C. McGuinn Freeman
@cmf406.bsky.social
She/Her. PhD. Author of Place Last Seen. Published in Montana Quarterly, Big Sky Journal, Dark Mountain, Best American Food Writing, Terrain. Newsletter: Getting Dirty: Material Entanglements in the Anthropocene (https://getting-dirty-anthropocene.com/)
Thank god for the hospital resale shop in Lake Forest when I was in high school -- between that and working at the Fancy Clothing Store, I managed to just barely look like I fit in.
November 20, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Thank god for the hospital resale shop in Lake Forest when I was in high school -- between that and working at the Fancy Clothing Store, I managed to just barely look like I fit in.
My mom, late in life living in Lexington KY bought a lot of really nice clothing resale. She was tiny (anorexic) and gave credit for the abundance in her size to the wives of the Japanese execs at the Toyota plant.
November 20, 2025 at 4:24 AM
My mom, late in life living in Lexington KY bought a lot of really nice clothing resale. She was tiny (anorexic) and gave credit for the abundance in her size to the wives of the Japanese execs at the Toyota plant.
I'm also the person in the writing workshop who will ask of a story "where's the money coming from?" Life mission -- talk about the money!
November 20, 2025 at 4:20 AM
I'm also the person in the writing workshop who will ask of a story "where's the money coming from?" Life mission -- talk about the money!
I did a lot of work on that front -- I mean, all my grad student papers were nested/extended versions. But I start with DO NOT REPEAT your intro as your conclusion. It's what they were taught to do, but when I said "it's a closed circle, it doesn't GO anywhere" the light bulb went off.
November 20, 2025 at 4:18 AM
I did a lot of work on that front -- I mean, all my grad student papers were nested/extended versions. But I start with DO NOT REPEAT your intro as your conclusion. It's what they were taught to do, but when I said "it's a closed circle, it doesn't GO anywhere" the light bulb went off.
I was also really open with them about what we make. I was teaching tech writing to CS students (w/a PhD in CW) while also working for Salesforce part time as a contractor. So I was all "here's what they pay me to teach, even unionized" and "here's what they pay me to write instructional models".
November 20, 2025 at 4:17 AM
I was also really open with them about what we make. I was teaching tech writing to CS students (w/a PhD in CW) while also working for Salesforce part time as a contractor. So I was all "here's what they pay me to teach, even unionized" and "here's what they pay me to write instructional models".
I taught mine about email salutations because they didn't know! And academics get SO butthurt. I also had to teach them what the difference is between adjunct and professor, and PhD and non-PhD. They don't know, why would they? We did it as part of learning discourse communities.
November 20, 2025 at 4:12 AM
I taught mine about email salutations because they didn't know! And academics get SO butthurt. I also had to teach them what the difference is between adjunct and professor, and PhD and non-PhD. They don't know, why would they? We did it as part of learning discourse communities.
Oh I know! My whole family runs the spectrum of dyslexia, ADHD, discalculia (me), and also depression & alcoholism. So I have a few edge ADHD things like waiting mode, and interrupting people, and blurting because it'll be gone. But I have good executive function, and was good at school.
November 20, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Oh I know! My whole family runs the spectrum of dyslexia, ADHD, discalculia (me), and also depression & alcoholism. So I have a few edge ADHD things like waiting mode, and interrupting people, and blurting because it'll be gone. But I have good executive function, and was good at school.
I think I probably have a mild case of actual ADHD and a big dose of cultural ADHD because my mother and brother were SO VERY ADHD.
November 20, 2025 at 2:51 AM
I think I probably have a mild case of actual ADHD and a big dose of cultural ADHD because my mother and brother were SO VERY ADHD.
Oh yeah. That's a bad stage of it all. There is no return to "normal" there's just learning to live with your amputated love, like a limb that's gone. But tell that to people? And they act like you're being rude.
November 20, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Oh yeah. That's a bad stage of it all. There is no return to "normal" there's just learning to live with your amputated love, like a limb that's gone. But tell that to people? And they act like you're being rude.
So many things irked me about that book. Among them "and then I became a Buddhist" by doing ONE retreat? But didn't like it because it's about the death of the ego, not being God's Special Boy.
And don't get me started on him whining about writing while his wife is doing all the work.
And don't get me started on him whining about writing while his wife is doing all the work.
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 AM
So many things irked me about that book. Among them "and then I became a Buddhist" by doing ONE retreat? But didn't like it because it's about the death of the ego, not being God's Special Boy.
And don't get me started on him whining about writing while his wife is doing all the work.
And don't get me started on him whining about writing while his wife is doing all the work.
Paul Kingsnorth's slide into ecofascism seems to have been greased by his "conversion" to Orthodoxy. Because just becoming a regular Catholic while living in Ireland is too ordinary? Or perhaps because it clashes with his pro-Brexit pro-British stance (he doesn't seem to understand Eire isn't UK).
