How's Your Bracket?

I first published a version of this in March of 2021 for my column, Unpacking the Backpack. I've revised and updated it a bit.

“How’s your bracket?”

Every March that phrase replaces the standard “how are you, how’s it going, what’s up,” and it honestly leads to more authentic conversations than those other meaningless queries ever could. The coming of spring also brings about the NCAA basketball tournament where 64 college teams (or actually 68 with the advent of the play-in games - still a bit controversial in terms of seeing) try to dance their way to a national championship. But it’s more than a tournament, more than an athletic competition. It’s a nationwide interactive shared communal experience known as March Madness. And the password to join the party is “How’s your bracket?”

Filling out the bracket offers so much more than just a chance to predict basketball games and perhaps win the office pool. The bracket becomes an opportunity for personal connection, for it seems like March Madness is the one time a year everyone becomes a college hoops fan, much like everyone watches football on Super Bowl Sunday. The brackets are all about competition, but in the least divisive form you’ll ever find. The brackets and the NCAA tournament offer a chance for all people, even strangers in line at the coffee shop or in the ice cream aisle, to engage in a shared community experience.

Everyone is qualified to fill out brackets, and there are many systems for picking winners. My teenage daughter filled hers out by considering which college she’d be more likely to attend. In the college application game it was a fun way to explore places we’ve never considered. Drexel, for example, is a great business school in Philly, Gonzaga is a liberal arts mecca in beautiful Spokane, and Mizzou is the spot for journalism, including sports broadcasting. And who knew there were so many colleges in Pennsylvania? One year, former NBA star and TNT analyst Charles Barkley may have known, but he also openly admitted he didn’t have the slightest idea where Colgate is, which became a great source of good-natured ribbing from his broadcasting crew. This year everyone is asking what High Point University is, and where. It's in North Carolina, by the way. And it has quite an interesting story.

While anyone can win their pool, the chance of a perfect bracket is an astronomical one in 9.2 quintillion. From a sporting standpoint, the NCAA bracket of sixty-four teams and a win-or-go-home mentality is the ultimate equalizer and meritocracy. The tourney provides every school an equal chance to win, and the filling out of a bracket gives everyone a reason to care in a way casual fans aren’t always able. Bracketology is actually a thing - it’s the “science” of choosing your teams. The idea of the bracket has even expanded beyond the NCAA basketball championship, and there are now brackets for everything from Oscar-winning films to the best taco restaurants in Denver.

March Madness is a wonderful time of Cinderellas and bracket-busters, of Davids shocking Goliaths, and a time when hope springs eternal. Like spring training in baseball, March Madness is uplifting, a much needed feeling after our year of pandemic despair. And there are endless stories of life changing tournament moments. For example, 2008 found future NBA All-Star Steph Curry leading his underdog Davidson Wildcats to the Elite Eight and opening the door to one of the greatest NBA careers ever. Tiny Butler in Indiana became a national phenomenon because of its tournament prowess. And, few people had ever heard of Valparaiso University until the father-son team of Homer and Bryce Drew danced their way to the Sweet Sixteen in 1998.

Obviously, it's just a basketball tournament, but filling out a bracket seems more special. Common experiences are the essence of community, and our traditions are what Yuval Levin, scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, worries are fading from the American fabric. In his recent book A Time To Build about the importance of “recommitting to our institutions,” Levin describes the “durable forms of our common life” that maintain social connectivity. Among these are traditions and shared experiences that remind us we are more alike than different, and we can always find common ground, even if that place is simply in a gym cheering exuberantly for an obscure college from some far-flung part of the country to make a Cinderella run and crash the Big Dance.

So, how’s your bracket?

Flea, bassist for the Chili Peppers, releases jazz album

For a Gen Xer like me who reveled in 90s era rock, Flea is one of, if not the, greatest bass players of the age. It wasn't just a bass line - it was funk, punk, jazz, soul, blues, rock, R&B, and more that grounded one of the most distinct and exciting bands in the post-punk, alternative rock scene that made the time so special. And the band has had a staying power that is nothing short of impressive.

Because I am a bit of a music geek - and music writer - I tend to learn about the stories "behind the music," and so I knew of Flea's jazz background even in the early days. Flea's first musical love was jazz, fostered by his dad, and his first musical instrument was the trumpet. Despite an incredible run in alternative rock, Flea has never lost or given up his love of the trumpet and the genre of jazz. And that's why it's so exciting for music fans to learn Flea is about to release his first solo album - a primarily instrumental jazz collection with a fun string of collaborators.

The album drops at the end of the month, but the New York Times has a feature previewing and spotlighting his work -  "How Did Flea Make a Jazz Album? Practice, Practice, Practice."

For two years, the musician known as Flea led a double life.

From 2022 through 2024, he spent his nights headlining stadiums on five continents with his band the Red Hot Chili Peppers, thrilling tens of thousands of fans at each gig with his funk-meets-punk bass playing and hyperactive performances. Back in the hotel rooms, though, he filled his mornings with a more private pursuit: religious daily practice on the trumpet, an instrument he first picked up as a child.

“I just felt really lucky to have that time,” he said in a video interview last month from his Los Angeles home, a rack of basses visible behind him. He recalled relishing the struggle inherent in the process, feeling “frustrated on the days when I felt like I wasn’t getting any better, really excited on the days where I felt like I got a modicum, [using an expletive of exasperation] centimeter, millimeter better.”

The Staggering Problems of Online Sports Betting

When the state of Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, I was fairly certain it was a bad idea that would have far reaching residual effects that few proponents or voters expected. While I understood some of the reasoning behind the law, I thought decriminalizing weed would have been better and was likely as far as governments should go. In terms of vice, laws of prohibition are never quite as effective as they are hoped or touted to be, and they also have unforeseen residual effects that extend or exacerbate a problem rather than resolve it.

Legalized sports betting seemed to be less of a red flag when the Supreme Court paved the way by ending the ban in 2018. While I'm not a big gambler, I have certainly wagered on sports, participating in Super Bowl prop bets and, of course, March Madness with the ubiquitous world of "bracketology." And, even when I first started noticing ads for Draft Kings and Fan Duel, I had no serious unease about the legalization, as I did with weed. 

Alas, the gambling vice might be just as bad. 

Last week, writer McKay Coppins dropped a bombshell of an investigative report in The Atlantic with his article "Sucker: My Year as a Degenerate Sports Gambler."

Since 2018, Americans have wagered more than half a trillion dollars on sports, and roughly half of men ages 18 to 49 have an active account with an online sportsbook. Throughout most of America’s history, gambling was heavily regulated and generally discouraged. In 1631, Puritans banned games of chance in Plymouth Colony “under pain of punishment.” In 1794, a Pennsylvania law prohibited “cockfighting, cards, dice, billiards, bowling, shuffleboard, horse racing, or any other type of gambling.”

Laws varied by state and century, but the practice always came with a healthy social stigma, one rooted in millennia of accumulated wisdom. To humanity’s great thinkers and leaders, gambling was an impediment to an ethical life (Aristotle), an invention of the devil (Saint Augustine), and a tax on the ignorant (Warren Buffett). It fostered selfishness and a something-for-nothing ethos that was poisonous to the soul. George Washington went so far as to warn that “every possible evil” could be tied to gambling: “It is the child of avarice, the brother of inequity, and the father of mischief.” As a result, gambling was largely contained to certain disreputable corners of society, such as riverboats, red‑light districts, and Nevada. For a time, it was the near‑exclusive province of leg‑breaking bookies and pin-striped criminals. Later, Native American reservations and offshore bookmakers got in on the action.

But professional sports leagues remained determined to keep gambling at a distance. High-profile scandals—the White Sox World Series fix in 1919, the Mafia-instigated point-shaving scheme at Boston College in 1978—had convinced commissioners that betting posed an existential threat to organized sports. In June 1990, officials from the major U.S. leagues testified before the Senate. Paul Tagliabue, then the NFL commissioner, captured their shared assessment: “Nothing has done more to despoil the games Americans play and watch than widespread gambling on them.”

