Blackguard (PhD 2008): You have been working here all these years and you are clearly incompetent, because there are flaws in this program. Professor Zero (mildly): Yes, there are flaws. There were once even more flaws. (Aside:) If you only knew how much competence was required to create the PhD level position that resulted in … More Long Suffering
Not being clean the place smelled ripe. The proprietors attempted to mask this by putting the air conditioning on cold and the fan on high. Those of us familiar with frozen lands already knew how a cold breeze draws attention to grime. Axé.
Student: I am interested in these graduate programs. Do you think I am aiming too high? Professor Zero: That is an excellent list for your interests. Those programs are competitive but you should be accepted to some. Apply and see where you get in. Write a good statement of purpose and be sure to get … More On Patronage and Paternalism (Return of the Whiteman)
It is really difficult to make carpenters, of which I really need one, come to one’s house. I have calls out to three or four and apparently I am just not exciting enough. My desire to upgrade things is such that I am tempted, while waiting, to buy a Linux box. I would buy from … More Linux
It is the weekend, but it is also Good Friday, so we cannot sing. Instead we will review Barack Obama. We will do this for several days. I will begin, but it is an open thread. BON – Student loan overhaul ACCEPTABLE – Healthcare plan MAUVAIS – Afghanistan/Iraq (bad, but he had promised this) – … More Review of Barack Obama
What not to do: – Think about it – Talk to vicarious drama kings and queens who would like to help you think about it – Take up nervous habits – Open thread! Alternatives, if you are nervous and must do something: – Think, in a positive way, about alternative careers – Think, in a … More Academic Mondays: Things To Do While Waiting For Your Tenure Decision: Open Thread
It is the weekend, and we are definitely singing. Ridwan has a picture of Edward Said on his blog with the quotation “I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended life.” I think that was what Reeducation wanted — something very bland and Protestant somehow. I also tried to do this, but I … More Edward Said
You cannot win an argument with, and you should not waste time trying to bring to reason or cure irrationality, I have often been told. It took me a long time to actually learn this although I finally did recently. In the intervening decades I listened politely to and tried to translate to reason the … More Prolegomena to a Memo (Tentatively Entitled “Dear University Student, Memo #101”)
If I had ever actually sent these I would have been a busybody. When the events took place — and it was not one, but several different occasions — I practically sat on my hands so as not to send them. #101 Dear Junior Faculty, Please do not try to intercede in this matter. Your … More Advice to New Faculty, or, Fantasy Letters #101, #007, #99, and #0
It keeps freezing and then getting warm. Over Mardi Gras there was snow. I keep coming to points where I declare myself free of Reeducation but then realize I am not really. Then I start over. I have now started over at a whole new level and it feels like physical exercise. It might be … More Spring
