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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mamselle on May 27, 2019, 09:31:29 AM

Title: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 27, 2019, 09:31:29 AM
Neutralname started this thread on April 26, 2009 (so just over 10 years ago...): 

QuoteWhen want to make a comment -- NOT on another thread (that's for the One-Offs thread), and NOT a vent (that's for the Venting thread) -- but just about something random you just noticed, and yet you don't want to start a whole new thread on the topic.  If it looks like a substantive discussion is going to develop, take it to a new thread.  This thread is for the random.


Here's my random thought.  I just noticed my school has its sports-related classes classified under the heading "Movement Sciences."  What's wrong with "Sports & Fitness"?  Ohh, it's a science!  Who knew?

Latest quote, #3525 (mine) made me realize how much fun it's been to have a place to mention those odd thoughts that just come popping in unbidden somedays...

QuoteIs it socially unacceptable,  intrusive, rude, or simply futile to remark on what a nice day it is to people wearing earbuds


Have at it!

Randomly, of course...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 30, 2019, 07:06:30 AM
Looking at the 30th anniversary performance of The Cure's Disintegration reinforces my thought that a lot of shows are too long. They played for 2.5 hours. I wouldn't want to sit through that even sitting down. I have friends who go to see Springsteen and endure 3+ hours. I can't even.

The last show I went to the band played for 30 minutes. They were the opener, but they were the ones I had gone to see. I was so pleased to enjoy it and then get out of there at a reasonable time.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 30, 2019, 07:22:10 AM
There are (I think) four tastes: bitter, salt, sweet, and sour.

I'm thinking that in life, salt and sweet work, and bitter and sour don't work as well.

Bitter makes you angry and sour makes you give up.

Salty puts some zest in things and sweet makes them palatable.

So I'm aiming for those.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: namazu on May 30, 2019, 01:43:56 PM
And umami helps you savor life?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 30, 2019, 01:50:27 PM
Quid est umami?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: namazu on May 30, 2019, 02:06:02 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 30, 2019, 01:50:27 PM
Quid est umami?
A fifth taste, associated with savory foods.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/apr/09/umami-fifth-taste
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/you-think-you-know-umami
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on May 30, 2019, 05:06:06 PM
When I post, I feel like the interface is calling me "Font Face."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 03, 2019, 10:11:40 AM
Garamond?  Courier?

At least, we know it can't be Comic Sans...

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on June 05, 2019, 08:33:39 PM
So, is Canadian bacon made from real Canadians, or artificial ingrediants?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 06, 2019, 01:36:32 PM
I just got some crazy urge to play a computer game that I haven't played in 30 (?) years.  I haven't been a computer game (or, really, other game) player since I was a kid, so I'm not sure why that even came up.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: fast_and_bulbous on June 06, 2019, 01:42:57 PM
Quote from: aside on June 05, 2019, 08:33:39 PM
So, is Canadian bacon made from real Canadians, or artificial ingrediants?

That's not funny, eh?

Um, surry, but you misspelled "ingredients".
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on June 06, 2019, 01:46:58 PM
Quote from: fast_and_bulbous on June 06, 2019, 01:42:57 PM
Quote from: aside on June 05, 2019, 08:33:39 PM
So, is Canadian bacon made from real Canadians, or artificial ingrediants?

That's not funny, eh?

Um, surry, but you misspelled "ingredients".

So I did.  Rats!  My spelling was as random as my thought.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: quasihumanist on June 06, 2019, 06:07:36 PM
I just spent a few days in the Canadian Prairies.  I asked my hosts if Canadian Midwesterners were more polite and apologized more often than other Canadians, just as American Midwesterners are well-known for being more polite and apologizing more often than other Americans.  My hosts (who grew up in Ontario and moved to the Canadian Prairies a few years ago) decided this wasn't really possible, since even in Ontario, speech mostly consists of various inflections of 'Sorry'.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: polly_mer on June 07, 2019, 11:50:18 AM
I keep having "Lighten up, Francis" go through my head as I read various online tidbits.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on June 19, 2019, 08:33:50 AM
If Boris is going to be Prime Minister, I may just give the UK a miss for a while.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on June 19, 2019, 09:17:16 AM
I finally have some time to clean out my inbox. I've made my way back to about mid-February of this year, and I'm struck by how I'm much more likely to delete things now which before I would have tucked away in folders.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: backatit on June 19, 2019, 11:28:38 AM
Quote from: downer on June 19, 2019, 08:33:50 AM
If Boris is going to be Prime Minister, I may just give the UK a miss for a while.

I can't, but the thought has occurred. Maybe I can sit in Ireland and throw letters across the sea to the family there...I'm sure that will suffice...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: magnemite on June 19, 2019, 11:49:16 AM
If they are Anew, are those thoughts really random?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on June 19, 2019, 12:05:43 PM
Quote from: backatit on June 19, 2019, 11:28:38 AM
Quote from: downer on June 19, 2019, 08:33:50 AM
If Boris is going to be Prime Minister, I may just give the UK a miss for a while.

I can't, but the thought has occurred. Maybe I can sit in Ireland and throw letters across the sea to the family there...I'm sure that will suffice...

I would like to meet family in some mutually convenient location. Dublin and Madrid come to mind. It won't be long before Scotland is independent after Boris takes up residence in #10, so Edinburgh will be an option too.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 19, 2019, 03:01:48 PM
Quote from: magnemite on June 19, 2019, 11:49:16 AM
If they are Anew, are those thoughts really random?

Good question--meaning, I don't know the answer.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on June 24, 2019, 08:14:02 PM
How do you milk an almond?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on June 25, 2019, 04:19:24 AM
Quote from: aside on June 24, 2019, 08:14:02 PM
How do you milk an almond?

Why should you expect to get any milk from nuts?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: polly_mer on June 25, 2019, 06:53:30 AM
Quote from: Juvenal on June 25, 2019, 04:19:24 AM
Quote from: aside on June 24, 2019, 08:14:02 PM
How do you milk an almond?

Why should you expect to get any milk from nuts?

An interesting tweet recently was one of the hard parts of being vegan was milking the almonds every morning because the teats were so small.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on June 25, 2019, 07:18:45 AM
How often do you get notification from Uber about your Uber code? I know it happens every time someone or somebot tries to register with my phone number. Now it is just about every day. Sometimes twice a day. It's on the annoying side.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on July 10, 2019, 11:33:42 AM
My reading of any CHE articles has definitely declined since I stopped going to the old forums.

I wonder how the publication is doing.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: magnemite on July 10, 2019, 02:06:12 PM
Quote from: polly_mer on June 25, 2019, 06:53:30 AM
Quote from: Juvenal on June 25, 2019, 04:19:24 AM
Quote from: aside on June 24, 2019, 08:14:02 PM
How do you milk an almond?

Why should you expect to get any milk from nuts?

An interesting tweet recently was one of the hard parts of being vegan was milking the almonds every morning because the teats were so small.

If you think that is difficult, try to get the oat milk from those oats...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: polly_mer on July 10, 2019, 05:04:32 PM
Quote from: downer on July 10, 2019, 11:33:42 AM
My reading of any CHE articles has definitely declined since I stopped going to the old forums.

I wonder how the publication is doing.

Since it's only been a week, they are probably OK for now.

So that we'll have it later when someone updates their page (if they ever do):

Quote
Site Traffic

Monthly traffic to The Chronicle's Web site is more than 17 million page views from more than 1.2 million unique viewers. The Chronicle also has site licenses at more than 800 4-year and 2-year institutions. On average, registered subscribers spend an average of 77 minutes on The Chronicle's Web site per week.
site: https://www.chronicle.com/page/DemographicsSite-Traffic/14
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on July 10, 2019, 08:22:37 PM
Hello! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: polly_mer on July 10, 2019, 08:39:02 PM
Quote from: Economizer on July 10, 2019, 08:22:37 PM
Hello! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Always wash your hands after using the facilities.

Don't eat the yellow snow.

