Soccer Mommy put on a great show in Boston tonight. color theory was my COVID lockdown soundtrack and it meant a lot to be with friends and a happy crowd tonight. Also thanks to my husband for babysitting on our anniversary so I could go.

When the moonflowers think they’re morning glories.

The student in the morning class who saw My Chemical Romance in Boston last night looked much better than the professor in the same class who saw Rilo Kiley in Boston last night.

very rude of Katabasis to come out last week and not in June.

garden welcomed us home in fine fashion today.

I just preordered this incredible looking @sunypress.bsky.social book co-edited by @carolinegelmi.bsky.social, one of my favorite writers and teachers, and I hope you will too! sunypress.edu/Books/T/Teac...

Spotted: a rogue hollyhock volunteer.

My AI bib for students will apparently just remain a living document. "Premium chatbots provided more confidently incorrect answers than their free counterparts.” www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...

I drafted an email opposing Canvas's partnership with OpenAI and am happy send it to you if you'd like to send such a thing to your institution's instructional designers and faculty senate.

syllabus time, teaming up for the herculean efforts of reinventing writing assignments. here, some prompts for required weekly low stakes 250-500 word reflections/ process pieces that have proven relatively conducive to real writing in lit class. please share any similar suggestions in thread.

Happy Bastille Day! Feline reminder that philosophical patron saint of the French Revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, put a cat on the cover of "The Social Contract" because cats were his “test of character”; those who don’t enjoy cats “have the despotic instinct of men.” @dukepress.bsky.social

Five years ago today my book Bank Notes and Shinplasters: The Rage for Paper Money in the Early Republic came out. Like a lot of books that first Covid summer it got lost a bit at the time. Thanks to all of you who have read it.🗃️ https://www.pennpress.org/9780812252248/bank-notes-and-shinplasters/

Sour cherry pie, from our very own tree. Should be set up for elevenses tomorrow.

The rabbits have taken to lounging.

Birds left me a pie’s worth.

Today in personal growth I showered with a house centipede and only did two tiny shrieks.

Spoiler: it’s me!!! 🥳

This is what democracy looks like in Rhode Island.

I just vacuumed an actual cobweb out of my box of complimentary copies, so taking inspiration from another great piece by @rcolesworthy.bsky.social and reposting that my book, The Art of Retreat, is out from @bucknellupress.bsky.social, just in time for summer reading. RUP30 for 30% off.

The 19th century abolitionist movement utilized a diversity of tactics and engaged in constant critical internal debate in the mission to end slavery. The movement needed speeches, lawyers, lawbreakers, newspapers, and armed resisters. History teaches us that freedom requires all of the above.

The moment has passed and you may not like it but this is what 2 high agency males look like.

“Hands off our kids,” they chanted. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/01/m...

@bucknellupress.bsky.social has reminded me that as you’re planning summer reading or sending purchase recommendations to your library, you can use discount code RUP30 for 30% off The Art of Retreat: tinyurl.com/yhunwhzm

heyyyy, thanks Tom! Great to see it out and about!

I signed my last will and testament today and managed to painstakingly initial 47 pages without referring to a single Victorian novel.

My campus building is closing for renovations. We have to pack up our books and will not have office space for at least the next 3 semesters. This brings big problems, but today I am choosing to fixate on where I will keep my collection of Amanda Cross novels.

Peak daffodils.

Learned at breakfast there is a complex system of kindergarteners smuggling coins in their shoes to exchange at recess so I guess we’ll be pickling limes this weekend.

An exciting delivery from @bucknellupress.bsky.social. The Art of Retreat considers the aesthetic possibilities of domestic retreat imagined in the fiction of the early US. You can read more and order the book at the link in my profile.

Not pictured, me standing awkwardly, begging myself not to make The Author to Her Cake jokes.

shamelessly comparing office hours on the last day to withdraw from classes to an episode of The Pitt.

Helpful read at the end of a long day of teaching, trying not to feel crushed by many of the conditions the authors think about so adeptly. Esp. appreciate the section by @ashleyrattner.bsky.social on online learners, who have become some of my favorite students to work w/at my regional pub. uni.

is it just me or are people driving even more maniacally since the tariffs.

Providence, RI

I started my undergraduate theory class today with this essay - it was a much needed reminder in the final weeks of the semester of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Thank you for writing it.

heartening.

The last of the witch hazel blooms fell last night but my first daffodil opened this morning. And the peony I rudely transplanted at the wrong time of year seems to have forgiven me.

Proud to see so many of my former teachers listed as signatories. I hope Tufts listens and does everything in its power to free Rümeysa Öztürk.

Please donate to legal fees and other expenses for Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts grad student abducted by ICE because of an op-ed in a student newspaper. I've heard confirmation her legal team is aware of and supports this effort: chuffed.org/project/just...

Organizers are telling me that the April 5th “Hands Off!” protest starting at Hope High School is on track to be one of the largest protests in Rhode Island history.

A meaningful change after having a kid is now when I see a movie in a theater I’m constantly reaching for a phantom remote to turn down the volume.

I did my graduate work at Tufts and am having a very hard time focusing on anything but Rumeysa Ozturk today. Her case is not different from others, but I’ve walked those streets with international friends and fellow students, and the video of her capture is bone chilling.

Got word today that my copies should be arriving in a few weeks. Estimated ship date for pre-orders is 4/15. Feel free to accidentally include me in all your top secret group chats about it. tinyurl.com/yhunwhzm.

Meanwhile I’m over here needing double verification to check the OED.

Of course it’s a senior vice provost.

The least strange dream I had last night…I was doing a teaching observation and the class was toddlers assembling IKEA furniture. Then puppies arrived.

Anyway I saw Oh, Mary! with my sister last night and at the end when everyone was laughing and cheering and covered in streamers there was a moment when I thought maybe we’d be okay. It didn’t last but it was nice.

Thank you Senator Whitehouse! Proud my RI delegation is fighting this one.

Thank you Senator Reed. I hope you can persuade party leadership to join you.

It is nervous dog following me into the bathroom while I brush my teeth level of windy today.