And, I fear Tagliabue is correct.

It's Pi Day!

What is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and also a delicious dessert?
It's Pi - 3.14159 ...

March 14 is Pi Day, and being the father of a rather math-y kid while also working as a school administrator and sponsor of a positive school culture leadership group, I spent many years organizing a "Pi Recitation Contest" where I worked. It's such a simple, fun, and unique challenge. The winner won a pie, with second and third place receiving a half-pie and mini-pie respectively. 

My own son could rattle off several hundred digits - I think the 600 range was his best - and the school record when I was there was nearly 1,700 digits. That is mind blowing to many people, but not those in the world of mathletes and GT brainiacs. And if you really want your mind blown, get this:  the world record is 70,000 digits.

So, this year, I did it again at my new school, and while it was certainly not the same experience I had at a school filled with mathletes, it was fun. And two of the top three students were a couple boys that no one would ever guess would try the challenge, much less win it. 

How many digits can you recite?

Battle of the Books, March Madness-style

Bracketology takes over every March with the event the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And the idea of bracket competition extends far beyond the world of basketball, from the Grammys to the Oscars to the best tacos in town and more. This year, the world of EdTomorrow brings us a "Battle of the Books" with a bracket-style competition for the best in children's literature.

What would you choose in a contest between the contemporary blockbuster of Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone in a head-to-head read-off with the legendary Little House on the Prairie?

Is the NBA becoming the NBE?

The National Basketball Entertainment league -- that's what it kind of feels like these days.

Bam Adebayo's "record-setting" 83-point game the other night is just one more example of a league that is increasingly criticized for spectacle and flash over substance and standards. Traveling seems to no longer be a rule at all, carrying the ball has replaced the dribble, "load management" is standard practice for taking a night or week off, hand checking by the defense is still a no-no while star players can push and shove defenders with their free hand, and the theatrical flopping by some of the biggest stars has reached a level that puts European soccer to shame. 

For basketball fans who remember earlier eras like the 90s with Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, Olajuwon, Malone and more, the 80s with Magic and Kareem battling Bird and Parrish with the Pistons playing the bad boys, and 70s with the legendary Dr. J, the current loose game and lax standards for the fundamentals of roundball just feels like a superficial, over-commercialized video game in real life. Granted, it's always the case that the older generation criticizes the younger one as "not as good as it used to be." And that may certainly be a subjective reality. Yet it's difficult to argue today's game isn't different. 

Personally, the record by Bam holds little weight with me because it seemed so contrived. A center tossing up 22 three-point shots is absurd, as is that same player going to the line for 43 foul shots. The Wizards are a team that is clearly tanking a season, so the competitive edge was lax at best. And fans can literally see Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra laughing on the sidelines toward the end, leaving a player in as his team blatantly fouls to extend the game time. While Bam is certainly a solid NBA player and even an All-Star selection, he is nowhere near the caliber of talent and impact of the legendary Kobe Bryant, whose record he supposedly just surpassed. 

So, for this NBA fan, that NBA record is certainly one with an asterisk, as are many of LeBron's longevity awards. The game is what it is, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver, as well as the players association clearly want it that way. They'll continue to make their billions, and I will still watch the game. But I am less than impressed.

The Return of the Mall Rat, Gen-Z style

The mall is not dead. In fact, it's not only not dead - the mall is back!

As a 56-year-old Generation X male, I grew up at the mall in the heyday of the mall. Even in my small town of Alton, outside St. Louis, the Alton Square Mall was a vibing place with numerous options for tweens and teens to hang out. Playing Defender at Tilt, browsing concert posters and somewhat racy items at Spencer Gifts, flipping through record/cassette/CD collections at Record Bar and Musicland, trying on endless pairs of sneakers at Foot Locker ... there was no shortage of crass commercial consumerist indulgences. It was the 80s, and honestly the classic mall film Fast Times at Ridgemont High captured the spirit quite well. 

Alas, we've all noticed, noted, and occasionally lamented the demise of the shopping mall in the twenty-first century. Countless abandoned mall properties sitting like industrial graveyards across the United States remind us of how online shopping decimated many local economies. No matter how many times properties try to rebrand and remodel, the golden age of malls has certainly passed. Yet, there are pockets of thriving mall life across the country, such as Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado, where I've been for the past quarter century. 

In fact, a couple years ago I pondered and pitched a few magazine pieces about Park Meadows and how "the mall is not dead." I proposed spending a weekend at the mall as a "mall writer in residence" to spotlight and capture the spirit of what has enabled Park Meadows and mall culture to continue thriving in a southeast Denver suburb. Unfortunately, I had no takers on the feature and quietly moved on to other writing projects. However, it appears I'm not the only one noticing and writing about the mall.

For Gen Z -- the obvious offspring of Generation X -- the mall is still the place to be, as A New Generation of Mall Rats Has Arrived.  According to this recent Wall Street Journal feature, there is a new group of young people living the mall rat life, but in an update for the digital age and twenty-first century, this group is filled with social media mavens and influencers who are documenting the experience:

Savera Ghorzang scrolls through her phone all the time. But when she needed an outfit for her Valentine’s Day date, the 24-year-old went to the mall.

“I don’t really like online shopping,” she said. “I’m an instant-gratification girl. I need it now.” Ghorzang held her phone in one hand and a $29 black lace top in the other as she documented her shopping trip on Instagram.

The first digitally native generation is resurrecting an old-fashioned American pastime: Shopping at the mall.

Gen Z’s retail-spending growth is outpacing all other generations, according to data firm NielsenIQ, with the generation’s global annual retail spending expected to exceed $12 trillion by 2030. The cohort also spends a greater proportion of their discretionary dollars in physical stores than older generations, according to data firm Circana.

Younger shoppers’ mall enthusiasm is a bright spot for a business that has struggled with property closures and declining foot traffic in recent years, in part because the millennial generation never warmed to hanging out at the mall in the same way Gen X had. Gen Z has helped boost a recent recovery, with demand for mall space rising again.

Scrubs reboot is a perfectly updated bit of nostalgia

Dr. Dorian and Turk are back at it in the same ol' adorable fashion, as if they ever really went away.

Scrubs was an exceptional show during its first run that debuted in the fall of 2001. In a long litany of provocative, engaging, poignant, and occasionally humorous medical dramas in the world of American sitcoms, Scrubs offered something different. It deftly balanced the poignant with the whimsical, the serious and thoughtful with the wild and wacky, as viewers experienced the first year of residency for three promising young doctors at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.

Like far too many network shows, it went on for a bit too long, but the first three seasons were pure storytelling magic, and the series from talented showrunner Bill Lawrence was quite innovative in its narrative arcs as well as its adept use of indie music, a quality it shared with other new shows like The O.C. and One Tree Hill. I still have a CD of the soundtrack from the first season, which introduced me to bands like The Shins. That unique quality was a key part of the show's character, and I have a feeling the music was influenced by the musical tastes of Zach Braff whose first independent film Garden State was another sweet example of the incredible indie music in 90s-2000s film and television.

I've only seen two episodes of the new show at this point, but as I watched the end of the second episode last night, I was struck by how perfectly the show has re-captured the magic. As Dr. Dorian narrates the conclusion of several storylines, including the personal and professional struggles of the young resident mirroring his initial role, the line that grabbed me was something like this:  "We try to do as much good as we can every day for one shift, and then we go home." The wise but difficult wisdom could have easily been drawn from an early episode with the blunt Dr. Cox softening just for a moment to counsel J.D.

Ben McKenzie of "The OC" fame, a Cryptocurrency expert & critic

Who knew that Ryan from The O.C. had such range?

