Self portrait.

As I was walking along, I happened to see my own shadow. Since it's March, and I am not a groundhog, I don't know what to make of it.

Family lunch.

While Lili and I were running errands, I got a call from my father who is visiting our wilderness for the weekend. So the three of us had lunch, along with complementary danishes, at Panera Bread, our favorite impromptu gathering place.

Away message.

I haven't posted much lately because Lili knocked over a cup that contained my unfinished ice tea right onto my laptop. This was a feeting end to a computer that has been abused by all of us for six years. My wife and I bought this laptop from a Sears store when she was student teaching and needed a computer to write her lesson plans. It was a display model but we didn't care since we absolutely had to have one. We even took it to my father's house once to have dinner and watch the 2002 Olympics. It relocated with us to the new apartment to make room for a crib and its future occupant who eventually killed it. Otherwise it sat on my desk throughout its useful life. Now the decedent remains where it always been, facing the window above my desk and the world that lies beyond. And in case you were wondering, I wrote this on my sister-in-law's laptop while watching The Simpsons at her house.

Out of order.

This sign was posted on a photo printer by a person unfamiliar with the English language. "Broke" implies an absence of money, while "broken" means that something no longer works. If you don't speak English, you can't tell the difference.

Leap Day.

I have spent almost all day trying to come up with something worth reading to write about today and so far I have come up with nothing. The only thought that crossed my mind, as Lili and I waited for the slightly delayed snowstorm to start, is that Leap Day reminds me of Brigadoon the way it magically appears and disappears into the mists of Scotland.

Holidaze.

My friend Leather Penguin called me recently to ask me a question. His wife, Mrs. Penguin, it seems works with a bunch of my former fellow countrymen. And they were telling her about a Soviet holiday called "Man's Day." So being hardboiled New Yorkers they thought that this was as likely to be true as an ESPN report that Babe Ruth came back from the dead and signed with Boston. That's why they decided to reach out to their favorite Ignorant Immigrant living in the wilderness of Pennsylvania.

I, of course, told them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There was such a holiday and it was celebrated on February 23rd. It was also called the Red Army Day because the Red Army was founded on February 23rd ninety years ago. And since all things military were generally the domain of men, both men and the military were celebrated on the same day. The funny thing in all this is that I have not thought about this day in years. Until recently, the most significant to me February holidays were the Super Bowl and Valentines Day. I had to rely on my American friends to remind me of my Soviet past.

Lili to go.

Unitarian Universalism.

After watching a program about Pete Seeger on PBS last night I looked him up on Wikipedia which lead me to reading about the Unitarian Universalism movement. Universal Unitarianism, according to Wikipedia, is liberal religious movement that supports a free and responsible search for truth. This is the one religious movement that actually makes sense to me because it does not disregard the individual like the more traditional forms of religion but blends common and individual beliefs into a unique theological experience.

I am very curious to find out more about the UU partly because it reminds me of a religious version of the Federation of Planets on Star Trek. This is a really good thing because in Star Trek Gene Roddenberry presented a view of the future in which there was hope for humanity. And the one major hurdle keeping us from that future is religions, or rather our insistence on fighting over the differences between these religions. If you look at any of the really long term conflicts still raging today, you will find that they can be boiled down to "my version of God versus your version of God." Maybe, if more people embrace the UU, we will eventually be able to achieve peace. Peace? How Sci-Fi of me.

Zen stories.

I discovered this site in a post on Twitter by one of the people I follow. In the modern age of text messaging and one minute attention spans, these short stories provide a wealth of information and plenty of food for thought.

Sunset.

Snow cover.

Dragon kite.

Castro quits.

Fidel Castro announced his resignation as president and commander in chief of Cuba. This is a historic but unfortunately meaningless event. It is historic because dictators, especially Latin American dictators, usually do not step down from power. In fact, I thought that in my lifetime I was more likely to see a man return to the Moon than to see Castro leave office before dying. It is meaningless because his brother Raul will now take over as the president and commander in chief only to maintain the status quo.

By abdicating the throne of Cuba to his brother, Castro proved that Cuba is another example of that rarest form of government, a communist monarchy. The other example is, of course, North Korea whose current monarch inherited the throne from his father. Another similarity between the two kingdoms is the complete and utter disregard for the human rights of their subjects.