November 20, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Paul Kingsnorth's slide into ecofascism seems to have been greased by his "conversion" to Orthodoxy. Because just becoming a regular Catholic while living in Ireland is too ordinary? Or perhaps because it clashes with his pro-Brexit pro-British stance (he doesn't seem to understand Eire isn't UK).
My Gran would take us out with her to pick up coal that had fallen off the trains that ran through her IL town, coal she burned in an open grate in her living room. (We were not actually poor, but I think she just couldn't resist free coal).
Between those fumes, and that all the adults smoked, ugh.
Between those fumes, and that all the adults smoked, ugh.
November 20, 2025 at 1:30 AM
My Gran would take us out with her to pick up coal that had fallen off the trains that ran through her IL town, coal she burned in an open grate in her living room. (We were not actually poor, but I think she just couldn't resist free coal).
Between those fumes, and that all the adults smoked, ugh.
Between those fumes, and that all the adults smoked, ugh.
My birthday is 12/10 and I used to be the same, but this year, everything is so much, that I'm even happy with my across-the-street neighbor's totally over the top decorations, that have been up since the time change.
November 19, 2025 at 11:53 PM
My birthday is 12/10 and I used to be the same, but this year, everything is so much, that I'm even happy with my across-the-street neighbor's totally over the top decorations, that have been up since the time change.
There have been a lot of profs, across most disciplines, having issues with this -- and much of it seems to boil down to elementary and high schools no longer teaching *how* to read, but rather, teaching "how to guess what a word means and maybe you'll get it right". www.ldatschool.ca/three-cueing/
What’s in a name? – Everything! A reflection on the Three-Cueing System - LD@School
The three-cueing approach to reading encourages students to guess words based on context or prior knowledge rather than building their decoding skills.
www.ldatschool.ca
November 19, 2025 at 11:50 PM
There have been a lot of profs, across most disciplines, having issues with this -- and much of it seems to boil down to elementary and high schools no longer teaching *how* to read, but rather, teaching "how to guess what a word means and maybe you'll get it right". www.ldatschool.ca/three-cueing/
"Thank you for sharing that lovely memory of M. It brings me some comfort, even in this darkest of times, to know that he was loved and is missed by so many."
Or something along those lines. You know, "from the bottom of my pit of despair, I thank you for thinking of us."
Or something along those lines. You know, "from the bottom of my pit of despair, I thank you for thinking of us."
November 19, 2025 at 11:33 PM
"Thank you for sharing that lovely memory of M. It brings me some comfort, even in this darkest of times, to know that he was loved and is missed by so many."
Or something along those lines. You know, "from the bottom of my pit of despair, I thank you for thinking of us."
Or something along those lines. You know, "from the bottom of my pit of despair, I thank you for thinking of us."
My great-grandmother agrees!
November 19, 2025 at 11:29 PM
My great-grandmother agrees!
As a late-middle-aged Charlotte, it's about time!
November 19, 2025 at 11:24 PM
As a late-middle-aged Charlotte, it's about time!
Yeah, it's a thing here in MT. The actual MT people tend to drive Subarus and most actual ranch workers I know drive old cheap cars that get good gas mileage when they're going to town. But the bougie nouveau ranch (and "ranchette") owners are all Performative Truck/Jeep people.
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Yeah, it's a thing here in MT. The actual MT people tend to drive Subarus and most actual ranch workers I know drive old cheap cars that get good gas mileage when they're going to town. But the bougie nouveau ranch (and "ranchette") owners are all Performative Truck/Jeep people.
Oh yeah, it's still in the 40s AT NIGHT here in Montana! In the 2nd half of November!?
November 19, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Oh yeah, it's still in the 40s AT NIGHT here in Montana! In the 2nd half of November!?
Exactly. That was my point with the story about my brother, who was never so cold as he was setting up golf tournements at Pebble Beach in the winter. Wet 30-40F with a wind is far worse than a nice clear 0F with crunchy snow.
November 19, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Exactly. That was my point with the story about my brother, who was never so cold as he was setting up golf tournements at Pebble Beach in the winter. Wet 30-40F with a wind is far worse than a nice clear 0F with crunchy snow.
The Jeep people drive like SUCH dickheads though. We're awash with them in this part of Montana. Incomers, mostly from Texas, of the sort who 5 years ago were buying Hummers.
There's 2 or 3 Cybertrucks around but they get mocked so openly that ...
There's 2 or 3 Cybertrucks around but they get mocked so openly that ...
November 19, 2025 at 8:12 PM
The Jeep people drive like SUCH dickheads though. We're awash with them in this part of Montana. Incomers, mostly from Texas, of the sort who 5 years ago were buying Hummers.
There's 2 or 3 Cybertrucks around but they get mocked so openly that ...
There's 2 or 3 Cybertrucks around but they get mocked so openly that ...