I mean, we all remember the incredibly fun character arc of the kid from Chino who is taken in by Sandy and Kristen Cohen, and ultimately finds success in life as an architect and engineer, coming full circle in the final scene of the show. But, I'm not actually talking about Ryan. I recently learned that actor Ben McKenzie is a pretty smart dude as well, and he is also a well-known student of and critic of the world of cryptocurrency.

McKenzie became a "crypto-skeptic" back in 2021 after beginning to learn more about the strange underground currency during the pandemic, and, along with journalist Jacob Silverman, published the book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud in 2023. McKenzie also directed (in his debut behind the camera) the documentary film "Everyone is Lying to You." A key to McKenzie's interest in and skepticism of crypto is his college degree in economics. Apparently, when he first began looking into the enigma, he thought, "If I can't understand this with an economics degree," then what exactly is this huge new financial monster?

$14,000 a month as a Crossing Guard? Well, not exactly.

Ah, the artists and the writers -- the "creatives" -- who see beauty and meaning where no one else has noticed it, and capitalize on that. They have my awe and respect.

Take for example, Christine Tyler Hill, an artist recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal:

Christine Tyler Hill was working as a designer and illustrator when she decided she needed a fresh way to connect to her city. So she took a job as a crossing guard.

Every weekday morning at 7:30, she stands at an intersection in Burlington, Vt., ensuring the safe passage of pedestrians, including children heading to a nearby school. During her 50-minute shift, she also takes in the scene, from the daily rhythms of commuters to the familiar faces to the shape of the clouds in the sky.

Those observations pay well. Very well. The 36-year-old has parlayed interest in her daily musings into a one-woman publishing empire that is bringing in about $14,000 a month.

Hill is part of a small group of creative types who have found healthy demand for analog subscription services in a world of digital screens. They create or curate packets of art prints, stickers, letters and commentary covering topics from architecture to food to their daily routines. They often use social media to find and market to fans but the real connection happens offline.

I've admired (and, yes, envied) people like Christine who have found their niche and have the inspiration, persistence, and work ethic to see their vision to fruition.

It's Casimir Pulaski Day! IYKYK

There's no school and banks and government offices are closed in the state of Illinois in honor of Casimir Pulaski Day. Celebrated on the first Monday in March, Casimir Pulaski Day is in member of the Revolutionary War hero who is also considered the father of the U.S. Cavalry. Pulaski is also one of only eight people to be awarded honorary United States citizenship.

The reason Casimir Pulaski day is celebrated in Illinois is because the city of Chicago has the largest Polish population anywhere in the world outside of Warsaw. Thus, for many years Pulaski was celebrated with festivals and parades around the city of Chicago. And in 1977, the day became a state holiday.

The 'Burbs on Peacock

I vaguely remember the movie The 'Burbs, starring Tom Hanks, when it came out in 1989, and while it was generally interesting, it's not the first thing that springs to mind when pondering a remake or update. And, yet, in the era of un-originality and knock-off marketing, here we are with a limited series on Peacock that explores the idea that even in the finely manicured world of suburban America -- or especially in that setting -- all is not well on Paradise Drive.

I've watched half of the season so far - four episodes - and while the show is reasonably engaging, I'm not overly impressed. In all honesty, from the first few minutes of the first episode, which was clever enough, my first connection wasn't the 1989 movie, but the 2004 television series Desperate Housewives, which had an impressive opening season ... but went on far too long. The Raymond Chandler-esque narrative of a seedy rotten dark side to the American Dream was quite entertaining and unique at the time. But like too many network shows, it was induced to stick around far longer than the original writer's inspiration could take it. 

If The 'Burbs is a single-limited series that exceeds the promise of its premise, I will be impressed. But if it devolves into cliche and cheaply sets itself up for syndication, I will be quite disappointed.

Reminder: School Schedules are not based on farming

It's the myth that won't go away -- American school schedules are based on an agrarian calendar from when "kids need to be out of school to work on the farm."

I've written about this myth numerous times over the years -- as have many others -- in response to education reformers who criticize summer vacation and argue that the reason many students in the United States score poorly on national exams and international tests is because they don't go to school enough. There are many problems with that opinion, not the least of which is that summer vacation and the 180-day school year did not originate from the United States being an agrarian nation. In fact, the counter is true for school -- summer vacation originated for the middle and upper class families to get out of the hot crowded cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago during the summer.

It was more than a decade ago that I first wrote about the myth when school reformers like Arne Duncan and Bill Gates were perpetuating the nonsense of "the agrarian calendar."

The most recent anti-summer fun entry comes from Cristina Evans, a teacher, who took to the pages of Education Week with “A Teacher’s Case Against Summer Vacation.” Like many reformers and summer vacation critics, Evans focuses specifically on the struggles of low-income and mostly urban students who tend to experience academic regression during the months off schools. This is known as the summer slide. To her credit, Evans doesn’t call for a radical end to summer vacation. Instead, she makes a rational argument for shortening it from maybe 10 weeks to six or so. And no one is arguing that we should ignore a summer slide in schools where it is evident. However, a blanket argument that summer vacation should be shorter across all schools is misguided at best. The reality is that summer vacation is embedded in our culture, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The case against summer vacation has been made many times, and the carefree break from school has even been called “evil” by some commentators. The reality, though, is a bit different than the “history” indicates. The biggest problem with summer vacation criticism is that the primary argument is based on myth and misinformation. It’s a myth perpetuated at the highest levels, as even Education Secretary Arne Duncan lacks knowledge of public education’s history, saying, “Our school calendar is based on the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working in the fields today.” This is fundamentally not true. Summer vacation is not a leftover relic of America’s agrarian past, and it is not a result of our farming history or an “agrarian calendar” that released kids in the summer to work in the fields. In fact, the opposite is more likely true, as American students in the 19th century were generally in school during the summer, but often took breaks in the spring and fall.

The history of summer vacation is not unclear to anyone willing to do a bit of research.

I also addressed the issue in a piece for the Denver Post when I responded to critics who believe American kids aren't in school enough. I also followed up with a column for The Villager.

That said, the practice of taking a break from school in the summer has stuck around because it’s actually a good idea. The benefits of summer vacation aren’t simply about increased playtime and sleeping late. Summer breaks are filled with opportunities for growth and learning that extend well beyond the confines of the classroom. Many people cherish the memories and appreciate the value of summer camps, which offer all sorts of experiences for recreation, friendship, and learning. Whether kids attend day camps or leave home to stay for a week or even a month, the independence and camaraderie of camp can be a truly special experience. Summer sports leagues provide similar benefits as young people immerse themselves in their love of the game. Summer vacation is also a time to release kids from regimented schedules, letting them explore, daydream, goof off, and simply play.

Summer employment is an additional benefit of the annual break from school, whether that’s entrepreneurship for young kids running a lemonade stand, doing yard work, or babysitting, or it’s teenagers earning real paychecks at part-time jobs from lifeguarding to retail. And, it’s not just kids who take advantage of summer jobs. Because teachers work on ten-month contracts, many of them supplement their income with summer jobs as well. Often the managers of the neighborhood pools or the directors of those summer camps are teachers.

So, here’s to summer vacation in all its glory. Let us never forget the joy and benefits of summertime. Except for those unfortunate few stuck in the worst idea of all – summer school.

Shakespeare Reimagined

Shakespeare is timeless, his plays a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. 

In his thirty-six plays, running across genres with exquisite balance through 14 comedies, 10 histories, and 11 tragedies, there are few themes, narratives, or even moments of the human experience that the Bard does not address in full. It's a truly stunning output and collection of literary expression, and more than four hundred years later, the drama lives on.

Derivative work from Shakespeare's stories and themes is another rich layer to William's influence, and this year's release of the Chloe Zhao's film version of Hamnet, from the brilliant novel by Maggie O'Farrell, is just the latest contribution to the cottage industry of reimagining Shakespeare. O'Farrell's novel published in 2021 became a true literary sensation, and justifiably so. With layers of subtext, not the least of which is the subtle connection between the name "Hamnet" and "Hamlet," the Danish prince at the center of one of his most revered plays, the story "behind the story" of the untimely, tragic death of the playwright's son was a beautiful and heart wrenching drama all by itself.

