1) My one (white) colleague from Mississippi made the equivalent of a holiday mixtape, putting together Christmas- and holiday-themed blues songs he knows onto a CD, and then burning that for people.
2) I got a subscription to the National Catholic Reporter for a couple (married) friends from home who are liberal Catholics... I sent them an email to check if they wanted it, and right away the wife of the couple said yes, and that she was at her parents' house and her mom has already claimed the back issues.
Her mother used to be very conservative, but lately has been attending all these 'getting in touch with yourself' New Age groups, and just doesn't take patriarchy very seriously anymore.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Vegas stories.
At the holiday party in my dept., I was talking with a bunch of people, including a masters student I don't know.
The guy is from the great plains, and he and a cousin of his who had been raised a conservative Baptist ended up going on vacation to Las Vegas.
After they had been barhopping and going to casinos and whatnot all night, they went to a late night club at like 4 or 5am, and as soon as they entered and their eyes got adjusted to the lighting, they notice that all the waitresses are wearing short short skirts, and are all topless.
"Oh no, oh no," his cousin said, freaking out, and began backing up, all the way into a fountain, though not a fountain fountain, but rather one of those walls covered by running water.
I guess his shirt still got all wet, though.
The guy is from the great plains, and he and a cousin of his who had been raised a conservative Baptist ended up going on vacation to Las Vegas.
After they had been barhopping and going to casinos and whatnot all night, they went to a late night club at like 4 or 5am, and as soon as they entered and their eyes got adjusted to the lighting, they notice that all the waitresses are wearing short short skirts, and are all topless.
"Oh no, oh no," his cousin said, freaking out, and began backing up, all the way into a fountain, though not a fountain fountain, but rather one of those walls covered by running water.
I guess his shirt still got all wet, though.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Developments: Sifting Rice.
So after I discovered my 20lb bag of rice that I kept under the sink was bug-infested, I ended up trasferring it to coffee cans and putting them in the freezer, to kill the bugs.
Then, I bought a strainer, and now sift any rice to get the bugs and larvae out, then put it in another strainer to run water over it.
Usually, I get maybe 1 or 2 bugs if any out of any one coffee cup of rice (I measure rice with a coffee cup), but the other day, out of just half a coffee cup of dry rice, I got like 8+ bugs.
It was disgusting, but then I remembered that people at Jonestown and in other parts of the world face this problem all the time, and that I probably have eaten bugs in the past as well, since insect parts end up in all food in some small portion anyhow.
Then, I bought a strainer, and now sift any rice to get the bugs and larvae out, then put it in another strainer to run water over it.
Usually, I get maybe 1 or 2 bugs if any out of any one coffee cup of rice (I measure rice with a coffee cup), but the other day, out of just half a coffee cup of dry rice, I got like 8+ bugs.
It was disgusting, but then I remembered that people at Jonestown and in other parts of the world face this problem all the time, and that I probably have eaten bugs in the past as well, since insect parts end up in all food in some small portion anyhow.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Puzzle magazine mistakes.
The one puzzle I subscribe to, it says it gives you a free t-shirt if you find a substantive error in its puzzle.
Years ago I wrote in and they published a letter of mine, but I never got that dang t-shirt.
The last issue, I found 3 separate mistakes, and wrote in again, so we'll see if I get my t-shirt, this time.
On another note, I have never known anyone else who's subscribed to that magazine except a friend of my parents (which is where I learned about the magazine from), and I've never seen anyone in public doing puzzles out of that magazine, but the other day at the coffee shop after I gave a Greek lesson and was hanging around to do work, I saw someone bring in their new issue and sit down and start doing puzzles.
The guy was around my age, big-boned, and white.
Years ago I wrote in and they published a letter of mine, but I never got that dang t-shirt.
The last issue, I found 3 separate mistakes, and wrote in again, so we'll see if I get my t-shirt, this time.
On another note, I have never known anyone else who's subscribed to that magazine except a friend of my parents (which is where I learned about the magazine from), and I've never seen anyone in public doing puzzles out of that magazine, but the other day at the coffee shop after I gave a Greek lesson and was hanging around to do work, I saw someone bring in their new issue and sit down and start doing puzzles.
The guy was around my age, big-boned, and white.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
W*lm*rt unionization.
The other week I was talking with my dad on the phone, and he was saying a lot of people in my hometown in Michigan are ticked off at W*lm*rt b/c they keep people to part-time salaries and dick them around by moving their schedules and not allowing them to get other part-time jobs, but no-one complains b/c they can't afford to lose their jobs.
"They should unionize," I was like.
"They would," my dad was like, "But they're afraid to lose their jobs, you got to remember the level of unemployment up here."
"That's true," I was like, "But I also think it's cultural, where people are anti-union."
Then, I said that the hotbed of W*lm*rt unionization is inner cities, which W*lm*rt has been pushing into, and that unemployment there can get over 30%.
