Per one of my students: "Does the rapture count as an excused absence?"

Of all the things I thought I'd be buying in my late 40's, never did I imagine a golf cart on the list. And I don't play golf.

This has been a project long in the making, and evolving from several years of conversations with good friends and colleagues. I'm beyond proud to have worked with everyone to help bring these to life.

All those constitutional literalists about the second amendment of the last 20+ years have suddenly become highly invested in post-structural semantics when it comes to due process.

Took my son snowshoeing this weekend for one of his last scout merit badges. It's been a while since I did that myself, and I'm definitely feeling it in the arthritis today. It was worth every step for a good afternoon helping him get closer to his goals. Still gonna old-man grumble today...

Of all the things that exhaust me working in higher education, the emotional labor of aggressively angry students is perhaps the most taxing. I could not have predicted how much of my teaching life would be so similar to working as a bouncer.

Looks like Murder by Death will be playing in Iowa this summer. Been a while since I last went to a concert, so maybe it's time again.

As the laws about curriculum continue to emerge, I was told by one angry parent that the inclusion of Rene Descartes and Erving Goffman in my class reading was 'leftist woke propaganda." Let that settle in for a laugh before the uncomfortable scope of this stupidity makes us all more angry.

My article "Sex as Reward in Games" can be found among great company in the recently published Handbook of Sex and Sexuality in Games Studies by Bloomsbury. You can find more details and buy the book here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bloomsbur... (if you're interested in reading my article dm me).

Syllabi finished, Blackboard pages updated, Spring 2025 is ready to roll. I'm not ready, but the semester is, so here we go I guess?

2025’s #GenerationAnalog will be July 15-16, online, free, open to public, with the theme PUNK Abstracts due: March 31, 2025 (750 words) Acceptance by: May 1, 2025 (Past acceptance rate: 30-50%)

Holiday breaks mean a chance to catch up on all the work I can't do during the regular semester. Today I'm finishing the bathroom remodel. Got the new shower installed and drywall placed/textured. Now to paint and install the new fixtures.

I am currently more potato than human.

Hosting the holidays this year. 25lbs of pulled pork, 15lbs of garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes, and bacon-roasted green beans. Assorted pies for desert. Gonna put everyone to sleep with a food coma before they even get to open presents.

Did our annual tradition of going book shopping on Christmas Eve and getting a book for everyone. Now to settle in with some good tea, and a new William Gibson novel!

I think one of my favorite things about being a parent has been to hand both of my children the physical books that I used to read at their age, and watch them fall in love with those stories as well.

Having midwestern academic thoughts about never going to another conference again if I can't drive there. So, anywhere within 24 hours of home.

Academia keeps informing me that people are reading my dissertation, and all I can say is I'm sorry. No, seriously. I'm sorry. I was young and still learning how to write. 🤣

Large pot of pasta fagioli on the stove. The house is filling with the smells of garlic, cumin, and crushed red pepper. Normally, Midwesterners are happy for winter because they can put a pot of soup our chili in the garage overnight. It might be so cold we will freeze the soup solid instead.

All seven syllabi for spring finished, with a couple of days to spare.

Fell on a patch of ice. I'm fine, and uninjured, but I think I cracked the ground. I don't bounce quite like I used to...

First shoveling of the day done. Cleared about 6 inches of snow. Will go again once the snow stops later today.

5 of 7 syllabi for spring finished. I'll wrap up the last two tomorrow.

We live near Perry, Iowa. Last night, before bed, my 14 year-old son asked me "How do I fight back if someone gets in my classroom?" I'm still sick to my stomach from that conversation.

If y'all have not read Sarah Pinsker's "A Song for a New Day" you are missing out. It might be the most wonderfully hopeful anthem about the power of music in building community and the virtue of raising your voice as a vehicle of resistance. It's definitely punk as fuck.

Sabbatical is officially over. It was incredibly productive and rewarding. I'll post about pubs and forthcoming work once I get the "official" status for them. In the meantime, I've got two weeks until spring semester and I'm teaching 21 credits. So, time to finish course prep.

One of my favorite parts of any writing project is finding new music for writing soundtracks/playlists. New tunes are always a good time!

Currently thinking about grinding up lozenges to use as a glaze for the thanksgiving ham if it will help get rid of this damn cough.

My wife is on a bus with our daughter and the entire school band/color guard traveling to New York. They are going to march and play in the Veteran's Day Parade. My wife is giving me all the updates of the trip and the drama, and it's hysterical.

Took my daughter for a campus visit today to see if a school would be a good match. The professor we met with spent the entire time bashing student work, complaining about faculty who left ten plus years ago, and lamenting that nobody cares about the field any longer. Guess we won't apply there!

I think one of my favorite parts of sabbatical has been finding projects to work on for the next 3-4 years. Of course, I won't have time to do most of them because I'm still working on the projects I'm starting now, but there is energy in the ideas and that is fun.

The strange thing about being on sabbatical is the absence of a clear sense of time. Everything feels like it's happening at a different speed. For example, it's November 1st, and six weeks still feels like a long time away. Normally I'd feel like the semester is almost finished.

If your response to a marginalized population of students seeking justice for how they are treated is to say "But what about the donors?" then you've already sold your soul. No check written to a university is big enough to justify that.

It's a Dinosaur Jr. kind of day.

Next proposal sent. It's been a productive sabbatical so far.

Onion and horseradish pot roast, with glazed carrots, and Guinness gravy to serve over garlic mashed potatoes. Some scratch cornbread on the side. I love having time to cook.

Up and on the road by 4 so we can work on merit badges in Nebraska. Watching the sun rise behind you as you drive across the plains is always a fantastic sight.

Pretty sure this just rose to the top of my fun-reading list!

My daughter was doodling on a math test and told a story in three parts. In case there was any doubt she was going to be an art major next year...

One of the things my sabbatical is teaching me is that a single interruption in the day can really derail my writing goals. Still on track to produce several things by semester's end, but wow it happens fast.