The Denver Art Museum really is a treasure. There's a cool exhibit there called Stampede that's all about animals in art, and there's a fairy tale section, because animals feature heavily in many fairy tales. This is my favorite piece... It's one of the pieces I stopped and stared at the first time I saw … Continue reading Little glimpses of defiance
Author: Leah Kent
Writer. Researcher. Analyst. Queer.
Denver, CO
The role I never wanted to play
I've been contemplating a bit why people who have chronic invisible illnesses really hate being told that we don't look sick. It's about performance. It's about identity, and how we perform those identities. I have a chronic illness. I have an immune system that's gone haywire. It can't be fixed, it can only be managed. … Continue reading The role I never wanted to play
The art of subtlety in writing
Good writing knows when to show and when to tell. 'Jacob Have I Loved' has some great examples of this.
“The closing walls and the ticking clocks”
Studies have shown that there's a powerful link between scent and memory. I have personally found this to be profoundly true. One breath in and suddenly I'm transported into the past. I have smell triggers. Lilies remind me of funerals. The smell of matches reminds me of burning candles late at night in my room … Continue reading “The closing walls and the ticking clocks”
Transcendental confusion
I was in high school when I first read Walt Whitman. I remember being introduced to the idea of Transcendentalism, finding something about it intriguing, and liking something I read by Whitman. He's lumped in with both the Transcendentalists and Romantics, but if you think of Transcendentalism as the American spin on Romanticism, or as … Continue reading Transcendental confusion
Stepping out of my burrow
So I'm in my late 30s. This is an age that I think a lot of people dread, because 40 marks the beginning of middle age, the no-good, very bad slump that follows young(er) adulthood where we're all suddenly used-up malcontents who are either beaten down by life or on the verge of launching headfirst into … Continue reading Stepping out of my burrow
To PhD or Not To PhD
I'm a PhD candidate, and have completed almost all the requirements to be able to walk with a Master's. And I have to admit, I'm very seriously considering it. I love grad school - I honestly do. Despite the stress it causes, I actually really do love being a student. I love class, I love … Continue reading To PhD or Not To PhD
Constructing identities
I spent some time at the Denver Art Museum last week, and one of the current exhibits is a landscape exhibit which, according to the DAM, will show how various artists have blurred "the distinction between 'observed' and 'constructed' imagery." Observed vs. constructed is an interesting binary. Has the artist who took this simple (yet … Continue reading Constructing identities
Throwing out sparks
For many of us who live in the U.S., this is a frightening time. I feel the ball of anxiety tightening in my chest everyday, triggering a queasy feeling, an uneasiness that hovers around me. My concern for this country and the people in it is at unprecedented levels - I am, at times, actually … Continue reading Throwing out sparks
Word gardener
Grad school is out for the summer, which means I finally have more time to decompress...and think, and write, and read about things that aren't part of my grad program. Someone once described grad school to me as intellectual boot camp, and I think there's a truth to that. I would actually call it emotional … Continue reading Word gardener
Notes in the Margins 