Sunday, February 22

I feel that I must respond to SP's story about me. And of course, he is correct that I enjoy performing my "short monologe (sic) like stories." Many of these, as you all know by now, are of a personal nature, and that is what makes them (generally) effective. Sometimes I tell them to illustrate a point or to get the attention of my students or to provide a moment of levity. Sometimes there is a pedagogical purpose, sometimes not. I'm usually pretty careful not to tell stories that would be too controversial or offensive. The short response to SP's allegation is that it is true, and that I told the story to one or two classes last year. I tried a lot of different things in my 20's, some to make money, some out of curiosity, some because I was reading the Beats or Rimbaud and wanted to immerse myself in the messy business of being entirely human. I can say that I learned a great deal from the experience, and I earned some summer cash. Here is a picture from roughly the same era. Can you spot me?