http://ronaldtanner.com/blog Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:50:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I received another speeding ticket yesterday -- my third this month. These are tickets issued by the city's new robo speed-trap cameras, strategically placed along roads you'd never think would have speed traps. The offending speeds are 38 MPH in a 20 MPH zone or 41 in a 30 MPH ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2012/01/speeding-tickets-the-quality-of-our-daily-life/ Today I made a mistake I've never made in my 21 years of teaching. Before I tell you how it went, let me give you some background. These past few years, I've been worried about what seems to be a new breed of students. Demographers call them the "millennials." ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2012/01/my-mistake/ You may recall that last spring I awoke with the realization that I needed to buy a Sprinter van, convert it into a camper, then tour the nation to promote my new book, From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story. The van is nearing completion. And my ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2012/01/how-to-sell-a-book-in-america-the-66-city-tour/ Last week, Jill and I adopted a cat that was supposedly seven years old. Abandoned or lost, he had been out-of-doors for as long as a year. He was very underweight, his coat dull and matted. But he was in good spirits and very sociable. We didn't want a kitten ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2012/01/our-hospice-kitty-cat/ Cheetah, Tarzan's chimpanzee sidekick, died today at the age of 80. Yes, it's remarkable that a chimp could live to be that old. But more remarkable is Cheetah's legacy. Bear with me. Cheetah was the first famous friendly ape. He introduced generations of children to the notion that 1) animals ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2011/12/cheetah-tarzans-chimp-leaves-a-legacy/ We've just finished restoring Jill's office. You may remember that our house was a fraternity for ten notorious years. Jill's office was one of the less-destroyed rooms. It was notable, though, for its wall-sized painting of a rebel flag. It's also the only room with a big arch, which was ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2011/12/jills-victorian-office/ When I began teaching a course called "Writing for the Web" three years ago, I pictured myself scrambling to keep up with my plugged-in, tech-savvy students. I was sure I was in over my head. So I was stunned to discover that most 20-year-olds I meet know very little about ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2011/12/the-myth-of-the-tech-savvy-student/ If you haven't heard of book trailers, that's understandable. They're something new and, so far, untested. But they appear to be growing in popularity. Book trailers are like movie trailers, except they're for books. You may wonder why anyone would produce a trailer for a book because, at ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2011/11/how-to-sell-a-book-in-america-part-ix-the-video-trailer/ Our big brazen tabby, Simon, got out of the house last week, ran into the street, and got hit by a car. He was 12 and in great health. I love a cat that knows what he wants – the kind that's wholly comfortable anywhere with anybody and unapologetic ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2011/11/goodbye-simon/ I was trying to extract a plastic produce bag from its dispenser at the grocery store yesterday -- and having a hard time of it, since I was holding a basket in one hand and a bag of potatoes in the other. The dispenser pedastal was wobbling like a dizzy ... http://ronaldtanner.com/blog/2011/11/in-praise-of-the-ultra-competent/