COMPOSITION STUDIES BY DIANE K. OLSON, PHD, WRITING, TEACHING AND CRITICISM

I HAVE AT LEAST A DOZEN POSTS THAT I PLAN TO WRITE ON THIS BLOG IN THE COMING MONTH; HOWEVER, I AM AT HOME RESTING AND RECUPERATING FROM WHAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH DURING THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF.  SIMPLY PUT, IT HAS BEEN AWFUL, INHUMANE, ABUSIVE AND INDIGNIFYING WHAT I WENT THROUGH DURING THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF AND NOONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT YET THERE ARE MANY MINORITIES, IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES  -- EVEN OUTSPOKEN INTELLECTUALS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS AND MINISTERS ON THE LEFT -- IN AMERICA EXPERIENCING AND SUFFERING FROM FAR WORSE CONDITIONS IN ILLEGAL DETENTION CENTERS THROUGHOUT AMERICA RIGHT NOW. AS SOME OF YOU ALREADY KNOW, I WAS AND CONTINUE TO BE VICIOUSLY TARGETED FOR MY (AND GOD ALMIGHTY'S) FAITH AND POLITICS BLOG (www.faithandpolitics.net -- WE JUST RECOVERED THE DOMAIN BUT HAVE YET TO RECOVER MANY OTHER DOMAINS THAT WERE STOLEN)  WHERE I BRING MY LUTHERAN FAITH AND MY MINISTERIAL WORK INTO CONVERSATION WITH PRESSING ISSUES IN AMERICA. THE BLOG IS JESUS' AND MY BLOG -- SOMETIMES I SPEAK, SOMETIMES JESUS SPEAKS AND SOMETIMES GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF/HERSELF SPEAKS. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING BLOG THAT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON SINCE 2016. I OFTEN RECALL LINDA BRODKEY'S WORK IN HER PROPHETIC BOOK FROM 1996 WRITING IN DESIGNATED AREAS ONLY -- WELL, I HAVE BEEN WRITING IN A SO-CALLED UNDESIGNATED AREA SINCE SEPTEMBER OF 2004 WHEN I STARTED BLOGGING AS A PUBLIC PEDAGOGUE (WHICH I RECEIVE NO COMPENSATION FOR WHATSOEVER UNLIKE THOSE OF YOU WHO RECEIVE SALARIES) IN FEMINIST THEORY, COMPOSITION STUDIES AND CULTURAL STUDIES/JUSTICE. MY TWO FIRST BLOGS WERE ENTITLED BRAINY HEART AND COMP MAFIA (IRONICALLY REFERRING TO WRITING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS BUT RECONCEPTUALIZING AND REAPPROPRIATING THE CONCEPT FOR MYSELF). THE BRAINY HEART BLOG (still up at diane.typepad.com and fully available if you search for it on the wayback machine at www.archive.org)  WHICH EXPLORED THE MIND/BODY, INTELLECT/EMOTION, FEMININE/MASCULINE DICHOTOMIES OR SPLITS BOTH IN ACADEMIA AND IN RELATIONSHIP TO NEWS EVENTS IN ONLINE NEWSPAPERS AND ONLINE ACADEMIC ARTICLES AND RESOURCES -- ANYWAY, AS I WAS SAYING, MY BRAINY HEART BLOG RAN FROM 2004 THROUGH 2007. MY COMP MAFIA BLOG RAN FROM 2004-2007, ALSO. AT THE SAME TIME I HAD A RESOURCE WEBSITE UP AT www.compositionstudies.com ABOUT LABOR ISSUES IN COMPOSITION STUDIES.   FROM 2008-2011, I WAS EXPLORING ISSUES IN HEALING AND SPIRITUALITY AND PERSONAL FAITH, SO I TOOK A BREAK FROM BLOGGING YET KEPT EXPLORING ISSUES IN MY INTELLECTUAL AND PERSONAL JOURNALS.  I WROTE A BOOK IN 2011-2012 CALLED *MY INNER PEACE AND HEALING JOURNAL* ABOUT MY PERSONAL, FAITH-BASED JOURNEY TOWARDS HEALING AFTER WHAT I HAD EXPERIENCED WITH MY DISSERTATION AND HOW I HAVE BEEN TREATED AND DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN ACADEMIA AS A STRONG WOMAN THEORIST AND SCHOLAR.   IN 2011-2012, I ALSO TAUGHT A COURSE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ON INNER PEACE AND HEALING, USING MANY RESOURCES -- BOOKS AND ARTICLES -- THAT I HAD ENCOUNTERED ON MY FAITH-BASED JOURNEY TO HEALING AND INNER PEACE FROM THE TRAUMA CAUSED BY HOW I WAS UNFAIRLY AND UNJUSTLY TREATED DURING THE DISSERTATION PROCESS.   IN 2011, I ALSO RESUMED BLOGGING ABOUT ISSUES IN COMPOSITION STUDIES ON www.compositionstudies.com WHICH FOREVER WILL BE A PASSION OF MINE. I WILL FOREVER BE IMMENSELY INTERESTED IN THE CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC AND POETIC PROCESSES THAT UNDERLY WRITING, BOTH IN THE UNIVERSITY AND BEYOND THE UNIVERSITY.  ALSO, IN 2011, I PUT TOGETHER --- ON A WEBSITE CALLED ETHNOG --  A VAST COMPENDIUM OF INTERNET RESOURCES ON CRITICAL/EXPERIMENTAL ETHNOGRAPHY, DOCUMENTARY SITES, THE ARTS, PERFORMANCE STUDIES AND THEORY AND INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND CULTURAL STUDIES.  