind & Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

100 Days Citizen Test

On President Obama's hundredth day: five questions for citizens.
Posted in Mind & Society | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

For the True Book Lover

Smell of Books? "100% DRM compatible!"
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Feedburning Learning

Feeds & email updates are all about drawing readers into a community from the margins--which is to say, they are all about learning.
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