Another recent contribution to the genre comes from a Colorado author and teacher who happens to be a former colleague of mine. Joel Morris, Ph.D. from Northwestern, has written a fascinating prequel of sorts to Shakespeare's diabolical Macbeth, telling the story of a young Lady Macbeth ten years before the dawn of the play. The book All Our Yesterdays: a Novel of Lady Macbeth is a USA Today bestseller and was winner of the Colorado Book Award for historical fiction. The highly favorable reviews tout the book for its incredible imagination and deep layers of historical knowledge. As an English teacher, Morris has filled the work with many literary Easter eggs, which add to the inventive story.

Fans of the Bard and of retellings like Hamnet should certainly consider exploring the story behind Lady Macbeth.

Stop Reading Shakespeare in Schools

My unpopular, even blasphemous, opinion: High school students should not read Shakespeare plays independently or out loud while studying the plays in school.

Now, the caveat to that controversial take is my reference to "studying the plays." High school students should most certainly study Shakespeare in their English classes. Whether they do so every year or at select levels, I have no doubt that a high school education should include a comprehensive experience with Shakespeare's work, including a deep dive into at least one full play. It's the reading of the text that I am addressing. Plays are written, but they are spoken word -- they are meant to be heard and performed, not simply read.

With that in mind, I will assert that the two worst ways to teach Shakespeare are to assign the students to read entire scenes or acts at home, or to hand out books to the kids and have them read the play out loud to the class. And don't even get me started on the practice of students trying to "act out" a scene in the course of reading the play. The Bard's plays are in many ways the pinnacle of theatre, and they are meant to be performed by trained actors who have internalized the roles, the cadence, the subtext, the essence of the scenes.

Shakespeare's plays must be experienced in all their "drama," and high school students unfamiliar with and flummoxed by the original text will not be able to provide the rich experience which enables an audience to appreciate the play. That is why I generally use audio tapes from professional performances as our class follows the written text. Too often, teachers will use film versions to "teach," but doing so separates students from the text, which is the essence of what English class is about. Just watching a play leaves far too much unavailable to students -- they simply miss the point.

Now, of course, students will read parts of the text independently, and students can certainly be asked to learn a part of the play and read it aloud or even perform it in class. The soliloquies are excellent for giving students an opportunity to truly internalize, to "own," a part of the play. If we are going to truly teach Shakespeare's works, we need to get away from simply assigning the pages and setting students up to fall short in their appreciation of truly great works of literature.

I went to the wrong college

As we head into springtime, and decision day for high school seniors approaches, I've been thinking about the discussions I've had with students over the years as they receive news on acceptances, deferrals, and rejections. Of course there would be talk of dream schools and reach schools and safety schools. And I would try to emphasize the practical ideas of the "right school," ... with the caveat that "you can always transfer." Granted, that's not what any teenager wants to hear. So, I would also share with my students the story of how I got into my dream school -- the only school I ever wanted or applied to -- and how that wasn't quite the right place for me.

“I went to the wrong college.”

It was never even a doubt that I was going to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign because I’d been going to football games with my dad there for years, and my mom went there, and for a high achieving student at a small little Catholic school in southern Illinois, the U of I was pretty much the obvious choice. Just me and about 36,000 students (though it has now just passed 50K).

In reality I should have gone to a small liberal arts school where I wouldn’t have become lost amidst all the distractions. I should have gone to Wash-U in St. Louis or perhaps Northwestern or definitely Miami of Ohio, though I’m probably overestimating my brain and credentials. For, even going to a school like DePauw in Indiana, where I had a potential opportunity to keep playing soccer, would have been a really good fit for me. A small school with smaller classes and, perhaps, a better opportunity at a more cohesive sense of community might have kept me more focused on the reason we go to universities — educating ourselves. After being a straight A student my entire life, I graduated from my program in secondary education with a none-too-impressive 2.9 GPA. Yep, I went to the wrong college.

Read the rest of the story on my Medium page ...

A great Rom-Com you probably missed

When I started this blog almost twenty years ago, it was just a hodge-podge of topics I found interesting - which, to be honest, is what it has remained. One of my first posts was a quick review of a really fun movie my wife and I watched on DVD. It was a rom-com starring a 48-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer and a 37-year-old Paul Rudd, with a whimsically wacky cameo role from Tracey Ullman, as well as the big screen debut from a young adorable Saoirse Ronan. It's called I Could Never Be Your Woman, a terrible title, but relevant and apt, especially because the excellent groove from White Town is on the soundtrack.

I recently thought of the film again when it popped up in an article about great movies you've probably never seen. The movie is now available on PrimeVideo, and we watched it again last night. It definitely holds up all these years later. Here's my original review:

It seems somewhat surprising that a movie from the writer-director of both Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless could go straight to DVD, but that's the case with Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman. Great movie, bad title, unfortunate turn of events regarding its release. The movie, which stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd, is a satirical romantic comedy about about a forty-something Hollywood writer/single mom falling for the twenty-something star of her hit - but fading - sitcom. As romantic-comedy it is pretty standard entertainment, but as a satire of contemporary American society via Hollywood stereotypes, it is, in a word, hilarious.

Heckerling's plot and dialogue are every bit is entertaining, realistic, perceptive, and funny as her best known movies. Pfeiffer is engaging as always, and Rudd is hysterical. The movie is also a great start for young actress Saoirse Ronan who "wowed" everyone with her Golden Globe nominated performance in Atonement. The satire of contemporary music via Ronan singing altered versions of hit pop songs is a highlight of the movie. Additionally, Tracy Ulmann is featured throughout the movie as "Mother Nature" who converses with Pfeiffer about the pitfalls of aging. It is mildly amusing criticism of the aging Baby Boom generation and its obsession with staying young.

Apparently, the film was originally scheduled for release in 2005, but was bumped repeatedly until it was shelved. Various explanations include mismanagement from its small indie producer, conflict over financing and marketing from major studios, opposition to the satire that hit too close to home in Hollywood (this one seems hard to believe), and simple unfortunate twists of fate. It's a shame that a satirical gem like this can be shelved while mindless and poorly written movies such as "My Bosses Daughter" or "What Happens in Vegas" are released and endlessly hyped. Regardless of its past, this movie is quite entertaining, and it's worth renting.

An Artful Trip to Boston

I've been thinking about my arts-focused writing recently, and I revisited this piece from a few years ago. After a wonderful trip to Boston for an art exhibit, I put this piece together, which I think reads quite nicely. Despite pitches to numerous publications, I was never able to place it, so I posted it on my Medium page.  Still, it's a pretty nice piece and a great memory, so I thought I'd repost.

We went to Boston for a date with abstract expressionist Cy Twombly, and we almost came home with early modernist Marc Chagall. It all started with an art review by Sebastian Smee of the Washington Post. One of my favorite art critics, Smee profiled “Cy Twombly: Making Past Present,” the career retrospective on Twombly at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and he grabbed my attention when he wrote, “I’ve been waiting half my life for this show. It’s magnificent.” I’d barely finished telling my wife how I wished I could just hop on a plane and fly cross country for an art exhibit before she was online checking ticket prices. Soon our plans for spring break became a walking tour of Boston’s art scene.

Flying overnight to Boston on Monday, we were fortunate to get an early check in at The Seaport Hotel on the Waterfront, a perfect launching point for various jaunts around Beantown. Because the Boston MFA is closed on Tuesday, we had a day to explore, beginning with breakfast at Flour, a bakery and coffee shop that’s become a Boston institution under James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Joanne Chang. It’s easy to access with nine locations, and Flour’s simple, savory breakfast egg sandwich with crispy bacon, warmed us alongside a rich cappuccino, though it was tough to walk away from the morning buns.

