Columns

Women in Fiction—Mariam and Laila

Warning: Significant spoilers ahead for the book A Thousand Splendid Suns.  If you haven’t read the book but intend to, you should probably stop reading now. Khaled Hosseini’s 2007 intergenerational novel A Thousand Splendid Suns has kept a special place in my heart since I first read it in 2014.  Not only did it leave an… Read more »

Fly On the Wall—Why Stress, Why Suffer?

Why, as adults (or in our case adult students), do we at times find it difficult to focus on gleeful and joyous moments?  Why does doubt and anxiety creep into our being and how is that negativity exacerbated by our studies?  Distance education can inflate our stress to soul-gnawing proportions.  So, in true critical thinking… Read more »

Music Review—Africans from Outta Space

Artist: Afronaut Album: Africans from Outta Space Afronaut’s debut album Africans from Outta Space is self-described as an interstellar compound of cosmic folk and tropical rockabilly.  Hailing from Soweto, South Africa, Afronaut are leaders in the area’s So Punk Movement—named for the eruption of new punk bands in the township.  Although the punk subculture has… Read more »

Dear Barb—Weed Worries

Dear Barb: I have been dating this really cool guy for the last eight months; at least I thought he was cool, now I’m starting to wonder if he has a problem with weed.  When we first met we would smoke together and have a lot of laughs.  It was great for a while, but… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—The Personal Measurement of our Studies

“Sure a cold one, eh?” “Warmer now that you’re here! Nothing’s more banal, or adroit, depending upon its users, than a conversation about temperature.  But did you know that the gendered pronoun controversy can blow like an Arctic front into the temperature mix?  Consider the French term, il fait froid, normally translated as a way… Read more »

Homemade is Better—Beef Stew

I would be hard pressed to find a meal more comforting on a cold day than beef stew.  When I’m not feeling well I can down chicken noodle soup all day, and when I want a comfort lunch a good tomato soup with grilled cheese hits the spot.  But when it’s as cold as it… Read more »

The Study Dude—Small Wins Add Up

We students might start a course overwhelmed, uncertain, wondering whether we’ll pass. For instance, math classes can create a lot of anxiety. And anyone taking a five-course load needs to get time-efficient fast. The goal is to do well in a course. A lot of battles will occur along the way. There may be an… Read more »

Dear Barb—Conversation with COVID-19

Dear Barb: Hi, my wife and I have been married for 10 years and we seem to be growing apart.  We don’t have any children and that was our choice, but it’s like we don’t have anything to keep us together.  It seems to be getting worse since the beginning of the pandemic, even though… Read more »