Trying to do good things for good reasons. https://steelwagstaff.info en-us Sat, 16 May 2026 03:17:29 GMT https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/advice-for-college-teachers-moving-online-quickly/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/advice-for-college-teachers-moving-online-quickly/ A lot of teachers I know and love (including one I live with) are scrambling right now to rapidly transition their in progress face to face classes to online instruction. I don't teach college classes Sat, 14 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/thoughts-on-licensing-why-i-prefer-cc-by-licenses/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/thoughts-on-licensing-why-i-prefer-cc-by-licenses/ Robin DeRosa recently posted an open question about CC licensing on Twitter that got me thinking: Sun, 21 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/2017-my-year-in-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/2017-my-year-in-reading/ This is the first year that I've really made an effort to keep track of my leisure reading. One of my goals for the year was to read less internet-based news and more books, and I think I was more or Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-october-and-november-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-october-and-november-reading/ In my last reading update, I mentioned that I had read the first book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Since then, apart from reading for my dissertation, that's pretty much all I've read. Mon, 27 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/getting-started-with-pressbooks-a-guide-for-higher-education-use-cases/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/getting-started-with-pressbooks-a-guide-for-higher-education-use-cases/ Using Pressbooks to publish OER Fri, 10 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/adding-interactivity-to-web-annotation/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/adding-interactivity-to-web-annotation/ For the past few years, I've been working to improve how content experts at my university can write, develop, and publish open educational resources. Early in 2016, I published my own set of core prin Sat, 28 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-summer-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-summer-reading/ I haven't kept up as regularly with these monthly updates as I had hoped, but I did keep reading through the summer. I stayed really plugged into my dissertation reading and research, which really cut Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/about-theme-songs/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/about-theme-songs/ What is 'Theme Songs'? Mon, 28 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-last-years-of-j-b-jackson/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-last-years-of-j-b-jackson/ Passages from William Langewiesche's Inside the Sky interspersed with quotations from John Brinckerhoff Jackson's own writing on landscape. Normally typeset passages from Langewiesche, block quotes fr Wed, 05 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-june-2017-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-june-2017-reading/ Books Tue, 04 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-may-2017-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-may-2017-reading/ Books Mon, 12 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-april-2017-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-april-2017-reading/ Books Tue, 02 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-march-2017-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-march-2017-reading/ Books Tue, 04 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-january-and-february-2017-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-january-and-february-2017-reading/ Books Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/personal-finance-a-diy-guide/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/personal-finance-a-diy-guide/ Thinking about money stresses a lot of people out. For many of us, talking about it can be even worse, as it's an area where we may feel crippling shame, inadequacy, anger, or even guilt. It's one of Tue, 28 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/a-guide-to-diy-podcast-recording/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/a-guide-to-diy-podcast-recording/ A little more than two years ago, my friend Dave had an idea: he wanted to do a weekly podcast called “Off the Chain,” on which he would talk about things he thought were off the chain: chiefly, his l Fri, 24 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/making-a-personal-website-a-guide-for-grad-students-and-other-academics/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/making-a-personal-website-a-guide-for-grad-students-and-other-academics/ I currently work as an educational technology consultant at a large Midwestern research university. Most of the people I work with are humanities/social science grad students or faculty. One of the mo Mon, 20 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-december-2016-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-december-2016-reading/ Books Sat, 21 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/2016-the-year-in-oer-at-uw-madison/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/2016-the-year-in-oer-at-uw-madison/ 2016: The Year in OER at UW-Madison Fri, 20 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-november-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-november-reading/ Books Sat, 03 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-october-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-october-reading/ Books Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/blog/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/blog/ A blog post by Steel Wagstaff Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/canaan/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/canaan/ Songs that move me:Desmond Dekker "The Israelites" (Pat & Jerry, in their small row house in Grimsby? finding their record collection and discovering Desmond Dekker. I recognized the name from Rancid, Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/death-making-memorials/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/death-making-memorials/ It's a huge subject, death. I know this, and yet I still want to write about it today. Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-niedecker-99/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-niedecker-99/ One my favorite poets ever was Lorine Niedecker, a remarkable woman who spent most of her life living and writing on Blackhawk Island on the Rock River, just outside of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. At he Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/whittenberger-update/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/whittenberger-update/ I wrote several months ago about my efforts to reconnect with several of my fellow 1998 Whittenberger Summer Writing Project attendees. Since then, the Facebook group has swelled to nearly half a doze Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/summer-reading/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/summer-reading/ I decided this summer to rededicate myself to reading more books, in the place of the longform journalism that had become habitual to me. I even went to the public library and checked out print copies Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/reading-recommendations-friends-september-2016/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/reading-recommendations-friends-september-2016/ I've been on a reading kick lately and I decided to crowdsource some recommendations to some friends on social media earlier this week. The question I posed was simple: "Knowing me as you do, what wou Wed, 14 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/sterling-mcmurrin-mormon-philosopher-educator/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/sterling-mcmurrin-mormon-philosopher-educator/ When I turned eighteen, I got a birthday card from my uncle Spence and aunt Emily. It had a picture of me taken on a family trip to Bryce Canyon the year before surround by a list of possible futures. Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/ep/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/ep/ This week Dave and Steel are very pleased to break some super important political news as Jordan Ford Faux announces his presidential bid for 2020. We discuss The People's Elbow, his newly formed poli Fri, 13 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/core-principles-etext-authoring-tool/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/core-principles-etext-authoring-tool/ eText Authoring at UW-Madison Fri, 18 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/john-szarkowski-and-george-oppen-on-art-as-deixis-pointing/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/john-szarkowski-and-george-oppen-on-art-as-deixis-pointing/ As a way of beginning, one might compare the art of photography to the act of pointing. All of us, even the best-mannered of us, occasionally point, and it must be true that some of us point to more i Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/atul-gawandes-being-mortal/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/atul-gawandes-being-mortal/ I recently went to Salt Lake City for a family reunion. Among the relatives I saw was my only surviving grandparent, who is now 89 years old. He's literally my oldest friend, and the oldest living hum Tue, 22 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/belle-waring/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/belle-waring/ I can't remember exactly when I first read Belle Waring's poems. It probably would have been at least a decade ago, and I do remember that it was one of her poems about nursing, maybe even "It Was My Wed, 09 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/dom-la-nena-piers-faccini-sing-dessa-vez/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/dom-la-nena-piers-faccini-sing-dessa-vez/ The cello breaks my heart open, and the two voices mend it again. Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/three-versions-of-an-objectivist-poetics/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/three-versions-of-an-objectivist-poetics/ "Grandmother, have you ever looked a donkey in the eyes?" Tue, 11 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/joyce-maynard-on-her-mother-and-adult-love/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/joyce-maynard-on-her-mother-and-adult-love/ A few months after meeting Sydney Bacon, Joyce Maynard's mother, Fredelle wrote this, in a letter to a friend: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/9-planning-and-selecting-music/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/9-planning-and-selecting-music/ There are many reasons why people get married, and many ways of celebrating this commitment, but nearly all wedding celebrations involve some form of music. How could we rejoice without song? It scarc Tue, 28 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/ignazio-silones-bread-and-wine/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/ignazio-silones-bread-and-wine/ I just finished Bread and Wine, the second book in Ignazio Silone's The Abruzzio Trilogy (translated by Eric Mosbacher). The book is a moving, funny, and sometimes unbelievable look into provincial li Thu, 16 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/ignazio-silones-fontamara/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/ignazio-silones-fontamara/ At the recommendation of my friend Spencer, I recently began reading the Italian novelist Ignazio Silone's The Abruzzio Trilogy, beginning with his 1933 novel Fontamara. It is an extraordinary bit of Fri, 10 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-the-anniversary-of-george-oppens-death/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-the-anniversary-of-george-oppens-death/ 31 years ago today, the poet George Oppen died in the Idylwood Convalescent Home (now the Idylwood Care Center) in Sunnyvale, California. He was 76 years old, and had been suffering from dementia (Alz Wed, 08 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/from-the-preface-to-ignazio-silones-fontamara/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/from-the-preface-to-ignazio-silones-fontamara/ The art of storytelling -- the art of putting one word after another, one line after another, one sentence after another, explaining one thing at a time, without allusions or reservations, calling bre Tue, 07 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/choosing-an-officiant-getting-a-marriage-license/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/choosing-an-officiant-getting-a-marriage-license/ It's been a long time since I started these posts, but now's as good a time as any to finish them off. The details won't be as fresh, certainly, but those that remain will have survived three plus yea Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/handwritten-note-on-lorine-niedecker/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/handwritten-note-on-lorine-niedecker/ Lorine Niedecker Tue, 09 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/john-mark-nelson-oh-light-within-us/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/john-mark-nelson-oh-light-within-us/ [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1674012767 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 track=2268908621] Tue, 09 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/essay-on-lorine-niedecker/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/essay-on-lorine-niedecker/ A few weeks ago, I was invited to write a short essay for the Edge Effects blog. If you're not already familiar with it, Edge Effects is an outstanding blog run by CHE [the Center for Culture, History Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-of-what-i-read-in-march-2015/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-of-what-i-read-in-march-2015/ Here's a collection of the best articles (mostly longform) I read in the past month: Sat, 28 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-of-what-i-read-in-/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-of-what-i-read-in-/ I read a lot. When I'm on the bus, when I'm traveling, when I'm hanging out with a sleeping baby, when I've got a few minutes spare, whenever. I still read print books, but because I do a lot of my re Fri, 27 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/otc-hall-of-fame/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/otc-hall-of-fame/ Inaugural Class [Ep. 7] Fri, 13 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-weeks-best-reads-feb-19-2015/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-weeks-best-reads-feb-19-2015/ I read a lot. When I'm on the bus, when I'm traveling, when I'm hanging out with a sleeping baby, when I've got a few minutes spare, whenever. I still read print books, but because I do a lot of my re Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/hosts/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/hosts/ Theme Songs is hosted by Dave & Steel, who previously made the podcast Off the Chain with Dave & Steel. Mon, 26 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/cesare-pavese/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/cesare-pavese/ I just finished Geoffrey Brock's translation of Cesare Pavese's poetry: Disaffection: Complete Poems 1930-1950. It was outstanding. I think I had been vaguely aware of Pavese as a 20th century giant o Mon, 20 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/favorite-passages-jonathan-wilsons-inverting-pyramid-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/favorite-passages-jonathan-wilsons-inverting-pyramid-2/ In the past several years, I've become a full-fledged soccer fan. I've always followed (and played) sports, switching over the years from an interest in baseball to football to basketball and most rec Thu, 04 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/nba-champions-scoring-data-initial-impressions/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/nba-champions-scoring-data-initial-impressions/ One of my personal/professional goals for this summer has been to learn how to work with and visualize data. I want to know how to make beautiful data visualizations, and tell interesting stories with Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/nba-champions-scoring-data-reflections/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/nba-champions-scoring-data-reflections/ In the last post, I looked at a few statistical measures to get at just how exceptional the 2014 San Antonio Spurs were in relation to previous NBA champions, particularly in regards to their approach Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-aprilmay-2014/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-aprilmay-2014/ Here's a 6+ hour playlist of songs I listened to and liked in April and May of 2014. Was on paternity leave for a big chunk of this time, getting to know a new being, and away from new music on my com Wed, 09 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-names-at-the-2014-world-cup/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-names-at-the-2014-world-cup/ Every 4 years, the world focuses its sporting attention on the World Cup, and every 4 years, I find a new favorite player. It's often the little things, a rad haircut, some strange grooming practices, Sat, 24 May 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/design/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/design/ Design Tue, 22 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-of-2013-2012-tumblr/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/best-of-2013-2012-tumblr/ As the year ends, it offers all kinds of opportunities for reflection. For me, the year generally feels like a ceaseless whirlwind, mostly enjoyable, but very fast-paced, and without natural break poi Wed, 18 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/expressing-gratitude/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/expressing-gratitude/ In 1934, when George Oppen was 26 years old, he published Discrete Series, a volume of his poetry. It included a preface from Ezra Pound, then living in Rapallo, Italy, which ended with these lines: " Sat, 19 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/in-search-of-lost-whittenbergers/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/in-search-of-lost-whittenbergers/ It's been a little bit of a whirlwind ever since I dug out the old issue of the Whittenberger Summer Writing Project and decided that I wanted to try to find and contact everyone who had attended. I c Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/list-of-1998-whittenberger-summer-writing-project-attendees/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/list-of-1998-whittenberger-summer-writing-project-attendees/ Here's the full list of the 1998 Whittenberger Summer Writing Project Attendees along with their hometown (as of 1998). I plan to add updates as I discover more about each person (and will happily rem Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/whittenberger-summer-writing-project-1998/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/whittenberger-summer-writing-project-1998/ One of the other things that I've recently decided to do (apart from weeding my library and pruning my record collection) is to finally dig into the huge pile of papers, photos, notes, letters, and me Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-memory-collector-project/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-memory-collector-project/ A few weeks ago I decided it was time to tame the archive of my life. I've been something of a collector over the years, accumulating all kinds of things (papers, notes, writing, letters, books, music Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/a-guide-to-the-bodhisattva-way-of-life/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/a-guide-to-the-bodhisattva-way-of-life/ For as long as I can remember, I've always been attracted to wisdom literature. In my early teens, that attraction was felt most strongly toward Thoreau, Tolstoy, Marcus Aurelius and the other Stoics, Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/grimethorpe/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/grimethorpe/ When I was 19 years old, just after completing my first year at a large university in the American West, I left school to spend two years as a Mormon missionary in the Northeast of England. When I arr Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-objectivists-carl-rakosi/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-objectivists-carl-rakosi/ I've spent the last two weeks getting serious about my dissertation. It's been two years now since I successfully completed my prelim exams, and I have almost nothing to show for that time, dissertati Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/im-going-to-be-a-radio-dj-13-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/im-going-to-be-a-radio-dj-13-2/ [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] WSUM"s new studio.[/caption] Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/wedding-clothing/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/wedding-clothing/ They say that clothes make the man. Mark Twain concurred, adding helpfully that "Naked people have little or no influence on society." Sat, 07 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/how-to-write-a-letter-to-the-editor/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/how-to-write-a-letter-to-the-editor/ I know I keep writing about Oppen and his letters, but I just can't help it. Today I was typing up my notes from his mid-60s letters, and remembered a pretty tremendous letter he wrote to Lita Hornick Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/how-to-write-a-dare-letter/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/how-to-write-a-dare-letter/ [caption id="" align="alignright" width="200"] Anti-drug crusader "Lev Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana", 1908, the first color photo portrait in Russia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/choosing-a-photographer-videographer/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/choosing-a-photographer-videographer/ In talking to several of our friends about planning weddings, it seems that one of the difficult and most stress-inducing experiences for many couples is choosing their wedding photographer. I suppose Sun, 24 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/planning-and-preparing-decorations/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/planning-and-preparing-decorations/ It's been a little while since the last wedding planning post. I took some time with this one, in part because I was busy with other things, but also (I confess) because this was the aspect of the wed Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/night-scene-by-george-oppen-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/night-scene-by-george-oppen-2/ The drunken man Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/george-oppen/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/george-oppen/ I will try to keep this post brief, and being brief, it will certainly fail to capture the depth and breadth of my admiration for George Oppen as a poet and a human being, but I feel the need to essay Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/planning-meals/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/planning-meals/ One of the most fun (and most tricky) parts of wedding planning for us was selecting the food that we wanted to serve our guests. Weddings have historically been associated with feasting, and we were Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/designing-and-making-rings/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/designing-and-making-rings/ Over the past few days, I've written several posts describing some of the choices that we made as we prepared for our marriage. One of the best choices we made was to make wedding bands for each other Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/designing-and-making-invitations-part-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/designing-and-making-invitations-part-2/ This is second half of a two part post on making and designing invitations. While this post isn't technically about invitations, it does involve design work and letter press printing, so I thought it Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/10-writing-the-ceremony-vows/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/10-writing-the-ceremony-vows/ A blog post by Steel Wagstaff Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/a-guide-to-wedding-planning/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/a-guide-to-wedding-planning/ My hope is that these posts might be of interest for others who are contemplating marriage or something like it, and are looking for ideas about how to have a memorable, meaningful experience within a Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/designing-and-making-invitations-part-1/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/designing-and-making-invitations-part-1/ This is the next post in an ongoing series about Wedding Planning. In this post I'm going to describe the process by which we designed and made our wedding invitations--one of the most fun and excitin Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/events-and-venues-part-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/events-and-venues-part-2/ Yesterday I wrote about our wedding ceremony itself and our decision about where to hold it. Today I want to finish the post by writing about the two other events we held that weekend: a pizza party o Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/events-and-venues-part-1/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/events-and-venues-part-1/ This is the first in a series of what I hope will be several posts looking at specific aspects of our wedding preparations. In this post I'll describe our decisions around the events of the weekend on Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/one-month-later-introduction-to-the-marriage-posts/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/one-month-later-introduction-to-the-marriage-posts/ Last month, on April 21, I married my best friend Laurel Bastian in the presence of our families and a few very close friends. It was the happiest day of my life. We held the ceremony at the Gates of Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/at-long-last-7-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/at-long-last-7-2/ I have an approved dissertation proposal! Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-matchmaker-love-story/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-matchmaker-love-story/ It's been a long while since I've posted anything here. I'm getting married next month, and much of the past several months has been filled with my preparations for the wedding--with doing things that Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-was-our-matchmaker/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-was-our-matchmaker/ Friends, I’ve written a short account of the role of Lorine Niedecker’s poetry in Laurel and my’s relationship that was recently published in the Winter 2012 issue of Solitary Plover. Read it if you’r Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-seeing-the-one-thing-clearly/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-seeing-the-one-thing-clearly/ I've spent much of the past week trying with increasing desperation to write a dissertation proposal. It's been the academic task that I've been ostensibly working on for nearly 18 months now, since I Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-niedecker-and-the-99/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/lorine-niedecker-and-the-99/ One my favorite poets ever was Lorine Niedecker, a remarkable woman who spent most of her life living and writing on Blackhawk Island on the Rock River, just outside of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. At he Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/im-getting-married-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/im-getting-married-2/ Thought I often avoid the personal when writing publicly, I felt too much joy not to share this: Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/william-langewiesche-on-public-grief-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/william-langewiesche-on-public-grief-2/ [caption id="attachment_336" align="alignleft" width="220"] William Langewiesche[/caption] Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-changing-of-the-seasons/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-changing-of-the-seasons/ [caption id="attachment_332" align="alignleft" width="500" caption=""Aspen Cycle" by Owen Mortensen"][/caption] Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-things-i-do-not-remember-september-11-2001/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-things-i-do-not-remember-september-11-2001/ Ten years ago, I was living in the LDS Missionary Training Centre (MTC) in Chorley, England, near Preston. I arrived there in early September at the beginning of what was to be a two year proselytizin Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-initiation-into-fantasy-football/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/my-initiation-into-fantasy-football/ It's been more than two months since I've last written on this blog. A lot has happened. I've moved, twice. I've aged (by which I mean I celebrated my birthday). I've taught an 8-week composition cour Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/happy-geeks-a-story-by-steel-wagstaff-age-16-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/happy-geeks-a-story-by-steel-wagstaff-age-16-2/ This past week I started teaching an introductory college composition course for a group of incoming UW student athletes. It's a small group, just 14 male students, and most of the group are football Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/bill-bryson/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/bill-bryson/ This is an odd choice, admittedly, for the Favorite Artists series I've started here on this blog. It's not much of a series yet, to be honest, since I've only featured one other artist so far, docume Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/distressing-changes-to-wisconsins-mining-laws-proposed-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/distressing-changes-to-wisconsins-mining-laws-proposed-2/ From Monday through Thursday of this week, I toured the state as part of a "Place-Based Workshop" put on annually by The Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE) at the University of Wiscons Sat, 21 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-completing-my-last-university-course-perhaps-ever/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-completing-my-last-university-course-perhaps-ever/ On Sunday morning, I took the last final for the last university course that I am obligated to take for the rest of my life. I was enrolled in two courses this past semester and one was an introductor Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/eyewear-rec-specs-and-professional-athletes/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/eyewear-rec-specs-and-professional-athletes/ The weather has finally turned in Madison. It's still fairly cool here, but the snow is long gone and the grass is back, and the ground is hard enough for running and cutting and all the other things Thu, 05 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-patience-and-non-attachment/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-patience-and-non-attachment/ I have long believed, in theory, that patience and non-attachment were complimentary and essential virtues and that I would do well to cultivate both of them. In practice, both are difficult, elusive, Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/mark-nowak/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/mark-nowak/ So, among other things, I'm going to start on ongoing series of features on this blog, one of which will be posts about my favorite artists, called, appropriately enough, "My Favorite People Series." Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/10-years-later-quotations-for-a-friend/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/10-years-later-quotations-for-a-friend/ [caption id="attachment_124" align="alignright" width="300"] Mark, Myself, and Matt Howard (L-R), sometime during college[/caption] Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/more-on-beck-plus-homeless-guys-and-the-library/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/more-on-beck-plus-homeless-guys-and-the-library/ One thing I didn't mention in my last post about Beck was that when I was young, one of the reasons that I especially liked Beck was that he seemed to be friends with a lot of homeless guys, or at lea Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/beck-the-greatest-music-video-of-all-time/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/beck-the-greatest-music-video-of-all-time/ As a teenager, I was wild for Beck. It started with "Loser," a song I liked so much when I was 12 that I bought the Mellow Gold album and started collecting everything else I could find by the musicia Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-earth-day/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/on-earth-day/ [caption id="attachment_98" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Gaylord Nelson"][/caption] Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-origins-of-420/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-origins-of-420/ I should state right at the outset that I'm not a pot-smoker. Never tried marijuana in any form, actually, nor does the drug have any real appeal for me. Nevertheless, it was frequently invoked as an Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-last-thing-to-go/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/the-last-thing-to-go/ I play basketball on Wednesday nights. Pick-up games, at a church building in Madison, five on five, really nice courts. So it's on my mind today. I've played basketball ever since I was a kid. I've a Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/to-be-a-carer/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/to-be-a-carer/ I've been thinking a great deal lately about the medical profession, and more broadly, about health. I'm not certain why, particularly since I haven't been ill lately, and we tend usually to think of Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/hello-world-2/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/hello-world-2/ [caption id="attachment_22" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Michel de Montaigne"][/caption] Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/information-overload/ https://steelwagstaff.info/blog/information-overload/ Since I purchased my first laptop two years ago, one of my most common mental states has been distraction. Too often, I find myself immersed in virtual information scapes teeming with curious, interes Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT steel