Well, That was Upsetting

I just had my first wreck -- I mean, the first one that was my fault.

Readers of the blog will remember I was hit from behind by a guy in a truck last August -- that wreck wasn't my fault.

This time, though, I was in a hurry and changed lanes without looking (never change lanes without looking -- d'oh!) and side-swiped a Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Paying Taxes

I have paid my taxes, once again.

I am all for the payment of taxes, by the way.  This is not a whine about how eeevil the government is for taxing us. I like living in a place with roads that are paved, and water that is (often) clean, with decent schools and social safety nets.

In fact, I wouldn't mind if the taxes were higher, and the social benefits were better.

Trump Among the Razorbacks

So here in NW Arkansas we have a certain percentage of people who are supporting Trump. And many of these people have kids who go to my kid's school.

My kid's school is pretty much a bastion of Far-Right Evangelical Christian culture as it is; so, you know, I'm not that surprised to find a fat wodge of Trumpeters there. However, also not surprisingly, there's a lot of pushback against Trump, even among the conservative kids.

My First Lie

Over on her blog, Madeline Robbins writes about her first memory, My Mother Went Out for Lemons. Go read it; it's a great story.

It also prompts me to write about my first memory -- or, well, my first memory that's a coherent story.

New Story up at Sockdolager

I've got a new story live at The Sockdolager today.

It's one I'm very fond of -- a time-travel story, sort of.

Go here to read it:  Down The Twisting Alleyways.

Virtue-Signalling and The Right

So we all remember when the Right seized upon Politically Correct as their favorite excuse and cudgel.

Politically correct, invented as an in-joke by Leftists for those of us who were taking things a bit far (out-Veganing the Vegans, being more holy about using the correct pronouns than even the most Tumblr of the Tumblrites), was taken up by the Far-Right as an excuse to be as rude as they liked, under the guise of not being (I guess) a Leftist.

America: Where You Can Be Free....as Long as You're Like US!

So as many of you know, the new battle against LGBT people from the Far-Right Conservatives is being waged in the bathrooms.

This is nothing new.

Review: Zootopia

For those of you who have not yet seen Zootopia, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I was not that excited about seeing it, frankly -- a Disney movie about a bunny who wants to be a cop?  Whatevs.  I went mostly because the kid wanted to see it so badly, and since my child almost never wants to go see a movie, we'll take her to anything.



Spoilers from here on out:

Spring Evening in the Fort

I am just back from an early evening walk with the little dog.

Our new little dog, Heywood Floyd -- not that new, I suppose; we've had him since July -- is, we have determined, part Jack Russell terrier, and very high energy.

Without at least one long walk a day, he is fraught with unexpended energy, and rushes through the house, rrrrring and flailing and finding toys for everyone to throw him.

It's That Time of Year Again!

Yes, that time.

Annual evaluation time!

OMF.

I'm trying, y'all.  I'm trying.  But seriously, what a waste of my life and life-force.

Plus, the language this enterprise requires.  Learning goals.  Assessments.  Multiple literacies. Demonstrated Learning Outcomes. Global perspectives.  Kill me now.

It's not bad enough that Drumpf is apparently going to be a serious candidate for our country's highest office -- I have to spend the next week writing this... document.

Mood: sullen.

Art by the Kid

Her latest watercolor

She likes art deco now as you see.

Details:

I love the roses.

I Suppose I Shouldn't Be Surprised

It is their culture, after all.

Over here at Rod Dreher's blog, he notes the utter disaster that Jindal has left behind him in my home state of Louisiana. The state is looking at a shortfall of over two billion dollars.  This is the worst economic crisis in its history -- at a time when most other states in the union are seeing their economic outlook improve.

Or, I should say, states that had the good sense not to elect GOP governors and Tea-Party legislators are seeing things improve.  States like Kansas, Arkansas, Idaho, and yes, Louisiana all have state governments filled those who adhere to policies endorsed by Ayn Rand and Reagan -- that government solutions don't work and can't work (and if they did work, they'd be evil); that the best way to govern is to get out of the way.

What's UP?

So many things.

Mostly I've been sick, with a low-grade sick.  It's a cold, or it's allergies.  Who knows.  It's annoying, anyway.  Not sick enough to take to my bed and make out my will sick, but sick enough to feel terrible and cranky sick.

Also conferences with students.

Also book orders for Fall 2016 were due.  I'm teaching a very cool class next fall -- World, Class, and Women -- which I can't wait to teach, but book orders, being due earlier every year, as is the tradition, were due last week, or actually the week before, but since I was sick and cranky and whiny I got a week's extension.

So I was researching possible texts.  And whining, as I mentioned.

Whining takes up a lot of time.

And the kid was also sick.

I also wrote a short story.  Yay me!

So that's where I've been.

Roddy Doyle, The Snapper: A Review

Probably most of you have heard of Roddy Doyle, who wrote The Commitments -- that was the first book of his I read as well, just after seeing the movie version, both of which I recommend, especially for anyone interested in the use of dialect in fiction.  Doyle's great at that.

Right now I'm re-reading The Snapper, which is a not-quite sequel to The Commitments.

The Roosevelts: A Review

I'm probably the last person in America to watch The Roosevelts, Ken Burns' documentary about the interwoven lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. I stumbled across it the other day, and have been binge-watching since (quite a task since it's a seven episode series, with every episode being almost two hours long).

I don't know as much about this period of history -- the very early years of the 20th century -- as I do about other eras.  This is partly because in Louisiana, where I was schooled, history classes always stopped at the Civil War; and partly because when I went to the university (at least the university I went to) you could take either US or World History, and I went for World.