Sometimes reality is strange. And then while you’re sleeping, the strange seeps into corners of your brain and lubricates your dreams. I have strange school dreams. Like these two:

1. Quick change

Parents interrupt a staff meeting. “Our kids are the wrong gender. Change it.” Staff chatters. Superintendent is diplomatic, official. “As a school district […]

I love talking to people. I love being around smart, curious people discussing things. I like to know, to ask, to ponder, to discuss, to listen. A good conversation is like a free style rap, or jazz, or reading, or hiking through the woods or the city noticing things and sharing it with others. A […]

I ran across the writing of William Stafford a few years ago. I love his approach and his views on poetry and writing and the experience of being receptive to ideas. It seems healthy. It seems appropriate. I was wandering around Portland the other day and found a copy of his book You Must Revise […]

I love my wife. We were joined in holy matrimony ten years ago today. I’ve been feeling retrospective, introspective, and extrospective about it all week. By all week, I mean every day for the last decade. (Time accuracy isn’t really my thing.) Sometimes I imagine histories where she said “no” or I never asked or we never […]

It can be a person, a book, an idea, a ___________. You name it. I’m overwhelmed by instances. Here’s a haphazard list, incomplete, chaotic, and cut short:

John Cash, John Cage, John Coltrane, Jesus Christ. Tory, Luke, the New Testament, the Psalms, N.T. Wright, Joe, Joel, Abe, Steve, and Steve. Chet and James and Ben […]

Often an appreciation clings to many other appreciations. My cousin gave me a shirt a few years ago that says “Never Be A Bartleby” on the front and “I Would Prefer Not To” on the back. It probably means something when I choose to wear that shirt on any particular day.

Apparently at one time […]

Kaizen and karoshi are both Japanese words that don’t have readily available English equivalents. One means improvement, and one means to work yourself to death. Kaizen means continuous improvement. Karoshi means to work yourself to death. Do a quick search for kaizen and you’ll find a bunch of business strategies linked to the term.

I first […]

Yesterday I see a woman playing a hurdy gurdy in front of two people sitting in lawn chairs. She had a mic stand set up. I know it is a hurdy gurdy because last year I played some videos about hurdy gurdys to my music class and we talked about them at some length. And […]

As a physical object, my favorite book is my copy of Adrift On An Ice-Pan by Wilfred Grenfell. It was first published in 1909 and my copy was printed in 1911. My copy of the book has a WITHDRAWN stamp from the Albany Public Library and has a reinforced library binding with erratic geometric shapes. The book […]