Check carefully on that left turn in Albuquerque.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on July 28, 2019, 02:05:50 PM
I saw a post in my emails that took me aback for a moment. The heading was "Restore Patience and Fortitude."

I first thought it was paradigmatic of something larger in society....then I realized what it referred to.

If you're on the NYPLibrary email list, we're currently being asked to donate to support the library's sculpted lions' repairs.

   https://donate.nypl.org/give/241659/#!/donation/checkout?amount=50&preset1=200&preset2=100&preset3=50&preset4=25&utm_source=eNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Friends_20190728_RR_P3&utm_campaign=FRS&c_src=FRQ20RR_QECP3

Their names (which I'd never known) are, indeed Patience and Fortitude...(much more nuanced than "Art" and "Science," which our flanking figures represent).

The campaign, called "Restore the Roar," is still running.

Very random, I know.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on July 30, 2019, 01:34:32 PM
Looking at a book from 2017 published by Rowman. The publisher web page says it has 4 reviews. No, it doesn't. It has 4 blurbs. A search reveals the book has no reviews.

Quite a lot about Rowman makes me think that although they publish some good books, that's almost an accident. It seems to be a publisher without any standards.

I guess it's not unusual for academic books from 2 years ago to have no reviews. What proportion of academic books never get any reviews? Probably the answer is depressing.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 08, 2019, 06:02:05 AM
Working towards entering the writing tunnel again.

Is writing orgasmic or organic? Or a bit of both.

I'm more productive if I focus on the organic, simple day-to-day rhythms of plodding along, paragraph by sentence/paragraph. But the blend does occasionally happen, and the orgasmic "found it" moments are more fun.

I think the romanticized notion that it's all done in huff's and puffs of ecstasy--and is suspicious of any writing not so generated-- may prevent many good works from appearing.

The muse requires foreplay, it doesn't just wait around for good ideas to pop up, like yellow, lemon-lit lightbulbs in a dusky felted wool Beuys sky.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 10, 2019, 04:17:52 PM
Double spaced by a few days...

Have I said this before?

It's a confusing place. Swallow your pride and ask for directions.

We find the bones of lost visitors, and new students' parents, all over town....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: quasihumanist on September 10, 2019, 05:07:57 PM
Quote from: mamselle on September 10, 2019, 04:17:52 PM
Double spaced by a few days...

Have I said this before?

It's a confusing place. Swallow your pride and ask for directions.

We find the bones of lost visitors, and new students' parents, all over town....

M.

It was laid out by the cows...

Actually, anyone who has lived in any European city will have no trouble finding their way around, because it's laid out just as any European city is, with a bunch of important places, streets in straight lines connecting the various important places with each other, basically concentric alleys close to the important places, overlaid with modifications for cars and grids where there weren't streets before 1830 (because it was formerly water that became a sewage pit).
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on September 11, 2019, 11:59:09 AM
I saw a neat article today on street layouts in major cities categorized and visually displayed via network analysis.  Here it is, in case anyone is interested:  https://appliednetsci.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s41109-019-0189-1 (https://appliednetsci.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s41109-019-0189-1)  They include cities from Asia/Oceania, Europe, Latin America, Middle East/Africa, and US/Canada.

I don't use academia.edu much if at all and am trying to understand their recommender algorithm.  I frequently get emails from them stating that I read article X and, therefore, may be interested in article Y.  I have never read any of those articles X.  They are not even nearly in my field or areas of research.  If the reading of articles through academia.edu is linked to my account there, shouldn't they know what I have read or not read there? It always reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with Kramer trying to be Moviefone: https://youtu.be/qM79_itR0Nc (https://youtu.be/qM79_itR0Nc).  "Why don't you just tell me the name of an article you've read?"
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 13, 2019, 03:58:25 PM
I'm also on Academia, and I get similar recommendations, usually tied to an article I've downloaded, bookmarked, or put in my library.

A couple of writers are very interesting and I'm glad to know about their work; others, well...not as much.

It's also very interesting to find out what search terms have brought me to my (assuredly avid) readers' attention(s).

Sometimes it's so close, I'd like to start a conversation with them; other times, not very close at all.

Being more isolated as an independent scholar, I do appreciate even the far-off prognostications, and find some downright humorous.

I especially like the little graphs they show me about the number of visitors. It's very exciting when it gets over 5 in a day...

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Thursday's_Child on September 21, 2019, 10:06:03 AM
A combination of the suffering in the aftermaths of hurricanes in Puerto Rico & the Bahamas and travel down a road where the storm drains were being replaced led me to imagine an inexpensive 'hurricane safe' made from a short, pre-formed, concrete pipe section with a strong lid.  This must be firmly anchored into rock or a concrete slab.  It does not need be completely water-tight and is not for sheltering people - it's for sheltering a week or two of food, water, clothes, and other necessities.  Because it's strong but not water-tight these necessities should be double-bagged.

The recommended procedure is to place all necessities in it right before seeking shelter.  After the storm, the members of each household return, extract their supplies and set up camp.  This reduces suffering while the government and outside aid get their acts together clear airports, roads, harbors, and other major infrastructure so they can start necessary evacuations & get aid flowing.  If some basic tools are included, temporary construction of sun/rain shelters from boards and other rubble becomes possible.

I wonder if there's an engineer out there who needs a public-service project?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on October 14, 2019, 10:26:21 AM
That is a good idea. Wonder if it's grantable....might be.

My random thought du jour:

   It's harder to clear the desk in your mind....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 05, 2019, 06:32:05 AM
Friend posts on social media that their pet died suddenly.

It is sad, but I also think better to go fast than slow. That's how I would like to go. But I know I can't say that right now.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on December 16, 2019, 12:50:57 PM
This semester I largely gave up efforts to be nice. I remained civil and even cheerful but rather ruthless.

This semester I have had 2 students write to express their appreciation of my courses. I guess it has happened before, but I was not expecting it this semester.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: paultuttle on December 17, 2019, 07:10:38 AM
Quote from: mamselle on September 08, 2019, 06:02:05 AM
Working towards entering the writing tunnel again.

Is writing orgasmic or organic? Or a bit of both.

I'm more productive if I focus on the organic, simple day-to-day rhythms of plodding along, paragraph by sentence/paragraph. But the blend does occasionally happen, and the orgasmic "found it" moments are more fun.

I think the romanticized notion that it's all done in huff's and puffs of ecstasy--and is suspicious of any writing not so generated-- may prevent many good works from appearing.

The muse requires foreplay, it doesn't just wait around for good ideas to pop up, like yellow, lemon-lit lightbulbs in a dusky felted wool Beuys sky.

M.

Bolded for emphasis.

I've come to think of writers as an interesting amalgam of construction workers/home builders and medieval mystics--working in a slow, plodding, craft-y way spiced with moments of transcendent inspiration.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 18, 2019, 07:02:53 AM
Quote from: paultuttle on December 17, 2019, 07:10:38 AM
Quote from: mamselle on September 08, 2019, 06:02:05 AM
Working towards entering the writing tunnel again.

Is writing orgasmic or organic? Or a bit of both.

I'm more productive if I focus on the organic, simple day-to-day rhythms of plodding along, paragraph by sentence/paragraph. But the blend does occasionally happen, and the orgasmic "found it" moments are more fun.

I think the romanticized notion that it's all done in huff's and puffs of ecstasy--and is suspicious of any writing not so generated-- may prevent many good works from appearing.

The muse requires foreplay, it doesn't just wait around for good ideas to pop up, like yellow, lemon-lit lightbulbs in a dusky felted wool Beuys sky.

M.

Bolded for emphasis.

I've come to think of writers as an interesting amalgam of construction workers/home builders and medieval mystics--working in a slow, plodding, craft-y way spiced with moments of transcendent inspiration.

As with any craft or construction skill, its exercise may look facile to the observer, but it has taken years of regular practice to reach that level.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Bede the Vulnerable on December 18, 2019, 09:14:42 AM
Quote from: downer on July 30, 2019, 01:34:32 PM


Quite a lot about Rowman makes me think that although they publish some good books, that's almost an accident. It seems to be a publisher without any standards.


