I have been doing some reading and thinking and I have something cooking. But I’ve been too busy to actually write the post yet. Maybe you’ll see it later today. Maybe tomorrow. I won’t promise greatness, but at least goodness.
Couldn’t resist–via Bitch, Ph.D.
About an hour after the shooting occurred, Cheney should have called a press conference at the ranch and should have said something along these lines:
Just over an hour ago, I accidentally shot my good friend, Harry Whittington. He has been taken to the hospital and I am on my way there. I am, of course, distressed about this accident and wish him the speediest of recoveries. I turn you over now to ______ who will fill you in on the details while I am at the hospital. Thank you.
That response, however, would require a man with some integrity.
In other news:
Your tax dollars at work:
$1.9 billion for administration p.r.
$7 billion in credits to the oil companies (note: this is on top of $25 billion in profits)
Your Homeland Security Department at work:
Missing teleconference
Still wiretapping
Our new family motto: “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” (bonus points if you know its source)
I cannot seem to focus on anything–except playing a video game–for more than 20 minutes. Ugh. I think I’m just gonna go with it and blow most of the rest of the day off. I’ve been home with the kids all day. They’ve been in and out. I did manage to get some writing done, which I ended up deleting (sigh). And I rewrote an introduction and did some rearranging. I think I’m going to go into Starbucks tonight without the computer and do some longhand writing and revision. Crazy, I know.
For some reason, I feel restless. I think that’s contributing to my lack of focus. There are probably other factors as well. It’s driving me crazy though.
Completely and totally lazy!
Yes, we celebrated in our own quiet and snowed-in way. There was champagne, a fire, even a champagne glass that almost made it into the fire. But mostly, we allowed ourselves to just be, to not have a next hoop to jump through, to not have to think about where our next move or job would be. It’s interesting how, even if you feel pretty good about your chances at tenure, you still think about what you’ll do if you don’t get it. At least once a week for the last 6 months, we’ve discussed what we’d do. That’s a real burden that you don’t even realize is a burden until it’s gone.
Some moments from Saturday and Sunday:
- The kids completely mauled Mr. Geeky when he got home.
- After it had sunk in a little, Mr. Geeky stood up with his arms in the air and said, “I’m calling all my ex-girlfriends!” To which, Geeky Girl replied, “What are you gonna say? Na-na-na-na boo-boo?” (apologies to any ex-girlfriends reading this)
- Trips to Best Buy and the bookstore before the snow hit.
- Mythbusters marathon.
- Comfort food.
- Phone calls to and from everyone we know.
- Mr. Geeky telling one of our friends they could now call him dead wood. He has the letter to prove it.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and congratulations! I have to say that one of the first times I really felt a part of this community was when Anbruch got tenure. I was very anxious about that. And now What Now went through the whole thing earlier in a much more contentious environment. As I said before, the process is gruelling and unfun under even the best of circumstances. It’s nice to have a group of people around who know what that’s like. So, thanks everyone for just being there.
Mr. Geeky got tenure! See what Geeky Boy has to say!
Geeky Girl chimes in.
| You Are Scooter |
 Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You’re always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you’re the one who keeps things going. “15 seconds to showtime!” |
as seen at Scrivener’s
I very much like Colin’s post about Facebook from yesterday. He tries to get at the complex nature of what’s going on with Facebook. Students feel like it’s a “private” space akin to a dorm room or something. However it’s publicly available and staff and faculty can wander around in that space at will. And, as Colin’s post suggests, they do.
Colin’s post made me think about something that I was involved in many years ago in seventh grade. As a “gifted” student, I had a free period in which I was supposed to be doing homework and working on projects–actually computer programming. There were 5 or 6 of us who were basically left unattended in a classroom. Needless to say, sometimes things got rowdy. Despite being gifted (can I say how much I hate that term, but that’s the term that was used then), this was all we got. All of our other classes, except math, we took with the regular kids. And most of us hated them. But we saved most of our hate for our English class in which we were made to read straight through an English book and take multiple choice quizzes which were graded and handed back. Then, going through the rows, each person read a question and gave their answer. That was our classes. No discussion. Not even the writing of an essay. And the teacher, we thought, was mean. She berated people who gave the wrong answer. If you so much as whispered, you might have to write “I will not talk in class” 500 times. The class was, in so many ways, the epitome of all that was wrong with education. Even at the age of 12, we recognized we were being short-changed in some way, that we weren’t being treated fairly. Our way of dealing with it? Take it out on the teacher, of course.
