“These recent years have taught me that I’m less when I’m not actively looking after myself, that I have value to my world and my community beyond ceaseless production and that pursuits like birding that foster joy, wonder and connection to place are not sidebars to a fulfilled life but their essence.”
“It’s easy to think of birding as an escape from reality. Instead, I see it as immersion in the true reality. I don’t need to know who the main characters are on social media and what everyone is saying about them, when I can instead spend an hour trying to find a rare sparrow. It’s very clear to me which of those two activities is the more ridiculous. It’s not the one with the sparrow.”
What made me happy yesterday: finishing Negar Djavadi's amazing new novel Disoriental. So much in one book. It reads like a memoir, with the "I" narrator, and includes history, gender, sexuality, imperialism and colonialism, immigration and exile. The symphonic orchestration of themes, motifs, scenes, dialogue, images, etc. reminds me, in its own way, of You Could Make this Place Beautiful.
Cheers to National Poetry Month! I am excited to know about the Limon collection; I'll have to check that out. This week I am teaching my Intro to Sociology class via poet and climate activist Ayisha Siddiqa.
On a recent trip to Colorado I saw an Eagle and a pair of the most radiant blue Mountain Bluebirds.
Also, I wrote a book about teaching that aims to understand quiet students, the reasons for their silences (in their words) and how to use quiet as an inclusive pedagogical strategy, as a route into voice (instead of the oft-used practice of banging our heads against the wall trying to get quiet students to talk). Tomorrow is publication day!
Oh gosh: Ed Yong’s piece. Glorious! These words:
“These recent years have taught me that I’m less when I’m not actively looking after myself, that I have value to my world and my community beyond ceaseless production and that pursuits like birding that foster joy, wonder and connection to place are not sidebars to a fulfilled life but their essence.”
“It’s easy to think of birding as an escape from reality. Instead, I see it as immersion in the true reality. I don’t need to know who the main characters are on social media and what everyone is saying about them, when I can instead spend an hour trying to find a rare sparrow. It’s very clear to me which of those two activities is the more ridiculous. It’s not the one with the sparrow.”
Right?! I needed that.
What made me happy yesterday: finishing Negar Djavadi's amazing new novel Disoriental. So much in one book. It reads like a memoir, with the "I" narrator, and includes history, gender, sexuality, imperialism and colonialism, immigration and exile. The symphonic orchestration of themes, motifs, scenes, dialogue, images, etc. reminds me, in its own way, of You Could Make this Place Beautiful.
Thanks for the rec! Adding to my list.
Cheers to National Poetry Month! I am excited to know about the Limon collection; I'll have to check that out. This week I am teaching my Intro to Sociology class via poet and climate activist Ayisha Siddiqa.
On a recent trip to Colorado I saw an Eagle and a pair of the most radiant blue Mountain Bluebirds.
Also, I wrote a book about teaching that aims to understand quiet students, the reasons for their silences (in their words) and how to use quiet as an inclusive pedagogical strategy, as a route into voice (instead of the oft-used practice of banging our heads against the wall trying to get quiet students to talk). Tomorrow is publication day!
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475867824/Pedagogies-of-Quiet-Silence-and-Social-Justice-in-the-Classroom
Monica, congrats! We need this book. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you 🙏
(*Motion for Rhett to stay cuddly forever.)Tell him I’m on the look out for snake skins. Tis the season out here in the wily desert 🧡
Motion granted! 💗
Molly is the best! 🤩