J.D. Isip's Blog

But you'd seriously be missing out. Because, let's face it. My life is awesome.

Not J.D.15. Hanky Panky
It was 1990. I had just lost a ton of weight and suddenly decided I wanted to be a dancer (yes, I was kind of figuring out I was "the gay"). And, of course, I loved Madonna. So much so that I decided that I'd lip sync to her Dick Tracy soundtrack number "Hanky Panky" at our family's Christmas party. My brother Joe was mortified. My father aged ten years. My little sisters were my backup...

Happy Holidays! And by "Happy Holidays" I mean just that - I don't mean that I hate "Merry Christmas" or that I am trying to ingratiate myself to any particular sect of revelers. It also doesn't mean that I am trying to "sad shame" anyone who doesn't feel too happy this time of year.


Christmas has been the source of much needless ire for hundreds of years. So another year of bemoaning the "commercialism" or advocating others (even non-believers) to "put the Christ back into Christmas" is not a...

Terrible People in High School"We are terrible people." That's something my best friend Shonna and I say to one another often... probably more often as we get older.What we mean is something like, "I'm so glad that I am not the only one like me out there."Or maybe, if we are really honest, "I'm so glad I'm not as bad as you... and when I am, I'm glad I can always point back to you and feel a little less guilty."
Because, to tell the truth, we really are bad people. Which ex...

Ever since I did my Master’s thesis, Seasons: A Poetry Handbook , I’ve wanted to review books of contemporary poetry. I often get the feeling that people who don’t write poetry or read it regularly are lost when it comes to contemporary poetry. That’s not just non-academics. You want to have a class not fill for graduate students? Focus on poetry. I’m convinced that the only reason poetry classes ever filled at Cal State Fullerton (where I did my BA and MA) was because the two poetry teachers...

Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
Walt Disney
Rather than thinking of the new year as a time to reset or regroup, a time to start again, I would rather like to think of next year as a time to build on whatever good - or even not-so-good but educational - I was able to glean from this year. So, wrapping a big-ol' silver lining on 2012...

2012 was to be the year (as every new year "is to be the year") when things finally worked themselves out, when life settled into something more, I don't know, "comfortable" maybe. In any case, I had very, very high hopes - after all, 2011 marked a huge turning point in my life (I moved to Texas and started my PhD program)... what could go wrong?

Eric Church - "Jack Daniels (Kicked My Ass)"
If ever a year in my life has been marked by extreme highs and extreme lows, it has been this o...

Most of my students come to my class at a crossroads - they are straight out of high school and this is their first year of college. They took some time off to raise a family or pursue another career and now they are back for the next chapter. They tried everything else and this is option B (or C or Z). They all share one goal: whatever they are, they are hoping to be something different. Most, of course, have not really figured out what or who that is.

Plus, I want them to feel like this...

There are many moments we prepare for emotionally and mentally, but when they come they hardly ever turn out the way you thought they would. Take a first kiss, graduating, moving away from home, getting married, having a kid:
Pretty much this.
For me, my first kiss was a girl - (no offense ladies) I wasn't into it. When I graduated from high school, they mispronounced my name (I still have friends and family who call me "Jomaree" from time to time). In a million years you would not have convinc...

When everything is going right, you better watch your back. 
This is kind of how I tend to live life. I try to be as positive as possible - and fake it when I can't be because, honestly, everyone has a sad song and the last thing they want to hear is yours (okay, I don't totally believe that... if you can put some zing in the way you tell your sad tale, if you don't mind embellishing a bit for entertainment, if you at least try to be interesting, I'm all ears).


This has been a fan-fre...

I am definitely not a Smooth Criminal. And I have to say, I have a new relationship with Jack Daniels.
My birthday in the hoosegow was tragic, but only in the moment... and my "drinking problem" is not really what you would think. Still, the truth will out...
Officer Quimbey at 12:35 AM
At about 12:30 AM on January 17, 2012 - my 37th birthday - I pulled into the parking lot of Family Video in Commerce, Texas and began the longest day of my life... and my possible descent into a future of cr...