Author Archives

  • IT NEVER CEASES

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    “Do you have a basement? We think there’s a kentuki about to die—could you go down and look?” Some people who answered still didn’t know what a kentuki was.” ― Samanta Schweblin, Little Eyes: A Novel   On Wednesday, I… Read More ›

  • WHAT ARE WE REALLY TALKING ABOUT?

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    “Truth cannot be imparted,” said Kline. “It must be inflicted.” ― Brian Evenson   You gotta give credit where credit is due, and Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn deserves a boatload of credit, Not for what you might expect –… Read More ›

  • THE FORECAST CALLS FOR INCREASED TURMOIL

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    “I don’t think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief–if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make belief more complex and more textured, more real. Good writing unsettles, destroys both the author and… Read More ›

  • PIERCING THE SMOKE

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    “After all, isn’t that the Gatsby glory of the New York dream: telling the grandest story about yourself that you could hope to have others believe in the distant hope that you’ll believe it yourself?” ― Torrey Peters, Detransition, Baby… Read More ›

  • PUSHING FOR THE FINISH LINE

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    “To love is to enter into the inevitability of one day not being able to protect what is most valuable to you.” ― Mohsin Hamid, Exit West   The school year is in the home stretch now. Nashville students have… Read More ›

  • CLOSING THOUGHTS ON TEACHER APPRECIATION

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    “Some people are pretty good at hiding who they really are.” ― Holly Jackson, Good Girl, Bad Blood   Today concludes Teacher Appreciation Week. Every year I swear I’m going to just politely smile and nod through it. Focus on… Read More ›

  • TENNESSEE TEACHER APPRECIATION

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    “His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair,… Read More ›

  • A MANCHURIAN CANIDATE

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    “Don’t worry about what people think, because once it’s all over the people who love you will make you what they want you to be, and the people who don’t love you will, too.” ― Rick Bragg, The Prince of… Read More ›

  • NOT EXACTLY HALCYON DAYS

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    “But I am a patient man. I can wait for hours in the rain.” ― Patrick Modiano, Dora Bruder   Hard to believe, that it is only the end of April, and I’m already ready for this year to come… Read More ›

  • HALF BAKED IDEAS, AND HIDDEN AGENDAS

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    “Simple people always reduce everything to their own simple measure.” ― Norah Lofts, The Concubine   Last year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation that made it possible for local school board races to be partisan affairs. Locally, this year,… Read More ›