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The State of the Novel
As I gear up for another writing day,I thought it worthwhile to remind myself how far I’ve come and how much I have accomplished. So let’s start with two statistics: Chapters completed: 32 (of a projected 35). Word Count: 92,529 (including the 5,000 words so far written for Chapter 33), after an initial target of… Continue reading
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The Run-On Sentence
The other day at work, as I was assisting a small group of high school students in collectively and collaboratively editing a writing assignment by making changes to a shared Google document that was purposefully riddled with grammar and syntax errors, the teacher advised them to identify and correct a particularly egregious run-on sentence, and… Continue reading
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The Century Sailing on the Backs of Centuries
You see the ship upon the sea that sinks, A forsaken ship, following the wind,a creaking hulk of artifacts all boundtogether by the living memoriesof the sun-burnt sailors, who scrape the hullfor salt and seaweed, flotsam, jetsam, fish,and all necessities of life they findin transit, crossing each meridianand parallel that lines a drop of bluesuspended… Continue reading
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Scenes from the capitol today
Let the Trumpists know that we will not submit to their fascism, and we will not pretend that it isn’t real when it is happening right before our eyes. The Resistance encompasses all of American history. It will not stop its demand for justice now, or ever. Continue reading
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I’m not calling it that
So yeah. The Gulf of Mexico has been in the news. Not because anything happened there, but because of a baby’s fit of pique. I’m on the record in multiple forums stating that Donald Trump is a fascist, that we’ve had reason to believe this for well over a decade, that we’ve known it for… Continue reading
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Pure Melody
An underrated pleasure is having a few hours to yourself at home on a sunny day, in which you discover the presence of mind to do nothing except lie on the couch and listen to piano music. You may fantasize about your own fingers possessing the training and dexterity to produce intricate chords and arpeggios… Continue reading
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Reflections on a school lockdown
I work as a tutor in the AVID program at a local high school. As part-time staff, I typically leave for home fairly early, between 1:15 and 1:30. Most days I have a few significant opportunities to help students understand a difficult problem, and a little downtime to read or to work out some puzzles.… Continue reading
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An Irritating Cipher
The following essay is encrypted in a relatively uncomplicated but silly cipher. What does it say? Solve it and see. Why did I say it? Solve it and see. Why am I being so cryptic? It’s cryptography, you see! Prospective puzzlers get two hints: the answer is in English, and I don’t think it’s hard… Continue reading
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Three poems about revolutions
I knew that I had nothing left to lose,when on the screen I saw utopiawith all improbable elementspatiently explained by smiling scientists,and reflected on my experienceof broken promises and glass,of clockwise twisting screwssinking into splintering particle board,of ignorance without sufficient adjective,and found it my considered opinionthat demanding nothing less was all my heart could stand.… Continue reading
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January Sixth
I wasn’t actually planning on writing anything to commemorate this anniversary. The media is full of commemorations and condemnations of what happened at the U.S. Capitol, just as surely as the Republican party is attempting to distort the true record of events into anything except their own complicity in an attempted coup d’état. This blog… Continue reading
Ink Tea Stone Leaf 