Aloe Vera, by Christina Deravedisian via unsplash.com

Yesterday, as I sat outside watching a kids’ soccer game, I sunburned the top of my hands. Who does that? Who gets a sunburn on the top of their hands? A small price to pay, I guess, for a taste of ‘the before times’.

Don’t let our hurry to recreate some semblance of what it was like before to burn you now.

Sunflowers, via unsplash.com user Todd Trapani

Every week feels like a year. I’ve found it hard to keep on top of everything, simply because everything changes so radically, so quickly. I am, as they say, very online; and being too much online overwhelms. But early on in the present conflict, the video of the lady saying to the soldier, “Take these seeds so sunflowers grow when you die here” (link) demonstrated that this was going to be a very different kind of conflict.

And so I continue to remain online; doomscrolling oddly enough feels like an act of trying to keep control, to keep powerlessness at bay (but see this for strategies on dealing with misinformation. If it feels ‘right’ to you, if it strikes a chord, don’t retweet, don’t repost, until you’ve dug a little deeper). But a person needs more, and doomscrolling isn’t healthy.

click through the image to enjoy the performance

The lyrics from the classic Merle Haggard song, ‘If We Make It Through December’ have been on my mind a lot, lately; they seem pretty appropriate, for obvious reasons… but one thing we did make it through was the Fall 2021 term.

This term has seen our largest cohort ever start the programme, some 22 students. And we have 16 students in their second year - I never imagined we could grow so large! I get talking with many of the students, and I sometimes get feedback on their courses, and, well, if you have something good to say about a class you’ve taken, or an article you’ve read, or a presentation you’ve watched you should let that person know! So hats off to Dan Papagiannis, who has done a stellar job this term and whose students have greatly appreciated the learning environment Dan created.

Detail of ‘People at the Station’, by Julien De Majo . The best I could come up with for the idea ‘society’.

Steven Cordes, via

Season 2

The fall term is imminent; new instructions on how to navigate the world appear in our inboxes every day. New courses, and a levelling up of expectations even when we feel like we’re just hanging on… For me, at least, everyday feels more and more like this:

-Vintage Typewriter, by Florian Klaur via Unsplash.com_

Proposal Season!

Jen Theodore, via Unsplash.com

Groundhog Day is the best movie ever

There is only one Bill Murray. That is all. (That painting also hangs in my office in Paterson Hall, by the way; I’ve seen people look at it, and then carefully choose ).

‘Upward Roller Coaster’ by Jr Kopa via

Lance Grandahl,

_Forest Under Cloud, Eberhard Grossgasteiger, unsplash.com

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A surprised cow. Guido Jansen via

You’ve Got Your Work Cut Out For You, by Hans-Peter Gustar,

Hurtling Towards September

It’s the middle of August, and the cicadas are buzzing. I think they’re cicadas. I’ve been forced to my basement for most of the summer since the upstairs ‘office’ has been taken over by my spouse and my kids for their own work. I’ve been teaching my summer online courses, reading MA theses, and cursing my past self for agreeing to do a bunch of reviews way back in February that have all now come due. Where did all the time go?