O Spring Break, Where Art Thou?
“Any big plans for spring break, Professor Hurley?” I heard this question last week from James, an earnest young man who has lived for maybe twenty years. Short cropped brown...
Hurl's Treehouse
Showers, Time Machines, and Jungle Rot
I’ve had several ideas to blog about (is blog a verb?), but nothing really growing deep roots. Here’s the charcuterie version. Recently, I heard a speech about how shower time...
The Voices In My Head
I hear voices. They narrate my actions, comment on my wins and losses. Not all day long, here and there when I’m doing something or going somewhere. I hear the...
It’s Coming…
No, not the maniacal clown from Stephen King. Or the “thing “It” from outer space (1953 movie reference). Also, not the nerdy dude from down the hall who fixes your...
Loving the Swamp
Anyone who has visited the Central Valley in the summer understands the heat. Intense and often in excess of 100 degrees, the daytime temps can manhandle you. Some may object,...
Winning State (part 2)
In 1997, Wheeling High School won the State Title in Congressional Debate for the first time since the program began in 1985. That’s the headline that garnered the attention in...
Winning State (part 1)
At the top of the stairs in the Collin College building where I teach, there are side by side water bottle filling devices, the one on the right slightly taller...
A Duck, a Watch, a Nickel, and a Rock
In literature, we call them symbols. There’s the green light at the end of the dock in Great Gatsby. Or what the three harpooners represent in Moby-Dick or the Mississippi...
To All the Birds I’ve Loved Before
(This is an updated and improved version of a piece I wrote a few years back, sort of a Thanksgiving leftover. Like a lot of leftovers, it tastes better the...
