That is what I say. One of the most pernicious claims of Robert Boice is that cleaning is a form of “procrastination” and also that it is easy. You should sit down in dirt and disorder, and produce brilliant work. When I heard this and, it having been preached so fervently, tried it, I failed. … More “Clean the Office, Then Write”
So the reason I am obsessed with Robert Boice is, what he has to say applies to me in part and in part, not. I think he assumes one is either interested in one’s work, and so is at least not trying to force that, or is not interested, and so must force it. And … More Et encore…
I am moving this post up because it got no comments and I really want to know: what do you think goes into condescension? It is a power move, but (a) do you think it is undertaken to cover insecurity or (b) just for the fun of putting someone down? Mostimportantly, do you think condescenders … More On Condescension
I enjoyed Anne Lamott‘s Bird by Bird, wherein one is allowed to have an otherwise lackluster day if one is writing and still call it good. In this book writing can be messy and it has to do with life. In that way I find Lamott more interesting than Robert Boice who wants one to … More Working It Out
This repost is dedicated, variously, to Clarissa, Feminéma, Jonathan Mayhew, Historiann, New Kid on the Hallway, Tenured Radical, and Undine, to a few others I have forgotten, to some interesting assistant professor blogs like Paper Chase and Uentdenckt that have disappeared. Remember, I am for the rights of adjuncts and I believe they should have … More On Being New Faculty
Axé.
Petita bonica, lireta liró. Rossignol que vas a França, rossignol. Nightingale on your way to France, send me a score above 160. Naturally I want a score above 170 but that would be lagniappe. Above 160 is good, rossignol. Student: I failed because I did not do homework. Two years at this university and I … More Lo que ens falta, ho tindrem, lireta liró
I am academically oriented in fact, but originally this industry was also important to me because it was the only place I knew I was competent. It was thus the only route to sustenance and safety, and I cared about it for those reasons as well as purer ones. That is why my first academic … More L’histoire, or, Conjugations and Declensions, or Something I Wrote Before Writing My Very Important Post
To break a spell, you are to say to the requisite person, “You have no power over me any more.” And believe it, and breathe it in, and make it true. Others, it appears, are already well settled into academic writing schedules and summer routines. I have three finals to give and grade, and two … More No Power Over Me Any More. A Very Important Post.
The reason I feel academic work is destructive is the prevalence and repetition of menaces and threats therein. From birth I am familiar with this feeling — someone will make a misstep, work will be cut. It is hard to concentrate in this atmosphere. There are no jobs, one false move and you are gone, … More On Menaces and Threats
coldhearted scientist وداد 