My virtual university, again
28/03/2013
My fall class is overenrolled and has a waiting list. Word on the street is that it is going to “kick ass.” The Spanish Professor helped me design it. Axé.
Nicolás Guillén
27/03/2013
A planned, but not executed paper I have is on Nicolás Guillén. I wanted to write a paper on him that would not be about the themes of race and Blackness and mixture and Cuba and identity and society but that would, rather, focus on images and sound. People forget how complicated the rhythms and … More Nicolás Guillén
Front lines
26/03/2013
So, when I start to dissociate slightly, lose my ability to concentrate and tener muy presentes past manipulative situations, it means I am actually in one now and do not see it. Now I see what it is. Should I quit this university level committee? It is important to stay on because ideally one could … More Front lines
Realization
26/03/2013
If I did another degree and went into a different field it would probably not stanch my guilt over having done the first one. I should not have gone to college at a research university and I should not have gone to graduate school, but I did, and I have not removed from myself the … More Realization
Sheryl Sandberg
26/03/2013
Of course, personal effort is hardly the whole story. I know women who have leaned in for a lifetime and been passed over. But it’s hard to see what’s wrong with encouraging big dreams, giving pointers on sexist bosses and salary negotiations, and telling women who join the mommy track before they even have a … More Sheryl Sandberg
Yorio and Jalics
25/03/2013
Here is Verbitsky in Página 12 March 17, with documents, although I am told we should not trust Verbitsky. It seems that according to Jalics in 1995, Bergoglio really did turn them in. I am not surprised and would more or less assume it to be true. They are calling the Pope Pancho which is amusing. … More Yorio and Jalics
Tell My Horse
25/03/2013
It is about Haiti, Jamaica and New Orleans and I have to read it for research reasons. I am against Zora Neale Hurston because she and hers boiled a black cat in New Orleans, and I am against New Orleans vodun. Nonetheless I now have to read this book for research reasons. Axé.
In which I am not a bad teacher, after all
25/03/2013
I am severely traumatized about teaching and that is why I do not have time or energy for writing. But sometimes, someone says I am not a bad teacher. This morning on e-mail: I keep finding things that are so relevant to what we discuss in class! Things I never stopped to think about before are … More In which I am not a bad teacher, after all
Bebo Valdés
24/03/2013
Cubans are the best pianists. What I most like in Havana is how, as you walk through quiet residential neighborhoods, you hear people practicing the piano and they are good, in bungalows behind low fences and banana trees. Listening to this, though, I heard a cake walk and realized I had not thought of it … More Bebo Valdés
Aquí se trabaja mucho
23/03/2013
Yesterday was my day off. I worked on service related issues, and attended a social meeting for Spanish majors where I got a lot of advising done. At night I went out and saw two new rock bands who were very good. At the meeting with the students and at this barzinho later I had … More Aquí se trabaja mucho
coldhearted scientist وداد 