I Got trolls? Worse yet, anonymous trolls, or trolls with names, but fake URLs and go-nowhere e-mail addresses? One of mine today suggests that I volunteer for service in Iraq. Another believes this site dispenses unauthorized academic advice. Perhaps these discreet souls would like to read a note – signed, with an authentic return address … More Daily Mail

Consider this, and this. I was going to tell an amusing tale about my student Byron and his father, but in light of some recent news I am reminded of the only Viet Nam veteran I ever met who would discuss war experiences with any personal detail at all. We met him on the beach, … More Viet Nam

We shall walk through the valley We shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death, We shall walk through the valley in peace. This was Leadbelly singing his take on a slave spiritual. Here, east of the Rockies, there are fewer bright days than I am used to, and people cover their windows. … More Shadow of Death

For readers who may not have understood yesterday’s video, here is a very partial transcription. COMMENTATOR: El cielo se ha despejado. The sky has cleared. Hubo frío, mucho frío. It was cold, very cold. Hoy el cielo se ha despejado. Today the sky has cleared. Ya no hay tanto frío. It is no longer so … More Suave Patria

Heresy 1 would be what I said about Al-Anon on this comment thread yesterday afternoon, adding random points and thoughts in between grading papers and updating departmental websites. A boil-down of those comments might be to say that I find the formulaic nature of the program very constraining. Formulas, guidelines, and paradigms all have their … More Heresy 2

Welcome to Wobegon’s Post-Katrina University, where all the men are good-looking, all the women are intelligent, and all the players are injured.  All the veterans are decorated, and each decoration consists of something more than a purple heart. Axé.

My banner picture was taken in Chichicastenango, Guatemala, the most touristy town in El Quiché, but I was on my way to Nebaj, from whence I went walking in the Ixil Triangle. I did not get as far as Uspantán, true Rigoberta Menchú territory, but I did find Chajul, where her brother was burned (or … More Caminos para cantar

Having just written a long response to a question on a post about writing and academia, it occurs to me that I might mention some of my tales of culture shock upon entering the professoriate. I always thought that by being an academic in the humanities, and in humanities fields oriented towards cultures other than … More Heart of Amerika

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris. Nescio, sed fieri sentio, et excrucior. These are the things I dislike about being a professor: 1. having to live in prim towns in the heart of Amerika; 2. the lack of actual intellectual and creative life; 3. careerism; 4. passive agression, which passes for ‘professionalism’ but … More Catullus 85

I am still looking for a really good English translation, perhaps Dryden’s, of Horace’s second ode from Book III of the Odes. I seek this, of course, as background to Wilfred Owen’s realistic war poem. I have found this translation, which is adequate, though dull, this one, which I like better, and this one, which … More Quintus Horatius Flaccus