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
If you… + have an uncongenial or hostile work environment + lack the materials and conditions needed to do the work you are ostensibly to do + are poorly enough paid that considerable time and energy is spent figuring out how to cover routine expenses, or which not to cover + have an unstimulating or … More An exercise in naming
“how dare you question the dogma they believe” “you work at a university after all” “you should know your place” “your job is to teach them and not challenge their preconceived notions” Axé.
Now the sun moves into Leo, and there is still another month before classes start. That means another month to do my summer things: research and writing, swimming and yoga, house and yardwork, all in a rhythm. My goal for this year is to be self contained. The banes of my existence are early undergraduate … More Nouvelle saison
The energy is just bad in Maringouin, there is no escaping it. This is why people who know what is good for them are only here during the week, when they have to be at work. My friend says the quality of the energy has to do with all of the enmeshed relationships, which make … More La vérité
This comment on the Christian fundamentalist idea of generational curses and what to do about them explains yet another undiscovered piece of the strange and highly destructive psychotherapy I went through. The therapist, as I eventually discovered and comprehended, was a true believer in ACOA, Al-Anon, and other 12 step theories according to which, if … More On generational curses
1. I repeat. And I cannot believe how many people make this mistake, which even I have always been smart enough not to make. Do not speak poorly of faculty to other faculty. You do not know who is friends with whom, or who may owe favors to whom. You also may not realize which … More More advice to new and prospective new faculty.
Out of scholarly duty I saw Savages and it is even worse than expected — it feels like an assault, really. In any case, I was reminded that Laguna Beach is beautiful and I miss it. I learned that Mexicans are savages and pacifists are highly corruptible and unreliable, and that the sanguine, clean, and … More Savages
