Dennis Cheatham

Week 39 2024

September 29, 2024

Isn’t it astounding how solving a problem—like a menu hover with CSS and HTML—can be so exasperating at 9:34 p.m. but so simple to fix the following day at 6:29 a.m.? I should have learned this from experience, but I still haven’t. I think it’s because at 9:34 p.m. I desperately want to complete the task before I go downstairs to watch episodes of Will & Grace with Amy so hovers won’t get in the way of “just Jack!”. I need to learn to put the hovers away until the following day. They’ll be there. And they’ll solve themselves in minutes.

Week 38 2024

September 19, 2024

Digital technological innovation has an ugly underside. It makes it all too easy to think analog and non-electronic devices and processes are inferior. For example, devices built with wood, powered by steam, or that require human power are sometimes regarded as outdated when AI, electric cars, and rocket trips to near-earth orbit are part of daily conversation. Just because a culture is ancient and uses devices comprised of basic materials does not mean that civilization is inferior.

Assumptions are dangerous, and they smack of unimaginative thinking. Perhaps we should celebrate longstanding technologies and cultures that persist. Those are signs of resilience—something sorely lacking in a disposable society.

Week 37 2024

September 9, 2024

I went whitewater rafting with five friends last weekend on the Gauley River in West Virginia. Not only did we raft the Gauley—but we also rafted the Upper Gauley twice in one day. The Upper Gauley has five class V rapids, so we ran ten class fives yesterday. What a day! And what soreness. My thighs are sore from wedging my body in the boat all day. It was worth it, though. None of us fell out of the boat.

Our guide yesterday was Jeff—a veteran of the Gauley River. Jeff has guided runs on the Gauley for 33 seasons. No one makes it that many seasons unless they know what they are doing, and Jeff is an expert. All of us in his boat trusted Jeff’s guidance when navigating the river, and on our second run, Jeff took us down lesser-known lines —something we could have never experienced unless we did the Upper Gauley twice.

The adventure was epic. And so is the soreness in my thighs. 🙂

Week 36 2024

September 4, 2024

I am teaching Creating with AI: Shaping the Future this semester at Miami University. Like last semester, students are fascinated by sentience and scenarios that could occur if AI tools become conscious. They are very interested in questions that arise should an AI tool ever develop into a new, living being.

The technological innovation of this scenario is intriguing, but I think the physical and agency questions are the most interesting. A sentient AI challenges us to grapple with defining living beings, their rights, and personhood itself. If this ever happens, we will witness a being’s birth and development and how we, as humans, embrace (or reject) them as an entity with a right to existence.

Who knows, maybe AI coming “alive” could help us all to recognize our humanness anew.

Week 35 2024

August 30, 2024

It’s on! The semester is here, and we are off to the races. I rebuilt my teaching materials this year and made a bunch of revisions to improve the learning experience in my courses. I simplified my assignment types, redesigned my assignment materials in the Canvas Learning Management System, and expanded allowed assignment revisions to unlimited.

In a few weeks—maybe longer—we’ll see what effect these revisions will have. Never stop learning!

Week 34 2024

August 24, 2024

I played disc golf in Dallas/Fort Worth for nearly 20 years and became very good at using my whole bag. I used drivers, fairway drivers, midrange discs, and putters all across the state of Texas. My home courses here in Oxford—Hueston Woods and Miami University—don’t force me to use my full repertoire. I can pretty much play those courses with a TL3, Teebird, Roc, Mako3, and a putter.

Today, I played Mt. Airy with a good friend, and using almost every disc in my bag was so refreshing. Only the Eagle stayed in my bag. Reaching for a Wraith or using my new It to shape shots was fun. I’ll be back for sure!

disc golf

Week 33 2024

August 12, 2024

‘Just a quick reflection on health.

I went to my doctor for a yearly checkup today, and everything was better than last year. All the bloodwork that needed to go up went up. All the bloodwork that went down went down.

Diet and exercise work. Now, I need to keep it rolling!

health

Week 32 2024

August 6, 2024

My son and I saw Deadpool & Wolverine last night, and it was a riot. But the best part was knowing how Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are friends off-screen. The chemistry showed. The whole time I watched it, I could imagine how much fun they had making the film together.