Boston is so walkable that on our way back to the hotel, we were hardly surprised to discover the Institute of Contemporary Art across the street. The Institute, housed in a modernist architectural work of art on the water, features a third floor sitting room with exquisite views of the harbor. Inside we lucked upon the Maria Berrio exhibit “Children’s Crusade,” and her work alone was worth the trip. Berrio crafts huge paintings through a collage of carefully torn Japanese paper and watercolor. From across the room, the images almost appear to be photos. Her current exhibit honoring the struggles of migrants, especially women and children, evokes contemplation of spirituality and social justice.




Wandering through Chinatown later, we ended up so close to Boston Commons that we made an obligatory visit to the new sculpture “The Embrace,” unveiled early this year on the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This incredible bronze piece, memorializing the hug between Dr. King and his wife after he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, definitely raised some eyebrows when it was installed. In pictures, the sculpture of arms embracing can seem odd. But in person, it’s stunning work, a testament to the incredible power of MLK and Coretta Scott King. While crossing the Commons back toward the North End, the afternoon became a fortuitous visit to a cozy yet elegant gallery on the famed Newbury Street.

The Galerie d’Orsay, housed in a classic brownstone, caught our eye with three Marc Chagall lithographs visible from the street. Upon entering the gallery, the stunning street art of Sen 1 drew us in. Hanging next to a Lichtenstein and Warhol, the frenzied graffiti of a gritty urban backdrop splashed with color reflects the rough vibrant life of the people who inhabit its streets. A Chagall series on the circus ran across the opposite wall, subtly complementing the pop art in the room. Billed as a gallery offering art from five centuries, including several Rembrandt etchings, the d’Orsay consumed much of our afternoon. Talking art with consultant Ben Flythe and gallery co-director Kristine Feeks Hammond, was delightful, as their knowledge and enthusiasm kept us lingering and chatting. When discussing two Matisse drawings on the wall, Ben was so intrigued by another exhibit I referenced, he was soon online looking up the Baltimore collection. The d’Orsay was so captivating we could hardly walk away from the Chagalls that caught our eye from the street.

The following day was reserved for Twombly. With more than one hundred galleries, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is one of the world’s top museums, and because the MFA has a renowned collection of classical art, it’s a perfect place for the Twombly retrospective. Curated along with the museum’s vast displays of Greek and Roman relics, the exhibit is a fascinating connection of the old and new. Twombly lived many years in Rome, collecting statuary that, as it decayed, seemed to become a new form of art. Twombly explored that connection in his work believing, as Smee notes, “Modern art isn’t dislocated, but something with roots, tradition and continuity.” The curation by Christine Kondoleon, museum chair of ancient Greece and Rome, is a masterful homage to an icon of abstract expressionism. From Twombly’s famous scribbles, reflecting his interest in ancient text he couldn’t read but found artistically beautiful, to his toy-like sculptures and large scale explorations of color and text, the show honors Twombly’s lifelong exploration of abstraction, decay, and deconstruction.


After spending most of our day at the MFA, we meandered toward the North End, again wandering the shops and galleries on Newbury Street. Following a late lunch of burgers and cheese fries at Crazy Good Kitchen, as well as some reading time at two indie bookstores, we happened across DTR Modern Galleries with promises of pop art icons like Basquiat and Warhol. The staff was heading toward wine o’clock, but when I mentioned being a fan of Warhol contemporary Hunt Slonem, the ladies intrigued me with the comment, “We have a Bunnie Wall in back if you’d like to take a look.” Slonem’s bunnies are like Warhol’s Marilyns to pop art fans, and we spent a while wondering which bunny might suit us. Coming out of DTR, we hadn’t taken five steps before the captivating colors on display drew us across the street to The Sitka Gallery. Sitka, a whimsical and gregarious Oxford-trained artist who worked for years as an illustrator for Ralph Lauren, opened his Newbury gallery five years ago and is always available to talk art and more.


Of course, some of the best art in Boston can be found on the plate and everyone who goes to Boston definitely goes to eat. After a memorable dinner of chicken parm and a fresh seafood linguini on our first night at Giacomo’s in the North End, a cash only operation with regular lines down the sidewalk, we ended our second day just off Newbury at Buttermilk and Bourbon. Celebrity chef Jason Santos’ Boston bistro features elevated New Orleans cuisine, and it serves up one of the best whiskey cocktails I’ve ever had with Whistlepig Piggyback Rye and Vermont maple syrup. Our dinner at the bar included short rib croquettes, barbeque shrimp over jalapeno grits, and a dessert of apple biscuit bread pudding with butterscotch, cinnamon creme that I’m still thinking about.

The following morning, on our last day in Boston, thinking we were all art’d out, we headed to the North End for shopping. However, leaving the waterfront, we passed James Hook & Company, a Boston landmark lobster house, and soon we were sitting down for a crab cake and clam chowda breakfast. Later, Boston gave us one more taste of art in the Boston Public Market. Wandering various food stalls, we happened across another delightful artist encounter with the food-inspired pop art of Laurel Greenfield. Greenfield is a charming young woman whose first love was the culinary arts, having gone to BU to study nutrition. When the art world called, she set up shop in Boston’s bustling business incubator, and we couldn’t resist buying a print of her take on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers featuring blooms of bagels, originally commissioned by a local restaurant. It was a perfectly artsy ending to our trip.

Boston is a truly artful destination, and the Museum of Fine Arts is a location we might need to return to soon, having just missed the opening of a show on the famed Hokusai waves. Of course, on our next trip that Chagall print might still be calling to me from the street, and I might not have the discipline to walk away.
Press enter or click to view image in full size
Marc Chagall

Adam and Eve and the Forbidden Fruit

From the Bible Suite

1960

Book Edition lithograph

Sheet Size: 14” x 10 ¼”

Journals, Magazines & the drag of exclusive submissions

It can be a frustrating process for writers and scholars, the path to publishing an article in a journal or magazine. Following the arduous task of actually producing a work of publishable quality -- what did Hemingway say? ... sit down at the writing desk and open a vein -- then comes the job of pitching and querying and waiting for acceptance and rejection.

And, with that is the dreaded request for "exclusive submissions."

While many -- in fact, the majority that I pay attention -- journals and magazines accept simultaneous submissions with the simple request to "please notify us if the piece is accepted elsewhere," some publications put an unrealistic requirement on writers to give exclusive reading rights for several months with no promise of publication. 

While I understand reservations about simultaneous submissions out of concern for the time of submission readers and editors, it's equally challenging for writers and scholars to concede to exclusive submissions and wait for months at a time only to receive a single rejection and start again. Granted, while writers certainly have the freedom to simply not submit to publications with that requirement, I personally feel like it's a flaw in the system.

Symbolism -- Does It Really Mean That?

The green light, the red hat, the whiteness of a whale ...

Symbolism in literature is the catnip of the English teacher and often the bane of existence and teeth clenching frustration for the high school and college student. "Does it really mean that?" has been asked by more students than "can I have a bathroom pass?" And while the use of symbolism is undoubtedly a key technique for writers of western literature -- drawing heavily from the Judeo-Christian ethic and foundational literary and philosophical works of western civ -- authors and readers will occasionally dismiss the very possibility of a symbolic component, glibly noting "the names were simply pulled from a phonebook" or "sometimes yellow is just a color."

About "Meeting Students Where They Are"

It was a simple line in a speech about education, but it packed a wallop:

"... the soft bigotry of low expectations."

That line, written by Michael Gerson and delivered by President George W. Bush in a speech promoting the No Child Left Behind Act, addressed low academic expectations casually, sometimes unconsciously, or worse intentionally, put upon predominantly poor and minority students and directly influencing lower academic achievement. For roughly a quarter century now, ideas about standards and expectations have driven countless reforms in education designed to improve achievement. Much of it has been ineffective.

