Over the last 12 months there have been seven murders within a one block radius of where I live in the Jersey City Heights neighborhood. These killings, I have discovered, are an unfortunate part of the fabric of living in Jersey City.
Tom Boellstorff is a good friend of mine from Nebraska and as long as I have known him he has been the living embodiment of SuperGenius.
Tom and I met when he was in high school senior and I was in my final university year. Tom wrote original music for many of my projects and his melodies and work ethic were incredibly valuable to the success of the project.
Part of Tom’s SuperGenius grew from musical composition and that training in leitmotivs and intricate chord structure translated into an adult love for scholarship at the Ph.D. level. Tom is currently an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine where his scholarly work inspires people across the world.
Speaking in Queer Tongues is a great book published by the University of Illinois Press and Tom is one of the book’s editors. Chapter 7, “Authentic, of Course!”: Gay Language in Indonesia and Cultures of Belonging was written by Tom and he kicks off the chapter with this rich description:
Continue reading → Tom Boellstorff
by Mark A. Johnson
Human songs about human problems.
Human awareness: an itch, a pinch, a kick.
The restless people, sounds and pitch to communicate.
Clothes with sin.
Clothes are sin.
Continue reading → Human Songs
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