One day we’re all sitting in this gifted classroom, having finished all our homework, and we’re talking about how much we hate this English class and the teacher. Somebody makes a dare. Go into the hallway and yell “I hate Mrs. X.” One by one, we did this. Note that her classroom was across the hall, a little diagonal from the classroom we were in. The dare was significant because there was a good chance she might hear it. And hear it she did, when about the third one of us (not me) shouted just a little louder than the rest of us. And we all got in trouble. We were threatened with losing our free period and other punishments.
In a way, this is similar to the students on Facebook who shout (digitally) how much they hate a professor (or on ratemyprofessors.com). The students who do this on Facebook, however, are shocked that there are consequences for their actions. We, on the other hand, were not in the least bit shocked that we got in trouble. I’m certain we hurt that poor teacher’s feelings just as students who publish mean things about professors hurt their feelings.
I’m conflicted about Facebook and MySpace. On the one hand, I think it’s good for students and teenagers to have a virtual space to connect to others and share their thoughts and ideas and even advertise parties and the like. On the other hand, I think they need to learn a lot about having their words in the public sphere. And, I’m also conflicted about administrators who trawl such spaces. I think it’s appropriate for another student to express concern about say, another student’s drinking problem that’s manifested itself on Facebook, but it seems to me in some way inappropriate for administrators to go looking for violations of some kind. As Colin pointed out, Facebook doesn’t fit neatly on the public-private spectrum. Does an administrator trawling through Facebook equate with him or her wandering the dorm hallway and poking their head into rooms? Or does it equate with him or her scrutinizing the publicly posted flyers?
Once upon a time, we said that we might use Friday as a time to dive into projects, test out some new technology, or otherwise take a more laid-back stance. However, most Fridays end up like today. Back-to-back meetings or lots of people stopping in to get something done. I don’t mind the frantic pace, just that it doesn’t coincide with my expectations. I think I need to adjust my expectations. Actually, Mondays end up being fairly slow. And this week, it was Thursday that was slow. I don’t mind unpredictability; it makes life interesting. But sometimes I need to plan.
I hope everyone else is having a less frantic Friday. I’m definitely looking forward to kicking back later. Plus we’re supposed to get snow tomorrow (in addition to news).
In two days, we find out if Mr. Geeky gets tenure. It’s been a 10-year saga for us. Five years in one job and five years in this one. For Mr. Geeky, since the beginning of his Ph.D., it’s been 18 years. After 18 years, he gets assurance that he can keep his job (or not). Shouldn’t he be retiring by now?
To people outside of academe, tenure seems like the weirdest thing ever. Some might be familiar with K-12 schools who grant tenure solely based on time worked. And there are the David Hororwitz’s of the world. Many have asked me what Mr. Geeky’s chances are and it’s hard to answer. To me, they seem good. He’s published the right amount. He’s got good evaluations and his service is outstanding. But you never know. And that’s what gets people–even those in my department who’ve been around for a while and should know. Well, what could happen, they ask? Something might not be good enough. And, as Dean Dad pointed out a long time ago, sometimes people get denied tenure for lack of fit. Maybe Mr. Geeky’s work is too much like someone else’s. Who knows.
Personally, I don’t like the tenure system. I believe in the academic freedom it bestows on people post tenure, but I think the system is extremely flawed. At the MLA convention, a panel proposed changes in the tenure process which represented a realization, in part, that one size does not fit all. In other words, what might be appropriate for tenure at Harvard isn’t necessarily appropriate at State U. The ratcheting up of requirements has been problematic across many disciplines. In fact, that’s primarily why Mr. Geeky left his first job. During his time there, leadership changed and they decided they wanted to aspire to something bigger, changing the requirements for tenure midstream.
Though we definitely feel good about Mr. Geeky’s chances, it’s still weird to think that in two days, our whole life could change.
Recent Comments