Friday, September 25, 2026

Upped the T-Shirt Game for the 2026-2027 Season & Am So Happy I Channeled Tanya, @WritingProject, as Part of this Game!

It was a few years ago that I learned that the Executive Director for the National Writing Project has an affinity for octopus. It caused me to buy a piece of art for my house so I have this reminder on a daily basis, but I extended that to professional-wear. I like my dress pant, t-shirt, sport coat, and sneakers look to do writing project work with colleagues and kids. I did a search for Octopus shirt and Wola! It followed with a frog one, because if you know...you know. Ribbit Ribbit! I like that I will have both in my wardrobe routine. 

Eight-legged creatures have always been welcome in my pond.

I was thinking about this last night as we recorded an episode of The Write Time in celebration of the 2026 Write Out them: Write Where We Stand. It is quite amazing that we had Grant Snider for the recording and that he will be this year's ambassador. I, personally, cannot wait to get into schools with this work. I can't wait for listeners to hear his wisdom.

I'm playing medical transport today for a colleague who lost his wife and needs to have a procedure where he won't be able to drive home. Yesterday, I got MUCH done on a grant report I owe and am thankful to Julie Peters in the Office of Grants and Research who gets me the materials I need in ways I need. To bridge word-people like me with number-people like auditors and accountants, is a special talent, indeed. She knows what she is doing. 

Tonight, I'll be heading to campus for the faculty play and I love that it introduced me to new playwrights every year. I look forward to see what they bring this year (and am curious about this nor'easter, too.

Of course, in several conversations yesterday with colleagues across campus, I'm also really wondering what is going to result from this period of time we're living...it's almost exciting because it's a tremendous paradigm shift that is scary as #@$#, but also because from it a shared humanity and universal will arise. Our nature is storytelling, whether it is historically, socially, scientifically, creatively, or educationally. There will always need to be teachers...what we're after from the students we teach is what might be put into question. The ethnographer in me simply sits back to see. 

Finished the Storm with a Birthday Dinner at Bin & Recognizing the Books I'm Teaching This Week Are Somewhat Color-Coordinated

This weekend was not the rain event they predicted, although the winds were par for the course (albeit the local trees stood strong for the ...