Posts tagged ‘book’

I have recently discovered an amazing free resource that I have been neglecting for years: the library. I used the library at the University of Oklahoma when I attended there years ago, but after graduation I assumed that I would no longer be able to access university libraries and that a public library would not [...] Read More...

There were a couple of articles in the June 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly that I thought worth sharing: one on asteroids, two on the internet and the presidential race, and one claiming that college should not be everyone. Read More...

We are now mostly finished with some remodeling and redecorating that have kept us busy for the month of April. We took on some big projects, but one of the things I like most is rather small: invisible bookshelves. Read More...

I have been reading Atlantic Monthly for over a year now, and each issue usually has a couple of articles that interest me. They started publishing the articles online this year, which has made it easier for me to share them with others. Read More...

Geogre MacDonald's Phantastes contains a first-person account of a journey through Fairy Land. MacDonald explores various aspects of writing and reading fantasy throughout the book. Read More...

The epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest surviving piece of written literature, explores issues applicable to us today. Stephen Mitchell’s translation captures the literary value of this epic, and his introduction provides excellent analysis. Read More...

In A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong analyzes the role of mythology throughout six different historical periods. This book provides an excellent introduction to the study of mythology, especially its psychological and sociological aspects. Read More...

I enjoyed re-reading the Presocratics and Plato. My first reading of the Skeptics and the Neoplatonists was truly fascinating. Read More...

Reading: A report released this month by the N.E.A. shows that Americans spend less time reading and that reading comprehension skills are eroding. Read More...

Four Loves: I co-taught a series of classes on C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves last month. Preparing was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed the experience. Read More...

Paradise Lost Study: I have been studying this work by John Milton for a few months now, and it has provided much insight into epic poetry. Read More...

I finished C.S. Lewis' Magician's Nephew (volume 6 of his Chronicles of Narnia) this week. Reading this at the same time as Paradise Lost was enlightening. Read More...

Recent Posts

• 04/27: I had the opportunity to give a presentation at the April meeting of the Dallas/Fort Worth WordPress Meetup group this weekend. Here’s the introduction:

  In this presentation, Randy Hoyt demonstrates the techniques, page templates, and plugins he uses to power the multiple-author functionality on Journey to the Sea, the online myth magazine he edits in WordPress. Learn More »

  I have added to my site a narrated screencast of the content, a software package for download with all the code modifications, and links to all the online resources I mentioned. It’s not the exact same narration — I re-recorded it after the meeting — but the video is the same and the narration covers all the same material:
  Presentation: Multiple Authors in WordPress
  —— This group was established last March after the first WordCamp Dallas conference, a local event devoted to all things WordPress. The  group has met monthly all year to promote and prepare for a similar conference in 2009. I have been attending the meetings and offered to speak at the April meeting this past weekend. Before the meeting, I made a screencast of me applying these techniques to a standard blog theme. During the meeting, I played that video over a projector and narrated it for the group. I was quite happy with how it went, and I received some positive feedback on the presentation from some of the attendees. I met a few people whom I’m looking forward to discussing other local WordPress-related opportunities in the future.
• 04/14: Non-Linear Movies
• 04/07: OU Sooner Basketball
• 04/02: AFI Dallas