All I want for Christmas…

…is you. Yesterday, I was sitting and doing a little (very little) work at Hartford’s downtown library (free Wifi!) and ended up sitting next to a class of would-be English speakers. As I listened to them practice words like “arm” and “hurt,” I got a little choked up. One woman spoke Turkish and Farsi and some …

And another thing…

…there is a discussion online about the veracity (and wisdom) of wearing a safety pin to signal that you are an ally to members of any group of people who feel threatened by last week’s election results. I think any one who thinks by donning a safety pin they’ve made everything all better is silly. But …

I’m done.

This semester, which began in late August, I taught five college courses — one at Central Connecticut State University, and four as a full-time faculty member at University of New Haven. I counted up once, and that meant that — unless there was a rare holiday — I stepped into a class prepared to lecture, cajole, …

So I took a class to a homeless shelter on Thursday

It’s a public relations writing class (I know) at University of New Haven, and as a class project, we are writing an end-of-the-year appeal letter for Columbus House in New Haven. I love Columbus House. They’re a leader in preventing and ending homelessness, and an early adapter of best practices. They were a leader in …