Just Keep Swimming Archives
God Laughs, or Fun with Bell’s Palsy
Posted on March 16, 2017 7 Comments
You make your plans, and God laughs. That’s what happened to me over the weekend. Let me go back, though, and start with discovering the Atlanta Freedom Bands, which I wrote about here in November 2014. I recollected how finding the band made me realize how much I had missed making music, marching in parades, […]
On X-Men and Orlando
Posted on June 15, 2016 Leave a Comment
On X-Men and Orlando I’ve been making my family watch a lot of X-men movies this week, as a kind of research project for the new X-Men: Apocalypse. One of the themes throughout all the movies is good versus evil (another theme, especially in X-Men: The Last Stand, is marginalization of people because of their […]
Protest and Privilege
Posted on November 25, 2014 Leave a Comment
Last night, we sat in front of the television and watched the announcement of the Grand Jury decision from Ferguson, Missouri. From the time the broadcast started, there was a split screen, one camera on the crowd and another on the DA who was reading the lengthy statement. For a while, we watched the people […]
Finding Free: The Atlanta Freedom Bands and Coming Full Circle
Posted on November 3, 2014 Leave a Comment
When I was in fifth grade at Littleville Elementary School, something magical happened. One day, our teacher announced that the band teacher from the nearby high school would be coming to Littleville to talk to kids and their parents about joining the band. It was 1973, and resources for extra-curricular activities–heck, resources for curricular activities–were […]
The Gay Agenda, Or, The Zoo and Me
Posted on October 15, 2014 Leave a Comment
First of all, let’s just get it out there: there IS a gay agenda. Sort of. But it’s probably not what you’re thinking. When anti-gay people speak of a “Gay Agenda,” they make up some items to maintain the politics of fear that have proven successful. Gays getting married. Gays having children. Gays in schools. […]
Hissing Ball of Fury: Losing Diana
Posted on September 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
The cat hated everybody. Everybody, that is, except me. And Sarah, of course–but she had owned Sarah for seventeen years, so that was to be expected. I only knew her for five months, and I didn’t really expect her to warm up to me. More than that, I never expected to warm up to her. […]
What I Learned from My First Dragoncon
Posted on September 12, 2014 Leave a Comment
Upon thinking about my first Dragoncon experience, I wanted to set down a list of important lessons learned. They are in no particular order, but some are more important than others. 1. It is invaluable to go your first time with someone who has been many, many times. Sarah not only knows how to navigate […]
Our Deacon Named Our Love Child Chaps
Posted on September 10, 2014 Leave a Comment
This morning we found an abandoned kitten outside the apartment. Well, actually, Duncan the Scottie “treed” it under the stairs and I dug it out from among spider webs and dead leaves. If I could pause writing now to show you a video of the pandemonium that ensued, that would be better than I could […]
Giving Account of Oneself
Posted on January 14, 2014 1 Comment
All my brainiac friends don’t get excited. This ain’t about Judith Butler. There is one part of being a professor that I actually don’t mind: the annual review process. I also enjoyed (!) the Tenure & Promotion process a few years ago, which is very similar, just a little bit higher stakes. Am I a […]
On Writing, Part 2: The Sabbatical Begins
Posted on January 14, 2014 1 Comment
A sabbatical is a powerful thing. At my university, they aren’t actually called sabbaticals; They are “Enhanced Faculty Leave.” They are competitive, awarded based on a research proposal. At universities that honor the writing processes of its faculty, sabbaticals are given about once every six or seven years. Sabbaticals, not Enhanced Faculty Leave. Why can’t […]