This disregard and other forms of mistreatment have always been a common thread among the communist countries, but the rulers of China and Russia had the decency, if you can call it such, to pass the torch to the next highest ranking member of the party instead of a blood relative.

Presidents Day.

Today is Presidents Day, a time marked by having a Monday off and department store sales. If you look at the calendar, on today's date it says that it's George Washington's birthday observed. His actual birthday is in four days on the 22nd. Washington's fellow February president is Abraham Lincoln who was born on the 12th. But because Washington was the first president his birthday is far more important to observe.

This day is celebrated in schools with tales of "Honest" Abe Lincoln and Georgie "I can not tell a lie" Washington. They have become, due to their roles they played in American history, role models for children. These mythological political figures supposed to teach children that "honesty is the best policy," to coin a phrase. This to me is utterly hilarious because growing up in the Soviet Union I was bombarded with stories about Lenin, the founding father of my favorite failed experiment, listening to his parents, telling the truth, and generally being a good boy. As they used to say on Dragnet: "the stories are true, only the names have been changed." Propaganda, it seems, is the same everywhere.

Wrong way!

As I was driving home from an errand, I encountered a gentleman driving his scooter against the traffic on a one way street. When did these things started to be considered vehicles and allowed to disobey road rules?

Epic news.

Tomorrow cell phone providers will shut off their analog networks which have been the backbones of cell services in the vast spaces between the coasts since the '80s. My first cell phone was an analog Nokia flip that I got for Christmas in 1999. It didn't have a lot of features, but it worked and it made me feel technologically advanced. The cell phone I have now is about the same size as my old one, but it provides more features than what I could have dreamed of in the dark days at the end of the 20th Century.

The termination of the analog cell phone networks is the first step in the digitalization process. In the near future radio and television stations will switch their transmitters to digital and an analog broadcast will become a part of the 20th Century history like the Pony Express and stage coaches were a part of the 19th Century history. At this point it is difficult to say if we are heading toward a brighter future filled with useful digital devices and flying cars depicted in Star Trek or if we are building ourselves a dark, dismal demise ala Mad Max. Either way, it should be an interesting ride.

On Mom's foot.

I have been using this blog as a place to document Lili's growth. I considered setting up a separate site for this, but since this is a personal blog I decided against it.

Are we Marshall?

Yesterday I watched the movie We Are Marshall about a new coach who rebuilds the Marshall University football team after the 1970 plane crash that killed 37 football players and all but one of the coaches. As I watched it I wondered if such a thing could happen here in Bloomsburg, a small college town. I am not talking about the tragic loss of life, but about the town's reaction to it. In We Are Marshall you see how the town morned the death of these student-athletes together with the university and how they rallied behind the new football team.

It is is hard for me to imagine such a thing happening here because the relationship between the Town and the Gown have been strained for years. In fact, the Bloomsburg Town Council recently passed an ordinance which requires a distance of a football field between student housing and residential areas. This means that landlords who rent houses to BU students will no longer be able to do so and will therefore be deprived of a valuable source of income. And because BU students are the largest group of people who move to this area a number of houses will be left unoccupied since the landlords simply will not have enough tenants to rent to. This also means that Bloomsburg will become, for the first time in the 21st Century America, a segregated town.

I should also say that the BU students have done some things that caused the town, its Police Department, and the Town Council a lot of grief. I, as an alumnus, am not proud of all the obnoxious drinking and partying that takes place during a Spring tradition called The Block Party. I have never understood or attended it, but locking the students away and throwing away the key, to coin a phrase, is not an answer. I am sure that a long term compromise is better than a drastic measure put in place to make a few residents happy. BU students live and spend their money here and without their money the local economy will suffer.

Couch bound.

In his latest post, Wil Wheaton writes about being forced to be a History channel watching couch potato. I enjoyed this post more than I usually enjoy his posts because I spent most of the morning being a couch bound rest area for my sick daughter.She has had a runny nose for a few days and today added an unpleasant sounding cough to her repertoire. So I sat on the couch watching the History channel, held her, and patted her back as she kept going back and forth between sleeping and crying. She seems to be feeling a little better now so we are returning to our regularly scheduled program of household chores.

