A few ups and downs in my life lately, most notably the rather sudden death of my grandfather, followed one week later by my sister’s wedding. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was then sick in bed for a solid week.
Feeling better now though. I’m starting to get some traction on work, which is great because I’ve got a lot of stuff coming up. Later this week I’ll give a keynote at the Colorado Academic Library Consortium’s Academic Summit in Denver, Colorado. The topic is videogames and learning; i’ll review the research and talk about using games to help build digital culture in academic library settings on campus. I’m working on the talk now and will post the slides at Slideshare afterward.
I’m also starting work on a textbook that my friend Drew Davidson has written. Drew asked me to help him with the pedagogical aspects of the book, which I’m pretty excited about. I’ve not yet seen a really great textbook for a college-level interactive media theory course. The fact that I get to be a part of this one makes me happy.
My current major writing project is a draft of a paper on the Game School. It’s part of a special collection of media literacy articles that Kathleen Tyner has put together for Taylor & Francis. I’ll present the draft at UT in Austin in a couple of weeks, get some feedback, and then finish it for the fall.
In the meantime, plans for the move to Arizona are underway! Still lots of loose ends to tie up in Boston, including some research I’m doing with a terrific game developer here in town. Data collection for the win.
More to report soon.
Alice Daer, Ph.D. 
Hi.
Enjoyed your post. Sorry about your grandfather. Time seems to be the only healer with death. I actually met you on Twitter. You are one of four folks kind enought to follow me. I really don’t know what I’m doing yet. I spend all my time on Blog Catalog. If you feel like it, check out my blog. robsmegaphone.com. Media theory sounds interesting. I’m a mass comm. prof. Cheers.
So sorry to hear about your grandfather! It sounds like you’ve had an emotional rollercoaster this spring. I hope you have time to rest and decompress this summer.
On another note, I am very excited to hear that you are talking to librarians! As I’m sure you know, they tend to be fairly friendly folks to work with.
I’m sorry about your loss! I know the conference will go great for you and that better things are just around the corner!
Thanks you guys. I’m still feeling a bit out of it these days, but it’s nice to bury myself in work. Rob–lots of friendships have begun on Twitter. Good stuff. Katy–yes, I love librarians! I learn so much when I’m in that space. Very cool.
Oh, Alice, I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather! Sounds like an intense few weeks, to say the least, and especially at the end of the semester. I’ll be thinking good thoughts in your direction!
In the meanwhile, I hope that the writing and data collection continues to go well – sounds like some very cool projects!