"Oh Why!" Just Kimmie on Sunday.
- Why do I lend out books? Where do they go? They rarely come back. Is there a method to divining which student really means it when he/she says, "You can trust me"?
- Oh why did I start watching the Miss Universe? Why is there a part of my brain that made me get out crackers, cheese, and wine and watch 2 hours of it?
- Why did I agree to teach a night class next semester? Do you know how cold it is after dark in January? February?
- Oh why did I check my school email at 11:45 pm on Saturday night? What good would come from it? I know I can't turn my ahead away from a student car wreck.
- Why did I confess my Twitter misery to my online colleagues at CM? Truly, I'm not as insane as those stories make me sound. I'm off Twitter. Seriously.
- Oh why do I think I'm not ready for the semester to end when I'm at home in PJs, but am convinced I can't stand another minute when I'm locked in an inane conversation in the faculty lounge?
- Why do some students vex me and some make me oh so thankful for my career? Same for colleagues.
- Why don't I let that be enough...
Bart Bok, the man who sold the Milky Way (by convincing the Australian government to support Mount Stromlo Observatory and turn it into the powerhouse it still is), remarked that when he looked at his shelf and saw spaces left from books he'd lent to students, those were always darn good books. I keep records of mine, and I get mine back shortly before graduation, since I have to sign the forms. Likewise for observatory keys.
ReplyDeleteAt least Miss Universe is better than Twitter. You're improving, Kimmie!
Perhaps you agreed to teach the night class because you needed the money? It's a common problem among proffies these days.
Don't check your school e-mail at 11:45 p.m. on Saturday night. Next thing you know, you'll be checking your school e-mail at 4 a.m. on the way back to bed from the bathroom, the way I do. But then, every time I drink an iced tea with a long spoon in it, I get a sharp pain in my eye.
I believe you're off Twitter. Good going! Perhaps you confessed your Twitter misery because Twitter is so miserable?
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the semester to end now.
All my students vex me. All my colleagues do too. That's why I always carry my super-heavy-duty staple gun, and snarl menacingly. It works.
We never get enough of you, Kimmie!
Assuming no students can be trusted will guarantee no Type I errors. Plus, you get to keep your books.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the Miss Universe thing, but, hey, we all have our vices. Mine is celebrity gossip, so I think yours is slightly less embarrassing, even when you throw the Twitter thing in there, too.
As for vexing students and colleagues, is it wrong of me to say the main way my colleagues vex me is when they fail to retire, despite being older than dirt, thus opening up a new tenure-track line for some deserving young(ish) scholar?
I have a very pretentious friend who paid to have nice little stickers with "Property of Pretentious Prof" printed up. The first time I saw that she had stuck them in every book she owned, I rolled my eyes and said OH BROTHER.
ReplyDeleteBut I have to admit: I have never kept her books longer than it took to read them. Maybe this is one way to go.
I want the recipe for oatmeal crisp from last week!
ReplyDeleteOooh, me, too. And, Kimmie, don't change your avatar. I don't give a shit if the avatar is fetching or ugly or whatever. But if you had a hand in picking it, then it's probably something you like. Don't let a comment force your hand. That happened Darla, of course. She was made to feel bad by a perv and I'm sure it had an impact on her involvement in the page.
DeleteI think we have a new name to add to the ranks of CM poets. Kimmie writes in an unusual (most likely wholly original) form, seemingly free-form, but actually quite demanding. I especially like the ending to this one; nice little twist on the form there.
ReplyDelete