Hey, they published my first book.  So, yeah, you're pretty much right.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: paultuttle on December 18, 2019, 09:06:36 PM
Quote from: apl68 on December 18, 2019, 07:02:53 AM
Quote from: paultuttle on December 17, 2019, 07:10:38 AM
Quote from: mamselle on September 08, 2019, 06:02:05 AM
Working towards entering the writing tunnel again.

Is writing orgasmic or organic? Or a bit of both.

I'm more productive if I focus on the organic, simple day-to-day rhythms of plodding along, paragraph by sentence/paragraph. But the blend does occasionally happen, and the orgasmic "found it" moments are more fun.

I think the romanticized notion that it's all done in huff's and puffs of ecstasy--and is suspicious of any writing not so generated-- may prevent many good works from appearing.

The muse requires foreplay, it doesn't just wait around for good ideas to pop up, like yellow, lemon-lit lightbulbs in a dusky felted wool Beuys sky.

M.

Bolded for emphasis.

I've come to think of writers as an interesting amalgam of construction workers/home builders and medieval mystics--working in a slow, plodding, craft-y way spiced with moments of transcendent inspiration.

As with any craft or construction skill, its exercise may look facile to the observer, but it has taken years of regular practice to reach that level.

I wish there were a like button on these fora, apl68! I'd have broken my mouse clicking it . . . .
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 20, 2019, 01:45:55 PM
Quote from: paultuttle on December 18, 2019, 09:06:36 PM
Quote from: apl68 on December 18, 2019, 07:02:53 AM
Quote from: paultuttle on December 17, 2019, 07:10:38 AM
Quote from: mamselle on September 08, 2019, 06:02:05 AM
Working towards entering the writing tunnel again.

Is writing orgasmic or organic? Or a bit of both.

I'm more productive if I focus on the organic, simple day-to-day rhythms of plodding along, paragraph by sentence/paragraph. But the blend does occasionally happen, and the orgasmic "found it" moments are more fun.

I think the romanticized notion that it's all done in huff's and puffs of ecstasy--and is suspicious of any writing not so generated-- may prevent many good works from appearing.

The muse requires foreplay, it doesn't just wait around for good ideas to pop up, like yellow, lemon-lit lightbulbs in a dusky felted wool Beuys sky.

M.

Bolded for emphasis.

I've come to think of writers as an interesting amalgam of construction workers/home builders and medieval mystics--working in a slow, plodding, craft-y way spiced with moments of transcendent inspiration.

As with any craft or construction skill, its exercise may look facile to the observer, but it has taken years of regular practice to reach that level.

I wish there were a like button on these fora, apl68! I'd have broken my mouse clicking it . . . .

Thanks!

When I typed that, I was thinking back to the days when I worked with my father in the summers.  He was a bricklayer.  He made spreading mortar, "buttering" bricks with mortar, and tapping them into place look so easy!  Just a few elegant movements, with no wasted effort.  When I tried it...it wasn't so easy.  Which is why I mostly just served as a laborer making mortar and keeping him supplied with material. 

He was one of the last generation of masons to come up through the system of indenture.  He'd had to put in years of work before becoming a licensed master mason.  On an ordinary uncomplicated wall he could lay over a thousand precisely-placed bricks a day, given a laborer who knew how to keep the material boards supplied and the mortar at just the right consistency.  On special jobs, where he had to translate bizarre architectural designs into actual construction, I saw him cut bricks into prismoidal forms that are hard to describe, and get them to stick together.  I can revisit those structures now and see that painstaking work still in place, after over 30 years of sitting out in the elements.  I suppose there's something "transcendental" about that. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on December 21, 2019, 09:39:43 AM
Unrelated to anything above.

I'm very pleased that a young woman in a lab coat won Miss America this time.

But since she obviously knew the result would include tertiary-colored foam columns shooting into the air and cascading over the desk, it's not really an "experiment, is it?

Wouldn't that come under the heading of a lab demonstration, or a "show-n-tell" event?

Just being nitpicky, really.

I keep going back and marveling over the whole thing, watching all the cascading colors....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on December 31, 2019, 02:41:58 PM

If there were a contest for the best political gaff, of less than seven words during 2019, might it be "Pocahontas"?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 02, 2020, 04:40:54 PM

I find myself wondering whether or not mules lactate. Any views on that?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on January 05, 2020, 12:06:27 PM
Quote from: Economizer on January 02, 2020, 04:40:54 PM

I find myself wondering whether or not mules lactate. Any views on that?

Every ass knows that.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 07, 2020, 09:05:01 AM
RE: A music festival in Tenn.

There appears to be some 70 musical acts [bands] performing on the occasion.  However, I do not recognize, by name, any of the group/artist participants, save one.

Miley Cyrus, the celebrity actress-singer will be there.  Many, perhaps, would not recognize her due to a change in her "looks".  My Google sources state that she has changed to a "Mullet" style hair do. Others signed on for the event, I suppose, will continue to sport more "Crappie" like hair designs. Having previewed Ms. Cyrus' change, I think that she is on the right track!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 07, 2020, 09:07:23 AM
As to my previous post:  What am I doing wrong?  Help me as I strive for perfection, please! Oh, a Crappie is a type of fish, as is a Mullet!
My remarks are really meant to be like a pun, your know, "A pun, a play upon words, a pun.  Two thirds of a pun, P U"!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 21, 2020, 02:59:35 PM

As I am exposed to this trifling issue every day, I have decided to get some other "takes" on it, from y'all.  Almost every time I buy something from a person or machine, I am given a choice as to whether I want the receipt for the purchase.  When I take the, already printed, receipt, the clerk, when a person is the cashier, does something with the receipt.  In many instances, I am quite sure that the clerk is keeping my receipt separate for some purpose.  So, are businesses, persons, etc. saving up the receipts to be able to write them off of taxable amounts? Some of the people that offer the receipts seem to have a bit of a bad attitude or a queer visual appearance when I say that I do want my receipt.  Is that a clue that something is amiss in business operations, accounting, etc.?

This may be why that, as business is up, tax inflow into IRS coffers is reported to be down. Thus, we the people are getting robbed.  I am not totally sure, but this may well be true!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: magnemite on January 21, 2020, 03:51:08 PM
Go home now, or do one more semi productive task, is my current thought exercise...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Anselm on January 21, 2020, 07:45:49 PM
Quote from: Economizer on January 07, 2020, 09:05:01 AM
RE: A music festival in Tenn.

There appears to be some 70 musical acts [bands] performing on the occasion.  However, I do not recognize, by name, any of the group/artist participants, save one.

Miley Cyrus, the celebrity actress-singer will be there.  Many, perhaps, would not recognize her due to a change in her "looks".  My Google sources state that she has changed to a "Mullet" style hair do. Others signed on for the event, I suppose, will continue to sport more "Crappie" like hair designs. Having previewed Ms. Cyrus' change, I think that she is on the right track!

I've never been a fan of her but she did a great job of covering  Say Hello to Heaven from Temple of the Dog.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 23, 2020, 07:25:03 AM
Last night I had a dream in which a dog sprouted wings and flew around like some canine gryphon.  My dreams don't usually have such surreal imagery.

Maybe this belongs on the fauna thread?  Except it wasn't exactly what one would call natural....
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on January 23, 2020, 07:29:17 AM
Hybrids fit in well with medieval art history.

Maybe we should start a thread on fantastic animals we have known.

I had a student who used to do a great imitation of that gargoyle on the side of Notre Dame--you know, the one with its chin in its hands and its jaw sticking out?

Sometimes I could even joke her out of it by pointing to the sculpted moule of the same figure that her mom had sitting in the room.

I always wondered if she was doing it on purpose.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on January 23, 2020, 07:35:17 AM
Quote from: apl68 on January 23, 2020, 07:25:03 AM
Last night I had a dream in which a dog sprouted wings and flew around like some canine gryphon.  My dreams don't usually have such surreal imagery.

