Michael Pershan

I'm actually seeing a lot fewer high students in class than I did ten years ago but that could be for a ton of reasons.

my students back in 1994 told me:
if you skip 1st period, you are sleeping in
if you skip 4th period, you are going to lunch early
if you skip 5th period, you stayed at lunch late
if you skip 6th period, you went home early

i asked what you are doing if you skip 2nd or 3rd:

"getting high"

Haha yes! Some things never change.

I think this is also a smart observation and definite possibility.

And Liz Cohen is of course right.

Good article and really interesting but this made me laugh. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Paranoia

Just reread Saïd Sayrafiezadeh's "Paranoia," the whole story is awesome but the first two paragraphs are especially thrilling. The political setting feels very Bush-era but in a way that reminds me that Bush-era is still pretty relevant.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...

Percy’s “Refresh, Refresh” was the first contemporary story collection that I loved and serialization is so much fun. Cool writers, cool interview, sounds like a cool project.

Cool book! I should check it out.

Paranoia

Just reread Saïd Sayrafiezadeh's "Paranoia," the whole story is awesome but the first two paragraphs are especially thrilling. The political setting feels very Bush-era but in a way that reminds me that Bush-era is still pretty relevant.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...

Historically did physics have that strong division of labor? (Newton I think did his own experiments on light and color.) Based on my poor knowledge I'd have guessed it emerged in the late 19th century, around or after Maxwell?

After Warren Zevon’s death, his son Jordan immediately had to sort through his things. Heartbreaking.

1/2 brief thought on Andrew Lloyd Webber -- a thing that makes ALW interesting is that he's an "ok I'll allow it" guy -- there are bands like this, movies like this, writers like this:

I mean this is how it starts.

Dear god.

This is a nightmare.

From Edward Hirsch's "Gabriel: A Poem," on the death of his son.

"You just paid a bill. Now rate your experience." It was delightful -- no remarkable. The highlight of my goddamn day.

The Corrupt Bargain Behind Gaza’s Catastrophe Israel’s far right wants to take over Gaza. Netanyahu wants to stay in power.

Israel's far right wants to conquer and settle Gaza, expelling any Palestinians in the way. Benjamin Netanyahu wants to stay in power. I wrote about the corrupt political bargain that is prolonging Gaza's war and driving its hunger crisis, and all the decisions that led here. Gift link:

Reread the first few chapters of The March today and E.L. Doctorow is pretty good at this stuff.

I love this cute lil antichrist demon getting slayed by the archangel Michael.

I HAD THOUGHT THINGS WERE GOING ALONG WELL But I was mistaken.

happy birthday John Ashbery 🎈

I mean worst case scenario I am finally forced to purchase a working phone.

Hulk Hogan’s Spasming Cadaver Body Slams Mortician

Hulk Hogan’s Spasming Cadaver Body Slams Mortician theonion.com/hulk-ho...

Left my phone on a bus while taking my kid to the park, what are the chances it gets turned into the bus depot? It's a very old, very bad phone, so maybe someone will have pity on it.

I think this!

This is excellent advice, and two of my favourite quotes are next in the thread.

reskeeting for the write up of one of my favorite stories, “King Rat” by Karen Joy Fowler

Honestly novels probably make more sense for audiobooks! Though I'm also tempted to do something like try listening to the Iliad.

I'm not a poet but have you seen Kenneth Koch's books about teaching poetry? I read a bit of one and it was really cool.