Moving is difficult. It’s not refugee-camp difficult or even traumatic-crisis difficult, which actually distinguishes it from a lot of this year, which has been harder. But it’s one of those things where the work is long and sloggy and contrasts…
Category: But the Past Isn’t Done with Us
A Walk in the Park
It’s been quite a week. I would like to be poetic and hip and write one of those rambly but ultimately reflective and incisive posts that I aspire to write nearly every time I sit down at this screen. But…
Confessions of an Accidental Accumulator
“I’ve been known to say that I live much of my life as though I can assume that some archivist will eventually come in and take an interest in my old papers. Granted, that archivist may just be an older…
Marching to New Orleans
You may have noticed a burst of color around here. If you haven’t noticed said burst of color, hit the “refresh” button on your browser. Ah, there we go. I’m moving to New Orleans in a little over a month.…
I Miss You Already: Glide, Maya Angelou (1928-2014), and the Ever-Renewing Past
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” -Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings There is a place at Glide called the Maya Angelou Room. It’s warm and cozy and the perfect place…
Legal Troubles
This is going to be a post about George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. In other words, I may be part of the problem. But the problem is that there is a problem and ignoring perceptual reality in today’s society is…
33 at 33: The 33 Best Books I’ve Read in the Last 11 Years
I know a decent number of these numbers are going to appear random, or somewhat so. At first you might think that this is the list of the 33 best books I’ve read of all-time. This is not so. That…
Lost in the Corridors of the Arena in Blindfolds
I’ve seen Counting Crows and the Wallflowers before. I’ve even seen them together before. I was invited to sometime in mid- to late-high school before I knew either of them well and it was a time I couldn’t really have…
The Battle of Hoff Theater: My Thoughts on APDA Nationals Finals 2013
Whenever I talk about APDA to prospective debaters, I almost always lead with how free-form and open our form of American Parliamentary debate is. I contrast it with debate styles like policy and even the big three of contemporary high…
Alma Mater
It’s hard to believe that I’m about to wrap up my fourth year of coaching debate, matching the length and breadth of my APDA career when I actually debated the rounds myself. I have spent as many years teaching, supporting,…