Dear Jason Williams and Jerry Krause:
Now that the two of you have been tragically paired as star rookie and manager, I have but a few suggestions on how you can bring the dynasty back to Chi-Town. So listen closely and please do not laugh at my frank suggestions.
What you should do to fix the mess Jerry has made:
First, on the list of many things to do this summer, you need to somehow unload Eddie Robinson, Jamal Crawford, and Dalibor Bagaric for comparable players or draft picks. The three have managed to rack up more injuries on them than the oft-injured fab trio Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Dump Crawford, Robinson, and Bagaric to the following already interested teams for non-protected first-round draft picks: the Washington Wizards, Golden State...
Lifestyle
Dear Innovators,
There has been a lot of talk about higher education the past 18 months. The culprit driving the conversation is the rise of online teaching and learning, in particular, the Massive, Open, Online Course, the MOOC. Many of you will have heard this term, and heard a mix of praise and vilification, “MOOCs will save us!” or “MOOCs will destroy us!”
It’s possible you have formed an opinion about online teaching and learning. Either a positive or negative opinion, based on your colleagues’ impressions, your discipline, your institution’s stance, or your own personal feelings about your well-established, and proven teaching practices. Wouldn’t it be much, much better if your opinion were based on your experience?
I entice you to explore your feelings about online...
2,388
Dear Son,
I know you’re only four, and I know that you can’t read. I know that I haven’t let you on my computer much, and I’m sorry. Because what I’m about to tell you is of utmost importance: it’s high time you learned Microsoft Excel.
A lot of people think that Excel is simply a tool for boring suits to map out data. Well, son, that’s partially true. But Excel is exciting and Excel can be pretty rock and roll if you trust Excel.
I’ve got a book on pivot tables that we can start reading together before bed. It’s not exactly Shel Silversteen, but I do consider it no coincidence that both the cover of The Giving Tree and the Microsoft Excel icon are both resplendently green.
Let me tell you why I’m so wild for Excel, son. See, at one point, I was a fresh-faced kid like you. I was free-...
2,202
Dearest Sisters-
This letter has been a long time coming, and I only pray that the Holy Spirit grants me the right words to convey the depth of my gratitude to each and every one of you. I had all sorts of different ideas of what made a community when I came to Maggie’s Place. I had studied a lot of different communities during my senior year of college, but I’d never so completely been immersed in one like this. People keep telling me that this has been a particularly difficult year for our home. I don’t know whether that’s true or not, seeing as it’s the only one that I have been here for. However, I will not deny that it has been challenging in ways I could never have imagined. Yes, I have encountered a lot of grief, sorrow, and frustration. But never before in my life have I also...
2,344
Dear Fellow Americans,
Few topics in America generate a more polarized and emotional debate than guns. In recent months, Starbucks stores and our partners (employees) who work in our stores have been thrust unwillingly into the middle of this debate. That’s why I am writing today with a respectful request that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas.
From the beginning, our vision at Starbucks has been to create a “third place” between home and work where people can come together to enjoy the peace and pleasure of coffee and community. Our values have always centered on building community rather than dividing people, and our stores exist to give every customer a safe and comfortable respite from the concerns of daily life.
We appreciate that...
2,214
Hi Mallory and Nicole,
You don't know me, and to be completely frank there's no reason why you should, but my excellent friend Gary Bainbridge recently pointed me in the direction of your website, The Toast, to tell me that you were looking for female science writers. Gary is a decent chap and knows how much I love science. I freely admit it's the first time I'd heard of you but I started looking the site over, loved the attitude and dry sense of humour, and felt that writing for you was something I would enjoy hugely. I'm a reasonably new science blogger, just a couple of years experience, but I've been published on The Guardian website a few times and the Nature Publishing Group have been very kind and supportive of my work here, so with respect I didn't feel you guys were out of my...
3,623
Church,
I got to go to the Macklemore concert on Friday night. If you want to hear about how that went, ask me, seriously, I want to talk about it until I die. The whole thing was great; but the best part was when Macklemore sang “Same Love.” Augustana’s gym was filled to the ceiling with 5,000 people, mostly aged 18-25, and decked out in thrift store gear (American flag bro-tanks, neon Nikes, MC Hammer pants. My Cowboy boyfriend wore Cowboy boots…not ironically….). The arena was brimming with excitement and adrenaline during every song, but when he started to play “Same Love,” the place about collapsed. Why? While the song is popular everywhere, no one, maybe not even Macklemore, feels its true tension like we do in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. If you’re not familiar, here’s the song...
2,796
Dear Kevin,
I’m sure you get fan letters all the time, from people who love your art: Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy. I think Chasing Amy was one of the first movies I watched with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. He thinks you’re the cheese.
I think you are a great writer, and like all great writers you have an amazing willingness to share things that other people hold close. Painful things, like a humiliating experience with an airline or, in this case, the terribly personal loss of a beloved dog. I am so very sorry Mulder died. I hope it is OK I am sharing the photo you posted because the love and the bond you share in this shot is there in a way I think others would be very comforted by.
kevin and Mulder
To everyone: I encourage you to read Kevin’s words about Mulder here...
2,407
Dear Fellow Folks of Color,
I am writing to tell you that I’m in love with you. I would have said it to your faces, but I don’t have that kind of travel money.
What I love about you, POC, is…well, there’s a lot.
First of all, I love that, despite what you may have heard, your ancestors pretty much built or invented everything that was ever built or invented in the world. They built the pyramids. They built the United States (this includes buildings, roads, bridges, and the entire economic system that came from the cotton of the South and which made this country a world power). They invented chess, jewelry, sculpture, dance. Air conditioning, the fire extinguisher. Guitars, horseshoes, rock and roll, mailboxes, motors, refrigerators, traffic lights. They invented chopsticks,...
2,339
Dear Principal,
I know you're busy, so I won't mince words: Hiring and supporting awesome people to work with the students who go to your school is the most important part of your job. Period. It's not school safety. It's not community outreach. It's not busses, instructional services or building maintenance. It's people. Because the better people you have, the more empowered and capable they are, the fewer problems you'll have in all of those other areas. Great people = great outcomes.
That said, I'm willing to bet you spend a lot of time thinking about this. Especially at this time of year when resumes, resignations, transfers and retirements start coming in. As a life long teacher, I associate the end of any school year with lots of things: kids waving out of bus...
2,627