Academic writing is boring

Memorable teaching moments are usually authentic It’s funny how some of our most memorable teaching moments are the most authentic. I remember once, I was teaching an entry-level psychology class. One of the exercises I use is to have students look at five different types of sources. Typically, these include … Read more

From Enriched Support Program to a life of academics

photo of an empty classroom with student and teacher desk

The story of my life isn’t one that I consider extraordinary. Like many young people I moved from a high school student, to a university student, and finally into a career in academics. It wasn’t something particularly special. It came down to finding my interest. In my next few blog … Read more

A New Service In Japan: eScooters

When I visited Japan in 2018/2019 one of the interesting aspects of the culture that I saw, was their use of the bicycle. People in Japan use bikes like people in Canada use cars, it’s less for recreational use and more for running essential errands (groceries and local travel). Recently, … Read more

Why is Shinto so fascinating to me?

I never considered myself a religious person. I don’t typically find the idea of religion very interesting. As someone with an undergraduate degree in history that might be somewhat surprising, as religion tends to find itself at the center of history all the time. So it is interesting now that … Read more

Gamers are the social ones now

Socially Isolated… Addicted young people… Few real-life social ties. This was the definition of a lonely gamer from an article which I read back in 2015. At the time, I was writing a blog post about the depiction of gamers in popular culture. The year is now 2020, a full … Read more

Reflections: Meme-ing through social distancing

I can’t journal. I just can’t. But I can meme. These are tough and uncertain times and we must take the COVID-19 situation very seriously. While, yes, it is important to take the current situation seriously, we still have to stop and find joy and happiness wherever we can find … Read more

PC Build: The Research

For years I have wanted to build my own gaming computer. I hate to make excuses but at the end of the day, things just never materialized. There are a lot of factors, but most of those involved being a student. My undergrad lasted from 2005-2010, my college degree from … Read more

Japan Trip 2.019 (Part 2)

While the Shyla and Ryan Japan Adventure 2018/19 has come to a close, the next adventure is right around the corner, Japan 2.019! I’m going to (un)feature the first collection of posts and replace it with this one. Below you will find a new collection of blog posts about my … Read more