I think thematically. As each year comes to a close, I spend December sitting with the work of my previous year. I sift through what I’ve created, I look at what I didn’t create, and conceptualize what I want my next year to become. I’ve always been methodical and particular in my thinking, but I’ve become much […]
While I am happy at Ball State University, I have to give some love to my (graduate) alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. All graduate programs are not created equal. Berkeley is an elite institution training (future) award-winning journalists who can tell stories across every medium. This is not […]
I believe in science, but I spend almost no time reading the academic literature where the science of my craft (journalism) has traditionally been published. I spend even less time trying to craft research that would get published in those outlets. For most normal human beings, this is not a controversial stance. As a tenure-track […]
When I first read Black Like Me in high school, I was sick to my stomach for two reason: This was the first time I experienced a hopeless despair about humanity. I wasn’t reading history (although it was set twenty years before); I was reading the now; and It felt oddly strange that it took […]
People have this romantic notion of what it must be like to be a writer. More often than not, it looks like this. Of note: the giant coffee mug, the beard, the sleeveless undershirt the clipboard, and the look of utter disdain at having a creative palette that consists of the worst tools known to man, “words.” […]
I spent 30 minutes watching this discussion between Kerry Washington and Don Cheadle this morning, and when it ended I couldn’t believe how quickly the time had gone by. In general, I avoid listening to people analyze large conceptual ideas (gender in Hollywood) because too many people fall back on well-worn cliches and show little […]
The scariest thing for a recovering addict to do is return to his life of crime. Seven years ago, I stepped away from writing. Five years ago, I stepped away from just about everything else. Thanks to some amazing friends and support from people who believe in So Far Appalachia, I guess it’s time to […]
Day 15 of the So Far Appalachia Kickstarter project, and funding has stalled at the 40% mark. The math is starting to work against the project. I don’t like to live in negative spaces. Until recently, I never considered what my life would be without writing. Now, I contemplate it every day. The truth is […]
The 90-in-90 writing challenges I’ve posted have sometimes taken on a life on their own. Other times they’ve taken on my life. And other times still they have simply faded away. Fortunately, I’m way more into process than product so the outcome of my personal missions is rarely the point. For this challenge, though, the […]
While I don’t write about writing much anymore, I’ve been writing a ton every day. Unfortunately, none of the writing is on my writing projects. I’ve nearly finished my research proposal for graduate school (which involves writing a short novella), I’ve written scores of pages for my online classes, explaining the details of my assignments, […]
There are no days off in 90-in-90s. While The Girl and I planned on doing an 18-mile bike trip this AM, Broad Ripple CrossFit yesterday broke our wills. There was no 7:15 wake-up. Instead, we slept until 8:30 and then hobbled around the house. We finally took out the bikes, and headed to MoJoes for […]
Maxx and I hit the Monon on Thursday for a 6.1 mile run, his longest by more than a mile. Unfortunately, it got much hotter much quicker than I’d hoped. (Apparently I read the weather report incorrectly.) My boy was a gamer, though. He willingly stopped at every water stop, and for 3.5 miles he chugged […]