I love David Sherlock’s post on the blog posts he didn’t write in 2017. It lets him set aside some rather unwieldy beasts, yet share what he’s been wrestling with. His never-posts range from education to gendered toys to ‘everything
I still remember getting an apple, an orange, and a crisp two-dollar bill one Christmas. When my great-grandfather handed us each a piece of fruit, I carried it to the car, tucked my cold feet on the heater, and compared
I’ll be back to Maine next week for Thanksgiving with my husband’s folks. It should be fun. The day after Amos and I got married, I met my new Aunt Beth. She brought out a long genealogy that outlined my husband’s mother’s
I’ve previously shared what I know of modern Kazakh names, as have other authors. But what about ancestral names? My motivation here is a growing connection to the SCA, a group fond of historical fencing, archery, brewing, and crafts. These
I’ve been asked to present about my research process, so I thought I’d share here what I’ll be presenting to other librarians soon. Below are some of the steps I take when doing academic or nonfiction research; I’d love to
You’ve probably heard of “culture shock,” that initial wallop when everything’s different. Some folks, like Debbie Stephens, hit a wall when they’ve “bathed and washed my hair in a bucket… eaten with monkeys, been roommates with scorpions… and eaten foods
As I mentioned, I recently tried being a guy on Facebook to see what would happen. But even as a guy, I still only see the ladies. Not that my lady friends try to be dominant; in fact, many are quite self-effacing. But
Recently, I got fed up with being a lady on Facebook. The marketing. The advertisements for empowered baby clothes (“she’s a rocket scientist!”) and faintly healthy food (“try three papaya-sweet corn bars for only $12.99!”). I tried adjusting my ad
After far too many pages of verb tenses, K and I left our study abroad classroom for a late-afternoon lunch in southern Kazakhstan. She was surprised at the sheer size of the margarita, and I was delighted with her expression.
We’ve tried spreadsheets. We’ve tried task management apps. We’ve tried to-do lists. Yet my husband Amos* and I are terrible at making decisions. I, for one, prefer to ruminate… research… discuss every option with *all* my friends (surprisingly few are