GOING BACKWARDS, ALSO, IN DECEMBER OF 2007, I PLANNED OUT EXTENSIVELY, IN WRITING, NUMEROUS WEBSITE PROJECTS AND REGISTERED DOMAIN NAMES FOR THOSE PROJECTS.   I ALSO WROTE A BEAUTIFUL, PERSONAL MANIFESTO IN JANUARY OF 2008 ABOUT BEING A MYSTIC AND MARVELING IN THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE -- THE COSMOS -- THAT GOD MADE.  IN 2013, HOWEVER, MY LIFE TOOK A DIFFERENT YET DIRECTLY-RELATED COURSE AFTER I RECEIVED A BLESSINGS CD -- UNIQUELY AND SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR ME --  FROM A LUTHERAN MINISTER AT MY CHURCH WITH LOVING, COMPASSIONATE WORDS SPOKEN DIRECTLY TO ME ON THE CD FROM OUR ALMIGHTY HEAVENLY FATHER HIMSELF -- IT WAS AND STILL IS COMPLETELY AMAZING THAT GOD HIMSELF WOULD SPEAK DIRECTLY TO ME ABOUT HIS PLANS AND CALLING FOR MY LIFE.  AND AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, WHAT GOD SPOKE TO ME ON THE CD, HAS COME INTO FRUITION BY MY OWN FREE WILL AND MY OWN ACCORD IN THE PAST SEVEN YEARS ON MY MANY, MANY BLOGS THAT I HAVE STARTED AND CREATED AND WRITTEN SINCE THEN ABOUT MY LUTHERAN FAITH -- WHICH HAS BEEN MY FAITH SINCE I WAS A CHILD -- AND ABOUT MY BEST, BEST FRIEND, LORD JESUS HIMSELF, AND MY LUTHERAN FAITH-BASED -- AND FEMINIST, OF COURSE -- CHRISTIAN DISCERNMENT INTO ISSUES IN CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA AND THROUGHOUT POLITICS IN AMERICA.  COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS OF MINE, I AM SO MASSIVELY BLESSED IN THE NON-TANGENTIAL GIFTS THAT I HAVE BEEN GIVEN -- ESPECIALLY MY WRITING AND COMMUNICATION GIFTS -- AND IN MY COMMUNICATIONS WITH JESUS HIMSELF AND WITH GOD ALMIGHTY HERSELF/HIMSELF AND I HAVE BEEN CALLED FORTH AS A MESSENGER AND A MINISTER AND AN ADVOCATE -- USING ALL OF THE GIFTS THAT I HONED AND DEVELOPED IN CULTURAL STUDIES, FEMINIST THEORY, ETHNOGRAPHY AND COMPOSITION STUDIES OVER THE PAST THIRTY YEARS, SINCE I WAS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD AT DRAKE UNIVERSITY AND EVEN BEFOREHAND SINCE I WROTE EDITORIALS AND DEBATED AND WROTE BRILLIANT TREATISES AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN RED OAK, IOWA, ONE OF THE BEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN AMERICA WHERE I HAD EXTREMELY GIFTED ENGLISH AND WRITING TEACHERS SINCE I WAS IN KINDERGARTEN AND THROUGHOUT  HIGH SCHOOL WHO NURTURED MY PASSIONS FOR WRITING AND THE HUMANITIES AND THE ARTS AND EVEN QUANTUM PHYSICS AND THE SCIENCES.  I CRY WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW BLESSED I AM AND HOW AMAZING MY LIFE IS -- BRITT NICOLE HAS A SONG ON YOUTUBE CALLED "AMAZING LIFE" WHICH SPEAKS DIRECTLY TO ME WHENEVER I HEAR IT -- DESPITE ALL THAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH -- ALL THE AWFUL, INHUMANE PERSECUTION AND HARASSMENT -- DURING THE PAST TWO AND A HALF  YEARS AT THE HANDS OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND ITS WEALTHY PROPONENTS. I AM LIVING IN POVERTY RIGHT NOW, BUT I REALLY DON'T CARE THAT MUCH BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, AS UNIVERSITY TEACHERS, WE SACRIFICE OURSELVES, FINANCIALLY,  FOR OUR STUDENTS AND OUR TEACHING AND FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL JUSTICE ISSUES -- JUST LIKE JESUS SACRIFICED HIMSELF ON THE CROSS FOR THE GREATER GOOD TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO. I JUST NEED FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR BASIC NECESSITIES AND MOST OF ALL FOR THE MASSIVE PLANS I AND JESUS HAVE FOR OUR MINISTRIES AND CHURCHES AND UNIVERSITIES THAT I/WE HAVE BEEN DREAMING  UP AND ENVISIONING SINCE DECEMBER OF 2015 AND WHICH I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT, IN GREAT DETAIL, ON THE BLOGS.  BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, GOD ALMIGHTY HERSELF/HIMSELF PROMISES TO PROVIDE AND BRING THOSE MINISTRIES AND CHURCHES AND UNIVERSITIES INTO EXISTENCE BY HIS/HER HAND ALONE IN THE COMING YEARS, SO I HAVE GREAT FAITH THAT I/WE WILL PREVAIL IN OUR WORK THAT GOD HAS SET FORTH FOR ME/US TO DO OVER THE COMING MONTHS AND COMING  YEARS. SO THANK YOU ALL -- ALL MY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES  AND PROFESSORS OVER THE PAST TWENTY- THIRTY YEARS, FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT. I LOVE YOU ALL. SINCERELY, DR. DIANE K. OLSON