Wednesday, February 28, 2007
How to Deal with Stress: The Latour Method
When life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade.
When life gives philosopher of science Bruno Latour lemons...HE REVERSES TIME ITSELF!
From Latour's Science in Action:
"There are not that many ways to master a situation. Either you dominate it physically; or you draw on your side a great many allies, or else you try to be there before anybody else. How can this be done? Simply by reversing the flow of time." (231)
Of course! It's so simple.
(2) comments
When life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade.
When life gives philosopher of science Bruno Latour lemons...HE REVERSES TIME ITSELF!
From Latour's Science in Action:
"There are not that many ways to master a situation. Either you dominate it physically; or you draw on your side a great many allies, or else you try to be there before anybody else. How can this be done? Simply by reversing the flow of time." (231)
Of course! It's so simple.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Ahead of His Time
So the Academy finally did it. After a half dozen nominations, they finally bestowed a Best Director Academy Award to Martin Scorsese. As a fan of Mean Streets and Goodfellas, and, I'll admit it, Gangs of New York, I think it was long overdue. Not that I had any doubt that he would win when I saw Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg step on stage as a group to present the statuette.
That and the fact that only an Oscar winning director would garner respect from the New York Times at the end of the 21st century.
(The text above has not been altered. The Times, it seems, was not prepared for Y2K.)
So the Academy finally did it. After a half dozen nominations, they finally bestowed a Best Director Academy Award to Martin Scorsese. As a fan of Mean Streets and Goodfellas, and, I'll admit it, Gangs of New York, I think it was long overdue. Not that I had any doubt that he would win when I saw Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg step on stage as a group to present the statuette.
That and the fact that only an Oscar winning director would garner respect from the New York Times at the end of the 21st century.
(The text above has not been altered. The Times, it seems, was not prepared for Y2K.)
Monday, February 19, 2007
A Taxing Change of Address Process
If February is here, can taxes be far behind? Unfortunately, this year things are not going quite so smoothly. Part of this is the fault of the folks at my old post office who have not been forwarding any of my mail to the Invisible Commune.
I was aware this might be an issue however and contacted my old employers, the City School District, by phone a month ago to confirm my new mailing address. I even got the Invisible Dad to fax in the change of address paperwork for me. A few weeks go by, and I don't have my W-2. So I call them up again last Friday. Apparently the change of address form has still not gone through, but they're more than willing to change things on their computers. Enter in the new address and it's done.
Or so I thought.
Today I get home from the library and discover a letter from the School District Payroll Office. Could it be? My W-2? Did bureaucracy actually work for me?
Of course not.
I open it up and what do I find?
A change of address form.
Think about that for a second.
They MAILED me a change of address form...to my new address no less!
It seems that after all these years, I finally discovered conclusive evidence showing that the left hand really does not know what the right hand is doing.
And I would be feeling much more amused by all this if I didn't have to call the School District tomorrow to ask the same questions I contacted them about a month ago.
Some things just don't end, you know?
(1) comments
If February is here, can taxes be far behind? Unfortunately, this year things are not going quite so smoothly. Part of this is the fault of the folks at my old post office who have not been forwarding any of my mail to the Invisible Commune.
I was aware this might be an issue however and contacted my old employers, the City School District, by phone a month ago to confirm my new mailing address. I even got the Invisible Dad to fax in the change of address paperwork for me. A few weeks go by, and I don't have my W-2. So I call them up again last Friday. Apparently the change of address form has still not gone through, but they're more than willing to change things on their computers. Enter in the new address and it's done.
Or so I thought.
Today I get home from the library and discover a letter from the School District Payroll Office. Could it be? My W-2? Did bureaucracy actually work for me?
Of course not.
I open it up and what do I find?
A change of address form.
Think about that for a second.
They MAILED me a change of address form...to my new address no less!
It seems that after all these years, I finally discovered conclusive evidence showing that the left hand really does not know what the right hand is doing.
And I would be feeling much more amused by all this if I didn't have to call the School District tomorrow to ask the same questions I contacted them about a month ago.
Some things just don't end, you know?
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Missing Things on Valentine's Day
I know that it's entirely commercial.
I know that it's ultimately irrelevant.
I know that it is, in all likelihood, the result of a diabolical conspiracy between the Catholic church, greeting card companies, and South American cacao producers.
But for some reason, I still hate the feeling of being by myself on Valentine's Day.
