I’m pretty upset with myself. I grew up in the Austin area (and yet!) I never once heard of El Arroyo restaurant, not until a few days ago. Since the 1980s, besides serving fine Tex-Mex cuisine to countless customers, the eatery has been posting imaginably funny and clever signs in its parking lot. In fact, if you search for the restaurant on the internet, you’ll … Continue reading That’s Punny!
Reflecting on my encounters with the homeless. Continue reading The Man At The Fountain: Homelessness
I want to tell you about a fellow named David, a retired educator and part-time tutor of mathematics who works in the Math Learning Center, a place just down the hall from the Writing Assistance Center, the place I manage and often mention in blogs I write for Wise & Shine. David is one of the most relentlessly positive people a person is ever likely … Continue reading David’s “Walking Lunches”
Check out Wise & Shine’s new podcast. In our latest episode, I talk with Wynne Leon about “Finding My Father’s Faith,” her memoir. Enjoy! Continue reading New Podcast!
Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! A new podcast, this one a conversation on aging between Troy Headrick and Todd Fulginiti, two Wise & Shine writers, is now available for your listening pleasure. In addition, two more episodes have been completed and will be posted soon. We have upcoming podcasts on the topic of “Heroes” and a really interesting interview I did with Victoria of Victoria Ponders. … Continue reading More on the Wise & Shine Podcast
Happy Saturday, all! I struggled this week. I wrote three or four pages on a topic that I thought would become a blog I could publish today or tomorrow, only to discover that I needed to hold off on posting it. Midway into the piece, I realized that my ideas hadn’t yet ripened and thus I’d be sharing something a mite inedible (perhaps even bitterly … Continue reading Projects and Podcasts
A Lyft driver’s kindness saves the day in New Orleans and gives us a model for our own behavior. Continue reading Lyfting Spirits: Humanity At It’s Best In New Orleans
If you’re a long-time reader of my blogs, you know that I spent about two decades living the life of an expatriated American. I am proud of that time in my life. I first went abroad as a Peace Corps Volunteer, to Poland, not long after the collapse of the Soviet system, and then lived in the UAE, Turkey, and Egypt. Prior to my leaving … Continue reading Beware: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Papyrus scrolls. Elaborate tombs. Unparalleled prosperity. Ancient Egyptians spent much of their time day dreaming about the after life. This, no doubt, influenced their literature; writing is a reflection of the times. The restless streets of Cairo have a beguiling charm. The vast history of the country unravels itself to newcomers through their unique hieroglyphics, sweet hibiscus tea, bustling traffic, refreshing wafts from the Nile … Continue reading Egyptian Literature: Ancient dreams influence modern writers
Hello to my fellow bloggers and blog-lovers! I’m Elle, or E.L. Jayne as my pen name states, and I’ve embarked my own rendition of an Eat, Pray, Love trip this summer, albeit, without the dramatic divorce and existential crisis at the onset, luckily. Deciding to travel for 4 months made me reflect on the catalyst that drives people to travel in the first place. Some … Continue reading On The Different Reasons People Travel
Disclaimer: Previously known by the Anglicized spelling of Turkey, President Erdoğan has asked the international community to recognize the nation by its Turkish spelling, Türkiye, on June 28th, 2022. Türkiye is a country distinguished by it’s blend of European and Asian culture. Although after speaking with some locals, they consider themselves not to be European, Asian, or Middle eastern, but to be Turkish is to … Continue reading Turkish Literature: Where diverse culture meets unique literature
I’m amazed by how my mind works. I never know when an idea for a blog is going to come to me. For example, this morning, just after pulling into a parking space upon arriving at my work and then killing the engine, I immediately realized that I do a lot of the same things in my job that engineers do in theirs. So why … Continue reading Pardon Me While I Get This Off My Chest
This month marks the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. In October of that year, I visited the place where it happened. Here is a re-post of what I experienced there. Continue reading 38th & Chicago
“Come out to my car and check this out,” my cousin said. He was a few years older than me and always kept me up to speed on what the cool, older kids were into. I was in middle school, he would graduate soon. It was Christmas Day 1984. We were visiting extended family at my grandmothers apartment. So I went with him, down from … Continue reading Influence: Remembering Prince On His Death Day
What is your biggest frustration right now and what do you plan to do (if anything) to resolve this situation? (If you want, you can name more than one here.) I’ll go first. I’m frustrated that I have so few opportunities to wander the globe the way I used to. Plus, my current job monopolizes my time when there are so many other more important … Continue reading Question of the Day: Number 554
Not long ago, I wrote a piece about thinking that prompted lots of reaction. After publishing it, my mind moved on to other topics. Recently, though, like in the last couple of days or so, I started thinking about thinking again. As you can probably tell, thinking is one my favorite activities. We think for lots of different reasons. Try to remember a time when … Continue reading I’ve Been Doing Even More Thinking about Thinking
Last Saturday I went to visit the private art collection of Proximus, a Belgian digital service provider. In 25 years the company has collected about 600 artworks and last December they opened the doors to visitors. For the moment, only 200 paintings and photos are displayed. The exhibition is called Art with a View, because you can admire the artworks not only on the ground … Continue reading Art with a View
As someone who manages a couple of writing centers at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas, USA, I’m often asked, by faculty members of one sort or another, to do writing workshops for students. Exactly one week ago today, I did a critical thinking activity with a class of writers. It’s a workshop I’ve done innumerable times with countless pupils. Toward the end of … Continue reading I’ve Been Thinking about Thinking
Before I get into the body of this piece, I’d like to say that the conflict in Ukraine is especially interesting and tragic because I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Poland during the mid-nineties, not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was sent to Rzeczpospolita Polska—I still remember quite a lot of Polish—to … Continue reading What Vladimir Putin’s War Is Teaching Me
I almost never have writer’s block, but I’ve had it recently. That’s at least partly a function of having published somewhere between 150 and 200 pieces on this website. Here’s the thing. Writer’s block does exist. It’s often a byproduct of mental fatigue. It can also be caused by what I’ll call “bad living.” In my particular case, my being creatively blocked—sounds a lot like … Continue reading The Result of “Bad Living”
