Red Room Where the Writers Are

Grade Change »

Last night, I received another email from a former student begging me for a B.  Like the student I earlier wrote about, this student likewise did not get into a top university and needed the B in

First Day Back »

First day back at school: sky August blue, puffy scudding clouds. I walk away from the classroom, feeling...what is it?

Starting School »

I have always loved fall, and not because of the leaves, but the leaves are nice.  It's not because of the cooling air, the lick of winter on its way, though that's nice, too.  It's because I alw

School of Hard Knocks »

. Yesterday at a meeting, many of my colleagues looked like they'd been run over with a budget tractor, an Arnold semi, a Bush influenza convoy.  My colleagues love their work for the most part, and

How To Be A Teacher: Put Your Shoe On Your Head »

Today I go back to work.  Since last October, I've been on sabbatical, so I haven't stood in a classroom for almost a year.  It has been wonderful, my focus only on writing.

A Vision Through the Bong Water »

I have a journal I come across now and again during moves and wild cleaning frenzies.  I carry it around in a cardboard box with all the other old memorabilia, stuff I should likely throw out b

Too Much at Once »

The Marriott on 4th Street in San Francisco was packed with women.  the men's bathrooms had been converted, and I averted my eyes as I walked into the bathroom and saw the urinals.  But drats, no

Lesson Plan Learning »

I am finally getting to start a project that I have had in mind since I started my first b

Postcard from Beijing, or The Job I Love to Hate »

Reading of student papers, bluebooks, etc. a form of torture ... a matter of rubbing an iron file over one's teeth, or holding urine in one's mouth

The Silent Meme »

Who are you? I mean really? No, don't post your answers! This one is for you, and you alone.

Check List for Today »

Class lists and wait listsLecture notesBlank notebook and foldersPENSPick up syllabus and handoutsTEXTBOOKSFind out which CLASSROOM I'm in!!!!

Opening and Closing »

"Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed.

Indian Shakespeare »

I was thinking about Shakespeare, as so many of you are right now, and I came across this review of

Art and Hope »

What is art worth to you?

Blog blog...not just a poem masquerading as a blog »

So I posted a weird animation I did using the antiquated MS Paint application and basic stop-action editing on my mac in Imovie.

My Two Greatest Writing Lessons »

Around 1986, I interned at the L.A. Weekly. This was pre-... well, pretty much pre-everything. Wednesday was layout day; the entire production crew was quarantined for the duration.

Workshop with A Great Poet »

One of the finest experiences of my writing life was taking a workshop with Jack Gilbert.  If you aren't familiar with his poetry, I recommend his most recent book, Refusing Heaven.  But I also ad

Teaching »

I'm not sure what makes people good teachers. I know I've had good teachers, though. I've had teachers who have pissed me off so much I've excelled despite them.

Heroes: Spending time with Luis Rodriguez »

I’m lucky. Close to my heart are many people I admire.

Leaving It Open »

"The time to give up on someone is never." A colleague once said this to a class. We were team-teaching.

So I can be bright... »

Hope: the word’s certainly out there these days.

Books in my life »

Walking home I stop. The neighborhood rabbi sits at the window table of the corner cafe. Outside, I stand alongside him. Shoulder to shoulder. Only a pane of glass between us.

Teaching Sex and Violence »

I have been very fortunate to teach online and on land for UCLA Extension for many years.  I love my students and the folks who work there, and just this past week, one of the administrators wrote

Darkness and Light »

“As human beings, we all have one foot in light, and one foot in darkness,” Spoon Jackson wrote.

Chaos Theory »

I have a framed print in my office. It sits on the shelf, looming over me. It's an image from the I Ching. CHAOS

Crazy Cat Lady »

I once took a class with Kurt Vonnegut, who told me I’d never make a living as a writer.

working writer or writing worker? »

Like most American writers, I have a day job.