On the porch.

Boris Pasternak.

Today is the anniversary of Boris Pasternak's birth. Pasternak was one of the giants of 20th Century Russia literature. I have loved his poetry ever since my Father introduced me to him when I was a child. My favorite Pasternak poem has always been Февраль or "February." When my Father first recited this poem to me, I was blown away by how accurately Pasternak captured February. His most famous work was the novel Doctor Zhivago which told the story of a man attempting to maintain a life during the Civil War years following the October Revolution of 1917. This novel was, like all great works of literature, inspired in part by Pasternak's own life. After Doctor Zhivago was smuggled to the West and published, Pasternak won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature which he was forced to refuse. He died two years later of lung cancer in a village outside Moscow.

Blizzard.

Job fishing.

I have been looking for a job via the Internet ever since I graduated. This process is usually referred to as "job hunting." However, I have come to believe that this is a misnomer and that the correct term should be "job fishing." This is has nothing to do with the 'Net being involved, but with the fact that after throwing your resume in like a bated hook you proceed to sit and wait for a tug on the line. Hunting, on the other hand, is far more active and involves stalking your prey. So if you go job fishing, be patient and eventually something will bite.

Prescription overdose.

The cause of Heath Ledger's death has been released.

Blue Lili.

Super Fat Tuesday.

Today is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. But since this is an election year today is being referred to as Super Tuesday because almost half the country is voting in their state primaries to decide which presidential candidate they like. However, Pennsylvania isn't one of the 24 states.

Here we spent the day feasting on potato doughnuts and pondering what we are willing to give up for Lent. Our primary is in April. By that time majority of the candidate either dropped out of the race on their own or having lost in several states decided to take another swing at the presidency in four years.

I have never voted in the Pennsylvania primary because I always considered it mostly ceremonial. Casting our votes in April has as much meaning in the electoral process as demanding a recount of last year's American Idol. Despite being a large state the primary places Pennsylvania on the rear end of presidential politics.

Sunday best.

Super Bowl.

It's Super Bowl Sunday, the second biggest, after Easter, Sunday of the year. The amount of food consumed today will probably be greater than all the Easter dinners combined because Easter, with its church services, does not have a four hour excuse to sit in front of your television before the actual game begins. Otherwise, the two Sunday events have become very similar of late.

It used to be that the Super Bowl was a glorious culmination of the previous year's football season and therefore was held in January as close to the New Year as possible. Now the football season straddles both the Old and the New Year with the Super Bowl becoming a February mainstay. If the NFL wants to expand the season playing more times per week or starting the season in July could be possible alternatives.

After all, the Super Bowl is all about traditions and tradition dictates that it'd be held in January. If something isn't done soon, we might be celebrating the Super Bowl and Easter together.

Microhoo?

The news that Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for $45 billion was a bit of a surprise at first. But after I thought about it for a while I came to a conclusion that this move wreaks of desperation on both sides. For Yahoo, which got passed by Google on its way to search engine supremacy a while back, this would be a bail out and a much needed influx of cash. Yahoo is in such need of cash that it recently announced possible job cuts. This decision is left entirely to the Yahoo co-founder and once again C.E.O. Jerry Yang. Yang became C.E.O. after the previous one stepped down following a somewhat disastrous run in that position. One of his major bonehead moves was not making an offer to buy Google, an idea that he actually pondered.

For Microsoft, which lost a recent Google lawsuit over desktop search dominance, this would be an influx of a much needed Internet presence since their own Internet offerings have been left in the dust by the two web-based megaliths, Google and Yahoo. Microsoft would also, quite possibly, be able to surpass Google with this acquisition because they would be able to bundle their operating systems with on-line services. The smarter move for Microsoft would be to make an offer to buy Google, but either the money isn't available or the current C.E.O. lacks imagination for such a huge move.

I am very curious to see if this deal would pass the appropriate regulators. Also, I am wondering what would the new entity be called: Microhoo or Yasoft. Either way this should be interesting.

Groundhog's Day.

