February 3, 2019
It’s not all in our DNA, a lot of who we are as adults comes from the cultural imprint of our families and social supports as we grow up. A lot of my cultural imprinting came from my maternal grandmother, who did the better part of raising me as my mother was an alcoholic and […]
January 21, 2019
Poets have always been trouble makers – in many places they have been arrested for stirring the pot a little too vigorously – or in the “wrong” direction. But – even poets can be guilty of staying inside their safe boxes. Whether that box be the safety of tenured academia or a local “scene” […]
January 19, 2019
12 years – that’s how long Sara and I have been coming to Eastern Middle School in Greenwich, CT. We love this little public school with its art covered walls and rambling old building and we really do have friends here. Eastern used to be traditionally our last school of the year but overseas scheduling […]
December 2, 2018
Alternative title: Being Crackpot Poets for Fun and Profit Sara and I sort of made up our jobs. Twenty years ago, I didn’t even know that what I am doing for a living now was even an option. In fact – according to recent research by Dell and the Institute For The Future 85% of […]
November 8, 2018
And the winner in our acronym competition is… East Central Ohio Educational Service Center, New Philadelphia, Ohio supports teachers and students in – surprise, East Central Ohio. We’ve worked with their teachers and students the last couple years. As much as we enjoy our international travel we love working with our fellow buckeyes any chance […]
October 20, 2018
“You didn’t mention the ceviche.” I quipped – “No, I didn’t” said our sardonic waiter in a deadpan as heavy as the woodwork in the Tudor steakhouse where Sara and I dined with editor Carolyn Yoder after Sara’s receipt of the Jane Addams Peace Award for children’s books in the shadow of the UN building […]
May 23, 2018
We’re not going to let something like the library burning down slow us up. This was Sara and my fourth trip to Jakarta Intercultural School. If three times is a charm – four times is the magic summoned. These repeated visits allow us to really become friend with the folks we are working with and […]
April 25, 2018
Why you should never write a rough draft. Well, first off, we believe that draft should be a verb in the writing classroom not a goal. Plus, there only seems to be two draft statuses – rough and final. We prefer to use the term Version – and title everything we begin working on Version […]
April 10, 2018
You need a good reason to go to Atyrau, Kazakhstan. To go back a second time you need a damned good reason. Fortunately, Sara and I had one of the best reasons ever, to visit Dostyk American International School’s students and teachers and a couple of our dearest international friends Seamus and Theresa Marriott. Seamus […]
April 2, 2018
True story, we were surrounded by vampires. Okay, the American International School of Bucharest just may have the best school mascot ever. Who wouldn’t want to be a Fighting Vampire?! But, a boss mascot is not all the school has going for it. Librarians par excellence Stacey and John shepherded us through four fun and […]
