We’re kicking off the school year by introducing to students this lovely thing we call a “mentor text.” We look closely at a piece of good writing, observe its various moves and strategies, and then write our own piece of good writing inspired by the mentor text, mimicking as best we can the moves ofContinue reading “#139: Another Random Autobiography”
Category Archives: Poetry
#139: Writer’s Camp
I’m going to camp. I’ll be alone most of the time but at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and at least once every evening, I will be surrounded by friends, writer friends, people who know me and who share the dream and the drive or the dream of the drive or the drive of the dreamContinue reading “#139: Writer’s Camp”
#138: A New Stupid Smart Phone
1. Stupid, perhaps. But I bought a new iPhone today because my wallet case broke, you know the one, the wallet case I bought two years ago to hold my i.d., some cash, and a 3G phone I bought for $50 that was already two years out of date. The old phone was fine, still,Continue reading “#138: A New Stupid Smart Phone”
#137: Blog Spam
I often get comments on my blog posts that read almost and sometimes exactly like this: “I am genuinely delighted to glance at this bloig postѕ which consists of lots of valuable information, thanks for providing these kinds of data,” apropos of absolutely nothing. I’m puzzled. Is this the deliberate work of a real person, a realContinue reading “#137: Blog Spam”
#136: Again, The Last Teacher Out The Door
Every year, this is what it’s like. I can’t get my grades in on time because instead of a multiple- guess scantron test I ask my students to make things or write things, things which I must then look at and think about; and there’s never enough time to look and think properly, so IContinue reading “#136: Again, The Last Teacher Out The Door”
#135: The Eight Year Old Uses Tweezers To Pull A Sliver Out of His Daddy’s Hand
This happened yesterday, for real, and it was one of those events in parenting, perfectly mundane, nearly inconsequential, that nevertheless felt poignant in that moment, and today even more powerful as parents in my state again lose their children to guns. It breaks my heart. Love your kids. The Eight Year Old Uses Tweezers ToContinue reading “#135: The Eight Year Old Uses Tweezers To Pull A Sliver Out of His Daddy’s Hand”
#134: Good Devil, Bad Devil (a mostly found poem)
I love it that this guy, a Fresno, California, Salvation Army volunteer, found $125,000 that fell from a Brinks truck on Tuesday, and he gave it all back. Joe Cornell, in rehab, with just $1 in his pocket for lunch that day, told the Fresno Bee he began to shake when he came upon the loot. “EverythingContinue reading “#134: Good Devil, Bad Devil (a mostly found poem)”
#133: Stupid Desire
It makes me angry: I can’t stop thinking about things I want. I want a new roof, new gutters, and the house painted. I want to remodel the basement. I want to refurbish the garage and replace the kitchen cabinetry. I want outdoor furniture for the back yard. I want an Airstream, again. And becauseContinue reading “#133: Stupid Desire”
#132: Someone’s Looking At You
You know this now, don’t you? That nothing is private. That everything you say can be seen and everything you’re interested in is now somebody else’s business and part of the permanent and public record of your life and can and likely will be used against you. A whole industry depends on the fact thatContinue reading “#132: Someone’s Looking At You”
#131: My Most Popular Post
I posted on my blog a speech I gave at my 30th high school reunion, and I wonder why so many people are reading this thing–way more than the number who would have attended this event and even way more than the number of people in my graduating class. I’m at a loss. Maybe it’s just aContinue reading “#131: My Most Popular Post”
michael jarmer 