Toto le Moko
18/10/2011
Axé.
Category: Questions
The Category “Hispanic”
07/10/2011
Today at lunch they asked where I was from in El Salvador, and last year in Oaxaca they were convinced I was from Mexico City. Ever since I moved to Louisiana people have considered me Hispanic; students have taken bets on what country I am really from; people ask me on the street. I was … More The Category “Hispanic”
Ecco
04/10/2011
I woke up this morning with the answer: the reason I so resent people insisting that research and writing are so hard is that they are bent upon converting creative and intellectual work into drudgery. There are already enough truly tedious tasks in the world and in our jobs, and enough tedious aspects to manuscript … More Ecco
Rubén Darío
03/10/2011
Who is really served by the earnest insistence that we continue trying to prove that what we do is work? It is a losing battle if it cannot be won in a routine, bureaucratic way, so why worry about it? The people who envy the job and the workers will continue to do so, and … More Rubén Darío
En tanto que de rosa y azucena
02/10/2011
I went to the office at 6 PM and stayed there for 8 hours, writing furiously. Now I have a complete draft of my manuscript. Against custom I was fueled by two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, which do stick to your ribs, I will tell you; I will remember this and take some of those … More En tanto que de rosa y azucena
Transgressive Talent
25/09/2011
It appears that many people have more flexible schedules than I do, so I am going to leave it to them to protest on the steps of their respective state capitol buildings to point out that what we do is work. One of the reasons I have a less flexible schedule than some of you … More Transgressive Talent
An Idea
25/09/2011
When was the idea that research was so hard for people with Ph.D.s invented? (I do note that in the mythology, it appears that research is only hard after you get the degree — before that, it is expected. This is symptomatic of the mythical nature of the idea that research is hard, I think.) … More An Idea
Further Iconoclastic Remarks
24/09/2011
1. Spanish and Portuguese and Latin American History might be the best undergraduate majors; they seem to be more research oriented than the other majors and to attract more independent people. I realized this one semester when I was teaching in Comparative Literature and Women’s Studies, both, as well, at the senior and graduate levels … More Further Iconoclastic Remarks
Another Iconoclastic Question
24/09/2011
What do professors mean when they talk about their flexible work schedules? I understand when they say it about graduate school, although I point out that anyone who didn’t then make their own schedule and stick to it, did not make progress to degree and ultimately dropped out or was dropped from the program. I … More Another Iconoclastic Question
On Enemy Propaganda
24/09/2011
A third of the semester is gone. One of my five classes (remember, I have five classes and five graduate committees, and administrative work and a major grant proposal and research, and in order to do this work I must fight obstruction daily) — well as I say, one of my classes did a really … More On Enemy Propaganda
coldhearted scientist وداد 