Writer and Friendly Neighbourhood Philosopher
Just Thinking…
On The Nakedness of Writing
Here’s what I think our collective fear is: writing (and public speaking too) make a lot of people feel like they do in those dreams where you realize you’re out in public and you’re surprisingly naked.
Why Philosophers Are A Lot Like Ghostbusters
Being a philosopher, like being a Ghostbuster, is unexpectedly cool. Even when everyone thinks you’re a modern day Chicken Little, when you’re dealing with demons, when you’re covered in slime (all metaphorical, of course), you can’t quite imagine yourself doing anything else.
The View From A Branch Of My Family Tree
Ex Nihilo, Let’s Go!
I wish you all a whole lot of nothing.
An Editor’s Guide To Intolerance
I’m a human being, and every so often, stupid thoughts about other human beings ping-pong around in my head. Honestly, I don’t even believe these things are actually true. These thoughts are basically echoes of historical and cultural “bad grammar”, bits of misinformation or ignorance that I’ve heard often enough to have them lodge themselves into the dark corners of my brain.
Do Us All A Big Favour and Read
I need to know if big meanies didn’t get enough bedtime stories as children. I want to see if getting into the right novel can actually be life-changing. I’d like to hear if other people finish a book and then suddenly see the characters mirrored in people they see on the street. What gaping personal and cultural caverns can we bridge by reading each other’s stories?
A Playlist For Times When We’re Pleasantly Surprised
However it pops up, it’s important to recognize when the universe says “You’ve been getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Maybe this will help.”
Out Of Office
As is the case with any major world-changing event, the way I see all kinds of things has been flipped over and reversed, and that includes office life.
Big Fish, Little Fish
For so long, we’ve been looking at things as if they were beneath the ripples of a lake. We’ve become accustomed to distortion, to being afraid to get a little cold or soggy in order to take a closer look.
For My Students, Past and Present
No matter how well the semester or year goes, students don’t just filter in and out of classrooms without leaving a mark on the folks who are educating them. They sneak into conversations, challenge us to do things differently, maybe better, and occasionally, they spark worry. Whether you love your teaching job, or can’t stand it, whether the year goes swimmingly, or is a hot mess, your students wedge themselves into your brain.
Bentham Under Glass: A Poem
Beautiful People, You Can Do Hard Things.
Difficult, annoying, inconvenient, and frightening are not the same as impossible, and it’s time we started expecting excellence from ourselves.
I Do Know Why I Wrote “Idunno”
Not knowing, and being open about it, seeking others who are also a little bit in the dark, isn’t the end of our reputation, our pride, or our sense of self-worth. It’s the beginning of an adventure, and maybe even a way to heal.
A Playlist For Those Who Just Don’t Know Anymore
Throw your hands in the air, give a couple of healthy shrugs, and wave the white flag on feeling like you need to have it all figured out. You don’t. None of us do, especially at a time like this.
Making It Through With Metaphor
It’s allowed a lot of us to understand how a virus works, and how we keep a society going through stress and isolation. It’s been our comfort, popping up in the movies, tv shows, books and music we’ve consumed while we waited for the world to open up again. I’d wager it’s been part of how we see each other, and how we see ourselves in the emerging “new normal”.
Still Geeky, After All These Years
My friends, you don’t grow out of geek. In fact, it gets much, much worse…and much, much, much better.
Knitting: A Poem
For Those Who’ve Lost Their Curiosity
I’m scared that what we’ve gone through recently has squeezed curiosity out of us, that we’re just trying to get by, and we’ve ceased to notice that there’s a universe worth of hidden ideas tucked away in it. I’m scared that we’re now too tired to search. Perhaps we’ve seen so much unthinkable awful that we just don’t want to tip over any more rocks, for fear that there will be more awful. Curiosity often yields the unexpected, and we’ve been given huge doses of the unexpected.
An Ode To Stubbornness (And Why It Isn’t Stupid)
I’ll willingly admit that we are selfish, crude, arrogant and that we have the collective sense of humour of an overtired toddler. But we aren’t stupid. Not even close.
A Playlist For This Strange New World
Henry Rollins once said “My optimism is loud and wears heavy boots.” Lace yours up and venture out with a bunch of good tunes in your head.