Author Archives: ghw

greetings from boston

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I am such a freakin’ geek. Here I am at the hotel, and before I even go to my room … “Oooooh! Thirty minutes of free wi-fi at Starbucks!”

The flights were fine. Spent about an hour at the airport in Cincinnati, which got me thinking about the number of airports I’ve passed through in cities I’ve never actually visited: Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Newark, and probably some others I’m forgetting. They all have their own character, but they all share a weird mixture of sterility and grime, jet fuel and bacon fat. Cincinnati reminds me of Atlanta, although maybe that’s just the Delta terminals, and Logan, here in Boston, reminds me of La Guardia, but that’s just an initial impression.

This is the first time I’ve been to Boston, although I’ve been through the airport probably a dozen times on the way to and from Europe. It looks like a great city, and so I’m going to log off and see what I can find.

stress management 101

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A full plate: a grant proposal due this week; a paper to deliver, and a panel to chair, in Boston; a midterm to write and grade; the usual stack of reading and class prep to complete.

I’m cranky. Thirty minutes of high intensity cardio exercise while listening to Live Through This helps. Now for a shower and some quiz grading.

blue sky, sunday morning, coffee and a computer

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We spent a few hours last night at the Hitching Post, a dive bar on Troost near 55th, talking with artists, novelists, poets, filmmakers, students, and fellow academics. I revealed to a few people that I keep a blog, and suddenly they want the address.

Weez says my earlier post leaves her wanting more words. Why do I blog? Why do you read my blog? Look at the keywords below my name at the top of the page: literature, technology, culture, education, academia. Do I deliver on that promise? I feel like I don’t.

If all I do is tell you details about my life, I start to feel pretty selfish. Why should you care about my life? Some of you knew me before I started blogging. Some of you have met me since I started blogging. Some of you (most of you?) only know me through my blog. I can’t tell you everything. I usually leave the bad stuff out, so you’re not getting the whole story. Shouldn’t that frustrate you?

For a variety of reasons, my life has been turned upside down since about three days before September 11, 2001. But people I work with read this blog, and my family might one day stumble across it, and so I don’t reveal everything here. In this way, perhaps, I’m cheating you.

i assassin down the avenue

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One year after the war in Iraq began, the monetary cost has mounted to more than one hundred billion dollars. We’ve gone from a federal budget surplus to a massive debt. Thousands have died. Civil rights in this country have taken a serious hit.

Are you better off than you were four years ago?

From the Protest Records site, here are some free and legal mp3s for your listening pleasure:

how many lies does it take?

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Via Liz: MoveOn.org draws attention to yet another lie from a member of the Bush administration.

Meanwhile, the war on terror is going just swimmingly.

On the other hand, maybe you’re in trouble when even crazy people can see there’s a problem with your logic.

Peace through war. Freedom through repression. The increase in violence is a sign that we’re safer. Patriots do what they’re told without question. Move along now. Nothing to see here. These are not the droids you’re looking for.