There are endless bromides and slogans and cliches about best practices and what works for kids, notably the idea that students "rise to the level of expectations." On the other hand, critics might reasonably argue that the idea of "meeting kids where they are," acknowledging individual students' abilities and needs as opposed to more rigid ideas about "how kids are supposed to be" has led to a lowering of expectations. Basically, this might boil down to an assumption and resignation that "kids don't read" and kids won't read an entire novel, or kids can't write a multi-paragraph essay, so schools, classes, teachers simply stopped assigning them.

Clearly that sounds terrible. However, I will not immediately dismiss the idea of being "a responsive educator." By that I mean, approaching each class and lesson with acknowledgement of the actual humans in the classroom, as opposed to simply teaching a curriculum or unit or lesson. Educators must be attentive to the specific knowledge, skills, and needs of the actual students in the classroom or much time can be wasted. That might be from assuming kids simply know something and thus don't need instruction, or even a reminder, which can compromise and almost guarantee glitches in learning if not failure. However, it can also mean assuming kids don't know something, which leads to wasting time with redundancy.

So, it's complicated, to say the least. An interesting and compelling take on the issue, one that has ignited some genuine debate and discussion online and in schools is the advice, even admonition, from Case Western English Professor Walt Hunter in an essay for The Atlantic:  "Stop Meeting Students Where They Are."

At some point over the past 15 years, kids stopped reading. Or at least their teachers stopped asking them to read the way they once did. We live in the age of the reel, the story, the sample, the clip. The age of the excerpt. And even in old-fashioned literature classes, assignments have been abbreviated so dramatically that high-school English teachers are, according to one recent survey, assigning fewer than three books a year.

I’ve seen the effects of this change up close, having taught English in college classrooms since 2007, and I’ve witnessed the slow erosion of attention firsthand, too: students on computers in the back of lecture halls, then on phones throughout the classroom, then outsourcing their education to artificial intelligence. We know that tech companies supply the means of distraction. But somehow the blame falls on the young reader. Whole novels aren’t possible to teach, we are told, because students won’t (or can’t) read them. So why assign them?

When I walked into my American-literature class at Case Western Reserve University last fall, I looked at 32 college students, mostly science majors, and expected an uphill battle. As my colleague Rose Horowitch has reported, “Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books.” One-third of the high-school seniors tested in 2024 were found not to have basic reading skills.

Yet by the end of the semester, as we read the last sentence of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, I regretted ever doubting my students. I am now convinced that I was wrong to listen to the ostensible wisdom of the day—and that teachers of literature are wrong to give up assigning the books we loved ourselves. There may be plenty of good reasons to despair over the present. The literature classroom should not be one of them.

The survival of public media

Years ago, the talk was about the "war against Sesame Street." 

For many years, one of the key cultural battles between Democrats and Republicans was about the federal funding of national public media. And to many people that meant the two organizations at the top which are NPR - National Public Radio - and CFB which manages PBS - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Public Broadcasting System. And, of those two, it was PBS that resonated the most with the average voter, consumer, taxpayer because, well, ... "Big Bird and Sesame Street."

That battle over federal funding for public programming that critics and opponents felt slanted to the left and stifled voices from the right was most prominent around 2012 with the candidacy of Mitt Romney, though it hearkens back to the early 90s with the rise of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh. At the time, there was little enthusiasm for cutting funding to public broadcasting, as it was effectively framed as an attack on Elmo. 

Fast forward to the brave new world of 2025, and the Republican Party, controlling the Executive and Legislative branches, has succeeded in cutting billions of dollars that once helped support local public radio and television across the country. Since that legislative battle happened during the passing of the comprehensive spending bill, it seems for now that: Public Media Holds Its Apocalypse at Bay, for Now.

Things looked bleak last summer for KCAW, a tiny public radio station serving the remote community of Sitka, Alaska (population 8,393).

Congress had just slashed $500 million in funding for public media, blowing a $187,500 hole in the station’s budget. Mariana Robertson, the station’s general manager, said she had faced a potential “doomsday” situation that included cutting staff.

Then the donations poured in.

Now, Ms. Robertson is one of many station directors across America who find themselves in unexpected territory: first, expecting the worst, but then buoyed by a flood of emergency funding that has kept their stations stable and surviving. For now.

I'm not a regular listener of NPR, and I no longer have broadcast or cable television, so I've mostly noticed the effective in the area I most appreciate the media -- local music radio like The Colorado Sound and Indie 102.3 here in Denver and Fort Collins. And, I am hoping for the continued public support through donations while we hopefully reach a consensus and collaboration on the value of federal funding for public broadcasting.

Vision Quest

It was forty-one years ago, yesterday, that Louden Swain took on "the Shute."

If you know, you know. And Vision Quest is a purely classic teen drama-comedy-inspirational-sports movie from the teen years of Gen X, based on a YA novel from Terry Davis, and starring a young, adorable Mathew Modine alongside Michael Schoeffling (yeah, Jake from Sixteen Candles) and Linda Fiorentino. It's one of the best from one of the best times in cinema -- teen films in the 1980s were a genre above itself, and Vision Quest is a real gem.

How Ryan Reynolds & Rob Mac Saved Wrexham

It's an unlikely story to say the least, one made in Hollywood with Hollywood stars, to be sure.

A couple of American guys with no real connections to futbol (soccer), Great Britain, or the English Premier League, and all its subsidiaries, decide to buy a soccer team and end up reviving an historic town and franchise at the same time. It's kind of silly, and an even more idealistic narrative than the brilliant and heartwarming story of Ted Lasso that saved the feel good sports story a few years back. This is, of course, the story of "Ryan Reynold, Rob Mac, and Wrexham Football Five Years Later." 

“I didn’t know Rob, [Reynolds explains]. But I noticed we followed each other on Instagram. I sent him a little note. I think I even told him not to respond. I just wanted to say I’d enjoyed something he did.”

From such inauspicious beginnings came one of the more remarkable sports partnerships. The two actors have spent the past five years transforming the fortunes of not only a football club but an entire town (now city) by restoring a sense of civic pride many locals in Wrexham feared had gone for good.

The Athletic is speaking exclusively to Reynolds and Mac to mark their anniversary today. We are five years on from the February 9, 2021 takeover that has effectively rewritten the book on how to successfully run a football club. And this despite the fact, as Mac quips in our interview, “We still don’t 100 per cent understand the sport!”

To recap, the pair paid a token £1 to buy an ailing team who were then playing down in the fifth tier of the English football pyramid, alongside a promise to invest a further £2million. Five years — and three successive promotions — later, that same club are one promotion from the Premier League and were recently valued at £350million ($475m).

It’s a remarkable rags-to-riches story that has been captured in the Welcome To Wrexham documentary series, whose own successes include 10 Emmys. 

Wuthering Heights is not a love story

Years ago, a group of English colleagues and I took a post-graduate class in literature with another who was a Ph.D. and adjunct for a local university. Several of us were just interested in some professional development while a couple others were using the class as part of their MA in English. The class was primarily Victorian in nature, and we read some incredible works of literature, some familiar - namely Jane Eyre - and others new and obscure - like the sublime melodrama East Lynne from Ellen Wood.

And then we read Wuthering Heights. Surprisingly, none of the English majors in the room had read or taught the book. And for that we were thankful. Truly, the room was in consensus that it was one of the worst novels we can recall reading in its entirety. Other than the professor, who was quite amused by our contempt for the story, no one enjoyed it, and the reason was clear: it is a truly miserable story in a miserable setting about miserable people and a miserable message. 

Consensus: WH is not only not a great love story, it's not a love story at all. And that's an important consideration with the recent release of a film version and the New York Times asking: Is Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ Actually the Greatest Love Story of All Time? 

No. No, it is absolutely not.

The Washington Post has a piece as well, taking a markedly different approach by stating "Wuthering Heights" is the "Birth of the Toxic Boyfriend.

And, yes. Yes, it is.

The Alchemist Project and Our Personal Legends

This is an update and repost of a unit I used around this time of the year when I taught AP English Lang & Comp. One of my favorite times and lessons of the year.

