Confessions of an Errant Mind

With all the endings and beginnings in my life right now (trading career for grad school, etc.), I've decided this is a good time to put this blog into a deep slumber. I've never been able to fully figure out what this thing should be about--I don't feel ready yet to write about my scholarly pursuits, and personal stories can go on our family blog. Plus, Facebook is a better spot to post news stories and other web events. And so farewell, few readers. This blog will remain available indefinitely, but I don't have any plans to continue posting here.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

coming home from fireworks at 11 PM, it sounds like the show's still going on in our neighborhood. Even at midnight, there were rockets shooting up 50 ft. or so all around us, creating a fairly dense haze. Say what you want about North Minneapolis, but people here must really love our country!

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

someone steals the actual garage door (the one meant for cars) off the abandoned house next door in broad daylight on a weekend. We came home from church around 11:15 and it (and the garage door opener) were gone by 2. I'm sure it had some value for scrap metal, and the opener could be pawned. But seriously--stealing something that big? That takes some planning. Even the local neighborhood association thought this was a new one.

Of course the house is abandoned because its caught up in a scam that was part of the larger mortgage crisis, which itself is having its strongest toll on our much poorer than average area. But that's the big picture.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of course we'll know that local food has truly arrived when Wal-Mart starts offering it, but this story shows that it's certainly gaining some cache.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One issue that's really caught my attention as I've begun my graduate studies is the local food movement. The idea here is that we should invest more in locally based economies--promoting more ethical relationships between people and the environment, and forming a base for sustainable economic development rather than the "race to the bottom" promoted by globalization/export based economies. In the food world, this has gotten somewhat silly at times, with challenges to "eat local" in which consumers limit themselves to food produced with x number of miles of their homes. I'm sorry, but I live in Minnesota. The idea of carrots and potatoes all winter doesn't quite appeal.

Still, this has been an idea I've been working through. Most recently, I enjoyed reading Deep Economy and its insistence that money buys happiness only to a point. Gibson-Graham also emphasize grassroots economies (though not exclusively local ones) built on community based assets.

But I was intrigued to run across this study today suggesting that local eating isn't as beneficial as proponents claim. Up to half of the greenhouse gas emissions in the food system, these researchers claim, comes in essence from cows--red meat and dairy. Becoming slightly more vegetarian results in huge savings in carbon output per household.

I haven't read this study yet, and I'm sure there's questions about how these outputs were measured. But still, this attacks one of the main arguments for local food. Interesting stuff.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I currently have a bit of an identity crisis with this blog, hence the random posting of YouTube videos. But here's another one. For those not on Facebook, this won't make much sense. But I've been dabbling in it the last six months or so and this is pretty funny.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Andrew Sullivan posted this super cool audio recording of Walt Whitman reading on of his poems. As an English major and Dead Poet's Society Watcher, this is super cool!!!

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Found this post detailing an academic exploration of the Sopranos. Wish I could attend! My favorite session: "The Sopranos, the Family, and the Postwar Imagined Community"

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not a total fan of piling on our president's malapropisms, but this one (pointed out on Daily Kos) struck me as particularly funny. Obviously, the dead don't usually wonder too much about tomorrow.

Laura and I want to wish everybody a happy Mother's Day. It's just a special day to give thanks to our Moms; appreciate the hard work that Moms do. And I understand that for some, however, Mother's Day is a sad day for those who lost their lives in Oklahoma and Missouri and Georgia because of the tornadoes, are wondering whether or not tomorrow will be a bright and hopeful day.

I see many such statements in my life as a composition instructor. This semester, one student wrote how he had a friend attacked by a band of "armed rubbers." They don't quite tickle me as they used to, but it's one thing I'll miss as I move to greener pastures.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As of next week, I'll no longer be a first year composition instructor. I'll be teaching a course this summer, but it's not technically first year comp and I'll no longer be a part of the Writing Studies Department here. Probably the hardest part of this whole transition has been stepping out of a fairly comfortable niche. I've been in my current career track for almost a decade. I more or less know what I'm doing, and I'm reasonably competent at it. I'm in control of my work and I know what's expected of me.

Starting this fall, that all changes. I'm entering a new field. Rather than concentrating on teaching, the next three years of my life will be primarily about research. While my classes have touched on the themes I'm interested in, they've been introductory and, by necessity, fairly broad. In my next gig, some four or five years from now, I'll be teaching students specific content from a particular discipline. And during this transition, I'm a student--somewhat in control, but also learning what's expected of me and how I fit in a new academic landscape.

To that end, I feel like the caterpillar entering a cocoon. I don't know exactly what I'll look like on the other end of this. But it will be interesting to find out.

Image source

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We now know that Obama has really, truly broken ties with his pastor.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With school finishing up, all my emotional energy has been going into grading and writing (and preparing for the changes soon to come). But here's a video post I found rather uplifting. This race has gotten quite tedious of late, but there's some fresh energy here.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

but apparently these folks do:

This ad is courtesy of my friend David, whose sister Beth produced it. Nicely done.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At our church small group last night, I found out that one of our local coffee shops, the Bean Scene, had shuttered up for good. The Bean Scene opened up about four years ago in a former Burger King--fitting for north Minneapolis. They offered award winning coffee and passable food. More notably, it's been a community center of sorts. I've seen most of our local and national politicians there (Councilman Don Samuels, Representative Keith Ellison, and Mayor R.T. Rybak), it's hosted community events like poetry slams, and in general it was just a good place to network and meet people. For me, it was a spot to hang out with a few guy friends on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, it seems like the market for a $3.50 latte in the 'hood ain't good. It almost closed six months ago, but the city stepped in. Whatever was offered must not have been enough.

This is business, and in a sense it's no great loss. In the food business in particular, the chances of success are quite low--something like 20%. And opening up an upscale coffee place in a poor urban area doesn't help that rate. Still, there's a part of me that wants to see my neighborhood as the type of community in which spaces like the Bean Scene can exist. I recognize that my desire reflects my background: north Minneapolis has other neighborhood "centers," like buses, convenience stores, and barber shops. But the Bean Scene to me was a place community activists could use to connect. In my academic research, I'm sure to be talking about the negative affects of gentrification. And certainly I don't want to see a Starbucks on every corner here. But a little of it wasn't a bad thing.

The Bean Scene recently opened a second location a few blocks down the street, and that one survives. Yet it will never have the "charm" of the hamburger embossed door handle. And I have my doubts about it's long term future as well. Other coffee shops may come and go, but this one had a special place in my heart. So forgive me if I feel a little sentimental looking back over the short life of this modest enterprise.

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a little too biased for me, but it definitely captures the core of my reasons for not supporting Hillary. All politicians play this game, but it seems like she does it more than most. I'm not sure what I'd do in a general election, yet. McCain doesn't inspire me either, especially economically. In any case, enjoy:

Posted by Jerry Shannon at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)