Landfill Harmonics: a creative approach to reaching impoverished youth in Paraguay.
02
Feb
2010
Song Inspires Nostalgia for Anthropology
A contemporary song reminds me of all that inspired me to become an anthropologist eons ago….Read More
08
Jun
2009
Furr
I retired from teaching at an independent high school several years ago to free up time for writing and growing food. One of the things I miss most about it is the connection to all the wild creativity that comes from younger generations. Several days ago, I attended the graduation of students I taught in [...]Read More
01
May
2009
Apology to Dancing Parrots
Yesterday, I wrote a poem, “Thanks for the Feathers,” around some bird metaphors, and I used the parrot to embody some of my self-doubt about what I’ve written over the last month. “I mostly fear the parrot, preening her witty feathers, nodding her cocky head to the songs of others.” That was before I saw [...]Read More
17
Mar
2009
Getting Close to Ireland
The closest I’ve been to Ireland is Conwy castle on the coast of Wales. It was summer, mid-way through college. I was in a naive and dreamy stage then, weighing my future options. Major in anthropology or English? “Save” others in the world ( did I mention naive?) or explore my own cultural identity in [...]Read More
31
Jan
2009
Happy Feet
I’ve been writing and rewriting a manuscript on Nepal for at least ten years and am ready to be done with it, but I’m not. I have to dig in and do some really hard work revising pieces that grew stale for me a long time ago. I’ve been over the same material many times [...]Read More
26
Dec
2008
Christmas Snow
The snow is melting now; I’m going to miss it. Oh, I’ll be glad to be able to drive again without worrying about chains and snow shovels. But I’ve enjoyed almost two weeks with a good excuse for not driving, shopping, or doing the usual Christmas run-around. Snow enforced stillness and quiet and convinced me [...]Read More