Each year in my AP Language class, as the exam approaches, I shift gears with my highly motivated students, and I ask them to look inside themselves as they look toward their future. It’s a challenging time for young people, and many face anxiety, not over their tests or their grades, but over their identity. As they hurtle forward toward adulthood, they pause. They struggle because, for many, they do not know who they are. These kids are in search of their personal legend. And Paulo Coelho’s classic parable about a shepherd in search of treasure – The Alchemist – may be just the guidebook they need.

I have a variety of activities designed to help the kids along the way – not the least of which is a series of study questions about the book. They can learn much from the stories of the Englishman, the parable of the oil and the spoon, Santiago’s time with the Crystal Merchant, the idea of “maktub,” the lessons of the camel driver, and more. The story is simple and accessible, and many teachers might worry this book is dumbing things down. But it’s not always about college-level diction and syntax. Sometimes it’s about self-reflection and living deliberately. The kids need this book, and they need to find their “Personal Legend.” Each person has a raison d’etre – a purpose in life – but there is no guarantee we will live the life we were meant to live and fulfill the role we were meant to complete. So, some soul searching is in order.

I couple the study of Coelho’s The Alchemist with a variety of journals and activities designed to get them pondering their place in the universe. For example, I begin with a story from Robert Fulghum’s It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It about the census. Fulghum’s essay on how every single life matters in serious and significant ways is thoughtful – using a quote from Mary Oliver, I ask the kids, “What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I give them the classic “Proust Questionaire,” asking them questions about what they are afraid of, what they would never give up, what they would gladly give up, what their perfect day is like, etc. I share with them the story of Sarah Marshall – a misguided teen from Barb Schneider's book The Ambitious Generation. It’s a reminder of the wrong way to approach college and adulthood.

These activities and our discussions of the story culminate in a multi-genre paper called “The Alchemist Project.” For some kids, it’s exactly what they are looking for because they end up finding themselves. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is the perfect “self-help” book for high school students because it comes in the form of a readable parable, and the narrative helps to disguise the preachy nature of many books designed to help teens find themselves and find their way in the world. However, it’s not enough to simply read and discuss the book – teachers need to craft activities and tasks around the ideas of the book which engage the students in their own journey and quest for their personal legend.

Thus, in continuing my explanation of the “Alchemist Project,” I always show a truly engaging TED talk from Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs.” Rowe has some fascinating bits of advice and insight for students. Most importantly, he ponders the idea that “follow your passion” might be the worst advice he ever got. That bit of wisdom fits well with my previous story of Sarah Marshall – the girl from The Ambitious Generation who was adept at getting into college, but not so adept at figuring out why she was going in the first place. I advise my students that in Rowe’s view: “Some people should follow their passion, some should follow their skills, and some should just follow the market.” This video always has a significant impact on students, and I ask them to journal and comment on Rowe’s ideas in relation to their own search.

I also share with students a piece from New York Times writer David Brooks about institutional thinking called “What Life Asks of Us,” followed by perhaps the most interesting and engaging task, which is to complete an extensive analysis of their "Imaginary Lives.” It gives them a chance to dream and wonder, and ultimately try to see themselves in a future. That piece connects students back to a quote from Henry David Thoreau who suggests “if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

All these questions and activities are meant to elicit some serious self-examination, for the goal of this book and this project is for students to figure out, not what they want to do, but who they really are. I ask them to journal again after reading another Robert Fulghum essay about a girl who was “sitting on her ticket,” and I ask them how they are getting in their own way. It always has a way of motivating them to think critically about the choices they make everyday. I always conclude our unit by showing them a short clip of Randy Pausch, the man known for The Last Lecture. Pausch’s book and hour-long presentation filmed at Carnegie Mellon are wonderful, but if you want to limit the time, he gave a compelling short version of his speech on Oprah. It is definitely worth the discussion, and coincides well with the story of The Alchemist. While Coelho’s book says “The universe conspires to help you achieve your personal legend,” Randy Pausch posits, “If you are living correctly, your dreams will come to you.” Ultimately, The Alchemist is a meaningful book for many high school juniors and seniors, and while it’s not academically rigorous, it can be personally enriching. Students sometimes dismiss the book as a little cheesy – and it probably is. But even the most hardened student finds something useful in our “Alchemist Project.”

Ivies & Top-Tier Schools Waive Tuition

We've all seen it before in movies and television: the "heartbreaking tale" of the bright, talented, and aspirational young adult who rises above their situation and gets into the Ivy League but can't go because the kid is poor, and the college is just way too expensive.

Such an unfortunate situation, ... and also wildly inaccurate, if not completely false and misleading. 

The college admissions process and the price of a degree is not an uncommon point of discussion for American families, and those situations have been an increasing point of concern for decades now. The affordability crisis hits in all sorts of ways, but the affordability of a university education, especially at elite schools like the Ivy League, is an often-misunderstood concept. And, I regularly come across online posts and stories -- and, of course, the annoying Hollywood distortions -- about a kid "getting into their dream school," but turning it down because they can't afford it.

Here's the deal -- a kid growing up in poverty who gains admission to the Ivy League, or elite schools such as the University of Chicago, will likely go to college for free. Elite schools with huge endowments (Yale University's is nearly $50 billion) provide extensive financial aid on a need basis. And, for schools like Penn, tuition is waived completely for families making less than $200,000 annually. 

Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is offering free tuition to undergraduate students from families with annual incomes up to $200K through its "Quaker Commitment" initiative. For families earning up to $75,000 the aid package also covers housing and dining.

This is part of what Penn calls its "Quaker Commitment." 

While the sticker price for major universities can be eye-popping, it's important to note how few students and families are actually paying full tuition at numbers like $80,000 a year. In fact, at Harvard and many, if not most, of the Ivies, as much 60% of students receive 50% financial aid or greater. Now, that said, half-off of the tuition can still be tens of thousands of dollars a year, and families still face large bills for room and board. But, it's important for families to understand the actual details. And the online Net Price Calculator is quite helpful and pretty accurate in letting students know what they will actually pay. 

Pitchers & Catchers Report

Hope springs eternal.

The Boys of Summer are back.

If ya know, ya know. The catchphrase where I grew up -- St. Louis, "the Lou," where baseball is religion -- is always about how many days until "Pitchers and Catchers report."

 

To the favorite teenager in your life

Few poets have the ability to make my smile, laugh, cry, and think all at the same time in the way that Billy Collins does. As a high school English teacher for many years, I realized that I could find a Billy Collins poem for practically every lesson, every discussion, every unit, every situation that I covered in the course of a high school year. Just yesterday I was talking with a colleague about just such a thing, as she began a new unit, and I shared with her one of my favorite Billy Collins poems.

To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl

Do you realize that if you had started
building the Parthenon on the day you were born,
you would be all done in only one more year?
Of course, you couldn’t have done it alone,
so never mind, you’re fine just as you are.
You’re loved for just being yourself.

But did you know that at your age Judy Garland
was pulling down $150,000 a picture,
Joan of Arc was leading the French army to victory,
and Blaise Pascal had cleaned up his room?
No wait, I mean he had invented the calculator.

Of course, there will be time for all that later in your life,
after you come out of your room
and begin to blossom, or at least pick up all your socks.

For some reason, I keep remembering that Lady Jane Grey
was Queen of England when she was only fifteen,
but then she was beheaded, so never mind her as a role model.

A few centuries later, when he was your age,
Franz Schubert was doing the dishes for his family
but that did not keep him from composing two symphonies,
four operas, and two complete Masses as a youngster.

But of course that was in Austria at the height
of Romantic lyricism, not here in the suburbs of Cleveland.

Frankly, who cares if Annie Oakley was a crack shot at 15
or if Maria Callas debuted as Tosca at 17?

We think you are special just being you,
playing with your food and staring into space.
By the way, I lied about Schubert doing the dishes,
but that doesn’t mean he never helped out around the house.

