Week of Joy (Day One; Part One): An Introduction

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, then you have no idea what this is all about.  Basically, with all the nasty crap going on in the world right now, not to mention in the science fiction and fantasy community, I have decided to take one whole week off from depressing things and only write […]

Top 10 Blog Posts for May 2013

And once again, some oldies sprung up out of nowhere and took some spots from the new boys.  I don’t know why these posts remain so popular, but so be it. Here’s the list: 10.  Shocking Revelations:  Pointing Out Racism Doesn’t Mean You Hate White People 9.  Link of the Week:  Judith Butler Explained with […]

My Trip to the Comic Shop (or, How I Started My Journey Back to Comic Books)

(Note:  I am still open to comic/graphic novel suggestions.  Feel free to leave them here.) Yesterday, I went to the comic book shop.  It has been close to a decade since I last went into one, and longer since went shopping for comic books (or graphic novels — manga excluded).  And so, I took the […]

Book Suggestions for “American” Lit Syllabus (a terrible title…)

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, then you are unaware that I am attempting to teach a somewhat unusual American Lit survey in the fall.  Basically, I am not teaching the traditional American canon (i.e., the greats of U.S. literature).  Instead, my course will offer a broader interpretation of “American” to include works from […]

Top 10 Blog Posts for March (Or, Weirdness You People Like in a 30 Day Span)

And they are: 10.  The SF/F and Related Blogs You Read 9.  Adventures in…Cancer?:  If Only You’d Been Bad Asthma (Or, Leading Up to Diagnosis — Part Two) 8.  Hugo Award:  What I Nominated 7.  Literary Explorations:  What the hell is a “strong female character”? 6.  Poll:  The Retro Nostalgia Film (#7) 5.  Death Star […]

RIP: Chinua Achebe (1930 – 2013)

If you haven’t already heart, Chinua Achebe passed away last Thursday (March 21st).  While not a genre writer, Achebe various works have had a profound impact on English-language literature.  He is probably best known for Things Fall Apart, which appears from time to time on American high school English curriculum.  However, he also wrote four other […]