Example 1 of about 7000 — Over the past year or so, I have started several essays on the broad topic of “biological sex” and transgender identity, and then set them aside for various reasons, not least among which is the fact that other writers here on Medium have made most of the points I wanted…

I thought I had learned it —   the edge of human decency,  where the claws come out,  and understanding shudders into fragments.

A Comic Response A few days ago my brother sent me an email with a link to the comic that appears below, asking, “What separates man from beasts? I want your take on this from a linguist’s point of view.” I had so much fun writing a response, I decided to share it…

(Excerpt from The Philistines, a work in progress) The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him. The spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. (The Holy Bible, NRSV. Judges 13:24–25) In Zorah, a Danite…

How we are, where we are — There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. …

My colleague, Jean-Jacques, had ideas of reform. He tempted me — we went to have a coffee at a restaurant in Tours, one of those delightful little restaurants of France, where you sit outdoors, in open view of any chance, and free to openly decry the failings of the…

It ends well. But it starts long ago. — When I was a little girl I knew I was a little girl. But that’s like saying I knew the sky is orange. No one knows the sky is orange, because the sky is by definition blue — except in places like Chicago along the lakefront at night, but that’s…

a whimsical sonnet

Saffron is a precious substance, but easy to obtain. Buy some crocus bulbs. Plant them. Watch them grow. Harvest the saffron. Now your menu is replete with exotic esculents. But the cost of harvest — how severe it is! Its cost is measured in tedium: For you must comb…