Samuel Jaye Tanner
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Samuel Jaye Tanner
@samueljayetanner.bsky.social
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samjtanner.com/2025/12/20/o...
Old Man Basketball
I was on the bench after playing the first two games. I couldn’t hit a shot, but I locked down my matchup on defense. I hustled. I knocked the ball lose. I ran the court. I was exhausted. I s…
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December 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
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An Unpleasant Place
“Hey sweetie, you want a picture?” the scantily clad woman asked. She put a feather boa around my neck. “You’re so handsome.” I fled in terror. “Want a picture w…
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December 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/11/15/p...
Paid in Full
I’m told one shouldn’t publish their financial data online. Least of all in a silly little blog about silly little things written by a silly little man. I suppose I don’t really b…
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November 15, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/11/08/a...
A Collection of Beautiful and Absurd People
I present a collection of beautiful and absurd people. I credit that phrase to my advisor, Dr. Timothy Lensmire. Well, co-adviser. Cynthia Lewis and Tim shared me when I was a doctoral student at t…
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November 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/11/01/1...
14 Years
I titled this short piece 14 years because Katie and I have been married for fourteen years. My title makes me think of this song by Guns n’ Roses. That Guns n’ Roses song linked above …
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November 1, 2025 at 1:54 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/10/25/f...
Freshwater People
“Are we able to take any of these items with us?” I asked the librarian of the Lilly Library at Indiana University. This was after somebody else asked if we were allowed to touch the bo…
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October 25, 2025 at 12:10 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/10/18/c...
Can’t You Feel Our Souls Ignite?
I think it is time for me to retire from social media. The screenshot of the post above is the best I can do. Here’s a quick defense of the post. *** Meowalicious’ cone that keeps her f…
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October 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/10/04/c...
Coughing!
This is my third installment of a series of blogs that have included titles that end with exclamation marks. Each of these entries concern matters of health. Psychoanalyze that as you will, kind re…
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October 4, 2025 at 2:27 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/09/27/c...
Colonoscopy!
“You probably need to schedule a colonoscopy,” my doctor said. “Yeah?” “Yeah.” Yeah. Okay. 45 year-olds have colonoscopies. I am a 45 year-old. A simple logic pu…
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September 27, 2025 at 12:57 PM
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Dizzy!
No, I don’t mean this kind of Dizzy. I mean this kind of dizzy. I can tell my anxiety is seething with the start of another fall semester when I walk over the Burlington St. Bridge. Out of no…
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September 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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Tatonka or Like a Buffalo
The ball was floating towards my side of the field. I broke on it like a thousand galloping horses. Like a charging bull. Like anybody with a conscious mind fleeing the desolation of the internet i…
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September 13, 2025 at 2:40 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/09/06/j...
Just a Humble Young Man
I’m just a humble young man, making my way through the world. This is what I told a friend of mine at work the other day. She laughed loudly. I laughed loudly too. I’m a professor. I&#8…
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September 6, 2025 at 2:52 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/08/30/f...
Fall in Iowa City
It is polite to greet somebody in the Midwest with a question about the weather. It is with that Midwestern greeting in mind that I ask the following question: “How is the weather?” It …
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August 30, 2025 at 2:43 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/08/23/f...
For Those Who Come After
The school year is here. Solomon starts 6th grade at Southeast Middle School. Samson starts 5th grade at Horace Mann Elementary. Katie is teaching at the University of Iowa. Young Samuel is serving…
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August 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/08/16/o...
Oh, Yeah, Anything Could Happen
Oh, yeah. I keep these blogs weekly. Even when I’m busy. Even when I’m going through big things. Even when I’m going through small things. Some might call me disciplined. Others m…
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August 16, 2025 at 1:36 PM
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Keep Echoing
My friend Natalie took this picture in 2009. At the time, she was a high school senior working on a final project in a Dramatic Literature class. I was a high school teacher. We were in the Media C…
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August 9, 2025 at 2:09 PM
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Me and Minnesota
There I am at Emily’s Lebanese Deli. My wife Katie and I ate at Emily’s Lebanese Deli last week. The best tabbouleh in the world. In my world, at least. Katie and I took a walk near St.…
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August 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/07/19/m...
Mewaaaaaaaaaa!
Our eyes met across the street. I felt a spark. I know he did too. “This way!” I howled to my wife and children. “Be quick now.” Quick we were. We rushed across the street f…
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July 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
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Walking into a Wet Washcloth
“It’s like walking into a wet washcloth.” This was my wife Katie’s reply when I asked her how hot it was outside. Iowa City in July of 2025. Humidity and corn sweat. It is l…
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July 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/06/28/o...
Oh, Hi There
“Oh, hi there,” thirty-four-year-old-me says to me. There is a mischievous look hidden behind those dark sunglasses. I recognize that shirt. Forty-five-year-old-me still has that shirt.…
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June 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
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Everything is Change
Everything is change sounds like the title of a self-help book. Kurt Vonnegut wrote that we are here to help each other through this thing, whatever this thing is. Self-help? More like I’ll h…
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June 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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Talented and Gifted
I don’t know how my son Solomon learned to play piano as well as he does. And of course parents often say things like I just wrote above. I’m listening to him play the theme from Lord o…
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June 7, 2025 at 1:42 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/05/31/c...
Crème Brûlée and Truffles
It’s been a millennium since Katie and I went on a date. It’s been three millennium since Katie and I went to a concert. That’s a long time. I think we saw the Eels at First Avenu…
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May 31, 2025 at 1:42 PM
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Triglycerides
My doctor entered the room. My doctor (she’s a physician’s assistant, actually) is great. She’s funny, has tattoos, and is more than empathetic about this white coat syndrome I&#8…
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May 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
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samjtanner.com/2025/05/17/t...
The Hunger
There is a wild animal in my house. A beast with a hunger. And that animal must feed. Sometimes (it is a little too often if you ask me), my wife Katie forgets to feed Theo his wet food. Theo and h…
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May 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM