LEAPFROG Outtakes
One of the benefits of self-publishing is that I can go back into my published book at any time and make it better. And, given my propensity to tweak, I have been doing that with LEAPFROG, the book that … Read More
Gulzhahan’s Birthday
As we enter our own gift giving season, I’m posting this “Bonus Scene” because the experience helped me look more closely at the gift-giving parts of my own culture that I’d never thought about before. … Read More
Versions of Kazakh History
Our Bonus Scene this week takes us back in time to Kazakhstan’s earliest years, featuring Genghis Khan and his descendents. And, oh yes, there is a beautiful white steppe goose too. As happens whenever Kazakhs gathered, the animated conversation … Read More
Laryngitis
How do you teach an ESL class when you have no voice? It’s easy. Sort of [The “bonus” scenes from At Home on the Kazakh Steppe continue with this one from my first semester.] They put … Read More
Meeting Gulzhahan
For the next few weeks (or months) I’ll be popping in on Fridays with a Deleted Scene from my memoir, At Home on the Kazakh Steppe. Let’s call them the “lost deleted scenes.” As I put together my new ebook … Read More
The Sheep’s Head
Today I offer the last of my Deleted Scenes. But, to go out with a bang, this scene was deleted twice, a few years apart. Can you tell which came first? (ostensibly the weaker of the two) All those guessing will be put … Read More
Day of Silence (DOS) April 17, 2015
This week I will celebrate (if that can be the word) the student-led National Day of Silence. These teenagers and young college kids promise not to speak for 24 hours. Who can’t be in support of that? More specifically, participants take a vow of … Read More