There’s not much in my tank tonight, which means precious few words are dancing in my head. Then again, I never put a word length on the 90 in 90 challenge. Still, it feels wrong to simply post a few random thoughts. Disingenuous because the goal of the project isn’t simply publishing every day. It’s [...]
I think this clip says everything.
I’m staring at the screen, as I do in the evenings, trying to figure out what to write. I’ve reached the limit where I’m starting to feel redundant, the repetition of my nightly ritual drowning out the thoughts I have throughout the day.
The danger of writing all the time is that you begin to think [...]
Q: Do you encourage your students to blog on whatever topics they want day-to-day or do you want them to blog on a theme or process of their chosing? How do you grade those? Thanks !
A: I have different uses for blogging.
For instance, I run a student reading and writing group. These are former students [...]
I was talking with an old graduate school friend last night. We’re recently back in touch after a long, prolonged absence filled with lots of life happening to each of us. I will see her in just a few weeks when I head out to Arizona to work on So Far Appalachia.
Truthfully, we weren’t very [...]
Each eleventh is a goal.
It’s more than that. It’s a target. I count down to and count away from. That number looms in my life, always nearby. I have it posted, conspicuous to me. Not so much to you. It is one part of my “reminders,” the elements of my life that I keep [...]
I am staring at David Foster Wallace tonight, surrounded by my newly filed writing projects for this semester.
I am staring at him because tomorrow I will be once again teaching his writing in my magazine class, wondering if the students really feel the warmth of his words as they spill across the page. Manic. [...]
I write quite a bit about My Life as Professor, one I never expected to have and one that pulls me ever-further from My Life as Writer.
We make choices in our life, though. We make decisions about where we want to spend out time. Who we want to spend our time with. How we want [...]
The beginning of the semester is my least favorite time of the year. We spent so much time establishing and explaining, precious little time building and doing.
One of my former students, Dan Koabel, created an image explaining the evolutionary procession of student thinking about me (and maybe every teacher). It’s pretty hilarious and encapsulates the [...]
It’s quiet here in Austin.
One roommate has gone home. Another, my best friend, is off at a party with our friends. I’m working. Which is what I enjoy doing. The solitude of words is comforting to me in ways that the real world will never be. I’m glad that I’ve found solace and comfort in [...]