Maybe this belongs on the fauna thread?  Except it wasn't exactly what one would call natural....

How about the dreams thread?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 23, 2020, 07:43:45 AM
Quote from: ciao_yall on January 23, 2020, 07:35:17 AM
Quote from: apl68 on January 23, 2020, 07:25:03 AM
Last night I had a dream in which a dog sprouted wings and flew around like some canine gryphon.  My dreams don't usually have such surreal imagery.

Maybe this belongs on the fauna thread?  Except it wasn't exactly what one would call natural....

How about the dreams thread?

Didn't realize we had one.  Thanks!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on January 23, 2020, 07:56:37 AM
Quote from: apl68 on January 23, 2020, 07:43:45 AM
Quote from: ciao_yall on January 23, 2020, 07:35:17 AM
Quote from: apl68 on January 23, 2020, 07:25:03 AM
Last night I had a dream in which a dog sprouted wings and flew around like some canine gryphon.  My dreams don't usually have such surreal imagery.

Maybe this belongs on the fauna thread?  Except it wasn't exactly what one would call natural....

How about the dreams thread?

Didn't realize we had one.  Thanks!

Weird. I can't find it now.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 23, 2020, 10:42:17 AM

Is there a nightmare thread.  If so, maybe some of the dream interpretation experts here might offer germane comments re those, huh?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 27, 2020, 05:34:43 AM
Re reply #54:  What is your dog's name? 

Re reply #56:  Perhaps you dreamt there was a dream thread as you slept!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 03, 2020, 05:14:38 PM
If the Lord calls Rush home despite all the prayers of his followers, maybe he has some higher purpose for him.

Or maybe Beezelbub has a position that needs filling.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on March 23, 2020, 09:30:16 PM
Let's start having wet markets in the USA just to show that we're not racist.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 31, 2020, 05:53:41 AM
The wages of procrastination is adrenaline.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on March 31, 2020, 04:15:18 PM
I returned recently to Duolingo to get back up to or surpass my previous proficiency in a foreign language.  It just occurred to me that all of the lessons I have done in the past weeks are about travel.  I guess I will be ready if that becomes a possibility again at some point. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 31, 2020, 06:25:02 PM
Yes, a lot of the foreign-language vocabulary and dialogue scenarios map into the "get them to go there" mode of imagining oneself in the place that speaks the language you're learning.

Very useful in the imaginative part--the photos help people "place" themselves in the 'target locale,' and the phrases help introduce the ideas that
a) other people do things differently than you're used to (like taking the trains rather than driving everyplace), and
b) other people have different standards of courtesy than you're used to (like shaking hands and greeting everyone by name when you enter a roomful of friends).

But with handshaking discouraged, and travel being slowed down (for good reason) now, it's a bit different, isn't it?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 07, 2020, 06:25:02 AM
(Double posting, since no-one else has!)

Standing in the middle of a room to clean it:

  "Just call me V-ger..."

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: paultuttle on April 07, 2020, 11:37:02 AM
The toddler in the apartment next door, imagining that he's singing, is actually making the doorbell chime noise. It's rather easy to hear through the thin walls of this 1950s-vintage ranch-style house.

Hmm. Imaginations are powerful things, I've heard. If I imagine that he's actually a parrot instead of a human being, will he instead start cursing like a sailor or saying "Ahoy, maties!" or something equally nautical?

It's an interesting thought exercise.






Okay, now I'm finished. There's unfortunately been no change to the human doorbell chime. The thought exercise has yielded null data.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 30, 2020, 04:16:52 PM
What would you expect the job description would be for a Executive Vice President for Mission?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 03, 2020, 02:55:02 PM
It was OK for us to be suspicious about "dead grandparents" excuses in the past. But it seems uncharitable for us to be suspicious about "family member hospitlized for COVID" excuses. What's the difference?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on May 03, 2020, 03:32:50 PM
Quote from: downer on May 03, 2020, 02:55:02 PM
It was OK for us to be suspicious about "dead grandparents" excuses in the past. But it seems uncharitable for us to be suspicious about "family member hospitlized for COVID" excuses. What's the difference?

Well, Covid may not confer immunity and/or some cases deemed healed haven't healed. Thus, the Covid excuse may be used on multiple occasions, whereas death may be used only once per relative. Like the virus, the excuse may return in force. :-)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on June 19, 2020, 08:39:56 AM
So if racism is the belief that white people are superior to black people, and Aunt Jemima is a racist icon, then why would someone be telling you their syrup is the best because someone like Aunt Jemima made it?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on June 20, 2020, 05:28:44 PM

Sushi: it's only as old as it feels.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Wahoo Redux on June 20, 2020, 06:46:50 PM
How could a monster Metal band such as Black Sabbath make such a silly song?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on June 21, 2020, 06:00:29 AM
Quote from: downer on April 30, 2020, 04:16:52 PM
What would you expect the job description would be for a Executive Vice President for Mission?

Duties:  stare out corner-office window daydreaming, while collecting six-figure paycheck; give presentations at BoT meetings twice yearly to discuss--with PowerPoints and handouts heavy on charts, tables, and college branding--various scenarios that are completely disconnected from our region, target market, and reality.

(Or is that just our EVP-M?)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 22, 2020, 09:22:01 AM
Quote from: Economizer on June 20, 2020, 05:28:44 PM

Sushi: it's only as old as it feels.

Friday I had a chance to eat sushi for the first time in months.  While waiting for it to arrive, I called in to work to see how everything was going.  Turned out there was a bit of an emergency situation that I had to try to deal with over the phone.  So there I was trying to fix things over the phone while my sushi sat there getting cold...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 26, 2020, 10:32:50 AM
Today I went to the doctor for an ear exam that led to an ear cleaning.  Of course EVERYBODY in the building was following mask protocols.  As I sat waiting in the exam room, in the eerily quiet clinic and breathing through my mask, suddenly a famous story by Nathaniel Hawthorne popped into my head.

"I look around me, and lo! on every visage a Black Veil!"

Except of course you mostly see masks around that are every color but black.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 26, 2020, 12:03:57 PM
I realized recently that my husband and I have different ideas about what "a couple" means (not in terms of a relationship).  For example, if I ask him how long a particular movie is, he will often say it's a couple hours.  I asked him about that, and he means about 2 hours when he says a couple.  And then to him there are longer (which are a few hours) or shorter movies.  So I asked him last night if he means 2 miles if he says a store is a couple miles down the road.  Yes, he does.  On the other hand, for me, every movie is a couple hours.  And if I say a store is a couple miles down the road, probably start looking for it at about a mile but it may be 10 miles.  And I am distancely challenged, so that is the best estimate I can give sometimes.  But, that's all a couple miles to me.  Just struck me as interesting, our different definitions.  And good to know to avoid miscommunication!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on July 06, 2020, 10:58:57 AM
Academia.edu tells me in their emails to me that I have been mentioned in over 600 academic papers. I assume that this is probably a total lie. I'm certainly not paying money to them to get a list.

How many mentions does Academia.edu tell you that you have?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on July 06, 2020, 11:13:04 AM
I finally unsubscribed from the Academia.edu emails last week, but as of that time I had had 1005 mentions.  I'm sure at least 99% of them are inaccurate given the other emails in which they recommended papers to me based on other papers they say I've read that I have certainly not.  I actually clicked on the last email because it said I had been mentioned in a paper by an actual colleague of mine, so it's possibly true (I was just shocked and wanted to find out if the website was actually correct this time), but of course it wants you to pay to find out more, and I can always find that information elsewhere! The daily paper recommendations (which were often really bizarre) were bad enough, but they started on some daily newsletter or something as well.  Just looking through the previous emails now, they notified me that there were 70,583 new papers that matched a query they stated I had searched for (which I hadn't).  I don't know what's up with that website, but I pretty much ignore it.  If only I could list the 1005 (probably more since then!) mentions!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on July 06, 2020, 11:44:17 AM
I decided to pay for the more expensive Academia version and have found it worthwhile. It's c. $65 a year, and it was one of the things I said I'd do when the small amount of money shared out from my mom's house came my way.

