Author Archives: admin

Moodle Snowflakes

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I’m known as Katie the Moodle Lady at work, since I’m in charge of Moodle, our Learning Management System (LMS). Moodle is an open source LMS, which is used worldwide. I highly recommend it!

We are having a registration event with a holiday theme starting tomorrow, and I decided I would try to make a snowflake or two with the Moodle ‘m’ in them.

Moodle logo

Attempt 1 – Nope

Uhm, I guess they kind of look like back to back candy canes? Ready to duel! Not really what I’m going for…

Attempt 2 – Much Better!

My co-worker (another Katie!) suggested using the negative space instead. Turned out much less Hamilton/Burr-like.

Also this DIY on “How to Make 6-Pointed Paper Snowflakes” was extremely useful!

Eben in the Tree

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For the first time in our pet-having existence, we have a cat that likes to climb our holiday tree! Eben is adorable when she hangs out there.

Happy Holidays!

Sick, But Not Really

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One of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems growing up was Sick, where Peggy Ann McKay lists all of the ailments she has as an excuse to get out of school, but when she finds out it’s a Saturday, she’s miraculously cured. I had a Peggy Ann moment this morning. So with apologies to Mr. Silverstein:

“I cannot go to work today,”
Little Katie Anne did say.
“I have a new, quite rare disease.
Nah, it’s common, you shall see.
I have a puppers and a cat,
Resting on me while I’m flat.
On the sofa, snuggled up,
I cannot move the cat or pup.
Warm and peaceful on the couch.
(And if I move, the claws come. Ouch!)
So I cannot go to work today…
Wait, what’s that? What’s that you say?
You say today is…any day?
It matters not. I’m here to stay!”

Songs for the Eclipse

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I am completely stoked about the eclipse tomorrow! Tonight I fly out to St. Louis, MO, so tomorrow we (my partner & mother-in-law) can drive to one of the state or national parks holding events in the path of totality.

For our drive, I made us an eclipse-themed playlist. Some songs are more appropriate than others. Outside of the ones I KNEW I had to have (“Da-Doo” from Little Shop of Horrors, for instance), I basically went through my iTunes and checked out all the songs I had with the words: eclipse, sun, dark/darkness, and moon.

Here’s the playlist and below are some of the details for why I picked the songs!

1. “Da-Doo,” Little Shop of Horrors
Lyrics: “Suddenly, and without warning, there was this total eclipse of the sun! It got very dark…” This is the song that reminds you to never buy plants during a solar eclipse!

2. “Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas),” They Might Be Giants
Lyrics: “The sun is a mass of incandescent gas…” One of the best science-based songs ever! So happy and fun.

3. “Waiting for the Sun,” The Jayhawks
Lyrics: “I was waiting for the sun…” Because I am/will be!

4. “Solar Eclipses,” Hollywood Principle & Dr Awkward
Lyrics: “Now you’re too afraid to look, too scared to miss it; We’re night and day, solar eclipses…”

5. “Chasing the Sun,” The Wanted
Lyrics: “We’ve only just begun; Hypnotized by drums; Until forever comes; You’ll find us chasing the sun…”

6. “Towards the Sun,” Rihanna
Lyrics: “Turn your face towards the sun; Let the shadows fall behind you…” (Because this video is so cute!)

[We’re getting into much more related more by suggestion and ideas, or a specific line now…]

7. “Into The Dark,” Melissa Etheridge
Lyrics: There comes a time we all know; There’s a place that we must go; Into the soul, into the heart, Into the dark…”

8. “Dancing In the Dark,” Bruce Springsteen
This one is more tangential, but I love the idea of dancing when the dark of the eclipse happens, even if the song is really talking about Bruce’s struggle with his record producer who was demanding Bruce be creative ‘on cue.’
Lyrics: “Even if we’re just dancing in the dark…”

9. “Prince Of Darkness,” Indigo Girls
Lyrics: “My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark…”

10. “The Sound Of Silence,” Simon & Garfunkel
Lyrics: “Hello, darkness, my old friend…”

11. “Paint It Black,” Vanessa Carlton
OK, I know I’ve got three version of this song and it’s about death and not at all about actual darkness…but I liked on the playlist for some reason.
Lyrics: “…I want it painted black…”

12. “Strange Fire,” Indigo Girls
Lyrics: “…I come to you with strange fire”…the strange fire…OF AN ECLIPSE!

