This isn’t fiction. A man I consider a queer elder lost his husband a few years ago. These guys were kind of my “gay dads,” older gay men who were part of my coming out, men who were kind and encouraging and were safe harbors while I navigated my identity. The one who died own […]

My heart is in the coffin, there. Buried with her. I can hear it beating. There’s nothing left in my chest. A hollow space. She emptied it when she emptied the apartment, robbed it of her things, she packed them in boxes and in the rush to finish, packed up my bloody heart. Stole it […]

Blue’s first friend was a young girl named Kya. They first met at Blue’s fifth birthday party, which was held in a small park a few blocks from Blue’s home. Her parents had rented a bouncy house, and since the bouncy house was larger than the small square of grass that passed as their backyard, […]

“But I want to go. I insist.” She slammed her fists down on the heavy wooden table, but it didn’t make the booming, authoritative sound she hoped it would make. “You can’t go into the caves, no matter how much you bang about,” the old explorer said. “It ain’t no place fit for a child. … Continue reading 11.7.19

Talking to ghosts feels like remembering. You don’t use your voice any: it’s all in your head. And even though it’s happening now, it doesn’t feel like it’s happening now. It feels like it’s something from a long time ago, something you can pick up the edges of, but not the whole thing. Not all … Continue reading 11.6.19

Winter is coming (up north first) so that many among us aim to keep the fires of our minds at full flame. Thus, Space for Theory III will continues the project between UK, UW-Madison, and UMN geography faculty and students to read and discuss theory for theory’s sake. In other words, SfT is a space to read important but less popular / out of vogue theory, without necessarily having to think having to think through how these ideas relate to your work or to the discipline and disciplining of Geography. Registration is now closed but I hope many of you will get to hear about and share from our conversation soon to happen there in further chat to come.

Organized by Jack Gieseking, Arun Saldanha, and Keith Woodward, SfTIII will gather at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis all day on Saturday, November 16th, with time for conversation and other …

Winter is coming (up north first) so that many among us aim to keep the fires of our minds at full flame. Thus, Space for Theory III will continues the project between UK, UW-Madison, and UMN geography faculty and students to read and discuss theory for theory’s sake. In other …

Top 10 Favorite Short Stories for 6th Graders As a teacher of 6th graders, I have found that at this age they should be reading much of the content they read independently. Although, in my other post about why read alouds are important, I stated that I had been modeling fluency reads. I feel there …

Little black dots. It looked like a splattering of tiny ink spots on the ceiling above them. There was a cluster of dots, maybe ten or twelve, slightly to their left, then a trail of dots, another seven or so, inching across the ceiling to their right. Like ants, they thought. A line of little … Continue reading 11.5.19

I’m in my first student teaching experience of my professional year and I am getting to work with 6th grade students. This has been a true joy, because my students can hold meaningful conversations and share their ideas readily. But one thing that I have noticed about the sixth grade class that I work with …

So I have been reading several novels in search of the perfect move for my class to read for our next novel study. I re-read Hatchet, Maniac Magee, and Touching Spirit Bear. All of these books are books I read many, many years ago so I definitely needed the refresher. This week I have chosen …

We would carry the bodies together. Joe would take them at the head, because he knew I didn’t like to see their eyes. He was kind that way. I didn’t like the feeling of them looking at me as we slid them into the fire, judging me, as though I was some kind of monster. … Continue reading 11.4.19

You can’t add to a person once they’re dead. When they’re dead, they’re finished. All the things they’re ever gonna do and all the things they’re ever gonna be are written in stone. They don’t get a stitch more of anything. They’re whole. So when a person dies without knowing they’re gonna die, they die … Continue reading 11.3.19

He pulled the curtain shut when he heard the women’s voices. “Malcolm!” Gravia sounded drunk. “Malcolm, there’s a body -“ “Lower your voice, you cow.” Lenka’s voice was wobbly, too, but she was at least still clear enough to think. Malcolm stepped out of the wagon and saw them. Still in their performance clothes, they […]

There were no ghosts where there should be ghosts. That worried her. “Maybe you’re wrong about a rip in the Veil,” Brea said. “I’m not wrong,” Chels said. “I’m never wrong. There’s a rip and it’s here and there should be ghosts.” She remembered the last time a rip site was cold. They’re typically vibrating […]

The doorbell rang. “It’s after eight. They’re supposed to stop trick-or-treating at eight.” Randy grabbed the bowl and lurched off the couch. “Are we really going to police a kid in a costume who shows up at 8:04?” Luke grabbed the remote. “Want me to pause it?” “I’ve seen Halloween a million times. No.” Randy […]

The boots were back. They sat at the mud room door as they always had, as he’d always placed them as soon as he’d come home, as he would have this day if he hadn’t been dead a month. They were back, and this frightened her. She’d taken the boots and his coats and his […]

He pushed the book aside and looked more closely at the markings on the table. He’d seen them somewhere before. He ran his finger over the circular carving, rough and uneven. Inside, what looked like a rudimentary tree, less a picture and more a gesture. What would pass for the idea of a tree. He’d […]

Diversity is all around us, we see it in almost every facet of our daily lives. I do believe that as the world progresses people are becoming more open to diversity and accepting of the differences that exist in our world today. I know that I have became more open to diversity as I have …

He situated himself in the center of the room. He didn’t trust the walls. Keep moving. He slapped himself hard across the face. It was impossible to keep his eyes open. He hadn’t slept in three days. Keep moving. North wall. West wall. South wall east wall. He’d turn to face them, wait a second […]

This week our football team will play in the football playoffs, our school is Co-Op’ed with another small local school for sports and this is there first ever playoff bout in co-op history. My son is the water boy for the football team and my husband is one of the coaches. So lately I have …

The Veil was ripped in the most inconvenient of places. “We can come back after they’re closed.” Reggie said. “Doesn’t Jamila work here? We can text her and -” “She got fired.” Chels sighed. “Why? This is the easiest job on the roster.” “Boring. The most boring job on the roster. And Jamila once contained […]

“I don’t care.” Chels stretched the word out like taffy. It would irritate her mother. That was part of the pleasure of it. “Well you should care.” Disapproving tone. Check. “It’s your future, Chelsea Marie. And you treat it like -” “I treat it like it’s my future. Like it’s mine. Not yours.” The college […]

“If you don’t plan on buying nothing…” Mare let the sentence trail off. Gaddy had been staring at the wall of candy for a few minutes. Her clothes were a mess. It looked like she’d been rolling around in the dirt and grass all morning, stains streaking in all directions across her shirt and jeans. […]

It hurt, in the center of her chest, but it didn’t feel like a heart attack. That would feel like an alarm, she figured, something that kind of radiated out, came in waves. This wasn’t like that. This felt like pushing, right in the middle of her, big fat hands giving her a shove. Only […]