"And those workers are fighting to unionize," I was like.
"Hmmm," my dad was like, "Maybe it is a cultural thing."
He also said the big era of unions was over, and when I said that we might be entering a new era of re-unionization, he agreed we might be, and that it was needed.
"They should unionize," I was like.
"They would," my dad was like, "But they're afraid to lose their jobs, you got to remember the level of unemployment up here."
"That's true," I was like, "But I also think it's cultural, where people are anti-union."
Then, I said that the hotbed of W*lm*rt unionization is inner cities, which W*lm*rt has been pushing into, and that unemployment there can get over 30%.
"And those workers are fighting to unionize," I was like.
"Hmmm," my dad was like, "Maybe it is a cultural thing."
He also said the big era of unions was over, and when I said that we might be entering a new era of re-unionization, he agreed we might be, and that it was needed.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Conference Disgust.
So when I was at my field's big annual conference over a month ago, just walking around, I was overcome with a feeling of disgust, and I'm not sure it's ever going away.
Over the past year, I've been in touch with people who have been eaten up by the job market: people who rushed through dissertation and didn't have articles, people who went into renewable one-years that overwork them and never let them publish, people who went to one-years that turned into dead ends, people without spousal income, since the best position to have is a spouse who can support you while you adjunct for a class or 2 and write articles that make you competitive.
Then, I see a guy who graduated a few years ago and is nice enough, and he a prof are chatting it up in some chairs, and I realize that he's graduated into being a colleague, and the other people really haven't.
For one thing, I realized that that was random, about who made it and who didn't.
For another, I realized that people can buy their way into that, since if they have an outside source of income, they can keep themselves in the running and a lot of times ease their way into academia.
Overall, I realized that money can buy collegiality.
Profs at my school emphasize collegiality, that it's how you treat colleagues and conduct conversations and it's a form of relationship that defines the professional world, but they never stop their valorizations of it to really look at the bottom line, that some people can afford collegiality and others can't.
Everywhere I looked, I saw well-dressed profs on junkets, and the grad students and non-tenure track faculty hanging on and overlooked. I was just overwhelmed with disgust, and even if I make it, I don't think that's ever going away, that feeling of privilege.
Over the past year, I've been in touch with people who have been eaten up by the job market: people who rushed through dissertation and didn't have articles, people who went into renewable one-years that overwork them and never let them publish, people who went to one-years that turned into dead ends, people without spousal income, since the best position to have is a spouse who can support you while you adjunct for a class or 2 and write articles that make you competitive.
Then, I see a guy who graduated a few years ago and is nice enough, and he a prof are chatting it up in some chairs, and I realize that he's graduated into being a colleague, and the other people really haven't.
For one thing, I realized that that was random, about who made it and who didn't.
For another, I realized that people can buy their way into that, since if they have an outside source of income, they can keep themselves in the running and a lot of times ease their way into academia.
Overall, I realized that money can buy collegiality.
Profs at my school emphasize collegiality, that it's how you treat colleagues and conduct conversations and it's a form of relationship that defines the professional world, but they never stop their valorizations of it to really look at the bottom line, that some people can afford collegiality and others can't.
Everywhere I looked, I saw well-dressed profs on junkets, and the grad students and non-tenure track faculty hanging on and overlooked. I was just overwhelmed with disgust, and even if I make it, I don't think that's ever going away, that feeling of privilege.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Viewpoint of a Dutch prof.
So the other day at a holiday breakfast for my dept. I talked to one Dutch prof.
Somehow, when she was talking with me and another student, she said her goal is to get her students through the program as fast as possible.
"Professors at elite institutions have to face up to the face that many of their students will not be employed," she said, very straightforwardly.
She then said her philosophy was to get people out the door as quickly as possible, so they can either get a job or get on with their lives.
(I'm not sure I agree with that approach, since many people will leave with less-than-normal professionalization, and students for whom money isn't an issue will stay on and get that and get an edge, but I can see where she's coming from.)
She also said that she would never encourage her daughters to get into this profession.
"Things were always better here than in Europe, and this is still one of the top programs," she was like, "But I still don't think it's necessarily a good idea for everyone."
Somehow, when she was talking with me and another student, she said her goal is to get her students through the program as fast as possible.
"Professors at elite institutions have to face up to the face that many of their students will not be employed," she said, very straightforwardly.
She then said her philosophy was to get people out the door as quickly as possible, so they can either get a job or get on with their lives.
(I'm not sure I agree with that approach, since many people will leave with less-than-normal professionalization, and students for whom money isn't an issue will stay on and get that and get an edge, but I can see where she's coming from.)
She also said that she would never encourage her daughters to get into this profession.
"Things were always better here than in Europe, and this is still one of the top programs," she was like, "But I still don't think it's necessarily a good idea for everyone."
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