The last 10 years...

From: http://io9.com/5720871/2000-vs-2010-how-the-world-has-changed

This world of ours 7

As we approach the new year, the air is thick with consumerism, misinformation, and sometimes snow.
1. Holiday consumerism gets in the way of cherished traditions -- like my annual temper tantrum
2. Voters Say Election Full of Misleading and False Information, Also Finds Voters Were Misinformed on Key Issues [especially Fox News viewers, *cough*]
3. Friday rant: Fool's cold edition -- Tom Toles

But we have at least three things to be thankful for. First, the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which allows openly non-heterosexual individuals to serve in the armed forces.
4. Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal: American reaction

Second, the renewal of Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans--which was needed to break the Republican filibuster on all legislation, including the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and providing health care for 9/11 responders (which has yet to be passed).
5. Biden defends White House compromise on tax cuts
6. New York's Dem senators see breakthrough on 9/11 healthcare bill

Third, we finally have some clue what may have happened to Amelia Earhart.
7. Remains May Belong to Amelia Earhart

In other news, North Korea is being more belligerent than usual ostensibly in order to facilitate the transfer of power from Kim Jong-il to his son, Kim Jong-un. Not to be outdone, forces in Ivory Coast create some controversy of their own with massive human rights violations.
8. North Korea firing: Why now?
9. 'Hundreds abducted' in Ivory Coast election unrest - UN

Our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, meanwhile, will continue through the next fiscal year.
10. US House passes $725bn defense bill

Amid all the theater, violence, and insincerity, it's good to know there are still great gift ideas out there.
11. Snobama Snow Globes

~"Scientific proof that sugar is perfect for the holidays: [reading from a molecular diagram of sucrose and glucose] HO HO HO O OH HO HO..." —Alton Brown

Project updates

With the semester finished, here's an update on some things I'm working on--however slowly that progress may be.

My current big projects (aside from teaching!) in order of progress:

• "42 Reasons for Reading" (number is tentative) -- Still in the draft phase. Two drafts actually. And I'm going to throw them both out and hopefully fashion something together before the new year.
• "Redescribing Shelley's Defense of Poetry: Rorty, Rich, and the Making of a Pragmatist Poetics" (rewrite of my English undergrad thesis) -- Still rewriting. Hopefully some journal will accept it when it's done. *Fingers crossed*
• "An Informed Pedagogy: Connections Between Research and Practice" (tentative) -- My prospective Master's thesis, exploring the possibilities and limitations (but mostly limitations) of education research.
• Mysterious project -- This one needs some 'splaining. I had an interesting idea for a romance novel, a kind of genre study. I have the title, two paragraphs, an outline, and a pseudonym, but I won't incriminate myself further.
• a&b -- Poetry project that's a long ways off.
• "Works of Love" -- Essay on ethics and the concept of unconditional love, with some reference to Works of Love by Kierkegaard and possibly a hint of socialism. No hurry on this one either.

12/24 update:

Two more:

• "If Learning Mattered: A Vision for Higher Education" -- Critique of the bullshit that goes on in colleges and suggestions on how to fix them.
• Out of Darkness (Tentative title) -- An interactive fiction.