Archives
Reporting and Reactions From Forty Years Ago: Part I
Posted on June 5, 2021 Leave a Comment
In adjusting to post-vaccination life in the age of COVID-19, re-reading this history has helped me to reflect on just how difficult, yet innately human it is, to struggle with a “new normal” when forces beyond our control make life as we’ve known it impossible (or impractical) to continue living as we had before.
The Summer I Bought New Pencils
Posted on January 11, 2018 Leave a Comment
The experience of putting hand to paper stimulates an entirely different writing experience for me. Back in 2016, I found this to be true as I started writing long hand at times to break through the long, dreadful periods of staring at the glow of my expectant laptop. I’m not sure why, but it took […]
From the Wayback Machine, Part I
Posted on July 20, 2015 Leave a Comment
To get myself back in the habit of posting regular content, I’m adding some occasional work that comes from the past. The first of these is a spoken word piece from 2006. Performed in August, 2006, as a guest artist for “Two Queers and a Chubby,” a spoken word entry in the Minnesota Fringe Festival. […]
Back to San Francisco (Revisiting Shilts)
Posted on March 23, 2015 Leave a Comment
Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City brought my first real attraction to San Francisco. Although still a couple years away from coming out, as a rural Midwestern teen in the early 1990s I sensed something about that miniseries—aside from curiosity about gay culture of the 70s— which drew me to a city that I had […]
Pondering Privilege, Fear, and Futures
Posted on December 21, 2014 Leave a Comment
About three times a week we meet, usually under a bridge, although sometimes at school. It was a hard habit for me to pick up, but once we started, I haven’t been able to shake it. My friend helps me, sticks with me, keeps me motivated so that even on the days I am winded […]
Disappointment and Rededication
Posted on December 2, 2014 Leave a Comment
Fifteen years ago, I was a senior English major, on the verge of graduating with honors from Michigan State University. I had co-founded Q-News, MSU’s first literary magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and allied students, led its staff to a well-received presentation at the national “Creating Change” Conference, and was close to finishing a […]
The Gen X Conversation
Posted on August 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to understand the social systems we create. After an adolescence spent trying badly to fit into the peer groups around me (and failing), I found a particularly meaningful role for myself by embracing my “outsiderness,” even as I became part of the burgeoning queer activist circles at […]
Beyond the Formal Work
Posted on February 13, 2013 Leave a Comment
I haven’t written a posting for a while because I spent most of January writing my next pre-dissertation special topic paper. Also, I’m taking a course in the use of storytelling to support research. We have a number of interesting assignments, so to keep the good times rolling on here I am going to publish […]
Returning to Stories
Posted on January 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
It’s that time of year when scholarship applications come due, which has given me an opportunity to revisit parts of my own story as it has evolved over the course of my adulthood. In some ways, my work has been closely tied to storytelling ever since my early years at Michigan State, where I co-founded […]
What I Meant to Write Last Week, Only Surlier
Posted on December 20, 2012 Leave a Comment
Before the tragedy in Connecticut last week, my intention was to write about our short mid-week trip to Iowa. I was also going to get a wee bit political. Let’s see if I still can. Toward the end of November, I had a pleasantly surprising phone call from a very dear friend. I’ve known Tony […]