Today, as expected, the most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania was pulled out of his symbolic dwelling and saw his shadow. The outcome of this pointless performance was completely irrlevenat. The bizarre weather patterns we have been expirincing lately make any long term predictions as meaningless as a debate over whether the New York Knicks can beat the New England Patriots.

Tree and sky.

In the park.

Mail boxes.

Paper art.

Peter Callesen is an artist who makes sculptures out of paper. The above piece is called Looking Back.

Argh!

Thirteen months old Lili likes to pull dirty dishes from the dishwasher or to turn off the TV during a crucial scene. Both are things that frustrate her parents, especially her father, enormously.

That's not even engrish.

This linguistic masterpiece is on the front of a My Baby Real Deluxe Set. If you wish to view this wonder for yourself, they are located in the toy section of your neighborhood Big Lots store.

Heath Ledger.

Heath Ledger is dead. He was 28. Supermarket tabloids weren't filled with stories about his wild misadventures so reading about his death came as a huge shock. He left behind a body of work that ranges from 10 Things I Hate About You to Brokeback Mountain. I haven't seen all of his movies, but the ones I have were better because of his performances. I liked Heath Ledger because he wasn't a star, he was an actor and he was good at his craft.

Open up!

In order to inspire Lili to have more teeth, we placed her inside a giant mouth during a visit to a local children museum.

Driving joke.

Q: How do you know you are too drunk to drive?
A: When you swerve to avoid hitting a tree and realize it's your air freshener.

Historically speaking.

Today is a very interesting day in history. On this day in 1547, Ivan IV, previously the Grand Prince of Moscow, was crowned the King of Russia at the ripe old age of sixteen. He later conquered several neighboring lands, among them Siberia, making Russia an enormous country it is today. He would also be the first Russian ruler to adopt a title inspired by, and borrowed from, the Roman Empire: Czar. But he is best known by a nickname given to him for the terror he inflicted upon his people during his reign: Ivan the Terrible.

Also on this day in 1919, an American experiment in liquor control, better known as Prohibition, started. This experiment was, of course, a complete failure. But several things did come out of it: the mafia got bigger, the liquor got better, and the Government found out that dictating to the people how they can live their lives is not a good course of action. Unfortunately this lesson, just like Prohibition itself, has fallen by the wayside of history.

Anniversary.

Today is my wedding anniversary. Six years ago my wife and I said our vows in front of friends and family at Phillips Emporium, a local cultural hot spot and coffee house, where we went to a poetry reading on our first date four years prior. In the last six years we have buried relatives, watched friends get married and divorced, and started a family. We have had some proud moments and some not so proud moments, but through it all we have been together and for that I am grateful. It amazes me, though, that my wife has been putting up with me for an entire decade. It could be also said that I have been putting up with her for the same amount of time, but anybody who knows us could tell you that I am the bigger pain in the ass to her than she could ever be to me. I know that I have become the man I am because of her love and guidance and that without her support I couldn't have gotten through grad school. She is not only my wife, she is my best friend. She is the person I miss, and argue with, the most. And I wouldn't have it any other way. So, here is to many more decades to come!

Election year.

Of all the bizzare things I expected to see politicians do this year appearing on the cover of a calendar wasn't something I was prepared for.

It's official!

The document I so proudly hold in this picture is my Masters diploma which arrived today. Now you may refer to me as The Ignorant Immigrant, MSIT.

New problems.

New year has brought with it new hopes but also new problems. I spent the time between my college graduation, December 14th, and the end of last year working full time at my part time job. Because of this I was unable to follow up with the interviews I have had and apply for new jobs. Now things have slowed down and I am working part time at my part time job and full time as a stay-at-home dad to my one year old daughter. The latter is a great gig, I get to set my own hours and take naps, but it doesn't bring home the bacon or fry it. So I can't help feeling that I am letting my family down.

After I got my Bachelors, I spent two months applying for employment and finally got a part time job at U-Haul because the manager confused me with a guy who was supposed to start that day. One thing lead to another and I found myself manning a fort in the middle of a local mall and thinking that I don't wish to spend the rest of my life this way. So I dusted off my study skills and got myself into a graduate program from which I now hold a Masters degree. But now I am back to where I was years ago, aimlessly wandering around in a tunnel looking for a light. It very hard for me to remain hopeful that something will come along and that the faith the head of my department showed in my abilities will bare fruit.

