After my upsetting (in multiple ways!) and remarkably accurate prediction of the 2016 election two years ago, I’ve been expected by a particular cadre of Facebook friends to recreate the magic with the 2018 midterms. The midterms, unlike 2016, are…
Portrait of the New Student on the First Day
A giant glass case crammed with taxidermy birds stands just outside the classroom where, in three hours’ time, I will begin teaching at West Virginia University for the first time. Overhead, resplendent avians of prey, wings outstretched, clutch equally dead…
Alien Nation
“I was an alien in utero somehow missed New Mexico fell to Earth in Baltimore I know” -Counting Crows, “Dislocation” Moments of relatability are so resonant because they are rare. It is hard to write about alienation without feeling like…
Rainy Morning Notes to Self
You awake with a start, bolt upright, an I-overslept-my-job-interview panic in your pulse, but of course it’s hours too early and there’s barely any light making it through the new rectangle of blinds at an angle unfamiliar relative to your…
M_A
I have long joked that I’m the least educated person I know. It’s not true, of course – I’ve spent most of the last decade working with college students who, by definition, have less education. And there are a few…
Edwin Diaz and the Psychology of Baseball
There’s a lot going on in my life right now. I just moved across the country and it was every bit as arduous and joyous as that sounds. In less than a week, I go back to school for the…
How it Happens Here
It’s been a pretty appalling week for the United States of America. Which is saying something. The Trump administration has ordered ICE to arrest and incarcerate everyone attempting to cross the border and is subsequently separating children from their families,…
For the Record
I have long joked that I live my life as though I will eventually be worthy of an archivist. This has, at times, clearly been more than a joke. And is, arguably, a fancy way of saying that I’m a…
Futon for Sale
Futon for sale. Sturdy wood frame with small queen mattress and blue mattress cover. 80″ x 50″ when flat. 32″ high in couch mode. Used. I first encountered this futon when it was fairly new, serving as the bed in…
Gina Haspel and the 87%
A little over a week ago, in the wake of mass outrage over the confirmation of Gina Haspel, avowed torturer as the new Director of the CIA, I asked myself a question. Then, I asked 71 of my closest friends.…