The Opening Salvo

Writing a blog is something I have planned to do for a while — a long while. Procrastination got the better of me and, frankly, if I didn’t feel I needed to do it as an example for my students, I would probably still be procrastinating now.

It’s not as though I don’t have opinions. And I am constantly frustrated at not being able to review plays or art shows at museums, or opine on the state of the world in some form or other. So it is time.

I teach journalism and a little English at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, where I am the adviser for the University Press student newspaper. I am also a visual artist with a solo show slated for September (the first of many plugs). I act a bit, direct a bit, and I write plays (mainly translating Golden Age comedies with my friend Catalina Castillón). I also edit and write for ISSUE arts magazine, a monthly publication affiliated with The Art Studio, Inc., where I am a tenant artist.

I am a hybrid. I am a native of Brighton, England, but have lived more of my life in Southeast Texas. My mother claims I have a thick Texas accent, but all my Texas friends say I am unmistakably English. So I am neither one thing nor another — or both.

I am a great supporter of the arts in general, and in my community specifically. For years I have had to defend my adopted area from claims that it is boring, that there’s nothing to do. I disagree wholeheartedly. For those who cite the nickname “Boremont” I say look in the mirror. It sometimes requires a bit of digging, but Beaumont, and Southeast Texas in general, has a thriving arts scene, a lot of good local bands, and more good theater all the time.

I shall endeavor to post several times a week to keep my visitors’ attention. I hope it will entertain and inform. Read it or not, but it would be nice if you did.

*Yes, I know the definition of salvo is, “a simultaneous discharge of artillery or other guns in a battle,” but it got your attention.