Here we are in 2021. I inaugurated the New Year in bed, reading. At one point, I checked the clock, it said 12:04, I rolled over and went to sleep and woke up 10.5 hours later. Another month, another cancer update: blood are stable, side effects are basically stable, except holy shit am I tired. […]
Author Archives: Jonathan Sterne
Iatrogenesis and Gratitude for Online Teaching
It’s been about 10 days since I spoke with my oncologist (yay, telemedicine, boo: overwork). My tumour marker is trending back down after a month back on The Drugs: just above 10. Everything else looks good. The visit to the cancer floor was par for the course. The place was more organized thanks to the […]
Lenvima vacation review/Cancer update
So, I’m back off vacation from the drugs. I started up again Monday. And I went to the Jewish yesterday. Here’s what I can tell you after 3 weeks off the drugs: The sore on my foot healed, which was the point. Carrie said my feet look good. My doctor said my foot looked good. […]
Here’s why online teaching is sort of like chaos right now
I just got a query from a student reporter, who asked, “did McGill provide professors with enough Zoom training this summer?” I can only imagine what students are seeing! The institution provided a lot of training. So much so that by mid summer I was “webinar-ed out.” Specifically, credit must go to Teaching & Learning […]
Cancer update: an unexpected vacation
Last week I had my monthly meeting with my oncologist. I would have written sooner but HOLY SHIT ONLINE TEACHING IS A LOT OF WORK. Also I spent the weekend building a bed and wiring up a pedalboard (unfinished business from the summer). So here we are. Everything is going well. My tumour marker is […]
Recording Your Lectures #4: techniques
This is the fourth in my series of posts on how to record your lectures. Tl;dr: a little focused practice up front will help a lot: spend some time experimenting with positioning the microphone, and how you address it. Record a bunch of short takes saying the same 1-2 sentences and then listen and see […]
Recording Your Lectures 3: Gear! Gear! Gear!
The #1 question I am getting from people is a variation of “what do I need to buy to record my lectures?” This is actually mostly the wrong question, but it is a question people have, so let’s answer it. The first thing you probably need is a moving blanket or thick quilt, as explained […]