Today I have Been Wishing I Was Other People
like Steve, who writes Riley Dog, probably the best blog ever because it really isn’t a blog. Or David Wojahn, who has written a smart essay on Bob Dylan & the prospects for American political Poetry in The Writer’s Chronicle. (Not available online, but worth the price of a subscription.) I wouldn’t have minded being [...]
I’ll Stand Over Your Grave Till I’m Sure That You’re Dead
The Reverend Jerry Falwell is dead. To hell with him, I say.
Online Course
I’ve been racing to finish getting my Understanding Vietnam course ready for its wholly online launch in a week. I have thirteen students signed up, which is a good number, I think. As I have mentioned here before, the university is using the Blackboard “learning system” for its new online courses & while I am [...]
Grammar
Haiku
They wanted to teach me grammar.
They forced me to diagram sentences.
They were terrified I would begin to write.
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak & Pileated Woodpecker
Saw a rose-breasted grosbeak on the feeder the other evening & this morning on the dog walk we caught a glimpse of a pileated woodpecker flashing overhead, then a moment later heard its wiry call. Cool spring day. This afternoon I weeded the area at the top of the driveway & tghen raked in one [...]
They Must Have Been Talking about Assessment
In my experience, “assessment,” whatever that is exactly, brings out the worst in people. Ot they could have been talking about how to teach writing, which my department has been doing recently. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much unsupported assertion & vaguie nostalgia for an academic world that never existed in the first [...]
Morning Verses (for Larry)
Morning Verses
That one has this light through the trees
That the river glitters
That the goldfinches are awake as active verbs
That the shed door hangs open & its hinges squeak as
it shifts in a current of warming air
That one has this like breath
That one dares understand that this is the world one has
Garlic Rum BBQ Sauce for Chicken
Mix in a big bowl:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rum
1/4 sherry vinegar
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs salt
4 Tbs tomato paste
1 head roasted garlic, peeled, diced & crushed
1 Tbs rosemary chopped fine with garlic
Marinate chicken in sauce for several hours. Grill over indirect heat. When half-cooked, coat chicken in remaining marinade & return to grill. Roast, [...]
Kingfisher & Hummingbird
Standing on the deck yesterday afternoon Carole & I saw a belted kingfisher streak along the river bank, land briefly on a low limb, then streak away again. Checking Peterson’s guide, I see that he probably just arrived from wintering in Panama. Smart boy. Also saw the first hummingbird yesterday, just out of the corner [...]
Blogging Under My Own Name
I started blogging after I got tenure. And when I began, I had already been “out” on the web under my real name for a couple of years. When I started my first weblog, it never occurred to me to post anonymously. I didn’t think about it at the time, but the decision to post [...]
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