Tuesday, July 15, 2025

We love a good mutter...

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15 July 2025: "'A girl's best friend is her mutter,' observers [Dorothy] Parker, playing on the traditional notion of a gir...
Monday, July 14, 2025

Hoffman's brick of a book

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14 July 2025: Spent some of the day working my way through an 800-page book that I need some sense  of for the Year's Work essay. There ...
Sunday, July 13, 2025

"joyful rigor"

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13 July 2025: Another great episode of Vibe Check  this week. I loved  Saeed talking about the "joyful rigor" of writing. And even...
Saturday, July 12, 2025

Still places to be found...

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12 July 2025: I've lived in this area since 2007 and it's still really cool to "find" new places. A few weeks ago, Amy wen...
Friday, July 11, 2025

"Superman is the angel of our best nature"

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11 July 2025: I saw Superman  last night and really enjoyed its open heart and its faith in goodness and simply doing the right thing. Walte...
Thursday, July 10, 2025

"Two Men Arrive in a Village"

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10 July 2025: Listened to Edwidge Danticat read this Zadie Smith story on the New Yorker Fiction Podcast today while I mowed the lawn. So ...
Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Fall syllabizing...

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9 July 2025: Spent a decent amount of time today working on my ENGL 346: American Fiction syllabus. I haven't taught this one--a course ...
Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Staying close...

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8 July 2025: She always stays especially close after a thunderstorm, even after she comes out from under whatever chair in which I am sittin...
Monday, July 7, 2025

"Replicants"

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7 July 2025: Working my way through the latest season of The Bear. It's good (duh), with moments of absolute greatness, but continues to...
Sunday, July 6, 2025

Back at it...

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6 July 2025: Besides some emails, I haven't done any substantial academic work in over a week. It has felt bizarre . Got back to it toda...
Saturday, July 5, 2025

Nine!

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5 July 2025: Eric sent me this picture from Isla's pool party for her 9th (!) birthday today. I am glad to see she put this silly little...
Friday, July 4, 2025

Independence Day

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4 July 2025: The bad guys can't take the Fourth of July or patriotism away from us.  Did the day right: town parade this morning, low-ke...
Thursday, July 3, 2025

"Tired of Love Poems"

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3 July 2025:  "What we tire of is that we never tire of it. How it guts us. How it fails, then reappears. Because what is the bird comp...
Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Home again!

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2 July 2025: After a good trip, it is lovely to be home with my girls. Jo was literally bouncing off the walls with excitement and Veronica ...
Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

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1 July 2025: Today's return to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery moved me more than ever before and it's hard to explain why--at least quickly....