What follows is a continuing exploration of all the music in my cd collection for which the artist or the band name begins with the letter F. Let’s begin with this. F this. Fishbone and The Flaming Lips, Ben Folds Five, bookends or markers for my 1990’s, perhaps the three most influential and inspiring bands forContinue reading “Notes Toward a Musical Autobiography: Volume XI, Letter F”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
#189: Writing A Lune With My Students
Well, hello, and welcome to the annual poetry writing extravaganza in celebration of National Poetry Month during which suckers like myself attempt to write and publish a poem every day during the merry merry month of April. My first outing follows the instructions (optional as always) found on the National Poetry Writing Month website, where eachContinue reading “#189: Writing A Lune With My Students”
Notes Toward a Musical Autobiography: Volume X, Letter F
Happy and Totally Belated New Year, everyone. It appears that I took the entire months of January and February off from blogging. 2016 finds me having barely survived the first semester of my 28th year of teaching (which, disappointingly, turns out to be only my 26th), feeling gratitude for a new beginning with new classes,Continue reading “Notes Toward a Musical Autobiography: Volume X, Letter F”
T@B Diaries #2: Stubb Stewart St. Park
in which Michael almost gives up on the trip before calling neighbor Dave to help him hitch up the trailer to the stupid van in which Michael and his son Emerson and their new dog Tana embark on the first father-son-dog trip with the T@B in which it snows and rains a lot, but still opportunitiesContinue reading “T@B Diaries #2: Stubb Stewart St. Park”
Mindfulness in 2016: A Silver Bullet Resolution?
On this New Year’s Eve morning I spent some time reading the blog entry I wrote exactly one year ago today, “Mindfulness in 2015: A Silver Bullet Resolution.” I liked what I read. That’s a nice blog post, I said to myself. I was proud of it, proud of the writing and of the sentimentContinue reading “Mindfulness in 2016: A Silver Bullet Resolution?”
T@B Diaries #1: Champoeg St. Park
in which Michael Jarmer begins a new blog series; in which Michael Jarmer provides a brief history of his life as a camper; in which his somewhat checkered RV history is revealed; in which an experience camping solo at Champoeg State Park is described; in which funny and archaic subtitles are used to arouse readerContinue reading “T@B Diaries #1: Champoeg St. Park”
Notes Toward A Musical Autobiography: Volume IX, Letter E
Here we are with volume IX of a series of blogs about my attempt to listen to at least one compact disc from every artist in my music collection in alphabetical order. That is a mouthful. A mouthful for an earful. I’ve been at it almost a year and I have worked my way throughContinue reading “Notes Toward A Musical Autobiography: Volume IX, Letter E”
Against a Wall: A Teacher’s Manifesto
It has been coming on for a year or two, maybe longer, but I feel it now in my 28th year of teaching more keenly than ever: I have come up against a wall. This is the condition in which I find myself professionally. It may be that things have always been this way andContinue reading “Against a Wall: A Teacher’s Manifesto”
#188: On A Birthday Weekend Alone
“Why should I feel lonely? is not our planet in the Milky Way?”—Henry David Thoreau My brother asked me through a facebook comment, are you spending the weekend alone? And I wasn’t sure what the question meant, whether or not it contained a sub-text of surprise or dis-belief: really, on your birthday, you wantContinue reading “#188: On A Birthday Weekend Alone”
#187: On the Difficulty of Getting Here
Friday afternoon, trying to prepare for a cabin retreat, a birthday weekend of solitude and reflection and writing, I stepped in a pile of leaf camouflaged dog shit in the driveway. I didn’t realize I had done this until I proceeded to go into the house with shit all over my shoe. I removed theContinue reading “#187: On the Difficulty of Getting Here”
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