They send me an email each time a potential citation appears and I have the choice to agree that it's mine or deny it. (There are a few goofy ones, but it's led to having 15 citations I didn't know I had).

I have a number of readers, a couple of whom I'm in contact with, and it's an easy way to send references to people.

I'm also following a number of folks in the areas I work on, and was surprised (and pleased) to see that some of them also follow me.

I won't bother with Facebook and its kind because my time is a bit too tight to do that much social media stuff and I'm sure I'd fall into the update trap every other day. But this setup is useful and doesn't require too much of my time, so I'm fine with it.

It may also be more important to me because, as an independent scholar, I don't have some of the other connections and networks available to me that I might have through a direct school affiliation, but it's been useful and I'm glad I've kept it up.

If I had a faculty page on a school website I might not need it, but I don't so I do.

Reminder to self: I need to upload all the work I've been doing in the past few months soon.

That will probably bring on another cycle of readers and followers, which I'm looking forward to.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on July 06, 2020, 12:16:46 PM
Mamselle, have you checked our Researchgate? That website does essentially the same things but for free.  If there are concerns about that site (from anyone reading this), please post them, but I have found that site to be pretty useful and fairly hands-off.  It tells me how many reads there are of the abstracts of my papers, any reads of the full texts, any citations of them and sometimes from whom or from which institutions or countries.  From what I recall, it also allows me to confirm if I am the author of a paper it finds that seems to be mine.  It also notifies me if it thinks it's found a full text of one of my papers online.  It sends me a weekly stats report that I can check if I'd like.  It will also suggest papers or let me know if people I follow there have posted a new project or paper.  People can request full texts or message me (or vice versa) as well.  Anyway, if you have not taken a look, maybe that would also be a good place for you to post your information.  I am currently an independent scholar as well for the first time in many years, and I have been meaning to look to see if we had such a thread here as on the old fora because I am unsure of how to navigate some of this (publishing or doing research without an affiliation).  Thanks for the reminder to do so!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on July 06, 2020, 12:46:37 PM
Actually, I did check out Researchgate when the suggestion appeared on the old forum and decided I'd already done the work and learned the ropes on Academia, so opted not to add that learning curve to my tasks.

I might could check it out again, but probably not now....too busy!

And we might (I might, even) have started an Independent scholar thread here, but I'd have to go looking for it to see.

Feel free to start one up if you like...I think there are a few of us nosing about.

M.

ETA: There's one on research grants for Independent scholars but nothing else I can find.

So, maybe time for a new thread?  --M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on July 13, 2020, 10:24:28 PM
Some of those woodwind instruments, you can't fool me, they don't do anything different from each other. They just make 'em look different for show.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Treehugger on July 14, 2020, 03:50:32 AM
Quote from: downer on July 06, 2020, 10:58:57 AM
Academia.edu tells me in their emails to me that I have been mentioned in over 600 academic papers. I assume that this is probably a total lie. I'm certainly not paying money to them to get a list.

How many mentions does Academia.edu tell you that you have?

Yup. Academia.edu tells me my name has been mentioned in over 330 papers. What?!? It is an uncommon name, so maybe ? But I haven't been an academic for years and my only "published" work is my dissertation (available online through my university) and as far as I know it has only been cited once. No way I'm paying to see all the other 329 times my name was supposedly mentioned. Total scam.

Or wait, maybe I'm in mentioned in acknowledgments hundreds of time. "And I am grateful to treehugger for just leaving me the heck alone so I could finally finish this project" x329.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Wahoo Redux on July 21, 2020, 09:15:15 AM
Quote from: Treehugger on July 14, 2020, 03:50:32 AM
Quote from: downer on July 06, 2020, 10:58:57 AM
Academia.edu tells me in their emails to me that I have been mentioned in over 600 academic papers. I assume that this is probably a total lie. I'm certainly not paying money to them to get a list.

How many mentions does Academia.edu tell you that you have?

Yup. Academia.edu tells me my name has been mentioned in over 330 papers. What?!? It is an uncommon name, so maybe ? But I haven't been an academic for years and my only "published" work is my dissertation (available online through my university) and as far as I know it has only been cited once. No way I'm paying to see all the other 329 times my name was supposedly mentioned. Total scam.

Or wait, maybe I'm in mentioned in acknowledgments hundreds of time. "And I am grateful to treehugger for just leaving me the heck alone so I could finally finish this project" x329.

Oh man.  I don't have anything like that many mentions.  I'm so deflated.  Even the picture that pops up if you put "Wahoo Redux" into the Academia.edu search bar is of someone else. 

Then again, I found out that my niece who is now in college is "following me" on Academia.edu, so that's nice.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on July 21, 2020, 11:07:13 AM
They use some kind of search function that turns up odd matches (someone with my last name is researching testosterone in saliva, or something) that you have to cull out upon notification, or they do indeed pile up.

But I only see a couple in a week, and it's useful to me--not having all the fancy-dancy citation stuff the sciences do, and being an independent scholar without the school affiliations that do free humanities searches--so I count it all as gain and get on with it.

Different strokes/folks/citations/smitations....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 10, 2020, 05:26:52 AM
I'm teaching at 3 schools this fall.

One does not have any institutional support for Zoom or any other synchronous interaction with students, yet they say that about 30% of their classes will be synchonous. I guess people are just using Zoom on their own.

At another, their intranet page has been down all weekend, making Blackboard inaccessible. Class starts in 2 weeks.

At the third, they seem to be having problems with their encryption for https. My browser warns me about dangers in accessing some of their pages. This has been happening, on and off, for a couple of weeks.

I'm getting the impression that IT and web service departments are having some trouble keeping up. It makes me suspect that the new semester may start with a whimper, not a bang.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 10, 2020, 08:39:43 AM
Having now attended a number of Zoom meetings for work purposes, I now extend my sympathies to all who must use it for classes, whether they signed up for distance ed to start with or were forced into it by circumstances.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on August 11, 2020, 10:15:26 AM
I'm amassing some equipment for a new line of work and am looking at web cams (and am also not looking forward to actually having to use it).  Doing this shopping has reminded me that sometimes the recommendations based on purchases or the "frequently purchased with" can seem very strange.  Apparently, the webcam I am looking at right now is frequently purchased with a treadmill and foot peel masks.  I don't think I want to know more about that.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on August 11, 2020, 02:19:35 PM
'A person convinced against his will will be of the same opinion still' - Dale Carnegie
Or not convinced and just plain pissed off. Better to listen to old Dale.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on August 11, 2020, 02:44:16 PM
I'm thinking that the Republican Party leadership, and possibly the Democrats as well, are stalling a bit until our country gets a more favorable combination of less Covid 19 and more money. Both groups should be reluctant to "put all their eggs in one basket" prematurely.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 15, 2020, 04:53:22 PM
I've spent most of the day in the 17th. century.

I was just coming up for air.

Think I'll go back.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on August 16, 2020, 09:55:21 AM
Quote from: mamselle on August 15, 2020, 04:53:22 PM
I've spent most of the day in the 17th. century.

I was just coming up for air.

Think I'll go back.

M.

Is it better there? This world confuses me.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 16, 2020, 02:29:28 PM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on August 16, 2020, 09:55:21 AM
Quote from: mamselle on August 15, 2020, 04:53:22 PM
I've spent most of the day in the 17th. century.

I was just coming up for air.

Think I'll go back.

M.

Is it better there? This world confuses me.

It's...different.

Not uncomplicated, but there's a bit more parallax, and it feels like a few more good intentions were in the mix.

Maybe because I like the work I'm doing there, it's also satisfying in other ways.

So....not better, still with the potential for confusion, but....different.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on August 17, 2020, 05:11:25 PM
I'm glad you have another "place" to go to, Mamselle!

