I ask my students to refer to me as Professor Roberts. It's a position I decided to take when I first started teaching, and despite how I don't feel totally comfortable and confident doing it, it's one that I have stuck to ( Read more... )

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Kind of had a breakthrough this weekend in the justification of one of my theories. I prize analytical thinking really highly (and in fact have been called upon to teach it in recent years) and as such I like to come up with codified assessments to assist in my understanding and interpretation going forward. Usually they’re about the craft of ( Read more... )

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I know it’s a waste of energy to have any feelings at all with dumb comedy franchises, but Zoolander has annoyed me on an ideological level for a long time. When it came out when I was in high school, everyone I knew loved it while I just didn’t get why it was supposed to be so funny ( Read more... )

A major tenant of my feminism is that I believe that men and women are basically the same, with more variation between individuals than between the two groups at large. By nature, at least. Any overall differences you do see I believe are largely the result of socialization. We receive very different messages, both deliberately and implicitly, from ( Read more... )

I remember when I first saw Iron Man 1 in theaters. I found Tony to be incredibly hot, and this annoyed me, because he was a jerk, and I didn’t like the idea that such jerkiness wouldn’t kill my attraction to him. Every time I see Jon Hamm, the guy who plays Don Draper, out of character, I’m always struck- “He’s so attractive! Why do I never notice ( Read more... )

I made myself a promise that anything I wrote longer than than ten minutes was going to pass the Bechdel Test. It is not a very high bar to include at least two female characters who talk to each other about the point of the story/something besides a man, so I am determined to do it. I have succeeded since I instituted this rule, which includes all ( Read more... )

Another bit of noodling for the eventual sequel to Adonis. I struggled with this one, as I knew the idea I wanted to get across but was having a really hard time representing it in the right manner ( Read more... )

I have so many writing projects that I need to accomplish in the near future, and I find it helpful to lay out a plan and prioritize so I know what to focus on. So here’s what I’m thinking, at least for the next two months or so.

I have plunged into draft 4 of the new musical, Puzzle House Blues. I am making the last round of edits to the text ( Read more... )