“Religion i s a smile on a dog.” So says the sage Edie Brickell in her masterpiece, “What I Am”. I was a teenager when the song came out, and I’d yet to love a dog, so the line meant nothing to me. But 23 years and one very good boy later, I think of [...]
Facebook has become a social net-cessity, like the telephone, like politeness, like brushing the crumbs from your beard, but it has not yet become an invisible necessity. We’re conscious of it: we’re not sure whether we’re using it correctly, whether it’s a benefit or a cost, whether it’s a fad, like the CB radio was [...]
If you click the tab up there that says “On the Contrary,” you’ll find an interesting rubric, something of a Contrary mission statement. It reads, in part: “we insist that all of our content is contrary. And, we insist, so is all of yours.” I don’t know about you, but when I read those words, [...]
While attending the Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2011 conference in Washington, DC, I grew angry at the commercialization of—like everything else—literature, the fetishization of creative writing, and the vitriol between creative writers and scholarly writers. I consider myself a member of the l atter group, primarily because I am currently enrolled in an [...]
My first post for this blog was inspired by New York State officials reporting that less than half of the state’s high school students are graduating prepared for success in college or well-paid careers. I wrote about how this might impact the humanities as a field of study, if kids are taught throughout school to [...]
In the world of game shows, Jeopardy! is the closest Americans come to measuring genius in a tidy 30 minute Q&A format with a cash prize. In an attempt to make Jeopardy! seem as smarty-pants as chess, IBM has made a Jeopardy! playing computer named Watson, who will take on the two top Jeopardy! champions [...]
Take a minute to parse this out: “Bad art is that which does not succeed in cleansing the language of its dead — stinking dead — usages of the past.” I’m sure that within the right context — a graduate seminar on postmodern fiction, perhaps — that definition, from the poet DA Powell, could find [...]
The end of AWP (Associated Writers and Writing Programs Conference) is always charged, and certain events stand out: two that did this year are, first, The Stephen Dunn Tribute (disclaimer: I ran it) with over 400 in attendance and rousing panel presentations by BJ Ward, Kurt Brown, Kathy Graber, Peter Murphy, Andrea Budy, and myself, [...]
Last night at sundown my Zanzibari boyfriend and I decided to take a stroll over to Forodhani gardens for a coffee & sunset. On our way there, we stopped to look at an outdoor photo exhibit on display at the House of Wonders, hosted by the German Goethe Institute. The Germans have a lingering love [...]
Florida’s recently (and narrowly) elected Governor Rick Scott has just unveiled his proposed state budget, which includes more than $3.3 billion in cuts to K-12 education. In addition to a $700 reduction in per-child funding, Scott intends to cut funding to after school clubs like Girl Scouts and Science Fair. One of the few places [...]
The future of education just got a little bleaker: New York State officials released data this week indicating that more than half of all the high school students in the state are not ready for college or well-paid careers. While it’s long been understood that education and income do not always keep lockstep — in [...]
Every day I cross Ellis Avenue to avoid the construction zone of the University of Chicago’s emerging Mansueto Library, whose elliptical crystal dome caps four underground floors where 3.5 million books will be kept in compact storage. When library users at ground level request books (via the library website) they will be retrieved from the [...]
I told myself I would not go back to Auvillar (Deep France). I’ ve been four times, taught three workshops, why be greedy ? Each time is enriched by the great company of o ther poets, old and young. Sure, we write poetry. We give readings. But mostly I’m going back for the food and [...]
I posted this originally as a test of our blogging software. Now that it has served its purpose, I can’t seem to take it down. Simone de Beauvoir is known for many things, but generally not as a Chicago writer. And yet her writing on Chicago is as eloquent and poignant as the best work [...]