Po-tay-to Po-tah-to
Potomac Review, Issue 65, Pushcart Nominated and Best American Essays Notable

I pick up a white box with colorful imagery of DNA. The middle of the box reads,
Welcome to you.
Had I never met me?

The Tyranny of Lawns and Landlords

High Country News, July 12th, 2019

Before I rented my first house in Boise, Idaho, a city with little precipitation and lengthy dry spells, I dreamt of having a xeriscaped paradise complete with a pollinator garden, raised beds of squashes with drip irrigation, and a rain-catchment system to store all the water I needed for my yard. Ten years and three houses later, I am scattering seeds of Kentucky bluegrass and pellets of fertilizer, and routinely using the sprinkler. What happened to my dream?

Butcher Block
Massachusetts Review, Volume 60, Issue 1

In the backroom of the meat and seafood department, a butcher was stabbing a hunk of meat. His face twitched with each pounding thrust.

The Ghost in My Shower
Thin Air Literary Magazine, Issue 20

I never believed in ghosts until I started showering with one.

Rosemary, Sage, and Fear
Entropy

Dried rosemary looks like chopped pine needles. I sprinkle them on course coffee grounds for my morning cup. I add rubbed sage while water boils in the microwave for me to pour over the culminating mixture of what I hope will prevent a future with a skull-full of amyloid plaque.

Bask in the Color of the Table
Eastern Iowa Review, Issue 6

Maud Martha and I share a kitchenette, and no, it wasn’t the one we wanted.

In My Back Pocket
Santa Ana River Review, Winter 2020

I carve the eastern Kentucky hills with my girlfriend’s hatchback…

Teaching Actual Student Writing in an AI World

Inside Higher Ed

Students may be tempted to use AI to automatically complete assignments because these machines are free, quick and relatively good at mimicking an academic style. Whether artificial intelligence will advance education or destroy it, faculty members need effective methods for teaching in a world with easy access to these powerful machines.

Are GPT-3 and ChatGPT Just More Gadgets We Don’t Need?

Newsweek

America is the home of useless gadgets. From Sauna Pants to EZ Butter slicers, gadgets blend technology and consumerism into a product that is often fun, but not always necessary. Any time over the last 40 years, one could walk into a Sharper Image and be surrounded by state-of-the-art electronic flea collars, massaging slippers, and air purifiers. Playing with these gadgets feels like visiting the future, or so shoppers are made to believe. Working with GPT-3, an artificial intelligence (AI) text generator, can feel like walking into a Sharper Image for the first time—anything can wow, but sooner or later, the novelty wears off.

Fall in Love with the Intricate Leaf Art of Susanna Bauer
Crixeo (magazine closed, .pdf available)

The familiar crunch of dried leaves is one of the great pleasures of autumn, but when Susanna Bauer uses leaves to create highly detailed crocheted sculptures, she barely makes a sound with her tiny needles and fine thread. What compels someone to take a leaf and put a needle through it?

We Need a Captain Planet Reboot
Crixeo (magazine closed, .pdf available)

If there’s one thing that could bring new attention to environmental issues in a way that Al Gore can’t, it’s Captain Planet. The inconvenient truth is that what the planet needs right now isn’t scientific consensus; it’s fandom.