I was going to use the phrase “on putting your heart into it” but it struck me that believing in it, if perhaps less accurate in certain ways, had the advantage of minimizing the Scouts leader tone. This is another post I do not have time to write today but it is about enthusiasm, actually … More On believing in it
The Chronicle now says we should “embrace our inner North Dakotan” and I disagree with most of the old, tired platitudes they reiterate in their article. But then, I am apparently unusual in that I know what I want and what I want, I want for realistic reasons, not for merely conformist reasons or prestige, … More On choosing a job
It again seems to me that work is easier to do than the other things one does in life, and that of work activities, the easiest is research. In graduate school the easiest research activity was writing, but at the moment I find it to be reading. Reading has become easier because I know more, … More In which I experience life as I did in graduate school and early assistant professordom.
I must be an impulsive risk-taker, not quite in my right mind, and I was probably a victim of child rape although I do not remember it. I am distanced from the emotions I must surely have. Indeed, I am downright unfeeling. Why is this so? Because I do not exhibit the requsite fear of … More On race and gender policing
At the pool I ran into my ex’ other ex and we exchanged notes on our summer activities. “You have a nice life,” she said; “I did try to make this summer good,” said I. But in general I do have a pleasant life and it is because of having given up considering what I … More Une belle vie
You deserve to put research first and also to recognize and honor the conditions you need to have in order to do so. I took these ideas for granted until I became a professor, after which they were eroded — in part by other professors who alleged one should be able to work in any … More Encore un petit poème
I think the reason women say they need big blocks of time to get work done in is not that they do not know how to work efficiently. As I keep saying, anyone who got a PhD and a job does know how to work efficiently. Where the front time goes, the first half of … More Those big blocks of time
It does in fact take a great deal of total time, more if you do not do it every day because then time also has to go into remembering where you left off. That means you have to have peace of mind and some degree of physical comfort, and you cannot allow yourself to be … More On research
Our police are being given paramilitary training and powers that are completely out of line with their duty to serve and protect, but much more in keeping with a mission to subdue and suppress. That is only a small part of what the Northern Gaijin has to say in his important post, but it is … More Plantation Nation
“Provincial authoritarian patriarchy” is the phrase someone came up with, very good. And an NEH group with a lot of Southern experience has advice for young faculty: if you are serious about your work, never take a job in the South because that is tantamount to giving your work up: you will have to live … More Most accurate description of Maringouin so far
coldhearted scientist وداد 