The world’s great philosophers don’t fully understand funny. I discovered this in my second year of grad school. I was taking a class on the Canterbury Tales. As the semester wore on, I was more and more fascinated by Chaucer’s humor. Stop and think for the moment. If you name the top ten most influential…
Tag: education
Writing about Writer’s Block
There are times when I don’t feel like writing a weekly column. This is one of those times. So let’s talk about that. I’ve had a bunch of writing students over the years, and I’ve found that teaching writing makes me a better writer. For one thing, when you’re helping people out of their writer’s…
Bach & Beethoven: Oops I Made Rock Music
I have this friend I really like messing with. He’s brilliant in his areas–math, economics, music, athletics, computer pro… He has a lot of areas. But I can still occasionally find ways to put one over on him. One of our overlapping interests is music, but he is much more into rock music than I…
Homework: A Love Story
As an elementary school teacher, I have never been a fan of homework. During my first year teaching, my Grade-Level Lead Teacher handed me the spelling worksheets and multiple-choice reading activities to send home with the kids each day. I hardly looked at them, and definitely hated grading them. The students with high test scores,…
Reading is Fun (Caturday Questions)
People ask me what my favorite book is. Like most of you, I have a different answer every time. But more specific questions will get you more specific, and more stable,answers. What is the funniest book I’ve ever read? Moby Dick. Hands down. Nobody expects this answer. Big Cat, Little Cat Reading is Fun… Right?…
Make it New! (Caturday Questions)
There’s a saying that’s almost exactly 30 years old that states that nostalgic repetition in pop culture follows a 30 year cycle. Hence, The Sandman came out on Netflix about 30 years after the comic finished its run in the mid-90s. And the Addams Family film (1991) came out just shy of 30 years after…
Neurodivergent Storytellers… Unite
When I write an essay about writing, I try to be transparent about the issues at stake. I am neurodivergent. And being neurodivergent leads to some difficulties, but also some opportunities that other writers might or might not have. But there are a lot of issues. Partly because I am a complex person and partly…
The Beauty of Rough Edges
Little Cat was rooting around in some old pile of things today, and what he found surprised him. Lately, Little Cat is used to being the co-star of a bunch of three-cell comics with thought bubbles and a little signature in the corner. But what he uncovered was something older. A series of one-cell memes…
What Makes a Writer?
What makes a writer? There are as many answers to that question as there are people who call themselves “writers.” What makes me a writer? Confidence in my own work and a feeling that I can trust my own voice to speak up with. The truth is that I started calling myself a writer at…
Good vs. Likable (Caturday Question)
Good Writing is the Best, and Cheapest, Special Effect The point here is that good vs. likeable is a false choice. You like what you like, right? And nobody can tell you otherwise. Also, there’s no inherent reason why pornographic films should have worse writing than any other kind of entertainment. I seem to recall…