Category Archives: Writing & language

The art, craft, & agony of writing; the Grammar Crank speaks

Morning after

Posted on July 18, 2021 by springbyker

I just heard a muffled crack in the distance, followed by a limb falling.  After every summer thunderstorm with distorting winds, we lose more huge branches, sometimes entire trees.  I appreciate all the work that arborists and volunteering neighbors have … Continue reading →

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Just live, live, live

Posted on February 9, 2015 by springbyker

One of the conversation snippets I remember best from my graduate creative writing program days came from a classmate I didn’t know well and with whom I didn’t have much in common. It’s stayed in my head all these years … Continue reading →

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Con rumbo: Translating outside the milonga

Posted on June 9, 2013 by springbyker

For the last 2 1/2 weeks I’ve been plugging away at my first book translation.  Life being what it is, my home computer, a trusty laptop, decided to croak less than a week into the project.  It didn’t completely die, … Continue reading →

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A post-ette/Una tarjeta postal

Posted on May 13, 2013 by springbyker

I might post more often if I accepted that every article does not have to be a full-fledged essay. Or, to use an Argentine metaphor:  it doesn’t have to be the whole parilla; sometimes it’s just an alfajor. But now … Continue reading →

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“Another terrific review from you!”

Posted on April 13, 2013 by springbyker

I just received an auto-generated email from the CEO of TripAdvisor, congratulating me on my 100th review on the website.  I find myself both amused and annoyed.  As a hobbyist who discovered the site before my first trip to Argentina … Continue reading →

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Amethyst Brook

Posted on September 10, 2012 by springbyker

I went walking in the woods with her and came home with a white stone in my pocket and cuffs full of hemlock.  I went to bed alone wearing the same pants, and woke with tiny needles all over the … Continue reading →

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On not writing

Posted on November 20, 2011 by springbyker

“What I’ve been doing instead of blogging” – doesn’t every blogger write one of these eventually?  It seems inevitable – life often becomes more urgent than writing and sharing our work, unless one’s blog is one’s life.  Long before blogs … Continue reading →

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Why Argentina? 1993-2009

Posted on June 26, 2011 by springbyker

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked this question in the last four months.  I’m going to try to answer it here because it’s a sensible query, given the almost 200 countries and many indigenous nations and … Continue reading →

Posted in Argentina, Language learning & teaching, Latin America, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing & language | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mt. Holyoke haiku

Posted on December 3, 2010 by springbyker

On the darkest night I mistook the college clock tower for the moon.

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