Land of the Free

• When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes. 10 years ago ^ True story for grad school.Every so often I get an email, Facebook message or Tweet from undergraduates or recent graduates who want information on coming to America to work or study. I understand that the process can be daunting, so I'm going to attempt to answer the most common questions. In...
• It was just my imagination, running away with me 10 years ago [Written January 24, edited February 27]I recently experienced what many would consider to be the most symbolic end of childhood: my parents sold our house, which the five of us moved in to in early 1994. It was not a surprise, except that the looking, buying, selling and moving all happened while...
• Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. 10 years ago [Fun fact: Most of this was handwritten during a London to Norwich train journey. Which is looking finer than ever!]This post is about making life choices during your twenties, respecting other people's choices, and the culture that surrounds the idea of "choice" in the first place. Normally I...
• It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was all surface but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to go off. 10 years ago Today I will attempt to answer the question: What is the South?From Southern Studies 101 to Southern Studies 601, from Mississippi to North Carolina, I have talked to a lot of people about what "the South" really means. We draw lines between different countries, but defining a region is more...
• I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. 11 years ago What did I do THIS time?I left you with a kind of cliffhanger in my last entry. You may be wondering what is going on with my patched up feet. Well, I'll get to that. It's part of my story of the first ten days of living in Oxford. I'm writing this in part to remember it and tell a good yarn, but...

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