Has anyone else used laptops for so long that they have forgotten desktops don't come with their own batteries, so if the power goes out... that's that? Just me? Hasn't happened yet, but it just occurred to me.  I haven't used a desktop in probably 9 or 10 years.   Maybe they do come with their own batteries now.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 18, 2020, 08:42:50 AM
My first (and only, ever) desktop has two 5" ports for floppy disks.

I doubt if it had batteries....it hasn't run for quite awhile now, though, so I won't be testing it, either.

;--}

My observation for the day: one of my adult students is the mom of one of my middle-school students--and I'm both amazed at the careful work she is doing musically on her own pieces, and how much she negotiates in dealing with all that's happening for her kids right now.

Both are mildly (older son, my student) to more severely (a younger, 7-year-old kid who still sees himself as a yellow pyjama-clad penguin most days) ADHD-affected kids with difficult issues to navigate day and night.

Added to that is the fact that their dad, her former spouse, is himself ADHD, refused to see about it once it was diagnosed in adulthood, and has made seriously impaired choices since.

She finally had to divorce him, things were getting so difficult (basically she had three ADHD kids to deal with and one (i.e., the father) was supposed to be helping with the other two, but was instead making things worse by denying their needs, not cooperating in school requirements, etc.).

Within six months he turned around and married a woman with two children, also seriously affected by both ADHD and depression, whose father had literally "checked out" (hasn't even tried to see them in the six months since the new wife remarried) and lives with his folks. They had the image of a big, happy, blended "Brady-bunch" family with no clues as to how to make that work, or that it might take very careful work to even make it work at all.

The older (12-y.o.) stepdaughter has been on the psych ward twice in the past year, and is there now, so my student, and his brother, and his mom (who has a demanding job--think, the current director of online ed at an R1--and needs the respite care that their dad's cooperative custody arrangements might otherwise provide  with their own two kids) are having to go stay with their grandparents at a vacation cottage not far away just so she can get help with childcare, keep her work moving forward, and have a good experience for her two kids since they won't be staying at their dad's as expected this week after all.

All that happened at midnight Sunday night.

She still kept her lesson, played very well, has a cheerful outlook on the kids, the cats, the birds in the window, and the need to pack them all up and head out in a couple hours for the week.

I'm just so impressed with how she finds resources within herself not to lay blame, to play two pieces well and with feeling, and to get everyone organized and keep her school's demanding program up and running all the time as well. Her older kid, whom I know best, has taken her for a model in many ways, being deeply aware of his own limits, speaking truth about them and taking responsibility for the work-arounds needed, etc.

In the face of so many people behaving so immaturely, I find it both encouraging, and a little daunting, to be face-to-face with such courage and good will.

I just admire them so, and there's no-one else I can tell about it.

Grateful to just have a window into their ways of living and being--and hoping to learn from it.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Cheerful on August 18, 2020, 01:17:58 PM
Quote from: mamselle on August 18, 2020, 08:42:50 AM
She still kept her lesson, played very well, has a cheerful outlook on the kids, the cats, the birds in the window, and the need to pack them all up and head out in a couple hours for the week.

I'm just so impressed with how she finds resources within herself not to lay blame, to play two pieces well and with feeling, and to get everyone organized and keep her school's demanding program up and running all the time as well. Her older kid, whom I know best, has taken her for a model in many ways, being deeply aware of his own limits, speaking truth about them and taking responsibility for the work-arounds needed, etc.

In the face of so many people behaving so immaturely, I find it both encouraging, and a little daunting, to be face-to-face with such courage and good will.

What challenges this adult student/mom faces, and with such determination and courage, Mamselle.  Sounds like you are providing some much-needed distraction and joy to this family.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 20, 2020, 06:45:12 AM
I think we have a 1% issue on The Fora.

What proportion of posts are done by the 1% of most frequent posters? I'd guess 50%.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on August 20, 2020, 07:16:57 AM
Quote from: downer on August 20, 2020, 06:45:12 AM
I think we have a 1% issue on The Fora.

What proportion of posts are done by the 1% of most frequent posters? I'd guess 50%.

Use your 'ignore user' option.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 20, 2020, 09:05:54 AM
^Unrelated.

Your ranting email a day before the meeting (which will explain most of the things you're ranting about) only means I had to take what little writing time I had today to formulate an oil-on-the-waters response that will let the meeting tomorrow move forward peaceably and productively, rather than being splintered by all the anxious impossibilities you want to raise.

No, we can't meet on-site in October. Or November. Or even December.

We're looking at February, with delays in several group events, because that's just the wisest course right now.

This just adds to the reasons your recent resignation from that important committee was received with sighs of relief all-round.

You're an amplifier, not a manager.

Everyone else has to exert extra energy stopping the churn you generate so the group can get on with its mission.

Just stop it. Your grandstanding is not helping.

/my rant-in-response over.

M. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: alto_stratus on August 23, 2020, 11:56:19 AM
'Freecycle mods, please approve my posts so I can have more space.' :D
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 23, 2020, 12:00:14 PM
Quote from: mamselle on August 20, 2020, 09:05:54 AM
^Unrelated.

Your ranting email a day before the meeting (which will explain most of the things you're ranting about) only means I had to take what little writing time I had today to formulate an oil-on-the-waters response that will let the meeting tomorrow move forward peaceably and productively, rather than being splintered by all the anxious impossibilities you want to raise.

No, we can't meet on-site in October. Or November. Or even December.

We're looking at February, with delays in several group events, because that's just the wisest course right now.

This just adds to the reasons your recent resignation from that important committee was received with sighs of relief all-round.

You're an amplifier, not a manager.

Everyone else has to exert extra energy stopping the churn you generate so the group can get on with its mission.

Just stop it. Your grandstanding is not helping.

/my rant-in-response over.

M.

Apologies, this should perhaps have gone on the "Wish I could say..." thread.

And thanks, Cheerful, for your kind words above.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: alto_stratus on August 23, 2020, 12:55:30 PM
Eek! Dark clouds, rumbles, flashes.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: fast_and_bulbous on August 23, 2020, 01:48:36 PM
Quote from: alto_stratus on August 23, 2020, 12:55:30 PM
Eek! Dark clouds, rumbles, flashes.
alto_stratus, meet cumulonimbus
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: alto_stratus on August 23, 2020, 01:56:21 PM
Hah, yes. Fortunately, no hail or downed trees this time.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 23, 2020, 06:10:25 PM
Quote from: fast_and_bulbous on August 23, 2020, 01:48:36 PM
Quote from: alto_stratus on August 23, 2020, 12:55:30 PM
Eek! Dark clouds, rumbles, flashes.
alto_stratus, meet cumulonimbus

Indeed.

At least my friend won't have to go out and water her community garden across town tonight....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 28, 2020, 05:00:09 AM
A double a few days later...

No, " 12-bar blues" doesn't mean visiting a dozen local watering holes while despondent...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Cheerful on August 28, 2020, 06:51:07 AM
It's Friday Haikus day in the Fun and Games board here.  Let's have some good ones today, all of you creative, witty people!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on August 31, 2020, 08:41:20 PM
I was wondering who might benefit by the uncertainty in Congress as to when and if Pandemic relief funds will be available to whichever citizens. Eureka, as folks were at some risk as they hoped money would get to them sooner rather later, they began to rely on car title loans, payday loans, and extended draws on their credit card cash availabilities. So, rentiers, of one ilk or another were benefiting!  And landlords, as well, that could operate despite the strain were anticipating receipt of hefty late charges.
Therefore, these folks that "make money off money" are getting a bonanza! And, though I am not sure of this, they are people, whether Democrat, Republican, or Foreign Speculators, that are very politically active in creating or extending financial environments that inure to their benefit. If you happen to be better versed in such matters, "check it out" and get back to me on your thoughts, please.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 05, 2020, 12:08:52 PM
^Unrelated random thought no. 1.

    I'm thinking maybe I should start dating things 2020/A.D.P. 1
     You know, for "anno domini pandemica," or something.

Random thought 2:

  Reading the fantasies purveyed by the self-styled, repressed "non-fake" media, I recall how it felt to construct the crystalline castles of fascized beliefs and ideas I held so tightly to as an 8th grader in Ohio in the 1960s.

