I am happy to report that last night I quickly delivered a densely packed lecture in a college class on James Baldwin's work last night. That was my first time teaching in a classroom is nearly four years. And it was fun. Does this point to anything in the future . . .?

I felt this deeply.

Tomorrow I'm sitting in on a college class about James Baldwin to discuss my research about his critical reception. I'm thinking of the connections between aesthetics and politics and how Baldwin's later work and its craftsmanship are underrated because critics disagree with its politics.

If you're looking for another way to divest from Amazon and instead support your local community, hi, nice to meet you 👋 When you buy audiobooks through us, a portion goes to your independent bookstore. It's an easy way to shop small all year long.

#haircut #selfie

My new review of a very strong Emmylou Harris reissue is live @popmatters.com!!!

My new blog on the books that made the biggest impact on me this year!!

My new blog on some of the music that moved me the most this year!!

My blog on education and race is live @goodmenproject.bsky.social!!! goodmenproject.com/featured-con...

My blog of books I read in 2025 is going to be "lit" (get it?)

This week, I ran into a former student graduating from college with honors, went to OUTspoken LGBTQ Stories, attended Kenny Chesney's book talk after almost getting hit by a car, had oral surgery (went well), read from three books, worked on an album review, wrote a blog, and had an annual eye exam.

Oh my! Well . . . Wordle 1,603 2/6 🟩⬜🟩🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

New blog on education, race, and lessons learned from the toughest teacher I have ever had

I'm once again entering a lot of published work into a communications contest, and this is one of my favorite pieces I've written this year. For anyone grieving right now, I highly recommend these songs: for breakups, for deaths, for any catharsis needed. joshfrmusic.substack.com/p/10-should-...

I love the little free pantry library things, but please remember that canned foods are hard for a lot of people for a lot of reasons, and if you are going to stock cans, stick to ones with pop tabs. Please remember the varied needs of the real people experiencing food insecurity.

25 years ago, I sang and played on piano Patti Smith's "Because the Night" at an overnight arts camp, wearing a hoodie; I was eleven and didn't understand the lyrics' sexual implications. I just heard the song overhead somewhere and remembered that moment.

NEW: “I Don’t Feel Safe.” Black Memphis Residents Report Harassment by Trump’s Police Task Force, by @wendicthomas.bsky.social @katieburgess.bsky.social w/ @mlk50.com

sure you can put on a horror movie but this halloween you can also put on death cab for cutie and let yourself be haunted by your high school self

It's easy to lose perspective on my life, but when someone whom I met over a decade ago says about my perseverance, "I've watched you not give up," I have to take that compliment seriously.

A reminder that "He Didn't Have to Be" is my choice for the best written country song of the '90s. And yes, there are a lot of incredible contenders, but none moved me quite like that song. I've often said that I was crying so hard that the song "slaughtered me alive and served me up for breakfast."

cancel completely. this is only their latest bullshit. they treat artists terribly and want free reign over their work. Cancel Spotify.

I have at least three recently completed essays that I'm waiting to hear back about. One's about the 20th anniversary of the films Brokeback Mountain and Crash, another is about a lost friendship, and the last one is about an ex who passed away. Coincidentally, so much writing about loss!

Neuro/Queer personal essays on music

"Ode to Billie Joe"

22 months off all coffee and caffeinated tea

Audiobooks are a godsend with my ADHD

Are you offended by the murders of trans people, or are you offended by their existence? We are not the same.

One of them for me has to be Tracy Chapman

My new folk music review of a Joan Baez reissue LP is live @popmatters.com!!! www.popmatters.com/joan-baez-fa...

I finished a complete draft of my article on the 20th anniversary of the films Brokeback Mountain and Crash. 3,276 words! I'm hoping it's good for publication soon

I'm writing my first ever film article on the 20th anniversary of the films Brokeback Mountain and Crash. I'm hoping to finish it this weekend to submit it to PopMatters.

Miles Davis "Flamenco Sketches" Album "Kind of Blue" John Coltrane-Beautiful Solo 2:02 Cannonball Adderley 3:48 Bill Evans 5:57 youtu.be/UpwlFYvdUXY #Jazz #Music #MilesDavis #Jazzsky #JohnColtrane #KindOfBlue🎧#Music

I just submitted a personal essay on music and death to a publication about death and its cultural milieu. I hope it gets accepted

Being autistic and sending a text message and not knowing when you'll get a response just hits differently when you're autistic. Why ? It just does.

Reblogged at @goodmenproject.bsky.social!!! goodmenproject.com/featured-con...

New blog on neurodivergence and validation

I feel like I should make this into a TikTok (if I knew how to use TikTok)

For #NationalComingOutDay: I have a number of memorable coming out stories: coming out to my freshman class at New Student Orientation at college (in an event where I was riddled with internalized homophobia) and coming out to my grandparents are two big ones.

That pub from two months ago STILL hasn’t paid me. Any help would be appreciated. 💜 Related: I think I’m going to finish out this year and figure out what else I can do besides writing… 😭 ko-fi.com/beedelores

Probably preaching to the choir here, but I must reiterate my utter hatred towards bullshit AI art. Generating videos of garbage like Freddie Mercury fist bumping Ozzy Osbourne in heaven is the worst kind of cheap, exploitative bullshit that’s ever taxed the power grid. Shut it down already

I just found someone's LiveJournal from 2006 while searching for a newspaper article. Please excuse me while I mourn my age by listening to Panic! At the Disco.

Contributor @joshfrmusic.bsky.social dissects the myth of authenticity in country music -- and takes us through a literature review of scholars and journalists hard at work to dispel it. rainbowrodeomag.com/...

My new article is live @rainbowrodeo.bsky.social!!! Subscribe to read the whole piece!!!!

Certain books make you dream; Greil Marcus’ Mystery Train wakes you up to the blunt fact that you are alive and living in an ever-rollin' mythology. #PMPick READ: tinyurl.com/GMarcusRollin

Listening to Gillian Welch

I got on the waitlist for a writing residency in the spring . . . I'm excited!

Abolish ICE

My new book review is live @popmatters.com

My blog has been reposted @goodmenproject.bsky.social!!! Check it out!!!