Week 31 2024

August 1, 2024

August.

I worked in the design field for about fifteen years before becoming a professor; during that time, August was just another month. Yes, it was a hotter month, but just another month. Now, August is the end of summer, and I have a flexible schedule. It marks the beginning of meetings, classes, and structure. Now hear me out; I am not complaining about August—my work is rewarding! But I will miss the summer days when nothing was scheduled except writing my book, reading current research articles, building a website network, or sometimes, watching mountain meadows.

August makes me thankful for June and July. There it is—August is gratitude month! I think I’m onto something!

Week 30 2024

July 22, 2024

I’m at our Utah cabin now, and there is no wireless signal, so I’m typing this at the dining table and will post when I get down the mountain. The lake in front of our cabin is dotted with duck families, pocked with fish plucking flies from the water’s surface, and on the horizon, the top of the mountain at 11,000+ feet. Our other family left yesterday, so now it’s only Amy, Isaac, Hazel, and me. We have the place to ourselves.

My father-in-law is living with dementia, and that means over the last week, in some small way, I have lived with it, too. Working with researchers at Scripps Gerontology Center has taught me much about aging and dementia. One of my most profound takeaways is the importance of patience and a sense of humor. I practiced both the best I could during my father-in-law’s time here.

My father-in-law sometimes did not know who I was during his visit. Sometimes, he did not know where he was (even though he helped construct this cabin that sleeps 13 and has four stories). But every morning, I was usually up early and had coffee ready, so he and I could have a cup and chat about anything from his love of flying to the sheep grazing on the meadows in front of us. We laughed at nonsensical things. He shared stories I’d heard many times, but I cherished hearing him tell them again. I adapted when he was worried about what tasks he had to complete next—all his life, he has been a productive and brilliant attorney and enjoys fixing things.

When he asked me things multiple times, I answered as if it was the first time. I never showed frustration when he repeated himself or could not remember. I joked with him, and we laughed. Last week at Bryce Canyon National Park, he stood confused, looking at people filling up their water bottles at a water station. I walked up to him, and he said

”I have no idea who those people are.”

And I answered,

”I don’t know them either!”

Then, I invited him to come with me, and our family loaded into cars to travel to the next stop in the park.

If I ever have dementia or live long enough to experience cognitive decline, I hope folks around me are patient and will laugh with me.

Week 29 2024

July 19, 2024

Yesterday, I took my kids and nephews of my wife’s family to Meow Wolf: Omega Mart in Las Vegas for a little civilization break after living off the grid at the cabin for almost a week. Meow Wolf always has the same effect on me—it makes me want to create. We spent three hours working together, climbing, discovering, and deciphering the mysteries of Omega Mart. Everyone was blown away. I experienced Omega Mart once before—in 2023 with students in Miami University’s MFA in Experience Design—so I knew what to expect. However, experiencing it with my kids and nephews made the experience new because I got to see it through their eyes.

My oldest nephew in the group had a flight back to Fort Worth at the end of the day, which is the real reason why we needed to make the trip to Vegas. But I decided to make it a fun field trip for all who wanted an escape to reality below the mountain. My favorite takeaway from the trip is a group text I created with the five of us. It came out of necessity—Omega Mart is huge, and finding your people is no easy task. But the group text messages continue. Even after our excursion, someone will post a discovery or note to the group. I cherish that connection with all of them.

Week 28 2024

July 11, 2024

We leave for Utah tomorrow. My wife’s family built a cabin there in the mid-1970s, and we try to get back there once a year. I haven’t been since 2022 and am looking forward to the retreat. The cabin has no cell signal and no Wi-Fi, but it has a full connection with nature at a 10,000-foot elevation. While everyone below will be sweltering in 100-degree heat, it will be in the 60s on the mountain.

It’s one of my favorite places in the universe. I regroup there. I write in my journal, take in the silence, ponder reality, and take stock of who I am and what I need to change about myself. It seems that every time I leave the cabin, my phone has fewer apps, my journal pages are filled with ideas, and I have a renewed commitment to healthier attitudes. Retreats do that—they reset parts of our lives and change others. I’m ready for the refurbishment.