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Category Archives: Blog
Hope for the Future
I spent Saturday with one thousand teenagers at the TeenLit Con. The day-long event hosted TEN big-name young adult and graphic novel authors including: Steve Brezenoff, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, , Gayle Forman, Jonathan Friesen, Rebecca Hahn, Patrick Jones, E Lockhart, Matt de … Continue reading
May the Fifth Be With You
A long long time ago (Sunday), in a galaxy far away (St. Paul), I wrote a piece in preparation for my Monday blog. I read it over and realized, yikes, this thing is depressing in the way that only dead … Continue reading
Dear Disney: You Could Sing A Rainbow
Disney is currently gorging on live-action remakes of animated films. In the works: Alice in Wonderland, Tomorrowland, Pete’s Dragon, and Dumbo. Perhaps the most hotly anticipated remake, though, is Beauty and the Beast. Animated Beauty came out in 1991 at … Continue reading
Whack-a-Mole
Springtime in Minnesota. Once the temperature hits fifty degrees, hardy Minnesotans figure it’s time to drag out the tank tops and shorts. My Mole Radar (Madar) awakens from its wintry slumber, rubs its eyes, and says “!@#$%^ Here we go … Continue reading
AWP 2015 Recap – Association of Writers/Writing Programs
I just spent three days in the good company of 11,999 other writerly people at the Convention Center in Minneapolis. Our fair Twin Cities kindly provided rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine over the course of the convention. At least Minnesota … Continue reading
Potent Words: The Stories Behind Decades of Psychic Distress
Certain stories stick with me – some like the tenacious plantar wart that won’t go away despite liquid nitrogen, scalpel debridement, and acid – others like the varicella virus, lying dormant for years before emerging again as a painful red … Continue reading
Friday Night Fish Fry
I tried giving up sweets for Lent this year. Christina, one of my friends, accomplished this insane task a couple years ago. She felt great. I figured why not give it a go – not for any religious reason, but … Continue reading
Eating the Vernal Equinox: Menu For the Urban Minnesota Locavore
For your gustatory pleasure, please enjoy these step-by-step instructions to your very own vernal equinox feast. Descend stairs to basement. Trip over tub of miscellaneous “winter squash.” Drag tub upstairs to kitchen. Go back down and trip over tub of … Continue reading
Remedial Anatomy Part II: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer Explains Female Reproductive Anatomy
Last week we discussed how it is physically impossible for a woman to swallow a camera in order to undergo a gynecologic exam. I promised to cover human female reproductive anatomy with a little help from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. … Continue reading
Remedial Anatomy Part 1: The Alimentary Canal
Idaho state representative Vito Barbieri made social media waves last week by asking if a woman could swallow a camera in order for a physician to perform a remote gyn exam. The details are slightly murky and I confess I … Continue reading