I’m Not Quitting, I’m Failing Fast
Well, that didn’t last long. After only seven weeks of coursework in my Data Science program I have decided that it’s not for me. I can rationalize all I want but it basically boils down to the fact that I value my free time much more than I realized.This really …
Our Home Academy Reveals Its New Coat-of-Arms
Anna made this for us today. Yeah, our school mascot is a tardigrade! They love water and can survive in space! The Fighting Water Bears! Perfect.
Taking the Plunge
After much thought, I’ve decided it was time to get a more formal education in analytics. I applied and was accepted to Georgia Tech’s online Master of Science in Analytics program this Fall. Classes start on January 8, 2018 — less than four weeks away!
Pecos is in Tibet
Anna recently sent me a short video that summed up everything I ever loved about comic books and science fiction movies from my childhood: The video discusses how movies and comics build complex “worlds” by including references to other people, places and/or events outside the framework of the current storyline. …
No Day at the Beach
My wife met Anna over lunch today and snapped this picture of her walking along the shores of Lake Michigan. While it looks idyllic — especially for kids stuck in school — the scene masks several days of struggle as Anna tries to wean herself off her medications. Her symptoms …
Week 2/3 – Reality Bites Back
This old drawing of Anna’s sums up my feelings after Week 3 … Life is moving so fast and I am so disorganized that it all seems be congealing into one big mess. I don’t feel like I’ve got a handle on Anna’s curriculum and any ideas that I have …
When Life Hands You a Song Called ‘Lemon’
Anna finished her first big unschooling project today! It is a beautifully animated video she created for a song called ‘Lemon’ by a local Milwaukee band named Paper Holland (also on Facebook). A fun visual for a fun song: Enjoy!
CNN published the mugshots of all of the biker gang members who were arrested after the recent shootout in a Waco, TX restaurant. There were a total of 171 pictures, all in the same standard pose and most in the same standard orange jumpsuit: Seeing all of these pictures got …
There’s nothing too complicated about this post. I’ve been interested in creating an illustration of the U.S. Interstate system for awhile but my initial concept of a “subway-style” diagram of the network had already been done. After some recent experimentation with the D3 Javascript library, I decided that it might …
My family visited Washington D.C. last year for Spring Break and, during our 12-hour drive, I remember noticing a subtle change in the names of the cities and towns we were passing through. In the beginning, the place names had a familiar mid-western flavor; one that mixed Native American origins …
I have been reading a book on the development of the English language recently and I’ve become fascinated with the idea of word etymology — the study of words and their origins. It’s no secret that English is a great borrower of foreign words but I’m not enough of an …