Rory’s Blog

Strong Opinions, Held Loosely

  • Computers in School: A Letter to Ann Arbor Parents

    “I believe that education which does not occur through forms of life or that are worth living for their own sake, is always a poor substitute for the genuine reality and tends to cramp and to deaden.” -John Dewey Consider the scenario: A salesperson for Skittles makes a case that every student should have a…

  • The End of People Watching

    Airports always used to be a source of entertainment. I remember, as a kid, being excited to see all these interesting strangers going to exotic places: stressed families on a Spring Break trip to Florida, serious business travelers prepping a pitch en route to New York, bachelorettes in cowboy hats drinking their way to Nashville.…

  • Back to the Garden

    A few months ago, after a work visit to U of M Dearborn, I stumbled upon Fair Lane, the estate of Henry and Clara Ford. I parked my car in an empty lot and made my way to the sprawling 17-acre estate with a 56-room mansion on the Rouge River. I’d never thought much about…