Keep calling your representatives...

27 February 2017: "Twenty-one percent of our clinics are in under-served areas. You talk to our patients and they say, 'If you take away our clinic, we have nowhere else to go.'" --Emily Thompson, field organizer of Planned Parenthood West Virginia, speaking at this event today.

We can't move backwards. Keep fighting.

"Her Name is Rose"

26 February 2017: Stopped in my tracks by this poem today, available on the Poem of the Day Podcast.

Here are the closing stanzas:

And I’m not sure, driving home 
later that night, still smelling the pallid citrus, 
whether it’s merely hallucination, the way 
her memory inhabits me; or if being 
in that same room, inhaling 
that same air, made some of her 
part of me. 

                  And whose veins 
are these, beginning to twitch?

Midterm Grading: DONE!

Conquered this stack of grading between Thursday and this morning. Commence chair-dancing.

Saturday at the Movies

25 February 2017: "Get out!" --a key line from the movie of the same name. See it. It's amazing.

Ambitious structuralists!

24 February 2017: "If we wanted to, could we write a response paper that talks about the different implications of 'index,' 'icon,' and 'symbol?'" --a student in my ENGL 301 class.

Today we talked about Structuralism, a fascinating if challenging theoretical lens. I found myself moving (perhaps too quickly) through certain concepts from semiotics, saying, "Well, no one in this class ever chooses to do much with this language of 'index,' 'icon,' and 'symbol.'" But later in our discussion, the student quoted above kind of challenged both herself and me, reminding me that I shouldn't assume anything about what they are willing to do and learn. I love it when they surprise me.

"Better Together"

23 February 2017:

"Love is the answer.
At least for most of the questions in my heart.
Like: 'Why are we here?', 'And where do we go?,
'And how come it's so hard?'
It's not always easy,
And sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing:
It's always better when we're together." --Jack Johnson, "Better Together"

Sometimes I get the idea that the universe wants me to stop and think about my brother Ryan. I mean, I think about him all the time, but sometimes it just surprises me when things hit me out of the blue and I wonder what kind of conspiracy is going on.

Today was another abnormally warm and beautiful day. I found myself walking down by the river and as I got back to my car, I passed a group of college students (football players, if I was recognizing them correctly) heading down to the banks to do some fishing. I thought, for a microsecond, "The next time Ryan visits, I'd like to fish with him down here." And then...yeah...not going to happen. And just like every time it happens, it is crushing. (Reminds of this poem which I was just talking about yesterday with my students...further evidence of the conspiracy!)

Then I got home and got back to grading midterms. And this little Jack Johnson song comes on. Ryan loved Jack Johnson. Honestly, I could go either way, but I never change away from his songs because as silly as it sounds, it would be like switching away from my brother. Today I actually found myself listening to the lyrics of this one. And yeah...I get it universe. I get it.

"In the Reign of Harad IV"

22 February 2017: "Things got weird." --one of my more reticent students sharing his response to Steven Millhauser's terrific story "In the Reign of Harad IV."

I love teaching this piece every semester in ENGL 301 as it unfolds itself so well for a New Critical or Reader Response interpretation (which is where we are at this point in the semester).  A piece that works for these two very different lenses is just a delight. But the real delight in this piece (for me) is the entire concept of a master artisan making increasingly tiny miniatures. We had a lot of fun talking about why we are drawn to intricate miniatures, which led to students telling me about "tiny food." I had no idea and now I am a bit obsessed.

Good boy!

21 February 2017: "Well, he passed!" --the woman at the training center today after Luther's test. He ROCKED it and it was awesome.

"The River"

20 February 2017: "Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides." --Garth Brooks, "The River."

I hadn't heard this song in a couple of years and it just sort of hit me right yesterday. I needed it.

Bittersweet Road Trip

19 February 2017: "Bye." --my friend Amy, saying a temporary farewell to Luther, the guide dog she's raised for the past year and a half. We took Luther back to New York on Sunday so he could begin his testing for training. On Sunday, we dropped him off at the facility. Seeing her say good-bye to him (even though she'd see him again on Tuesday) was really tough, but also beautiful. She's done such good work with him--such generous, noble, and giving work. And it will hurt her to leave him. This simple "bye" to him said so much.

Finding Sarah and Philip

18 February 2017: "She asked for the public's help. Am I not the public?" --a woman named Stephanie Dietrich, who took it upon herself to search and search for the bodies of two children whose mother had pleaded for help in locating them. You must listen to this episode of the wonderful Criminal podcast. 

Thinking about "Your Village"

17 February 2017: "I kind of thought it was about the illusion of separated suffering." --student in my ENGL 301 class, sharing an idea about Elana Bell's poem "Your Village" that kind of knocked my socks off. We were talking about how one could construct a New Critical or a Reader Response interpretation and I was stumbling through an extemporaneous "universal human theme" for the New Critical perspective. And then my student came up with this. Love it.

For the record, I've blogged about this poem before. I wish it weren't still so relevant, but simultaneously, I sure am glad it exists.

Spaces between...

16 February 2017: "Is there any room between...'I don't owe you, like, the condescending "I respect your point of view"' and 'I'm still interested in trying to understand where you come from and think about how I might get you to think about this a little bit differently?'" --Emily Bazelon on this week's Slate Culture Gabfest.

This segment started off as an interesting discussion of SNL in the age of Trump, but then took a turn into a really cool discussion of how to talk with his supporters (if at all). I am not sure of the full answer I would give to Bazelon's question, but the answer has to be yes, right? How do we thread that needle?

Love those dynamic discussions!

15 February 2017: "Never mind. It's relevant." --a student in my ENGL 307 class. Our conversation of Monster was moving so quickly from exciting point to exciting point that by the time I got to her, she initially said her point was no longer relevant. So I said something on what I thought was a different topic...and then she said the quotation above. It made me laugh.

This darn song...

14 February 2017: Man, do I love this song...and this version of it is so very nice. Soothed my soul today when I needed it.