Question - Student Union.

I'm prepping an editorial to write about the recognized-but-unsolved increasing burden of student fees, and a part of that is figuring out how much recent increases have been and then coming up with an estimate for the fee level ph.d. students who are now in their 1st year will meet in year 6, when the fees kick in.

The answer is approx $7000 (right now they're like $5400).

I needed some info from the grad student union, so I met with the head of it, and he invited me to a planning meeting for an issue that doesn't affect me.

I mentioned that the high fee levels might make a nice little pamphlet to maybe distribute to prospective students next year, since they need to be aware of it and it'd embarrass the university, and immediately he was like, "Yes, like a 'Grad Student Disorientation'!".

That made me just cringe. I've brought this up with them before, but they are so in love with the idea of being counterculture, that they don't realize how it makes them seem like fringe socialists and undependable, as would be any information coming from them. His mind immediately went for the style, and not thinking of maximizing persuasive force for students who are on the fence!

I did revise one of their pamphlets for them and people raved, but they just don't get their image problem...

I remember after one rally where I spoke a few years ago, the same guy I was talking with (who is white, and balding, a little on the pudgy side), got everyone to sing some 60s song, and they stood in a circle awkwardly and swayed back and forth, and he got teary.

I'm glad it meant something for him.

A guru event.

I really don’t like guru events.

They’re very long, people aren’t friendly to you if you’re not into it, and the air is stale and there’s just a bunch of people milling around the tables where you can buy stuff and take fliers in between and during events.

A friend from college had invited me to a “Yoga Rave” for a guru he’s into, and I was glad to go; they had rented out this giant nightclub downtown (a huge old church with at least 5 clubbing levels, including a dance floor that like four floors overlooked!) during early evening hours, and you paid $10 for the drug- and alcohol-free event, and there was a mixed bunch of people, mostly young but some older (Indian) people and (white) people, and they had free yoga and then guided meditations according to a CD put out by the guru and then a band playing sets of mantras (including Krishna chants) set to contemporary electronic-influenced rock music, for 4 hours.

At one point, they even dropped balloons on the dance floor.

At another point towards the very end, just before the raffle anouncement, they paraded out a few young (black) students who were taking meditation classes from their Indian teacher as part of public school (!).

Like 2.5 hours in, I ducked out into the sales area where they had info on classes, guru books and CDs, etc., and the air was stuffy too, so I went upstairs to piss and go to less crowded part and breathe, and the air was stuffy there as well, so I finally found my friend and told him I was going downstairs to get some air, out of the private event area his club had rented out.

The downstairs bar in the club was open, and some guru people were milling at one end, and then there were two older (white) women with these bright pink martinis, and then a slot at the end where I could sit...

On the other half of the first floor, which the guru people hadn't rented out, there was an early evening "Rat Pack" impersonator night, and so we kept hearing old Dean Martin tunes performed live, though we couldn't see the performers because of some well-placed curtain space dividers.

I ordered a beer and a glass of water, and wonder if I was a failure, because I couldn’t enjoy an alcohol-free event.

(The place also wouldn’t count for my project, if I didn’t have a drink there.)

Then, one of the older (white) women called out something to me, and I went down to join them.

It turns out that they were visiting psychiatrists from my home state in town for a professional conference, so we shot the shit and then I gave them a recommendation for a bar with cheap drinks and a great view of downtown, a map to which I even drew on the back of some large ticket one had in her purse.

Then, I realized that I really do like bars, and I wasn’t a failure because of it.

My warning to an English prof.

The other day I went to a lecture by a famous English Marxist literary critic, who has engaged in contemporary religious debates and some of whose shorter pieces I've read.

His introducer (who I later heard went to school with him) was one of those awkward older (white) (female) professors in English depts., not one of those silver foxes who dress in black and discuss theory with elan.

Anyhow, in her introduction, she talked about how the visiting literary critic tried to keep the masses "from drinking the Kool Aid" of late industrial capitalism etc. etc., and you could just tell she was glad to make that reference, that she found it appropriate and cool.

