The World Breaks Everyone

Hello as the wind howls outside my window, The winter cold front is blowing through, and while we did not get the snow, whiteouts, or ice those north of us experienced, it is down right cold, and we’ll see what the morning brings. Those even straight West or minimally North are seeing zero visibility andContinue reading “The World Breaks Everyone”

Seasons and Siblings

Hello from a low-key Friday afternoon The metaphor of seasons is well-known, and its use across the genres of art is extensive. Immediately, Vivaldi’s classic Four Seasons, comes to mind, or another Italian, artist, Giuseppe Arcimbold painted four paintings on the seasons given to HRE Maximillian II. Scottish poet, James Thomson composed poems on tueContinue reading “Seasons and Siblings”

Struggling with my Scars

Hello from the hotel, I am continually amazed by the way our lives seem to be in an ending tension of sorts, the sort of push and pull between things that seem diametrically opposed. We are, on occasion, profoundly short-sighted while simultaneously planning things long-term. We are ostensibly pleased with our daily existence while worryingContinue reading “Struggling with my Scars”

Best of Intentions

Hello from the Family Restaurant, It is almost a month since I began my trek back to Iowa with my loaded shuttle and the bug in tow. As I look at the process, there is progress on a number of fronts, but what one sees might belie the actual achievements. Likewise, settling in, managing dailyContinue reading “Best of Intentions”

What Constitutes Power in an Unpredictable Time?

Hello from Bloomsburg, It is the first week of October, and fall is upon North Central Pennsylvania. After an abnormally dry end of the summer, the last week has been cloudy, with intermittent showers, and the colors. which have some significant changing are muted a bit with the lack of sunshine. There is a possibleContinue reading “What Constitutes Power in an Unpredictable Time?”

The Pathology of Hostility

Hello from an afternoon break, I regularly find myself questioning how did we get here. How did we become so polarized the idea of working together is a pipe-dream, so divided that our response to disinformation or even an insurrection has become commonplace or we see such incidents of things from stalking to swatting asContinue reading “The Pathology of Hostility”

Who am I? Imagining Identity

Hello from my office at school, It is strange to be in my office at the university for hours on end and see almost no one, and yet, that is our lives in this fall of 2020. If we had our pre-Covid world yet, I would be arriving in Poland this week to begin aContinue reading “Who am I? Imagining Identity”

Nationalism is not Patriotism

Hello on an extremely warm first Monday of summer. As you can see from the intro, I began this blog almost three months ago and it was extremely warm and dry summer. The need for rain here in north central Pennsylvania is still real. The summer was abnormal because we are still trying to figureContinue reading “Nationalism is not Patriotism”

When does one relax?

Hello from my office, I have finished grading for the semester and turned in those grades, I have managed a couple of items that need to be managed to get ready for the summer and I actually have a bit of time where I could relax (whatever that means) and perhaps merely take some downtime.Continue reading “When does one relax?”