Just throwing this out there: I had the first class yesterday. 2 sections, 270 students each. They showed up enthusiastic and optimistic and ready to go. How about we don't mess that up? Not sure how I'm going to do it exactly, but I am determined to do what I can to keep the optimism up.

No classes til Wednesday, but meeting 102 (!) new chem majors for lunch today Go Beavs!!

Watching a show with the wife Me: Adds to the dialogue. Me again: I just think in a lot of these situations it would have been helpful if I was in the room. Wife: As someone who been in the room A LOT…..

Sunday morning hooliganism

Way to go Anna Hall. World Champ in women’s heptathlon. All the way back!!

Kenny Rogers.

Hey! Anybody wanna see a crappy picture of the moon and venus? Also blessings to all those who have a faculty retreat today

Bobbi Gibb became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon and Texas Western defeated Kentucky to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship

Just posting this because

I can’t remember who on this sight put me on to this book by Keon West. But it is a very good read so far. In broad strokes I know most of what it is in Ch 3, but to read it all in more detail is just eye-opening. (Blocked out author because it is covered by a library bar code. No slight meant)

For anyone still on the fence about whether or not Mondo is the greatest…..

"One stark fact: All of the Valkyries players combined make less than the lowest paid member of the Warriors, who have the same owners and play in the same building."

The outer defenses have been breached. The dogs have taken over. No reinforcements are coming. There is enough food and water for 15 minutes. Tell them I fought bravely

I feel like maybe this was an ahead of its time documentary? m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp79...

We do offer valet parking.

Can’t get this out of my head so I’m putting it here. Kirk’s antics are being framed as debate. Just seems like an open mic night kind of thing to me.

There have been like a billion things where we have to say "irony is dead" Apparently is just keeps getting back up and we kill it again.

Also, shame on any democrat politician who thought for one moment this was a radicalized progressive. We don’t radicalize toward weaponry and murder. We generally radicalize toward justice, protest, mutual aid, and community action.

Holy shit. Dude watched an episode of Grimm, thought it was real and is coming to take care of fairy tale monsters.

I don’t watch much sports on TV. About zero. But no way I would want to play the Vegas Aces right now. My lord.

If you need a distraction you cannot go wrong with KPop Demon Hunters. So good.

I like teaching #chemistry lab courses. I get to impart my genius and wealth of experience to new generations

If you don’t know, two firefighters in WA state were pulled off a fire line in an ICE raid. They may have been set up by the incident management team. www.opb.org/article/2025...

Good night!

If you have been in the Dems need to fight camp, here it is. In a red state that so many would just write off. The Dems are fighting.

Good Morning Everybody

Waiting for books on hold from the library, so lets see what we can do with this list.

Not gonna lie. I have vaccine envy. Congrats to everyone who has navigated that whole process.

Forgot my pants!

Tonight’s treat: When the local cider place and the local coffee place team up and add a little pumpkin. It’s really good.

Come on Kotek! Just do this and be done with it.

Born in May. Not quite lay down in traffic territory but it ain't good.

Every year I have students write a letter to incoming students on first day. Advice, Support etc. Flipping through them now just to make sure nobody went off the rails. One student: If you need stuff to put on you CH 121 bingo card, here is a start.... And I feel so seen.

If you teach college freshman, this might be useful. At the end of fall term I ask the students for advice I can give to incoming students. Got this one, which is a thing I had never thought of: Make your bed in the morning. Seems silly but its a good way to start the day feeling productive.

I think our dogs are about to take what little power the humans in the house have left. Let me explain. Every night we give our dogs a puzzle/treat. We freeze some canned dog food in a hemispherical ice tray, and that frozen delight goes into a puzzle:

How soon are we gonna bring this back? m.youtube.com/watch?v=BjRq...

Grew up in a blue collar neighborhood. My dad worked in a warehouse his whole career. This Labor Day thinking about all the parents who worked those jobs to provide a better life for their families.

About a third of the way through The Dark Half by Stephen King. It is a gas! Having a great time and can’t wait to see how it ends

Vegan pepperoni, roasted red peppers and caramelized onions. Covered with cashew cream sauce. Totally vegan and totally delish.

Good morning from the PNW.

Submitted the documents for promotion!

Happy River’s 9th Birthday to all who celebrate!

Full disclosure, haven’t read and won’t read. Grade prediction is a useless tool. Meaningful feedback from an expert is important for learning.

Not so hot vegetarian take: Old logo, new logo, newer old logo, it’s still fried meat and larded green beans wrapped in bacon. Still not going in.

A national park ranger (SJ) was fired from Yosemite National Park last week for hanging the trans pride flag on El Capitan while off duty. Today, there is a protest in support of SJ. A much larger flag is being displayed in the park in their honor. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Especially in the current climate, it's nice to see the Akron Marathon working to attract more LGBTQ+ participants. thebuckeyeflame.com/2025/08/21/a...

Went up to Portland to see Taylor Tomlinson. Highly recommend

The goal of any decent education system should be to make this unfathomable. Human empathy >>>>>