Forgive me, dear readers. It has over two months since last I updated this page, and I am remiss.
Much has occurred since last we spoke. I got engaged to a beautiful, brilliant woman. I got a job with my dear friends at the BIC Offices. I presented two papers at academic conferences in West Chester […]

I was forced to finally reflect on my time at the Artists for the Climate event thanks to Frank, whose momentary lapse in perceiving chronology resulted in frantic begging. They’ll appear in this week’s edition of The Swinging Bridge, but you, dear readers, will find them here first.
Also, apologies to Garrison Keillor’s far superior weekly […]

It’s been a tough couple of weeks, both academically and personally. Since the return from Thanksgiving Break, I’ve cranked out more than forty pages of writing and two in-class presentations. I’ve been humbled in more ways than one, and found myself thinking deeply about a really important issue. Meanwhile, in the great big world out […]

A lot has changed since last I wrote. The U.S. elected a new leader, a strong man with moral convictions that transcend the myopic concerns of a cluster of Christian conservatives; a thoughtful man who moves the masses with his words; a gracious man whose embrace acknowledges the full diversity of our nation. Katie came […]

Poets, I believe, are some of the most comforting people that exist. I’m talking not just about real poets like Billy Collins, wordsmiths whose verse welcomes like a freshly brewed cup of tea or a familiar cardigan sweater, but poets of all kinds: songwriters, filmmakers, actors—thinkers and feelers, magicians and alchemists, translators and tour guides.
I’m […]

Al Gore—speaking tonight before a crowd of PennFuture benefators, supporters, and activists—told a story from his recent speech at the United Nations: after discussing the role of all nations in stemming the consequences of global warming and requesting the immediate need for countries to ratify a treaty toward sustainability, Gore was shocked when the delegates […]

Leaving Philadelphia has me feeling particularly melancholy. Today, describing to Dr. Peterson a wonderful encounter I had on the City Hall bus, my favorite Messiah professor said to me, “See, those are experiences you just can’t have in Harrisburg.”
“What are you doing to me!?” I exclaimed. “Don’t say that! I have to go back and […]

One of Anne Lamott’s favorite prayers is “Help me, help me, help me.” It is a plea that has certainly entered into my own repertoire since I moved to north Philadelphia: not just because my mother fears for my life on these mean (or, in my own mind, merely disgruntled) streets, but because almost everywhere […]

College isn’t an easy place to become a morning person. Which was nice for two years of my college experience, because I’m not a natural morning person and my years of growing up and rising early to catch the schoolbus didn’t encourage early-morning practices, either. (Mostly it encouraged brief showering, seconds-only tooth-brushing, haphazard dressing, and […]

I found this little tidbit in a portfolio I once put together for my Creative Writing class. The prose surprised me, and it seems like something I should share. So enjoy. And try to figure out what’s fact and what’s fiction.
When I was young I wrote in the damp space beneath the kitchen sink, or […]

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