It can be exhilarating, and exhausting, to get all those curvy, twisty facts "straight" enough to form the girders that frame such a clear, promising structure.

But it's something one has to outgrow to grow. Bending those curt facts straight does them a violence they don't deserve.

And like unseasoned green wood, they'll eventually start twisting back on themselves to return to their more natural curved shape...which isn't so great for girders you've already started building on...

OK, back to my 18th c. probate records....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on September 15, 2020, 04:14:15 PM
Why is it that every time (it seems) I see a screenshot from someone's phone the battery seems to be at near 0? Do only people who never charge their phones post screenshots?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on October 27, 2020, 04:28:07 AM
Today I'm planning to record voice-over for slides for a class in December, which will the last content I have to prepare for this semester.

I still have to make some new exams and study guides. But I will soon be ready to start preparing for next semester. And I don't have any new preps for next semester (unless I pick up a new course).

Maybe I will have time to start starting that podcast I've been thinking about.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on October 31, 2020, 06:12:42 AM
Quote from: mamselle on September 05, 2020, 12:08:52 PM
^Unrelated random thought no. 1.

    I'm thinking maybe I should start dating things 2020/A.D.P. 1
     You know, for "anno domini pandemica," or something.


On my lecture slides I always put 'the year of the plague' instead of 2020. Of course, by next year I'm going to have to start writing 'the second year of the plague', so it does look like our thoughts are operating on parallel tracks.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 03, 2020, 06:57:55 AM
How many more words would the English language need to have before we wouldn't need 'ineffable?'
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 05, 2020, 07:48:55 AM
When I was a kid we thought that in futuristic times like 2020 we would have travel to Mars and flying cars.  We don't.  But people can watch videos, shop, get news, download music, socialize, etc. on mobile devices from virtually everywhere. 

Is this future we're now living in more or less cool than the one we thought was coming?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 05, 2020, 07:57:43 AM
A compare-and contrast exercise with 'The Jetsons,' and 'Lost in Space would be instructive in formulating an answer.

I still want a Rosie...

;--》

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 14, 2020, 07:11:07 AM
Well, as long as poor taste is now de rigueur,  if it turned out Barron was his middle name, perhaps he is Robert Barron Trump.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 14, 2020, 07:14:28 AM
Household hint:

Did you know that you can turn an ordinary bathtub into a do-it-yourself Jacuzzi?  Wrap a washcloth around your fingers and twirl it under water, and feel the ripples wash across your skin.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 17, 2020, 05:05:16 AM
A. It gives the institution standing in any suits brought against them, or any insurance inquiries. They can shown to have pointed out the rules and expected behaviors and so have deniability of guilt.

B. It surfaces issues, if only briefly, that are otherwise never discussed and become harder to address because the administrator has no starting oint for discussion, i.e., creates a values base. As a Faith Ed. director, I once had cause to be glad of this.

C. Those of us who have dealt with abuse in our own lives find it at least a tiny bit of affirmation against what can be horrible moments of self-doubt: "Yes, this os wrong and people who engage in such actions are behaving against the law " Because gsslighting happens.

The churches and schools in my state can't get insurance without those films. That became necessary in the late 1970s/early 80s, when domestic abuse, pedophilia, and crimes against minors and aliens began to be addressed.

A church in our diocese was sued, and the requirements unrolled from there.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 17, 2020, 06:12:33 AM
That all makes sense Mamselle and makes an argument for the instrumental usefulness of the trainings. But I'd prefer it if colleges could find a way of doing the same that wasn't based on such a questionable premise. There is a worry that if a college promotes trainings that are apparently only instrumentally useful, and don't have any real training value, then they may foster disrespect for the message they are trying to promote.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 17, 2020, 08:23:14 AM
Sounds like a distinction without a difference to me.

Approaching a topic and offering solutions for problems must have some effect in life, in general, or we wouldn't be teachers, would we?

The degree to which it makes a behavioral change or effects an awakened understanding of a maladaptive process is the stuff of ed. psych. research, which is not my field.

It's at least one of many options for getting people towards the treatment they need and getting their victims towards an avenue for redress, and that appears to be a standard for many pathologies, so going on the offensive, or trying to put those who find it useful on the defensive isn't really the point.

It's required, so you do it, because it might help others, even if you're perfect, don't need it, and would never be an abuser.

Consider paying attention to such films a type of community service. If nothing else, it might give you the language needed to deal with a distraught student who's just been raped by a professor (a conversation I just had with someone an hour ago, in fact).

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 17, 2020, 08:51:28 AM
Aren't all eggs 'poached?'
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 17, 2020, 09:25:51 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 17, 2020, 08:51:28 AM
Aren't all eggs 'poached?'

From the hen's point of view, I suppose so.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on November 17, 2020, 07:35:35 PM
Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

Ah, but that's not what's it's all about.  It's about covering one's institutional hind end.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 18, 2020, 03:57:51 AM
Quote from: aside on November 17, 2020, 07:35:35 PM
Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

Ah, but that's not what's it's all about.  It's about covering one's institutional hind end.

Actually I think it is a state requirement. So it is about politicians enacting policies that waste people's time so they can say they did something. Fortunately I spent very little time on it, since the tests we are required to do to pass the requirement don't require any real thought or understanding.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 06:11:06 AM
My underlying concern is that such issues need to be in the conversational stream in whatever means possible.

Since many try to trivialize them, the requirements at least make it possible to keep them from dissolving into invisibility.

Being dismissive of the requirements, or proclaiming that they're not effective or unnecessary (translated, "beneath your notice") is just another veiled way of saying, "This narrative really doesn't matter."

To which stance, I'll again place in rebuttal the sobbing student I spoke with yesterday who was raped by a prof one year ago at Thanksgiving time, and is now dealing with nightmares and flashbacks.

It didn't help that the school counselor she was sent to mocked her concerns about the suicidal side effects she was getting from the too-high Prozac dosage he'd put her on. After that experience, she became wary of counselors of all kinds...she's really had to work to find someone to trust.

She was finally able to see her way clear to a self-monitored taper on the Prozac when the pharmacist filling the order took one look at her and said, "I have no standing to be telling you this, but if this elevated dose is doing to you what it looks like it's doing, I would taper it and get off of it now. But I didn't tell you that, right?"

She did, and she's better. But still in a lot of pain.

So, these are not trivial issues.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 06:50:27 AM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 06:11:06 AM
My underlying concern is that such issues need to be in the conversational stream in whatever means possible.

Since many try to trivialize them, the requirements at least make it possible to keep them from dissolving into invisibility.

Being dismissive of the requirements, or proclaiming that they're not effective or unnecessary (translated, "beneath your notice") is just another veiled way of saying, "This narrative really doesn't matter."

It's not trivializing an issue to point out that someone is mostly preaching to the choir. The vast majority of people will agree that abuse is wrong, and will not engage in it or condone it. Talking to them as though they are under suspicion does not buld their trust or engage their support.

Quote

To which stance, I'll again place in rebuttal the sobbing student I spoke with yesterday who was raped by a prof one year ago at Thanksgiving time, and is now dealing with nightmares and flashbacks.

Quote

How many people do you really think won't be upset by this?

It didn't help that the school counselor she was sent to mocked her concerns about the suicidal side effects she was getting from the too-high Prozac dosage he'd put her on. After that experience, she became wary of counselors of all kinds...she's really had to work to find someone to trust.

She was finally able to see her way clear to a self-monitored taper on the Prozac when the pharmacist filling the order took one look at her and said, "I have no standing to be telling you this, but if this elevated dose is doing to you what it looks like it's doing, I would taper it and get off of it now. But I didn't tell you that, right?"

She did, and she's better. But still in a lot of pain.

So, these are not trivial issues.

M.

The infuriating thing about the woke busybodies is that they think they invented basic human decency. What people have been taught for decades, at least, as normal civil behaviour is presented by the wokerati as some sort of revelation.