Decorations.

To mark the Russian Christmas, a day that used to be celebrated 13 days later than everywhere else, I thought a picture of a house that still has its decorations up was in order.

Table food.

Ever since Lili turned one on Christmas Day, we have been experimenting with table food. Some experiments prove to be more successful than others. Here Lili attempts to eat a piece of pizza about the size of her head.

Awards.

I saw this banner hanging at a local elementary school. It explains the basic problem with American education system - mediocrity has become something to strive for and reward.

Happy New Year!

Bicycle.

Snow, to me, makes mundane objects more interesting. For example, this bicycle while being completely unremarkable resembles the ruins of Pompey after getting covered by snow.

Snow tree.

I always found snow covered trees beautiful, especially against a blue sky. It almost looks like the trees have leaves again.

Trees.

Playground.

Merry Christmas.

And Happy Birthday Lili!

Where is Santa?

NORAD, North American Aerospace Defense Command, the people who track every object flying around the Earth also keep an eye on Santa. They have set up a website, complete with videos of Santa's visits to different places around the globe, where you can see Santa's current location. This site is frequently updated and even provides a toll free number to call NORAD in case you can't wait for the site to be updated.

Christmas Eve.

Since it is Christmas Eve I thought that a little Trans-Siberian Orchestra would be appropriate. So here it is:

Another Christmas tree.

It has been raining all day and the snow, along with my hopes for a white Christmas, melted completely. So here is a picture I took of a tree that grows outside my workplace during a recent snow.

Leather penguin.

This is a cover for an Xbox game. The guy on the right, whose name I assume is Lynch, looks exactly like my friend Leather Penguin.

Sitting pretty.

Exhausted by shopping, Lili and her teddy bear take a break in a lovely lavender chair.

Rare sight.

With on-line news sources and cell phones galore seeing a pay phone and a newspaper dispencer together is quite unusual.

Empty nest.

This is the computer lab which is a part of the Department of Instructional Technology. During my graduate studies, I spent a lot of time in this lab working on various class projects. The professors' offices are located right around the lab making them easily accessible when you have a question. I am going to miss this place and all the friends I made in it.

At an angle.

Today I had to visit the BU campus to pay a bill and was struck by how much the new addition to the McCormick Hall looks like a ship's bow.

Slow sign.

I never liked how this sign was worded. It always implied to me that the children at play are slow and I don't think that the Department of Transportation is qualified to make such judgments.

One pic a day.

Quite often, after I log in to Blogger, I click on the Dashboard button to see what is new and exciting. I read the latest post by the Blogger team and then check out the Blogs Of Note list. Sometimes the name of a blog on that list peaks my interest and I read it. This is how I came upon One Pic a Day which is a photo blog. Its author started taking pictures on daily basis back in January of 1989 and in January of this year he decided to put these pictures on the web. This blog, and others dedicated to photography, fascinates me because it allows you a glimpse into a world we very seldom see or have access to, a world seen through the eyes of another person. This point of view is the reason why people read blogs, or at least that's why I read them.

Supermarket at night.

Oh Christmas tree.

Equestrian.

Dashing through the snow, on a horse minus the slay, o'er the fields she goes laughing all the way.

Overkill.

What can be said about a banana peel on a patch of ice?

Drive thru ATM.

I was behind this guy at an ATM this morning. Apperently he didn't understand the drive part of drive through.

In the lane snow is glicening.

This is the view from my front porch. It started sleeting and snowing around 6 this morning and pretty much everything has been closed since.

The date that shall live in infamy.

66 years later it is pointless to argue whether Japan's attack on the Naval fleet at Pearl Harbor was an appropriate response to American embargoes. It is also pointless to talk about whether the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a retaliation for Pearl Harbor or a way to subdue the Japanese population which would have fought to the death following an invasion of the Japanese mainland. And the most pointless thing would be to draw parallels between the attacks of 12/07/41 and 09/11/01. All we can do now is remember.

Kringle racing.