Like the rest of the country, Old Ivy has been glazed with a thin, but persistent, lair of ice rendering any chance of visiting my girlfriend impossible and the walk to my classes surprisingly perilous. So it looks like it'll just be me and a bunch of graduate students talking about Aristotle this evening. (Yes, I actually had to read some Aristotle for my Scientific Revolution class. )
The twist? If I had stayed at Underwood this year then I would get the day off to spend with my Valentine. But they don't close grad school on account of bad weather.
I miss that. And I miss my Valentine.
I know that it's entirely commercial.
I know that it's ultimately irrelevant.
I know that it is, in all likelihood, the result of a diabolical conspiracy between the Catholic church, greeting card companies, and South American cacao producers.
But for some reason, I still hate the feeling of being by myself on Valentine's Day.
Like the rest of the country, Old Ivy has been glazed with a thin, but persistent, lair of ice rendering any chance of visiting my girlfriend impossible and the walk to my classes surprisingly perilous. So it looks like it'll just be me and a bunch of graduate students talking about Aristotle this evening. (Yes, I actually had to read some Aristotle for my Scientific Revolution class. )
The twist? If I had stayed at Underwood this year then I would get the day off to spend with my Valentine. But they don't close grad school on account of bad weather.
I miss that. And I miss my Valentine.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Any Comments?
In case you were wondering where the comments went after last year's movie quote contest, I've been puzzling over whether or not they should be included on a more regular basis. On the one hand, this blog has survived for three years without comments, allowing me to avoid potential conflicts of interest with my place of employment and generally maintain my anonymity. On the other hand, I am no longer working as a teacher and the function of the blog has changed somewhat and some of you may actually want to seize upon this as a method of keeping in touch.
Still I remain a touch hesitant as to whether to include them. After all, even when they were available almost no one responded. Alost half of them (3) were from one person: my associate in the Sleeper Cell. And the other half consisted of posts from myself, my girlfriend, and my family respectively. (Don't worry Evil Twin Matt! I haven't forgotten about your insidious contribution!) After a participation drought of three years, I suppose I was expecting a bit more enthusiasm.
After some deliberation, however, I've decided to follow the example of blogs like Crescat Sententia. Comments will not be automatically included in all posts, but on occasion will be turned on to foster discussion or gather feedback. I know this whole responding thing is going to be weird, both for me and for you, but who knows maybe it will catch on.
So again, the deal is comments will be regularly opened as appropriate for the post. Hopefully this policy makes sense and you all agree with it.
And if you don't...feel free to explain why.
As of now, the comments are open.
(0) comments
In case you were wondering where the comments went after last year's movie quote contest, I've been puzzling over whether or not they should be included on a more regular basis. On the one hand, this blog has survived for three years without comments, allowing me to avoid potential conflicts of interest with my place of employment and generally maintain my anonymity. On the other hand, I am no longer working as a teacher and the function of the blog has changed somewhat and some of you may actually want to seize upon this as a method of keeping in touch.
Still I remain a touch hesitant as to whether to include them. After all, even when they were available almost no one responded. Alost half of them (3) were from one person: my associate in the Sleeper Cell. And the other half consisted of posts from myself, my girlfriend, and my family respectively. (Don't worry Evil Twin Matt! I haven't forgotten about your insidious contribution!) After a participation drought of three years, I suppose I was expecting a bit more enthusiasm.
After some deliberation, however, I've decided to follow the example of blogs like Crescat Sententia. Comments will not be automatically included in all posts, but on occasion will be turned on to foster discussion or gather feedback. I know this whole responding thing is going to be weird, both for me and for you, but who knows maybe it will catch on.
So again, the deal is comments will be regularly opened as appropriate for the post. Hopefully this policy makes sense and you all agree with it.
And if you don't...feel free to explain why.
As of now, the comments are open.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
A Bloody Birth
The draft of the paper I've been working on for the past month is finally finished. I ripped it, kicking and screaming, out of my head and splotched it down on the page...or to be more accurate, 35 pages.
To be brutally honest, I'm not sure it's good.
In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not good.
It is, in reality, the opposite of good.
It started off ok.
But then it just kept going.
And going.
And when I finally got the ending, I was exhausted.
And it had to end.
So I wrote.
And I wrote.
For 35 pages.
And I pulled out an ending.
But it sucks.
And I hate it.
I'm unsatisfied with it.
And myself.
But it's done.
Until I have to go edit it.
And reopen the wounds.
The draft of the paper I've been working on for the past month is finally finished. I ripped it, kicking and screaming, out of my head and splotched it down on the page...or to be more accurate, 35 pages.
To be brutally honest, I'm not sure it's good.
In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not good.
It is, in reality, the opposite of good.
It started off ok.
But then it just kept going.
