Embedded Jokes
April 13, 2009
I'm working on some case studies for a couple of instructor-led training courses. The material is not all that exciting, but it's pretty important for the people taking the course to get the details right.
So... one of the things that makes a course "instructionally sound" is to have the students actually do something with the material as opposed to dozing and drooling through endless PowerPoint slides.
Ta da! Enter the case study!
But even case studies can be kind of... well, boring. So I try to spice things up a little bit and slip in a few subtle jokes or puns.
For example, in one case study my fictional couple were the Dovers -- Ben and Eileen. They had two kids, Luke and Fawn, and a cousin, Mae. In five years, no one ever got it.
Anyway, I'm working on this case study today, and I got a little silly. The property I'm making up creating appraisal data for is on Easy Street. I was going to locate Easy Street in a development called Wise Acres, but I thought that was a little too obvious, so I changed it to Wistful Vista*. Well, okay -- Wistful Vista Lakes to be precise, which is part of a larger subdivision named Wistful Vista Estates, which is across the river from the Towne of Wistful Vista. And! The borders of the development include Lois Lane and Della Street.
I may have gone a little overboard.
*Two pats on the head to the first person who can tell me which fictional couple lived at 79 Wistful Vista.