We are not working tonight but went instead to a Cajun jam. Now I am looking for music with which to sufficiently impress Tenth Medieval. This is about as psychedelic and as far into the groove as anyone could hope anything might ever be or get. Axé.
In case the legislature thinks you are not working and needs to know what lazy professors do all day long, let me tell you about my flexibly scheduled day so far. This is after working 6-1 and 2-9 yesterday, 14 total hours with a one hour lunch break on which I both ate and went … More Flexible
The aria’s meaning, the ears, the soul, swiftly depositing, The strange tears down the cheeks coursing, The colloquy there, the trio, each uttering, The undertone, the savage old mother incessantly crying, To the boy’s soul’s questions sullenly timing, some drown’d secret hissing, To the outsetting bard of love. Demon or bird! (said the boy’s soul,) … More Out of the cradle…
For Portuguese next semester or next time, another thing we could do is study the history of Brazilian song. That would be enough content to keep me interested, and enough short reading and audio to help the students develop their language. Teaching foreign languages is terribly tedious but it is not true that the answer … More On Preparing Class
Among Christians, the code employed to express strong disapproval is, “Why would you…?” As in, “Why would you want to discuss an ugly thing like slavery in a class at a university?” So my student gave a presentation on the Brazilian narco-slums and police repression and simultaneous collaboration or even leadership in the narco-gangs, which … More On Christians
In case anyone needs my help to prove we are working, I have been up since five. I graded for Spanish and updated websites from six to ten this morning, after which I taught various Spanish courses for three hours. Then I ate lunch, wickedly spending $8, and went to the bookstore to finally buy … More Midday Report
I cannot believe it. It seems that my university, in what I hear is the ninth most conservative city in the United States, has an official drag show. It takes place in the Student Union, and it has been going on for three years. In my undergraduate days this kind of thing was, if not … More Brave New World
All my students need to be stellar is a good Berkeley T.A. I am one such except that I have lost a key property of the official T.A. from back in the day: we were responsible for only 17-34 students, and we were paid for 20 hours which were dedicated to those particular students. Since … More Needed
Now everyone knows why I am bored with advice to graduate students and junior faculty: I was born knowing some of it, and I got more information on how to work from crack Asian graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty on sabbatical, all in scientific and technical fields, freshman year. I also learned important slacking … More On Slacking
The other thing about working is that if you have the luxury of considering not working out, then you do not have a hard job and you cannot complain, or ask me to devote not only part of my research time but also part of my recreational blog to proving that what you do is … More On Working Out
