For the first time in many years I took a proper trip during the annual academic spring break this past March. Obviously the past two years were disrupted by the pandemic, but even before that I had become accustomed to spending that week recuperating at home (or working my way through student papers). But this … Continue reading Maine Relations
Tag: Nashville
Thanatopsis in Paris, TN
In March I traveled to Tennessee for my grandmother’s funeral. This journey involved convening with my immediate family in Nashville before continuing on for the funeral itself in the town of Paris, TN. I previously wrote gushingly (and verbosely) about Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas after seeing the film for the first time. The film’s evocative … Continue reading Thanatopsis in Paris, TN
Shots from the Block: First snow of 2022
My new year started off with some wild weather. I rang in the new year in Nashville where I was visiting my family for the holidays. The weather on New Year’s Day was warm (nearly 80 degrees fahrenheit) and brought the first tornado warnings of the brand new calendar year. Coincidentally this happened to be … Continue reading Shots from the Block: First snow of 2022
Belcourt Appreciation & Pandemic Media Memories
For the Thanksgiving break last week I visited my family in Nashville. My parents have only been in Tennessee for a few years, so there’s not much personal history connecting me to the place, but after having lived there through the first 18 months of the pandemic returning this time felt like a true homecoming. … Continue reading Belcourt Appreciation & Pandemic Media Memories
City Scenes: Back at the Ballpark
Within a week of returning to Pittsburgh I attended a Pirates game at PNC Park. It was my first time back to the park since September 29, 2019, which was the last day of the Pirates’ 2019 season and therefore also the last time fans were in the stadium until the pandemic attendance restrictions were … Continue reading City Scenes: Back at the Ballpark
Shots from the Block: writing on the ground/underground
It’s January (again). As the new year begins I continue my self-imposed exile in suburban Nashville, extending the indefinite holding pattern initiated by the pandemic just a little while longer. It has largely been a favorable transition. Life is quieter here on the cul-de-sac. One of the major changes the new year has brought to … Continue reading Shots from the Block: writing on the ground/underground
Smoke Signals: Buda’s Wagon and Infrastructure Terrorism in Nashville
“The car bomb, in other words, suddenly became a semi-strategic weapon that under certain circumstances was comparable to air-power in its ability to knock out critical urban nodes and headquarters as well as terrorize populations of entire cities. [...] It is the car bombers’ incessant blasting-away at the moral and physical shell of the city, … Continue reading Smoke Signals: Buda’s Wagon and Infrastructure Terrorism in Nashville