Sadly back from Oaxaca. What a wonderful place. I cannot wait to go back.

Up now at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about one of my favorite trilogies, Jeffrey Ford’s The Well-Built City, and what it has to say about living in a society in thrall, the fascist mindset, and the daily work of staying alive.

My biweekly chapter-by-chapter reread of The Lord of the Rings gets into the book proper this week with a discussion of "A Long-Expected Party". Click through to learn how J.R.R. Tolkien is (and is not) like Jane Austen. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...

DUNE, WHERE’S MY CAR?

Maybe the fact that we’re facing both a severe literacy crisis AND an ongoing teacher shortage are related.

Almost ran into Michael Shannon coming out of a cinema bathroom and he scowled at me.

One of my students is from Oaxaca and when I told him we were going there over Christmas he gave me a wad of cash and a wishlist from his mom for foods she wanted me to bring back.

The cultural dedication to craftsmanship here in Oaxaca reminds me a lot of Japan, and it’s something I truly wished we cultivated and supported more in the US, instead of the relentless and shallow drive for “growth” in every aspect of life.

This, combined with "vice signaling" (taking pride in antisocial behavior) has given us the reign of the Stupid Asshole, something most people are against, but can only be remedied if we're not too polite to talk about it

Marjorie Taylor Greene held a news conference where she threatened to identify some of the men in the Epstein files. Trump called Greene to yell at her on speakerphone and, according to Greene, Trump replied, “My friends will get hurt.” Free link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m...

🎶Then how the Na'vi loved him as they shouted out with glee Sully the Toruk Makto You'll go down in history🎶

Excited to announce GOLLUM, an app that helps you focus on your most precious possession!

Thanks to Jim Moylan, who pulled a borrowed car into a filling station on the wrong side on a rainy day & vowed to protect the rest of us from that annoying fate. What are some of your favorite inventions that make life just a smidge better?

We are in Oaxaca and it is amazing.

“Sabor is 味” is a phrase that just came out of my mouth. 3 words, 3 languages, 1 bruised brain.

Not to be controversial but I think we should use tools and resources to make people's lives less miserable instead of more

Merry Christmas!

Oh my god I burst into tears at the last line. If you haven't yet: read it.

Being born in a barn and getting myrrh for your birthday is extremely Charlie Brown vibes.

My debut novel MAGGIE THE DREAD hits shelves on July 7, 2026, courtesy of Little Bee Books and Simon & Schuster, and is now available for pre-order! www.simonandschuster.com/books/Maggie...

Snow & wind & woods. #art

I mean this with 100% seriousness: Michael Caine deserved an Oscar for the sincere, wistful way he delivered the line “This is Fozziwig’s Rubber Chicken Emporium!” in MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Given that Jesus and Josh are the same name, “Josh Broken” does indeed sound like a “Southern Baptist Catholic” icon.

Have a LOT of thoughts about Philip Pullman's THE ROSE FIELD

This looks like so much fun:

My debut novel MAGGIE THE DREAD hits shelves on July 7, 2026, courtesy of Little Bee Books and Simon & Schuster, and is now available for pre-order! www.simonandschuster.com/books/Maggie...

A few years ago I accidentally created a tradition of re-reading @osutein.bsky.social's magnificent "The Most Metal Deaths in Middle-earth, Ranked" every year on Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, even though neither of them are on the list. web.archive.org/web/20240726...

“The student left is the most reliably correct constituency in America. Over the past 60 years, it has passed every great moral test American foreign policy has forced upon the public, including the Vietnam war, the question of relations with apartheid South Africa, and the Iraq war.”

I am at the Meat Gala. Where is everyone?

Layleen Polanco died in solitary confinement on Rikers Island because she couldn't afford $500 bail

There is a cartoon Batman movie called "Mask of the Phantasm" for God's sake.

Paul Rudd may have just worked with a man who is aging even more slowly than he is. Ernie Hudson is *78*.

Tomorrow is senior skip day, aka the best day of the year (I teach seniors)

TIL that the Spanish name for Worcestershire Sauce is "Salsa Inglesa" or "English Sauce." Perfect.

hard to decide which one of these is my favorite youtu.be/_N-RLg_TOOY?...

Jason Statham Killing People is the best movie genre, followed closely by Jason Statham Killing Prehistoric Sharks

We're studying Macbeth and I talked about how Shakespeare invented a bunch of words we use every day and then asked the students to invent their own new words, and the results were absolutely delightful.

If those US News-style college rankings were honest and accurate the top of the list would always be like, CUNY and Cal State and some city college in Illinois

Europe is funny. Like we decided this bit of land gets to be its own continent b/c "we" are white and that's where we came from.

The one thing I miss about ye olde office job was that taking a sick day was easy. With teaching it's a huge pain. Gotta make sub plans, coordinate for students with needs, email multiple people, etc.

A large purpose of our (w @pamherd.bsky.social) book on administrative burdens was to blow up the idea that GOP opposed bureaucracy. They support intrusive and unproductive bureaucracies for purposes of social control. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/florida-education-schools-laws.html

Brontes, Ranked: 1. Emily 2. Anne 3. Charlotte 4. Branwell

In 2024 Cotton Eye Joe will convey revelation: where he come from and where he go. Prepare thine mind.

My Who? The

Not ashamed to announce that I am calling myself a Child-Parent. Please come over and meet my flesh babies.