michaeljarmer

#73: Unstuck In Time (Don’t Know Much About History)

The student reading a William Stafford poem mistakes the 1930’s for The Civil War in America—when, you know, there were electric elevators. The first impulse, if only inside of a thought bubble, is to make fun, but the second, more reflective response is a deep sadness. The kid is unstuck in time and unstuck inContinue reading “#73: Unstuck In Time (Don’t Know Much About History)”

#72: Potter Author Trending

First of all, I’m embarrassed that I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker, in the sidebar list of stories “trending” on the Mighty Social Network; secondly, I’m ashamed I clicked on this particular subject matter, an author I am only nominally interested in–an author for which only in the very most minimal way couldContinue reading “#72: Potter Author Trending”

Teaching Controversial Texts: In Defense of Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer

So I wrote a little blog post some many months ago now. It was 2000 words long. It was a furious little rant about how one of the books I teach in 11th grade IB English, Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer, was being removed from, or at least being considered for removal from, or, asContinue reading “Teaching Controversial Texts: In Defense of Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer”

#71: The Slippery Preposition

A friend of mine posted this quote from a guy named Karl Pilkington: “We’ve had the stone age, and we’ve had the iron age, now we’re in the pissing about stage.” I liked it, both literally and figuratively. But it got me thinking about how I was supposed to read that lovely preposition. When IContinue reading “#71: The Slippery Preposition”

#70: Chicken Cordon-Bleu Road Kill

Chicken Cordon-Bleu Road Kill On the way to work I lost my lunch. I was bicycling, and, as the result of some user-error, I suspect, some packing mishap, my lunch went flying out of my pannier and into the middle of the road. I had packed Chicken Cordon-Bleu, a beautiful and abundant serving from aContinue reading “#70: Chicken Cordon-Bleu Road Kill”

#69: Screen Dilemma (Left To His Devices)

Screen Dilemma (Left To His Devices) If the boy were left to his own devices he would be playing a video game or streaming some show on the damn iPad all day long. The bad news is that sometimes he is left to his own devices and I agonize about my shitty parenting. Sometimes IContinue reading “#69: Screen Dilemma (Left To His Devices)”

2013 in review: Not Bad

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. I’m not sure if people are interested in this thing or not, but the WordPress.com helper monkeys sent me this report and offered me a link that would allow me to share it with my readers, so at least in the opinionContinue reading “2013 in review: Not Bad”

On New Year’s Resolutions, Or, On Having Blogged A Bunch and the Dangers of Repeating Oneself

I began composing a blog entry this morning about New Year’s Resolutions. The direction I was going felt compelling. I was proud of the opening paragraph. I was on to something and feeling clever and witty and all of that jazz. I was also feeling a bit of deja vu, like somehow, I remembered writing,Continue reading “On New Year’s Resolutions, Or, On Having Blogged A Bunch and the Dangers of Repeating Oneself”

#68: On Watching an Episode of My Little Pony with My Son

On Watching an Episode of My Little Pony with My Son Yeah, I know about bronies. I was introduced to this term by a student, an 11th grade boy who wrote an essay about being a brony, part confessional, part defense of the show’s merits, partial explanation of the idiosyncrasies of this particular kid. AtContinue reading “#68: On Watching an Episode of My Little Pony with My Son”

#67: The American Atheist Endorses The Pope

He reads that the Pope has nothing against him, in fact, sees him as an equal, every bit as deserving as the most devout religionist. He sees the Pope coming out for those who are coming out and for those who have been forever out of the closet. He sees him saying that market capitalismContinue reading “#67: The American Atheist Endorses The Pope”