—Billy Collins

From Aimless Love, Random House, 2013.

"To my favourite 17 year old High-school girl" - Billy Collins -- Video of BC reading

The Muppet Show Returns -- and, man, do we need it.

We'll always have The Muppets.

In a world and nation overly focused on negativity, it's important and practically necessary to remind ourselves that there are many places and reasons to find joy in the everyday. And few "institutions" have the ability and reach to provide simple mirth to so many people in such simple ways as Jim Henson's magical world of friends like Kermit and Miss Piggy and Elmo and the Swedish chef and more.

And, in a time of reboots and remakes and rebrands of classic entertainment from the past fifty years, the return of The Muppet Show is a refreshing and comforting bit of news. I can still recall the Sunday evenings of my youth at 6:00 PM with the purest of sketch comedy, entertainment that wholesomely appealed to the kids who watched and their parents who occasionally check in as well. Thus, February 4 this year hearkened us back to those halcyon days through a collaboration of Disney and ABC to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show. And as the New York Times reported, This Is Your Grandparents’ ‘Muppet Show,’ Fortunately:

Backstage on the new special, “The Muppet Show,” Sabrina Carpenter excitedly greets Miss Piggy, in whom she recognizes a kindred spirit. “I grew up watching you,” Carpenter says. “My parents grew up watching you. Their parents grew up watching——”
The joke, of course, is that Carpenter ends up offending the diva by implying that she’s old. But there’s a truth to it, too: Since the madcap critters lit the lights on the comedy-variety “Muppet Show” in the 1970s, every generation has gotten its own Muppets.

Sometimes we get them more than once. In 2015, ABC — which had aired the prime-time update “Muppets Tonight” in the 1990s — premiered “The Muppets,” an awkwardly edgy workplace mockumentary. (“This is not your grandmother’s Muppets,” the president of ABC promised/threatened at the time.) In 2020, Disney+ gave us “Muppets Now,” a streaming show about Kermit and company producing mini streaming shows, which lacked the original’s theatrical pizazz.

The premise for “The Muppet Show” of 2026, a (for now) single-episode special premiering on Wednesday on Disney+ and ABC, is comparatively simple: It’s “The Muppet Show.” And wocka wocka wocka, that’s all you need.

Washington Post Layoffs -- a blow to news, journalism, media

I have to be honest - I was about to cancel my Washington Post digital subscription this month. It wasn't a political protest about the direction of the paper under owner Jeff Bezos. It wasn't about disappointment in coverage of one story or another. It wasn't a fading interest in the daily news. It wasn't the coming increase in the the price of my subscription for renewal. No, it wasn't anything like that. It was simply because I will be moving in a few months, switching jobs and uprooting for a few months. So, it was just a convenience.

But now, I can't. Not now. Not after this.  The shocking announcement that WashPo is "laying off more than 300 journalists," and eliminating sections and features such as all sports coverage and the esteemed books department is a serious blow to journalism. Writing for The Atlantic, Ashley Parker makes no bones about it. This move is pure carnage, and the layoffs amount to what she calls The Murder of The Washington Post:

We’re witnessing a murder.

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special. The Post has survived for nearly 150 years, evolving from a hometown family newspaper into an indispensable national institution, and a pillar of the democratic system. But if Bezos and Lewis continue down their present path, it may not survive much longer.

Over recent years, they’ve repeatedly cut the newsroom—killing its Sunday magazine, reducing the staff by several hundred, nearly halving the Metro desk—without acknowledging the poor business decisions that led to this moment or providing a clear vision for the future. This morning, executive editor Matt Murray and HR chief Wayne Connell told the newsroom staff in an early-morning virtual meeting that it was closing the Sports department and Books section, ending its signature podcast, and dramatically gutting the International and Metro departments, in addition to staggering cuts across all teams. Post leadership—which did not even have the courage to address their staff in person—then left everyone to wait for an email letting them know whether or not they had a job. (Lewis, who has already earned a reputation for showing up late to work when he showed up at all, did not join the Zoom.)

The Post may yet rise, but this will be their enduring legacy.

What’s happening to the Post is a public tragedy,

The Super Bowl Prop Bets

 Long before Draft Kings and FanDuel became omnipresent in the sports universe, offering the "chance" to wager on practically any aspect of any competitive sport, I knew a couple guys at school who introduced me to the idea of "prop bets," specifically on the Super Bowl. They had a side-competition every year during the game with the most random of wagers. They bet on obvious game-related details such as winner, final score, MVP, and individual stats like "how many TD passes will Kurt Warner throw in the game." But then they added in a completely random list of fun propositions.

They bet on the color of the Gatorade poured over the winning coach and which team's cheerleaders would be featured first on a sideline TV shot. They bet on whether a beer commercial or car commercial would come first. They wagered an "over/under" guess on the duration of the National Anthem, and tried to outguess each other on songs during halftime, celebrity appearances, and of course, the coin toss. 

That was my introduction to the idea of the "prop bet," which is now a huge business during the Super Bowl. And I have to admit I love it, even as I have become quite uneasy with the ubiquitous nature of gambling in sports and in contemporary society. Each year, I join a prop bet pool, or host one myself. I've done them individually with forms made on a GoogleDoc, and I've used websites that have a pre-established list as well as a scoreboard that keeps score and ranks all players. The prop bet has become another Super Bowl tradition, like watching the commercials, and the Washington Post recently posted some ideas on their "Favorite Prop Bets for Super Bowl LX." 

The Politics of Thoreauvian Punk

Politics is complicated ... and pretty much always has been.

And in my latest project, The Punk on Walden Pond, I am intrigued by the issue of politics in relation to Henry Thoreau and punk rock. Was Thoreau a political writer and theorist? Is punk a political art form? At times Henry Thoreau argued he is not political, and many might say the punk on Walden Pond is above politics. Similarly, while the music and bands of punk rock certainly are anti-establishment and a challenge to the status quo, some musicologists argue that more than 80% of punk songs are not political, and that the bands have no clear political agenda. I'd imagine Joe Strummer, Jello Biafra, and bands like Propagandhi have some thoughts on that.

In my Walden Punk Project, I have a piece-in-progress titled "In the Mosh Pit: the Politics of Thoreauvian Punk." Here are some thoughts from that work.

Chapter 4 of Jane Bennett’s Thoreau's Nature: Ethics Politics & Wild (2002) is titled “Why Thoreau Hates Politics." Thoreau may have hated politics, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t political. In fact, Bob Pepperman Taylor makes a strong case in two books America’s Bachelor Uncle: Thoreau and the Polity (1996) and Lessons from Walden: Thoreau & the Crisis of American Democracy (2024) for seeing Thoreau primarily as a political writer. He believes that even the supposed “nature writings” such as Walden, "Walking," and "Wild Apples" are actually political positions, specifically in how they criticize and challenge America to be what it claims. And that is as punk as it gets, in my opinion. For, Thoreau is in many ways the first true contemporary critic to challenge the national narrative to call out the American dream to pull back the curtain on the ruse that had been perpetuated against the people.

As far as punk is concerned, it's worth noting that much punk is simply about frustrations with daily life, as opposed to large political manifestos. As Legs McNeil says in his comprehensive history Please Kill Me, “... the great thing about punk was that it had no political agenda. It was about real freedom, personal freedom." In the study Rebel Rock, a review of lyrics suggest only 25% of songs are distinctly political. However, a counterargument is that for the music of a counterculture, even when songs aren’t political, they are. 

In viewing Thoreau as combative and political, and punk as a political movement – even when it’s not trying to be, the key elements are personal conscience and a sense of social justice. The goal of Walden is to promote a kind of personal responsibility because, for Thoreau, the fear is that people will succumb to a less interesting and morally deadening utilitarianism. Thoreau insists that we submit to principles which will make us nonconforming in an unjust world. Thoreau urges readers to be rebellious, be a tradition breaker, be civilly disobedient.