These are the Dansko Harper in oiled black. I bought them this afternoon, so I am grateful. They are amazingly comfortable and they make me feel competent. This semester I have acquired more shoes at once than ever before, because due to this foot problem I developed all my former shoes had to go. I … More Merci
I like a calm rhythm and to be getting somewhere, or at least getting the chance to do something right. Do you have this in your job? I have had it in some jobs, but this one is like working on an assembly line that is also an obstacle course where, moreover, the ceiling is … More Is it within your power to make a part of your work day satisfying?
I think the attitude that is going out of style is the one defined by military mores. That view of ‘human nature’ is that it is raw material, out of which something can be shaped, drawn and/or crystallized. The contemporary view is the opposite one. According to this, we are all born with wonderfully perfect, … More On the current culture, this comment is fascinating
My exchange student is going to New York for Thanksgiving. When she gets into Manhattan she will go to her friend’s house on the A train. I am excited about this: stepping out of LaGuardia, jumping on that Port Authority bus, taking the A train uptown. Axé.
It is in fact as it should be that at your new school, the sophomore courses you taught two years ago are being taught as senior seminars. Initially my horror was not about this, it was about the fact that the upper division courses I was suddenly teaching were courses I had taken from people … More Good, actually brilliant advice to new faculty #3
If I am thinking well enough ahead I think of this, going to difficult classes or meeting with cranky authorities. Alouette, I will catch you in the end. Axé.
Time and the bell have buried the day, The black cloud carries the sun away. Will the sunflower turn to us, will the clematis Stray down, bend to us; tendril and spray Clutch and cling? Chill Fingers of yew be curled Down on us? After the kingfisher’s wing Has answered light to light, and is … More T.S. Eliot
Here is an interesting post, on which I of course have interesting comments. Now the question is, how do these voices get installed in one? I always liked school because it was, precisely, not attempting to install such voices. Some of the academic jobs I have had, or some whitemen in them, have made mighty … More On evil inner voices
“Go anywhere.” Not quite. Z to colleagues: Well, despite a request and funding from upper administration, I may not get my course release. It feels like discrimination, or inappropriate interference: do you think it is about me personally, or about our subfield, or something else, or am I being “overly sensitive”? Colleague 1: Our subfield. … More Bad advice #2, and good advice #1 and #2
I have to talk about this at some point. My good colleague is not wrong and I would love to be in her department. But she is quite a different person from me. I am going off to my Monday meeting of terror, prelude to my Tuesday of horror, after which we will be home … More Lundi
