There’s a scene in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! that I’ve been thinking about lately. The novel’s heroine, Alexandra Bergson, is confronted by brothers who try to convince her that she’s too old to get married. Their…
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This semester I’m leading one portion of a Directed Readings class for honors students at my university. The book we’re discussing together is Pastrix, by Nadia Bolz-Weber, which tells the author’s story of becoming a…
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I’ll be honest: I kind of hate it when people say things like “You’re such a strong person, you can handle this.” I know they mean well, but the implication is that “this”–whatever it…
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Over the past couple of weeks, Mike and I have been doing a lot of thinking about what we need. By that, I mean what we need to feel happy, healthy, and settled. More…
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The last few weeks have been pretty stressful. Before we received Mike’s diagnosis, we were navigating a labyrinth of medical appointments and tests. Before that, we were (like good academics) diligently researching his symptoms,…
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At the end of this past semester, I knew it was time to downsize my digital life. Facebook had become so toxic that I’d lost faith in humankind. Twitter wasn’t much better (although its…
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Summer is my favorite time of year for reading. I’m a fairly voracious reader all year round–as an English professor, it’s part of my job description–but summer reading always feels different to me. I’m…