So, afterwards, after I asked question of the visiting literary critic, I introduced myself to his introducer and was like, "You know, you might not be aware of this, but you should be very careful not to use the 'drink the Kool Aid' reference in public speeches," and I explained to her how at a conference this year I had met some Peoples Temples survivors, and that there's more of them than you think, and that if any are in the audience, they will not only stand up during Q&A and tell you how they lost all their family and have been in a very dark place for several decades, but will also mention your name in a List of Shame and it will be on the internet forever.

She smiled awkwardly and glanced to the side, and then she told me and the other remaining person that the literary critic was tired and couldn't answer any more questions.

Somehow, I got the impression that they were sleeping together.

This healthcare thing is so upsetting.

I’ve been very upset over the healthcare case before the Supreme Court.

I had been very upset in the last days of the legislative debate, when it looked like healthcare reform wouldn’t pass, since so many people I know are affected by it, and I don’t think things can get much worse with rising premiums and shed benefits.

So, this is upsetting me now too. I had thought the Bush years were over – an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, widespread discussion over changing the tax code, etc. – but then there was Citizens United, and now this. It’s really amazing how much the actions and policies of one president has changed the country for the worse, and continue to do so. With the recent congressional redistricting, Citizens United, and a stacked Supreme Court, I have a feeling that things might get a lot worse for a long time – and I really see no real hope for change right now.

Too much work, and I'm sick.

I really wonder if I work myself too hard.

Recently, because of a syllabus deadline, I was working a ton of hours, then I had a class starting up and a ton of hours, and I needed to file taxes, and it was prospective students week and there were functions I had to attend, and I still managed to go to the gym twice (albeit one of the workouts was shorter than usual) and hit my weekly bar quota.

Then, on Thurs. and Fri. I woke up with a little gunk in the back of my throat from allergies, and on Fri. I had to nap, and on Sat. I felt starting to get under the weather and Sun. I woke up with a full-blown cold.

I really don’t know what’s the alternative, though – I can hardly get by with as many hours as there are in the day already. I have a fellowship deadline coming up, and I still need to finish my financial aid paperwork, then complete a dissertation chapter and an editorial I’m working on, and all the while keep up with my Hebrew reading class homework (which isn’t as bad as the grammar homework). I’m also heading out of town for Easter weekend.

Tutoring Idea.

For the one lawyer who has now reviewed his Latin and is now reading texts with me, I might hunt down letters of the John Carroll (sp.?), the 1st American bishop (I think).

I had to refer to his letters last year during preliminary dissertation research, and a third were in English, a third were in French (because of the importance of the French Sulpician order to the U.S.), and a third were in Latin.

I just know that his letters would be a fun sight-reading treat for him! He is already really enjoying reading this seminal early modern Aquinas commentary that I hunted down for him, which we consult after reading every section of Aquinas.

I got pissed on the phone the other day.

Money is really making me pissed off lately.

It's been like 4 years since I've had my teeth cleaned and I need that and I think a filling, so I got the 6-month 2-dental cleanings policy my school recommends (= around $258).

By the time I got on top of this, it was already 2 weeks into the 6-month period and approaching the deadline, and because the website was confusing, I called them up to clarify how long it would take my check to reach them so I could make an appt.

I did that, then called back in a week-and-a-half to see if they had received/cleared the check, when the person helping me out had to check on something, and then told me that there was a mistake on the website, and that that PO Box has closed down and I'd need to cancel the check, send them another one, and then after *that* check cleared, make my appointment.

I asked if they could pro-rate my policy, extend it, or mark me as paid, so I could make my 1st dental cleaning right away, and be in time to make my second.

She said that wasn't possible, and after some chat, transferred me, but I got disconnected.

I called back and double-checked the info, and that person who answered the phone said if I was worried about getting in a 2nd appointment, I should just get the year-long policy (which costs twice as much).

That set me off, so I was like, "Where do you get off telling a poor student to shell out more money, when it's you guys who have unacceptable business practices and made a major fuck-up that's delaying my services that I can barely afford anyhow."

She then said that if I continued that type of language she'd be forced to hang up on me.

Later on, I did speak to someone higher up, and she said to try to see if the dentist would set up an appt. for me now, and only check to see if the check cleared a day or two before the appt.

Fortunately, I did that, and it worked.