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My Brother and Physical Therapy

So let me tell you a story about my childhood. More specifically, my brother’s childhood and how it impacted mine. David was born in 1976, the middle child, and he was born with cerebral palsy, and it was categorized as “severe.” He could move his arms and legs, but he couldn’t coordinate them. We wereContinue reading “My Brother and Physical Therapy”

My Sabbatical Trip

First of all, since I only had 5 days to pull it off, I adjusted my trip schedule to drop the first two places I lived, which were Nolensville and Lafayette, as I was too young to have significant memories of those houses, and definitely not the churches. Maybe. I have vague memories of aContinue reading “My Sabbatical Trip”

My First Sabbatical

Since September, I’ve been on sabbatical from work. I’m a creative writing and English professor, and one of the benefits of that is the option to take a sabbatical every few years, with university approval of my plan. Most professors write their academic books heavily during these, but I’m creative writing, so I’ve been writingContinue reading “My First Sabbatical”

My Poetry History

Back in mid-October, I tuned in to Neil Gaiman’s lectures from Bard College. I tune in to everything I can by Gaiman, so nobody who knows me should be surprised at all. And Gaiman was talking about writing, being a writer during this series. One of the things he said was to look back atContinue reading “My Poetry History”

History of Dayton Slam

I wrote the following about my part of the history of Dayton, Ohio’s Poetry Slam for a book about Mick Montgomery, the owner of our venue, Canal Street Tavern, back in 2018. The book never happened, so here’s my homeless essay: I was a poet and organizer from Johnson City, TN, who moved to DaytonContinue reading “History of Dayton Slam”

Memories of Change

So I tried this as a poem a few months ago, but it didn’t feel right as a poem. I wanted to talk about the changes I remember in just my lifetime, to think about the way things shift over time with new technologies. I mean, they landed on the moon the year I wasContinue reading “Memories of Change”

Terry, Pterry, STP [edited]

I’ve just gotten home from the Renaissance Festival, which I always enjoy. On my way out the gates, the employee asked, “Is that a Discworld shirt?” It is; it’s “The Turtle Moves” shirt that I grabbed this morning. On the way home, I finished listening to Rob Wilkins’ “Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes,” readContinue reading “Terry, Pterry, STP [edited]”

The Kids Aren’t Alright

…and neither are their teachers. This is all anecdotal, I guess, but I’m a college professor, and I am having a really rough semester. But so are most of us that I’ve talked to, on my campus and otherwise. We’re at a point in the pandemic where we’ve hit a horrible point of burnout. ButContinue reading “The Kids Aren’t Alright”

Getting Started

This is my new web page, for all your Bill Abbott needs. As such, I’m still working on it. For now, this is the blog. I’ll have more soon, I promise.