Clippings: Let’s knock college off its pedestal

College is held on a pedestal. Next year, that pedestal will be raised even higher, with Middlebury College’s annual tuition and fees surpassing $80,000. I am left wondering: is it really worth it?

Of all the internship positions offered through Mansfield Hall this summer, the opportunity to write some film reviews for the Addison Independent felt the most relevant to me and my interests in writing screenplays.

While big, Bertha was a pussycat with her family. She’d sprawl out for belly rubs and give you an indignant glance if you stopped.

Over the last year or two, there have been a number of Cornwall Bear sightings reported on Front Porch Forum and elsewhere. I myself saw the Cornwall Bear.

A crew has been repaving our road since last week. On Friday, 4-year-old Frankie and I went to check it out.

I’ve become an archive nerd. I know there are some people who will read this and cheer, but for the other 99.9%, I’ll explain. A couple of years ago, in attempt to understand the finer points of various discussions in the Mount Abraham Unified School Dist … (read more)

I’ve become an archive nerd.I know there are some people who will read this and cheer, but for the other 99.9%, I’ll explain.A couple of years ago, in attempt to understand the finer points of various discussions in the Mount Abraham Unified School Distri … (read more)

I will never forget how I stepped out of the shower and heard people down in the street screaming, or how it was Carolyn who heard them screaming and called me to the window.How my parents in Virginia called us, frantic, telling us about the Pentagon and … (read more)

Global thinking is supposed to save the world.Throughout my life — and particularly as a student — I have been told time and time again that we just need more universal understanding, communication and focus.We are, after all, “citizens of the world” and … (read more)

If your summer reading list needs a bit more intrigue and suspense to it, look no further than a book by John Le Carré, the English espionage novelist who passed away last December.But if you aren’t a big thriller person, I still recommend Le Carré: The a … (read more)

Language possesses magic.Right now, much of its power is tuned toward harm. So much of the English language has been curled, hammered and molded around colonialism. Our stories are heavy with capitalist urgency and linear processing, our metaphors are thi … (read more)

The COVID-19 summer of 2020 taught us that being outside was safer than being inside, as long as you had a mask at the ready and stayed at least six feet away from the nearest human.Well, the early summer of 2021 has me wishing the insect world would lear … (read more)

I never was good at math, ever. But I liked to read as a kid, and to write. I got that from my mom, who was the wordsmith in the family. When I asked her what a word meant, she just pointed to the dictionary on the music stand in the living room: “C’mon, … (read more)

I am not a winter person. I don’t like winter. Never have. I have lived in Maine or Vermont nearly my whole life. That’s probably why I don’t like it: pure Yankee obstinacy. I don’t want to live anywhere else though, even in winter. Winter is winter in Ve … (read more)

For 36 years, my job was all about mingling with people. In their homes or businesses, in coffee shops, schools, office buildings, on park benches, in statehouses, homeless shelters, college campuses and packed meeting rooms. I was once accorded 10 minute … (read more)