This time of year you find a lot of strange Christmas themed inflatables decorating people's lawns. However, this one was decorating a sidewalk.

Request for proposal.

If you are planning to write, or to answer, a Request For Proposal in the near future, Free RFP Template Toolkit might come in handy.

Online course design.

This is a banner I made for an online course I am building.

St. Nicholas day.

Saint Nicholas was a 4th century Bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey. He was famous for secretly giving very generous gifts to the poor which lead to the birth of his better known counterpart, Santa Claus. He is considered to be the patron saint of several groups of people, such as sailors, and cities, such as Moscow and New York, around the world. In some cultures, people exchange presents on December 6th instead of Christmas day.

E-learning via a cell phone.

As our lives get busier and busier, the humble cell phone is rapidly becoming an increasingly useful and necessary accessory. With the recent introduction of Apple's iphone to the purses and pockets of tech savvy people it has become evident that a device, which is not quite a PDA and not a simple cell phone either, has a lot of possibility beyond being an obviously useful combination of tools and features.

The most useful feature of these devices lies in their ability to download and display content. The screen size along with the storage capacity make newer phones readily available e-learning platforms. In fact, with the email access previously unheard of and the features mentioned before, there is no need for a busy sales representative to carry a cell phone and a PDA along with their laptop. They might even be able to get away with just the multi-talented cell phone. And when a rare free moment occurs, these sales representatives could access trainings or certifications their company require them to take right on their phone.

This idea may not be as far fetched as it first seems. Since Adobe's development, and recent improvement, of Flash Lite now allows a developer to build short e-learning modules which would fit into anyone's busy schedule and would minimize time away from work.

Old wheelbarrow.

Time for causes.

Right around Thanksgiving you start noticing Salvation Army Kettle Drive bell ringers and the Marine Corps' Toys For Tots boxes everywhere you go. These things are as much a part of Christmas as carols and presents. They are a part of a Christmas tradition of giving and work on the principle of Public Display of Charity. Throwing a few coins into a red kettle in full view of other people not only makes you feel good about yourself, it makes you feel better about the amount of money you're going to spend on presents.

There is another charity which needs attention around Christmas. This charity works with people who, more than most, need the gift of good cheer and a wish of a Merry Christmas. The charity in question is eMOM and the group of people they work with is the American soldiers stationed overseas. EMOM, which stands for eMail Our Military, provide those who sign up on their site with an email address of a soldier in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Once you have a soldier's email address you can provide them with much needed support and holiday spirit. This is of course a very private display of charity, but one that will prove more valuable than a few coins thrown into a red kettle at the mall.

December duties.

With the arrival of December, we welcomed it to our house by hanging a Christmas wreath on the front door and a Christmas Countdown Calendar on the door of Lili's bedroom to help us countdown the 25 shopping days until her birthday. For her part, Lili modeled the new hat that her great grandmother sent just in time for the first day of Winter.

The ADDIE model.

During C.A.C. I had a brief discussion with Louis Biggie, from Johns Hopkins University, about the ADDIE model and breaking the rules of instructional design. The issues here is that as technology evolved, giving instructional designers better and better tools, the design process itself has not. The design process usually follows a model, like ADDIE, step by step without much deviation. There are several models and each one is an attempt to streamline the design process, but the actual process of designing instruction sometimes makes it difficult to follow a model step by step.

Let's look at the ADDIE model which serves as the staple of instructional design. ADDIE is an abbreviation of the five steps that make up this model: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. An instructional designer supposed to follow these five steps in order, using the outcome of one stage as the starting point of the next. However, the Design and Development stages can be done simultaneously which simplifies the process. For example, let's assume that during the Analysis stage it became evident a client's needs would be best served by a web based instructional solution. Therefore, a web developer could be building a site, while an instructional designer is working on a solution.

This is why I like the Layers of Necessity model. Layers of Necessity allows you to modify it to fit a project in hand instead of following it blindly step by step. The most important parts, Learner Analysis for example, are placed in the fist layer. While the rest, depending on their importance, project time line, and the budget, are placed in the second, third, or nth layers. This model has only been around for seventeen years, but it demonstrates what instructional design can become if the theoretical development follows closely with the technological.