I haven’t written much lately– not here, not anywhere except my journal. In the spirit of complete transparency, and the knowledge that many of you out there feel the same, I’ve struggled lately. I’ve struggled with stressful situations and changes at work and connecting with my students virtually. I’ve struggled to contain my work and […]
What’s Keeping You Warm This Winter?
The “long winter” feeling tends to hit me at the start of January, right after the holiday joy fades, the decorations get packed up and the last Christmas cookie is eaten. This winter, I expect it to be worse than most, because there will be no trips or events to look forward to for many […]
Writing Exercises
This past week, with my Art of Flash class over, I started my NaNoWriMo challenge of writing three essays per week. The good news is that I completed my challenge this week. The less-good news is that I’m 99% certain that I didn’t get anything publishable out of it. But that’s okay. It’s a writing […]
Time To Celebrate!
I spent yesterday dancing, laughing, celebrating, and texting gifs of people doing the same. All of this was the catharsis I needed to resolve my memory of election night four years ago. I opened the New York Times app at 2:30 in the morning while nursing my newborn daughter, praying that I could whisper in […]
November 2020 NaNoWriMo
Four years ago this November, I did NaNoWriMo. For the uninitiated, that stands for “National Novel Writing Month” and it requires the participant to write a 50,000 word draft (a short novel) between November 1 and November 30. It’s verified by an official website, and at the end you receive a certificate. Four years ago, […]
A New York Voting Story
Saturday, 11:30 AM: I pull into the parking lot of my nearest early-voting location, a large local library. Whoa. Voting hasn’t even started, but parking is already getting scarce and I can see a line around the back of the building. I could turn around right now and come back another day, maybe a weekday. […]