ne ondræd þu ðe deaþ to swiðe for nanum wite. ðeah he ðe ful god ne ðynce, he bið ælces yfles ende, 7 ne cymð he næfre ma. do not fear death too much on any account. though you will not find all good in it, it is the end of every evil, and does not come again. -- #oldenglish dicts of cato

kalends of july. 16th moon. +aaron, brother of moses.

listening to @wmse917fm.bsky.social's jazz show, deep cleaning the bathroom, & listening to catholic theologian taylor nutter's structural critique of the neocolonial, neoliberal, sociocultural project we call "ai": www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_dc... as close to my view as i've heard out there.

it's incredible to me that the "the real reason that..." click bait thing still works after all these years. wild.

yep: hedgehogreview.com/web-features...

my 11yo has entered his first essay contest. i'm a very proud essayist.

there are people of a certain persuasion for whom listening to #frankzappa's "dog breath variations" and "uncle meat" is an ideal state for their nervous system. i am of that persuasion.

a laughable headline. as if there were ever a time reading wasn't sexy.

1/2 with the repeated complaint from students about how frustrating it is to have different expectations in different classes for how/when generative software is permitted, i always come back to how frustrated so many teachers are.

16th before the kalends of july. first moon. +blessed thomas reding, #carthusian martyr under henry viii.

my latest at @jhejournal.bsky.social on higher ed, jesuit education, and the neocolonlial, neoliberal, sociocultural project we're calling 'ai': digitalcommons.lmu.edu/jhe/vol15/is...

The new JHE issue will drop later this week! Find us at our new website: digitalcommons.lmu.edu/jhe/

no text of _magnifica humanitas_ in latin yet? anyone know where to find it?

ivy just made a play in the @Brewers @Cubs game. #plantwatching #baseball #milwaukee

some serious baltimore oriole action in the backyard the last week, especially the last couple days. a joy.

just saw/heard a gray catbird, brown thrasher, flicker, baltimore oriole, house finch, and song sparrow on a short walk in #milwaukee. #birdwatching

dear reader, i have a brash confession to make. i have never really read charles olson or robert creeley. for these and my many other literary sins, i am truly sorry.

good essays/books for use with students in university classes for _hearing the line_? #poetry

trillium peaking out last week. they're full blown for several days now. #plantwatching #wildflowers #wisconsin

a colony of mayapple in the morning sun in the old growth. #plantwatching #wildflowers #wisconsin

marsh marigolds by the creek last week. #plantwatching #wildflowers

skunk cabbage looking _very_ different down by the creek. #plantwatching #wildflowers

fawn lily carpet at cudahy woods last week. #plantwatching #wildflowers #wisconsin

bloodroot, #milwaukee style. #plantwatching #wildflowers

if you enjoy my quirky take here on cognition, the soul, drug culture, & how to be a critical & integral human in neoliberal global society, you might just enjoy my latest book, _contemplate: toward an expansive heart_ from @monkfishpublishing.bsky.social: www.monkfishpublishing.com/product/cont...

very pleased to be up at front porch republic today, with an essay that was a lot of fun (and consternating) to pen. www.frontporchrepublic.com www.frontporchrepublic.com/2026/05/hash...

cleaning the desk in a grading break, and found a nearly-new small notebook. leafing quickly thru the pages, i see that there's only one passage written (by me): "but if my authentic self _is_ being passive-aggressive and smarmy?"

i am currently psyching myself up to undertake the greatest ascetic discipline a scholar can: i will finish the book i've been working on for _years_ before i allow myself to write another essay, academic or public-facing. it is a dark day.

happy nones of may! +st. domitilla

this morning we saw &/or heard a louisiana water thrush, black throated green warbler, northern parula, palm warbler, and black&white warbler. (+ a bunch more very common neighborhood birds.) all in the ravines in lake park, #milwaukee. #birds #birdwatching

my employer has updated word so that copilot is there & can't be removed (for the present at least). it generates summaries of almost every document i open w/o my request, so yeah, "everyone's using it" per user activity monitoring, but that doesn't reflect reality.

New episode of The Data Fix podcast: Am a big fan of @danmcquillan.bsky.social and you will be too once you listen to this: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...

" [AI] is all fundamentally built on neural networks, which is what lends it its crapness" - @danmcquillan.bsky.social

well done.

pasqueflower hanging out on #wisconsin ave at @MarquetteU. #plantwatching #milwaukee

bloodroot coming up in the beds! #plantwatching #milwaukee

"Within digital environments — structured to persuade — interaction is optimized to the point of rendering a real encounter superfluous; the otherness of persons in the flesh is neutralized, and relationships are reduced to functional responses....

1/2 "While the African continent is well acquainted with its alluring aspects, it also knows the darker side of the environmental and social devastation caused by the relentless pursuit of raw materials and rare earths....

new installment of the sna poems--been awhile! mcgilvra woods, sauk cty, wisconsin #plantwatching #wisconsin #wildflowers #mushrooms jacobriyeff.com/2026/04/11/s...

cutleaf toothwort about to blow in sauk cty easter monday. #plantwatching #wisconsin

also, the crocuses have been kickin' for over a week. #milwaukee #plantwatching

virginia spring beauty in sauk cty. #plantwatching #wisconsin

man, signing off at least until easter monday. be well, humans.

the psychology of grading is funny. i'm genuinely interested in the rough drafts my students submitted, and on the whole they're really interesting. but man do i not want to do these last five. fighting the aversion. partially just b/c i let them submit digitally.

Some absolutely stunning Milky Orchids Neotinea lactea amongst the grassland and woodland at Monte Lauro, Sicily today. 5°C though! Brr. @europeanorchids.bsky.social

iuvencus and arator came in today from the library. resisting the urge to avoid all other work and just read them until i'm done. ugh.

The Sacred Oak Grove … … as far as I’m concerned. Primrose Unit, Southwest Wisconsin Grassland and Stream Conservation Area

considering "giving up" social media for the easter season.

my personal mission statement for the university: "The function of a university is to teach [one] how to drink tea." ~Thomas Merton, “Learning to Live”