a typical full day

My Present Tense: a typical full day

This morning I assigned my students two simple writing prompts, exercising the present tense. They had to use the words “as soon as,” “first,” “next,” “then,” “before/after,” and “when.” We all learned. For example, I realized, as I chalked the prompts on the blackboard, that “when” plays as the middle […]

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publishing a novel

The Summer Abroad: a publishing update, as we end the fall

Three dark themes stalk this journey into self-publishing: Bursts of tinkering, troubleshooting, and anxiety.   Of course there are luminous elements holding hands with me as we progress. But those lights shine in between and at the end of the journey.   Last Friday, I received the edited draft from […]

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new york city

What NYC means to me and what it’s like to live here

A buddy sent me this sketch from College Humor last Sunday, which satirizes the stereotypes Americans have against New Yorkers. My favorite part was the joke about NYC getting criticized more than any other city.   “Nobody ever talks shit about Cincinnati,” says the man from Ohio.   “That’s actually […]

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“Nana” by Serena Dykman

4.0 out of 5 stars Purchase, learn, reflect. Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2018 After viewing this documentary, I can only say one thing, a single word echoed various times near the end, the answer to the question asked of friends and of colleagues of Maryla Mikalowsi-Dyamant, […]

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interview

Success, a NYC interview story

Pasó así, Papá, y aunque pese, como lo viví te lo narro, en inglés:   Completely cut off from chance, no hope, only needs and responsibilities. I got home at 1 PM from working a four-hour at the language school. I would talk about that shift later in the day, […]

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love terrestrial

Trailer — Instructions — Newsletter

Ice cream. Outer space. Reflex. Lombok, Indonesia. LCD Soundsystem. Bullseye. Zeker. Mosque. Date. По-русски. Brighton Beach. Vial. Malachite. Autobiography. Vanidades. Superman. Zelda. Sk8ter boi. Summer. Twentysomething. Yawp. Kebab. Kiss. Two-hundred hungry loud Texans. Moons. Gray-whiskered and rough. Argos. Estrangement. Imperceptible smile. Low gravity. Cigarette. Astronomy. Burnt-orange bag. Black Hercules. Queso. Parallax […]

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air travel airplane

What’s next? An announcement, pronouncement.

Ladies and Gentlemen,   Thank you for visiting this page. Some of you will notice there has been some inactivity as a result of one’s being inactive inactively for a minute here on this blog, yup me, allowing the days to produce only a lack of content, let’s just say. […]

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