That my son will change his mind
and transfer back to Dad's Uni.
That Mrs. Tingle will
tell her boss to get stuffed
the next time he takes away her power.That I will get undergrads just as
confused and befuddled as ever,
because they are so much fun that way.
That the misery I feel from old colleague A
will be offset by the true joy of new colleague Z,
who was a revelation to all of us in his first semester.
That Mrs. Tingle won't serve me
any more of that flat champagne as a joke!
That there will be no more cuts.
That the adjuncts will get their union plans together.
That the weather and the highways will be clear for Darla.
That I will make a difference in the lives of my students.
That my grad students will learn to work without me, beyond me.
That I will close my office up earlier by one hour,
and spend that one extra hour with my family.
(And not feel guilt.)
That when the misery comes - and it will -
that I will continue to find a place to spleenvent
along with the rest of the CM family.
HNY,
Richard
I'm sorry; I'm trying to be a good boy. But this post (and all of his other posts AND all of Darla's and ALL of Yaro's) does not fit the ethos of this blog. I call for them all to be taken down and let their correspond spots go to people who will celebrate colleg misery appropriately.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a bullshit page now. I had high hopes for it.
Good luck, Richard...spleenventing is the key to a pleasant stomach.
ReplyDeleteI think Richard should hang up the poetry schtick. It's stupid and not poetry - as far as I can tell.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's mostly about his family. This is a college site.
He seems well-meaning, but maybe these posts should go in his diary instead.
I don't know if Will sees it, but he's more or less told Richard that he should not post here anymore. If that's not marginalizing or minimizing, I don't know what is. Not ever post is a winner, Will - have you EVER posted? - and as long as this is a blog with almost 100 correspondents, then you'll have to put up with the occasional post that doesn't suit you.
ReplyDeleteOr not. You don't have to read any of it. Why not write in your own journal?
I sort of like Prof. Tingle.
I think Richard should post what he wants. This one clearly is about being a professor, but one that also has a life. Will is way off base.
ReplyDeleteAtom Smasher has a heavy influence on my work, mainly in the form of coming home and saying "Wow, the apartment is a disaster! Did you get a lot done today?"
ReplyDeleteAwwwwww.
@BlackDog: by that measure, I must have had a very productive few years, since I am in some danger of being buried by the piles of paper and books that crowd my own small apartment. If you don't mind, I may mentally borrow Atom Smasher when I'm feeling a bit down about the chaos.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like Tingle's streams of consciousness (though I hope he'll let Junior follow his own drummer, whether it leads back to Dad's Uni or not. But I suspect that may be one of many opinions that is voiced here in lieu of being voiced elsewhere, where it might do harm. Spleenventing can, indeed, be healthy, in a number of situations).