No, I will NOT be watching the Lord of the Rings Amazon Series

My relationship with The Lord of the Rings is and has been incredibly intense. In the following, I will attempt to underline what I see as the core project of LOTR and why it is inherently incompatible with its co-option and commodification by Amazon. Extra challenge: I will try to do this with as little …

Thoughts on the Apocalypse

To put it bluntly, the human species is coming to an end. It feels hyperbolic to say, and yet I can't think of another phrase that fully encapsulates this sense of impending doom. It isn't an apocalypse of a single threat (although COVID seems to be giving it a good effort). It's a daily apocalypse, …

The Coup – The Consequences

I expected this and honestly surprised it didn't happen sooner, but white supremacists are attempting to overturn the election. They are terrorists, and what they are attempting is a coup. Terrorist - a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. Coup - a sudden, violent, and …

2020: A Year in Review

I honestly do not know where to start, so I'm going to rely on chronology to help me make sense of this all. January Who can even remember what was happening in January? That was seven years ago. I was barely an adult. I'm pretty sure I still had braces and acne. I was working …

Anger and Love, Love and Anger

For me, this year has been about anger. From the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade to the recent murder of Casey Goodson and another as yet unnamed black man in Ohio. Over 300,000 people in the United States have died over the course of nine months from COVID. A disproportionate …

Two Months Into Grad School Update

Hello All, Yes, it's been a while. I started grad school - so taking three classes plus teaching two sections of English 101. [Insert all the grad school/ teaching cliches here about work and balance and writing and ] Publication Updates: I got another short story published. The research paper I helped write (and then …

A Sudden Realization About Gender

Hello All, It turns out that today is International Non-Binary Persons Day. I really have no idea what that means or how it helps, but hey, I'll take it. As you probably know, I am non-binary. I have been all my life, but I didn't have the terminology or understanding to "come out" until I …

Here Are My Thoughts on Teaching in the Fall

Okay, so there's a lot going on with education and I know about .0001% of it. I have never wanted to be a teacher. I still do not. I don't want the power or the responsibility that comes with it. That said, I do think in the great overhaul that is/will/should be taking place, education …

Dependence Day 2020

Hello Everyone, Yesterday, July 4th 2020, was once again Dependence Day. I know that a lot folks are confused. Some people mistakenly call it "Independence Day". Don't worry, I'm here to set the record straight. In 1776, a group of wealthy white people used poor white people, black people and international aid to continue colonizing …

Back By Popular Demand

Here's another life update for those with the desperate desire to receive an update from Idaho. I am still here. I am still breathing in and out most of the time. Yesterday I saw a moth the size of my palm. It looked as though it had just emerged from its cocoon. It was wobbling …