Hornsby had been in Nicaragua and he spoke of its blue lakes amid blue mountains under a blue sky, and how it was the Transit route and the great passageway, the pier of America, and how it would teem with merchant ships and with foreigners speaking all tongues, waiting for the Canal; and each ship … More With Walker in Nicaragua, continuing further
Dealing with white people can be incredibly draining. One I coincide with regularly is convinced that Black people were happy with the situation they had in the 40s and the 50s. She must know there is something wrong with her argument since she keeps raising the issue again and again. Axé.
Caffeinated enough at last I must move on for the day and do not have time, now, to do justice to this worthy project but I will say: 1- I am from an academic and cultural elite. One of my ancestors, the 19th century immigrant (everyone else had already been here for centuries), had a … More For Historiann and Tony Grafton
So I am still mystified. It seems the main thing people did not learn how to do in graduate school was to write, and that they suffer while writing.What I did not learn in graduate school was how to teach K-12, and I suffer while teaching. There are people who do not suffer while teaching. … More Et encore, encore
…because of the hopelessness in this enterprise as it has been constructed. Axé.
When I was younger than I am now, people were always very concerned I might fail. I did not understand why since I had never failed and did well easily, but I did know I was to be especially careful and follow certain really safe paths. “You can’t, you mustn’t, you shouldn’t,” are still a … More The burdens
To new faculty: The reason I am not out drinking with you and being a “fun” colleague is that I am in a meeting to ensure continued funding for your position. I am not telling you this because there is no reason to raise your stress levels this week. I may point out, though, that … More Secrets
People talk about “protecting time” a lot and about practicing discipline but they do not talk as much, it does not seem to me, about protecting the person who writes and that, I discern, is the far greater problem for me. I spend a lot of time in some sort of dissociated state because of … More Protecting the person who writes
I am an elitist, I just figured it out. My student says the reason the other TAs snipe at each other and lord it over their students is that they were not part of the cool kids earlier on in school and they are taking their revenge now. He was cool in school, says my … More Elitist
My companions on that expedition with William Walker: Achilles Kewen, the aristocrat, who fell fighting at Rivas; Chris Lilly, the boxer, his throat cut while drunk one night beside a shining lagoon; William Stoker (Bill), with his pirate’s face — and a good man — who got married there afterwards and lived by Lake Managua … More With Walker in Nicaragua, continued