And going.
And when I finally got the ending, I was exhausted.
And it had to end.
So I wrote.
And I wrote.
For 35 pages.
And I pulled out an ending.
But it sucks.
And I hate it.
I'm unsatisfied with it.
And myself.
But it's done.
Until I have to go edit it.
And reopen the wounds.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
A Break Point
Spring classes start tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to it, which is somewhat unexpected. In the ideal world that exists somewhere in the back of my mind, I should be excited to be back into the regular academic groove after a full month and a half off from class. I should be enthusiastic to learn new things. I should be happier about the intellectual stimulation the new semester promises to hold.
But I'm not. I'm really not.
One major for reason for this is that I haven't really had a true break. Between December and now I was responsible for the completion of three papers. I've finished two of them. The third has been steadily consuming increasing amounts of my life since I started it in mid-January. I've switched topics three times. From Monday through Wednesday last week, I handwrote a seventeen page outline before scrapping it in favor of another approach to the topic. Yesterday, I stayed at the library from 9:15 or so in the morning until approximately 11:00 at night. I only wrote ten pages. I'm still not done.
And now I have classes starting again. How I am expected to finish this paper while reading for three graduate classes, I'm not sure.
Making matters worse is the discovery that I apparently am responsible for completing a large amount of reading for my Tuesday morning class. And writing a reading response about it. All of which I would have learned had I not assumed the late registration deadline meant that it was acceptable to register during the first week of classes.
So all in all, I am feeling more incompetent than intelligent these days. Maybe I'll be able to finish the draft of my remaining paper from last semester in the next few days. I sincerely hope so.
Honestly, I feel like I need a break. A real break. Like a week or two where I don't have to think at all. But I'll get no sympathy on that point, so perhaps it would be best to let it drop.
Spring classes start tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to it, which is somewhat unexpected. In the ideal world that exists somewhere in the back of my mind, I should be excited to be back into the regular academic groove after a full month and a half off from class. I should be enthusiastic to learn new things. I should be happier about the intellectual stimulation the new semester promises to hold.
But I'm not. I'm really not.
One major for reason for this is that I haven't really had a true break. Between December and now I was responsible for the completion of three papers. I've finished two of them. The third has been steadily consuming increasing amounts of my life since I started it in mid-January. I've switched topics three times. From Monday through Wednesday last week, I handwrote a seventeen page outline before scrapping it in favor of another approach to the topic. Yesterday, I stayed at the library from 9:15 or so in the morning until approximately 11:00 at night. I only wrote ten pages. I'm still not done.
And now I have classes starting again. How I am expected to finish this paper while reading for three graduate classes, I'm not sure.
Making matters worse is the discovery that I apparently am responsible for completing a large amount of reading for my Tuesday morning class. And writing a reading response about it. All of which I would have learned had I not assumed the late registration deadline meant that it was acceptable to register during the first week of classes.
So all in all, I am feeling more incompetent than intelligent these days. Maybe I'll be able to finish the draft of my remaining paper from last semester in the next few days. I sincerely hope so.
Honestly, I feel like I need a break. A real break. Like a week or two where I don't have to think at all. But I'll get no sympathy on that point, so perhaps it would be best to let it drop.
Friday, February 02, 2007
It's Not as Fun as It Sounds
I would like to propose a theory that even if one's life is being consumed by a research paper, it is still possible to laugh about it if Garrison Keillor does a sketch on the same topic on A Prairie Home Companion. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to test this theory, but believe it or not, here are not one, but TWO different skits from last week's show where he does precisely that for the paper on which I've been working for the past month...and damn if I don't feel a little better.
Thank you, Mr. Keillor, and by the way...not that you will ever read this blog, but the science museum in question was not founded by its namesake. You're going to have to trust me on this, because I spent most of today writing about its first century of existence.
Anyhow...enjoy the clips.
Damnit, this song is catchy!
And it's in there...just wait until about 1:30 in.
I would like to propose a theory that even if one's life is being consumed by a research paper, it is still possible to laugh about it if Garrison Keillor does a sketch on the same topic on A Prairie Home Companion. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to test this theory, but believe it or not, here are not one, but TWO different skits from last week's show where he does precisely that for the paper on which I've been working for the past month...and damn if I don't feel a little better.
Thank you, Mr. Keillor, and by the way...not that you will ever read this blog, but the science museum in question was not founded by its namesake. You're going to have to trust me on this, because I spent most of today writing about its first century of existence.
Anyhow...enjoy the clips.
Damnit, this song is catchy!
And it's in there...just wait until about 1:30 in.
