Another six a.m, Sunday morning. The baby suddenly happy and awake. She struggles between crying (”pay attention to me”) and outright joy (”oooh….my teething ring”). Between horoscope reading and the New York Times Magazine, the laptop serves as new media newspaper. Paper boy? Who needs him in the 21st century? I can sit here and catch up thanks to my MacBook and router.

At this time of day, thoughts run around and around. For example: why is pedagogy either the pledge of altruism (”we’re here to make students good citizens” or”we want students to be productive, critical thinkers” or “we must prepare them!”) or selfishness (”I teach what I like”). Why is six a.m. the time for the radio to play jazz Christmas tunes? When will I be able to drive down to Columbia, Illinois and stock up on Three Floyds? I’m looking for Broo Doo Harvest Ale. Or even: Will I finally get a chance to sit down today and drink my Three Floyds Behemoth barley wine? I prefer not to drink a 22 oz barley wine by myself….but past attempts to share it have failed. Some beers are hard to share.

The mix of professionalism, critique, personal obsession. This is the juxtaposition that drives the best kinds of writing. Lately, I hover between ideas: the Detroit book on networks, an article called “Reluctant WPA,” maybe an article that asks why teachers (or young teachers) are occupied by the desire to teach something called “academic” writing. Each idea brings with it this pattern of work: professionalism, critique, personal obsession. The other day, I mention that after the Detroit book (plan for first finished draft to be done: next fall), I want to write a book on beer and writing. I imagine my own Jim Corder/Wayne Boothish text. Replace West Texas or cello playing with beer hunting and the Midwest. Replace Corder’s melancholy with my obsession to taste. We met Win Horner last week at a local get together. “Did you know Jim Corder from your time at TCU?” I ask. “Oh yes, she said. He wasn’t good with students. When he wrote that Love article, he was having an affair!” I come back to Corder time after time because, for some reason, he represents for me a certain kind of writerly obsession. That’s the obsession I wish undergraduate students would adopt for their own writing. But also, it is the obsession I want to see in graduate students’ teaching and writing as well. The unfinished dissertation can often be attributed to the un-obsessed writer. The prototypical “write an analysis” paper can often be attributed to the un-obsessed teacher.