Friday, February 5, 2016

Where has Ben been?

Hello.

My name is Ben.

May I join your blog?

...

OK, I should clear a few things up. I made a big tado about saying good bye, FOR EVAH. "I'm going cold turkey, ... I'm missing out on too many other pleasures." Well, it turns out that my life is full of little things that, when I pay attention to them, really annoy me. I think I'm better ignoring them and spending more time online. Besides, I get tired of cold turkey. That's why we only have it on Thanksgiving.

I was actually good for a while. I didn't check CM for about four months. Then, I thought, I wonder what people are up to.

Oh, Kimmie's in charge. That's cool.

A few weeks later, I check in again. Crystal's started CM up again. Good for her.

Then I checked a few days later, the next day, later that evening, early the next morning, at lunch, in the afternoon, before dinner, after dinner, et cetera, et cetera, and here we are.

Or maybe Terry P. is off his meds again and one of the voices has returned to haunt his psyche.

Well, either way, it's good to be back.

29 comments:

  1. Great seeing you here again, Ben!

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  2. Hi, Ben. Good to have you with us.

    Let me just grab another folding chair and you can join the circle. In a few minutes we'll all go out to the stairs for a cigarette break; no smoking in the building, don't you know.

    We battle our addictions in many ways. Myself, I just admit that I am powerless over them, and then I'm free to enjoy them. (What actually bothers me is when I'm so worn down by the other bullshit that I don't even feel like indulging one of them.) At least with CM, I can repurpose my apparent obsession as "faculty development."

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  3. Yay! You have always been my favorite, Beaker Ben. I've missed you.

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  4. Great to have you back, Ben!

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  5. Welcome Back Ben! We had some good times.

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  6. Big shout out to Kimmie for carrying the torch and to Chrystal, who has either increased the number of voices in Terry's head or actually attracted new members of the CoMmunity. Having everybody send their posts to her and not sharing posting rights is a more efficient system. Smart thinkin'.

    I missed everybody. Speaking as a real person, I missed Ben too. I missed all of us.

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  7. BEN!!!1!!
    Chuffed to bits to have you back.

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  8. OK, who had four months in the "When will Ben be back?" pool?? WB Ben

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  9. I checked the betting pool. Ben himself had February 5th in the pool. I've disallowed his claim on the $8 prize money. Fuck him.

    Walter and I are going to split the money and buy 2 Oklahoma steaks.

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  10. You can't quit us!

    Welcome back :-)

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  11. Beaker Ben is the only one who ever made any sense on this site. The other "guys" were so full of themselves, their sacrifice so great.

    Ben at least had some understanding that he was a whiny crank. The rest of this page's slim following always thought they were doing scholarship, and their "humor" was so weak and ponderous that I stopped worrying you'd have any affect on the state of higher ed. Of course I was right.

    But, let's be real about Ben. He never left. he's the one who's always run the page, and he has 2 friends who have helped him over the 10 years and I know one with 100% certainty and the other with about 75% certainty. One lives in Arizona and one lives in Ohio. And they're both failed academics, and that's why it's so much fun to school them.

    I'm a long time reader and first time commenter.

    Vince The Valid

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    Replies
    1. Allow me to check something, "Vince": You think you're NOT a whiny crank?

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    2. No, he's a faith birth---or was it a borrowed ladder?

      Delete
    3. I'm sorry, I can't just stand by while Jerry Jagoff above says such bullshit. There've been scores of great writers and moderators on this site. I know he's just a troll, but I hate seeing all the work EVERYONE has done get reduced or minimized so casually.

      Delete
    4. Pretty sure he's previously called himself Veracious Vic & Pete the Dishwasher, among others.

      Doesn't have much of a range, whoever he posts as.

      Delete
    5. I must take exception to the above accusations. First, I know I'm a whiny crank. Second, I'm a failed mechanic.

      Delete
  12. Speaking as a "slim follower". . . Da Beaksta!! Welcome back!

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  13. Ben, so happy to have you back! Consider tweeting again, too.

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  14. Hey, Ben! Now you know why I keep coming back: something akin to "it feels good when I stop."

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  15. It takes a lot of work to be the RGM. And then, ultimately, we die. Keep up the good work, RGM!

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  16. Anyone want to join the Hiram pool?

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    Replies
    1. Has Hiram officially left, or have we just not seen him for a while? I have trouble keeping track (heck, I have trouble keeping track of my students, for more or less the same reason, except I have big Bbrother and Banner to provide a clue here and there).

      Either way, I'd be delighted if he dropped in, baffled or not.

      Delete
    2. I think he last posted in October but perhaps he has commented since. I don't know how to find that info.

      Cystal

      Delete
  17. Well, it turns out that my life is full of little things that, when I pay attention to them, really annoy me. I think I'm better ignoring them and spending more time online.

    Makes sense to me. Welcome back, Ben!

    ReplyDelete

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