Write On: Puzzling — Making & Musing... As anyone who knows me will tell you, I love a good puzzle. Admittedly, this inclination has been a bit of a detriment in romantic relationships. As a friend of mine once observed, “You like ‘em wi...

On the blog today, I reflect on what I've recently realized about my writing process... #WriteLife #WriteSky

www.harriethustis.com/blog/write-on-puzzling

My open access article on Lucy Grealy’s representation of shame in “Autobiography of a Face” is now available in the Spring 2025 special issue of Literature & Medicine on “Shame & Medicine.” muse.jhu.edu/article/975546

Write On: When A Break Isn’t A Block — Making & Musing... Conventional writing advice usually suggests that the best way to make progress on any writing project is to cultivate a daily writing habit. This line of thinking focuses on the simple mathematics ...

On the blog today, the latest post in my "Write On" series explores what happens when a Writing "break" is not a "block"... and how to move forward. Day 1 #acadecawriteathon

www.harriethustis.com/blog/write-on-when-a-break-isnt-a-block

November was busy & sad, & ALL the Writing got set aside, so I’m joining #acadecawriteathon this month to (try to) get back on track…

Really looking forward to returning to the Berkshires next June for a weekend of all things Edith Wharton! (I’ll be a presenter 🙂)

edithwharton.org/calendar/sum...

Knitting & Physics: The SciShow Controversy — Making & Musing... In 2023, I decided to pursue certification as a Master Hand Knitter from The Knitting Guild Association . I’m currently working my way through Level 2 of the 3-Level Program (Level 1 takes a year,...

On the blog this morning, the recent controversy surrounding Hank Green's flawed video about knitting & physics:

www.harriethustis.com/blog/knitting-amp-physics-the-scishow-controversy

Here for the Gabagool — Making & Musing... In the autumn of 2024, I had a semester off from teaching, so I did what any self-respecting literary comparatist would do. I binge-watched The Sopranos . Several episodes in, and it had become a ...

So, like any good literary comparatist, I binge-watched "The Sopranos" last fall... and then I got the box set ... and now I have to write about it.
www.harriethustis.com/blog/here-for-the-gabagool

The Birdhouse Rebuild — Making & Musing... In my backyard, there’s always been a post with a birdhouse on it. Years ago, I noticed that this post had begun to split, which meant that it had no doubt also begun to rot. Like all in-ground post...

On the #blog, building a better birdhouse… #diy www.harriethustis.com/blog/the-bir...

Kindred — The Questions Themselves... This week, I had a beach day planned, so I decided to (FINALLY) finish a book that I (FINALLY) started in September of 2023— Kindred , by Octavia E. Butler. First published in 1979, Kindred tells t...

On the blog, I finally read Octavia Butler’s “Kindred.” #Booksky #ReadingCommunity #blogpost
www.harriethustis.com/blog/kindred

Nevertheless, She Persisted? — The Questions Themselves... This past weekend, I ran a race that has become a bit of a tradition for me. The first couple of times I attended, I was a spectator of friends who run. Watching them inspired me to take up running...

On the blog today, thinking about the question of persistence and "grit." www.harriethustis.com/blog/nevertheless-she-persisted

What is Patience? — The Questions Themselves... As I mentioned previously, I retired at the start of July. When I did, in one of life’s odd coincidences, I ended up dealing with a major bureaucratic snafu that reminded me of a major bureaucratic ...

On the blog this morning, what is the psychology of patience?
www.harriethustis.com/blog/what-is...

Can We Rant? (About Lolita?) — The Questions Themselves... I’ve been biting my tongue when it comes to writing about the whole Jeffrey Epstein debacle. In part, I’m afraid that once I start, I’ll never stop. But hey, what’s a blog for, if you can’t rant on i...

New blog post: www.harriethustis.com/blog/can-we-...

The News: the world is terrible and all the things are f**.

The World: hold my beer.

Ready for the Luck? — The Questions Themselves... In Spring of 2024, I made the decision to retire early from my job as a professor of literature. The institution where I’d worked for nearly 30 years offered a voluntary separation incentive, and I d...

On the blog today, the mindset that propelled me towards retirement
www.harriethustis.com/blog/ready-f...

Why July? — The Questions Themselves... I dread the month of July. Some of the most painful events of my life have taken place in July. So now I always feel like the 4th comes way too early to do any good, and afterward, we still have a ...

On the blog this morning, metaphors of resilience & hope in Melville’s “Moby-Dick” www.harriethustis.com/blog/why-july

How Much to Share? — The Questions Themselves... As I mentioned in “ Where to Start ,” one of the questions I’ve recently considered is the question of, how much we should share online? As I think through this question, I’m reminded of Austin Kleo...

On the blog this morning, what happens when we show intellectual vulnerability & practice “learning in the open”?

www.harriethustis.com/blog/how-muc...

Photo by 2y.kang on Unsplash

Where To Start? — The Questions Themselves... In 2010, I began a blog that I posted to regularly. I styled myself “the thinker” and wrote about whatever was on my mind at the time. I ended that blog in 2021, because I felt that it had run its ...

The new blog is finally up and running!

Posts every Monday & Thursday.

www.harriethustis.com/blog/where-do-i-start

304: Superprogressive Reclaiming the value of immersion in an era of compression. Plus, the most hopeful statistic in four decades of writing about the climate, Burundi eliminates trachoma, Sweden goes cage-free, and wild ...

News stories to make you less pessimistic. 🙂

Younger generations less likely to have dementia, study suggests Researchers say people born more recently, particularly women, have lower risk at same age as their grandparents

Dementia risk down 50% for cohorts born after 1945, especially women. Clean air, schooling and heart health quietly reshape ageing. 🧠

303: Superwood Bulletproof, fire-resistant, stronger than steel. Plus, malaria vaccines get cheaper, global electricity access up, European air pollution down, genuine hope for coral reefs, and giant river otters re...

This week's good news:

Drones clean up Everest, another country eliminates malaria, Italy's homicide rate plummets, Ecuador and Peru protect more area, China quietly converts hundreds of coal mines into solar, first regulated psychedelic medicine for depression.

fixthenews.com/303-superwood/

Read more books.

Become wiser and more empathetic. Gain knowledge. Practice deep focus in a world full of distraction. Be entertained. Improve your critical thinking. Increase your creativity. Write better. Learn about concepts that will help you day in and day out.

Two grey cats lying in the sun next to each other by an open patio screen door

#Caturday at last!

If you’d like links to snippets of worldwide GOOD news, check out fixthenews.com

--Now available--Hotel booking for ALA 2025 Symposium "American Fiction: Forms, Genres, and Traditions" (October 16-18; Santa Fe, NM). Book your room at americanliteratureassociation.org/ala-conferen...

Toe beans, anyone? #catsoffbluesky #cats

“in the wake of the deliberate gutting of the liberal arts, English in particular… he has held together the tattered scraps of the literature and writing programs, which the faceless gremlins in your office have condemned to indigence and ruin.” —Julie Schumacher, DEAR COMMITTEE MEMBERS: A NOVEL

Black and white photo of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an eager & interested look on his face, leaning on a desk, looking down at sheets of paper.

#Mondaymood “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

This is what history consists of. It’s the sum total of all the things they aren’t telling us.” —Don DeLillo, LIBRA

Sleeping grey cat with paw extended to a ball of yarn.

#Caturday

“Let’s slow down, not in pace or wordage but in nerves.” —John Steinbeck