13. “The Sound of Silence,” Disturbed
Well, hello again, dear old darkness…

14. “Black Hole Sun,” Soundgarden
Lyrics: “Black hole sun won’t you come and wash away the rain…”

15. “Paint It, Black,” The Rolling Stones
Still about death and not an eclipse, and yet here it is…

16. “Sleeping Sun,” Nightwish
Another random song I got on a compilation album of Celtic music.
Lyrics: “The sun is sleeping quietly once upon a century….I wish for this night-time to last for a lifetime, The darkness around me, Shores of a solar sea…”

17. “Moonlight Dancing,” Bette Midler
I already had this song, unlike some of the other similarly lyric-ed pieces.
Lyrics: “How ’bout a little bit, a little bit of moonlight dancin’, Underneath the starry sky?”

18. “Total Eclipse Of The Heart,” Bonnie Tyler
Because it has to be on here.

19. “Paint It Black,” Vitamin String Quartet
Seriously, if you haven’t discovered Vitamin String Quartet, go listen to everything they’ve ever done! They are amazing!!

There are definitely other candidates for the list that didn’t make this version of my eclipse playlist, including:
“Bad Moon Rising,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight),” Thin Lizzy
“Dancing in the Moonlight,” King Harvest
“Don’t Look Back Into The Sun,” The Libertines
“Eclipse,” Pink Floyd
“Here Comes the Moon,” George Harrison
“Here Comes the Sun,” The Beatles
“In the Dark of the Sun,” Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
“Let the Sun Shine In” from Hair
“Light & Day/Reach for the Sun,” The Polyphonic Spree
“Looking at the Sun,” Matthew Sweet
“Moonshadow,” Cat Stevens
“No Sunlight,” Death Cab for Cutie
“Place in the Sun,” Pablo Cruise
“Place in the Sun,” Stevie Wonder
“Staring at the Sun,” TV on the Radio
“Starlight,” Muse
“Steal My Sunshine,” LEN
“Sun and Moon” from Miss Saigon
“The Sun and the Moon,” mewithoutyou
“Total Eclipse,” Iron Maiden
“Total Eclipse,” Klaus Nomi
“When There is No Sun,” Sun Ra
“Who Loves the Sun?” The Velvet Underground
“You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon (there’s a line about an eclipse in there)

More Sites with Eclipse Playlists

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/15-songs-for-watching-the-solar-eclipse.html
http://www.popsci.com/solar-eclipse-songs-playlist
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/20/solar-eclipse-america-songs-bonnie-tyler
http://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2017/08/18/544180923/dancing-in-the-dark-30-songs-to-enjoy-during-the-solar-eclipse
http://www.wusa9.com/news/eclipse/9-must-have-songs-on-your-eclipse-party-playlist/461290018

SCIENCE! Soda freezes after opening video

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When we got in the car the other day, we noticed that, despite the freezing temperatures, my bottle of soda had not frozen. I didn’t think anything of it until I opened it and the soda became a slushy almost immediately!!

So when I got in the car the next day and bottle was again all liquid, I started recording in my iPhone slow-motion to see if I could catch the moment of freezing. Below is the result!

 

12 Days of Moodle-ing

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Because I always enjoy a funny song and just can’t help but sing sometimes…

For some humor with a bit of learning thrown in, I created two 12 Days of Moodle-ing videos, one for Faculty Members and one for Students (for Moodle 2.9). The pages they are hosted on (Faculty, Students) have links to the ‘How tos,’ but here I’ll just embed the videos. Happy holidays!!

The 12 Days of Moodle-ing (for Faculty) by Katie the Moodle Lady

The 12 Days of Moodle-ing (for Students) by Katie the Moodle Lady