Donald Paul Irish, 97, died on April 14, 2017, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Don loved life: a deeply committed, intense, and energetic man, he joined countless causes for human betterment and fought despair in the face of many intractable forces. He put his body where his words were and he put his money where he […]
Gliding into the Unknown
The Swan, by Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. by Edward Snow This heaviness, toiling on as if in bonds Through a landscape of things still undone, Is like the makeshift walking of the swan. And dying–to feel slowly giving way That ground on which we daily stand, Like his uneasy lowering of himself–: Into the water, […]
Joliet Wedding at the Henry Mansion
In July 2016, Renner Larson and Audrey Schlofner got married at the Jacob Henry Mansion in Joliet. I wrote up this long-ish version of the place where the event happened, for those who want more than the short insert in the program! So, who was Jacob Henry? Jacob Apgar Henry (1825-1908) made his substantial wealth […]
Stand. Point.
Poem written in January 2014, but still relevant. I can’t stand it. Standpoint: White woman feminist with Middle-class roots deep in the last century, I stand in silence. A gap Agape (Gr. Αγάπη) Not speaking because If I speak I harm those with whom I want to stand. White supremacy leaks toxins Into conversations, lectures, […]
Job-Less: Changes toward Balance?
A friend recently said something to the effect that “we can slow down when we’re in the ground.” I’d really like to slow down before then, but I know it will be hard for me to do. In the coming months I hope to establish some balance among my research, writing, volunteer work, time with […]
Autobiography through My Hair
An entirely frivolous post: a visual history of my hair. On the left is the reason why I cut my hair in the mid-eighties: it was so appealing for babies to yank […]
“All that We Let In”
Metaphorically speaking, I agree with the lyrics of The Indigo Girls’ song when they sing “we’re better off for all that we let in.” The song reminds me to be open to challenges and growth, but of course sometimes “all” the suffering of the world is too much and needs to be balanced by celebration […]
BEE: Built Environment Education
I have been asked about integrating aspects of architectural history into K-12 curricula, which is something I did on a very small scale when my kids were in elementary school in the 1990s. I never went so far as to align the activities we did with state standards, but that’s because I worked closely with […]
Civility and Flying
I went to Washington, DC, to serve on an all-day review for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in early August. The idea was to fly in one evening and fly out the next, given that DC in August is not really a comfortable time of year and I was about to go on […]
Informatics and Airports
I just read the fascinating novel by Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist. This dystopic story of elevator inspectors set the tone for my recent foray into a whirlwind of airports, urban hotels, metro and taxis. The central character in Whitehead’s novel, Lila Mae, intuitively senses the mechanical state of the machines she inspects. As I ran […]