(How many peoples' parents taught them not to make fun of people, and not to treat people differently because of things like their appearance?  Yes, just because that is the ideal doesn't mean people have always or will ever completely live up to it, but that doesn't change the fact that the standard is well understood.)

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 07:23:32 AM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 06:11:06 AM

To which stance, I'll again place in rebuttal the sobbing student I spoke with yesterday who was raped by a prof one year ago at Thanksgiving time, and is now dealing with nightmares and flashbacks.


That's most likely a problem with the tenure system. There was a guy in my school who went drinking with a student; they got naked and passed out. She reported it and he was gone within a week or two, desk empty, setting foot on campus is now a criminal trespass. Easy as pie. Because...no tenure track. But we still have to take training in how not to act like like fool. As if most of us want to.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on November 18, 2020, 08:29:34 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 17, 2020, 08:51:28 AM
Aren't all eggs 'poached?'

No.  They aren't alive. (Not in the ag sphere, anyway).

They are pilfered, however.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 09:26:30 AM
Quote from: FishProf on November 18, 2020, 08:29:34 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 17, 2020, 08:51:28 AM
Aren't all eggs 'poached?'

No.  They aren't alive. (Not in the ag sphere, anyway).

They are pilfered, however.

Thank you.

If I said 'thank you' to a forumite for redirecting the 'random thoughts' thread back to its intended purpose, would that qualify  as a random thought?

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 06:50:27 AM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 06:11:06 AM
My underlying concern is that such issues need to be in the conversational stream in whatever means possible.

Since many try to trivialize them, the requirements at least make it possible to keep them from dissolving into invisibility.

Being dismissive of the requirements, or proclaiming that they're not effective or unnecessary (translated, "beneath your notice") is just another veiled way of saying, "This narrative really doesn't matter."

It's not trivializing an issue to point out that someone is mostly preaching to the choir. The vast majority of people will agree that abuse is wrong, and will not engage in it or condone it. Talking to them as though they are under suspicion does not buld their trust or engage their support.

Quote

To which stance, I'll again place in rebuttal the sobbing student I spoke with yesterday who was raped by a prof one year ago at Thanksgiving time, and is now dealing with nightmares and flashbacks.

Quote

How many people do you really think won't be upset by this?

It didn't help that the school counselor she was sent to mocked her concerns about the suicidal side effects she was getting from the too-high Prozac dosage he'd put her on. After that experience, she became wary of counselors of all kinds...she's really had to work to find someone to trust.

She was finally able to see her way clear to a self-monitored taper on the Prozac when the pharmacist filling the order took one look at her and said, "I have no standing to be telling you this, but if this elevated dose is doing to you what it looks like it's doing, I would taper it and get off of it now. But I didn't tell you that, right?"

She did, and she's better. But still in a lot of pain.

So, these are not trivial issues.

M.

The infuriating thing about the woke busybodies is that they think they invented basic human decency. What people have been taught for decades, at least, as normal civil behaviour is presented by the wokerati as some sort of revelation.

(How many peoples' parents taught them not to make fun of people, and not to treat people differently because of things like their appearance?  Yes, just because that is the ideal doesn't mean people have always or will ever completely live up to it, but that doesn't change the fact that the standard is well understood.)

No. It's not understood. Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

I'll always side with the ones who try to be decent, and who try to help others be decent, no matter how infuriating they might be. I've dealt with well-meaning "wokesters" and taken some training here and there. And I've dealt with the bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies. Three guess which group I find preferable, and the first two guesses don't count.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 10:14:49 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

So subjecting everyone to the infantilizing, scolding, and finger-wagging for the sake of the one or two times in a hundred that it might stick with the right person is a good use of resources?

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 10:28:47 AM
Yep.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 11:38:56 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 10:14:49 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

So subjecting everyone to the infantilizing, scolding, and finger-wagging for the sake of the one or two times in a hundred that it might stick with the right person is a good use of resources?

Well, people with full time teaching gigs probably aren't worried about money, and may forget that some are.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 12:08:50 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 10:14:49 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

So subjecting everyone to the infantilizing, scolding, and finger-wagging for the sake of the one or two times in a hundred that it might stick with the right person is a good use of resources?

Yes. F-ck yes. This. Is. Why.

Consider yourself scolded.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 12:17:45 PM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 12:08:50 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 10:14:49 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

So subjecting everyone to the infantilizing, scolding, and finger-wagging for the sake of the one or two times in a hundred that it might stick with the right person is a good use of resources?

Yes. F-ck yes. This. Is. Why.

Consider yourself scolded.

For suggesting this kind of "training" isn't a good use of resources? 

It's no wonder there are lots of people who don't embrace these initiatives when even questioning their value seems to be taken as equivalent to being guilty of the actions being sanctioned.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 18, 2020, 12:50:09 PM
Quote from: FishProf on November 18, 2020, 08:29:34 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 17, 2020, 08:51:28 AM
Aren't all eggs 'poached?'

No.  They aren't alive. (Not in the ag sphere, anyway).

They are pilfered, however.

For some reason a "pilfered" egg doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

But then I've never liked eating the things anyway.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 12:51:34 PM
QuoteIt's no wonder there are lots of people who don't embrace these initiatives when even questioning their value seems to be taken as equivalent to being guilty of the actions being sanctioned.

OK.

I'm instituting a new forum award. We used to have the Serpent's Tooth, etc., but this is a different one.

For jumping from one stated hypothesis to an unjustified antecedent with alacrity and blind speed:

   Kangaroo Logic Award #1

I'm sure there are others earlier and there will be more to follow, but this is no. 1.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 12:58:29 PM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 12:51:34 PM
QuoteIt's no wonder there are lots of people who don't embrace these initiatives when even questioning their value seems to be taken as equivalent to being guilty of the actions being sanctioned.

OK.

I'm instituting a new forum award. We used to have the Serpent's Tooth, etc., but this is a different one.

For jumping from one stated hypothesis to an unjustified antecedent with alacrity and blind speed:

   Kangaroo Logic Award #1


Can you clarify? Here was the original:

Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 12:08:50 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 10:14:49 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

So subjecting everyone to the infantilizing, scolding, and finger-wagging for the sake of the one or two times in a hundred that it might stick with the right person is a good use of resources?

Yes. F-ck yes. This. Is. Why.

Consider yourself scolded.

So questioning the value of people being scolded resulted in the injunction that I should consider myself scolded.  Where is the jump?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 04:52:26 PM
No-one is suggesting you are either being scolded or are guilty of something to be scolded for.

The videos are informational. If you see them as imputing guilt, that's your projection.

It all unravels from there.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 04:54:08 PM
I know you are, but what am I?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 06:51:59 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 12:17:45 PM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 12:08:50 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 10:14:49 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 18, 2020, 10:01:51 AM
Bullies, thugs, trolls, and rudesbies might understand the concept in the abstract--they don't understand, or don't care to try to understand, about putting the concept into practice. That might be unsolvable. But sometimes, maybe one or two times in a hundred, if you can show Joe or Jane Bully, Thug, Troll, or Rudesby that they've actually hurt a real human being--occasionally that sticks.

So subjecting everyone to the infantilizing, scolding, and finger-wagging for the sake of the one or two times in a hundred that it might stick with the right person is a good use of resources?

Yes. F-ck yes. This. Is. Why.

Consider yourself scolded.

For suggesting this kind of "training" isn't a good use of resources? 

It's no wonder there are lots of people who don't embrace these initiatives when even questioning their value seems to be taken as equivalent to being guilty of the actions being sanctioned.

No, Marshwiggle. For being you.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 07:15:59 PM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 04:52:26 PM
No-one is suggesting you are either being scolded or are guilty of something to be scolded for.

The videos are informational. If you see them as imputing guilt, that's your projection.

It all unravels from there.

M.

A hypothetical, based on an actual situation:

A young man comes to your office hours jittery, anxious, and about to cry. You try to work on materials for the upcoming exam, and finally, he says, "You're my only male prof this term and I don't know who else to tell. Can I talk to you?"

Mystified, you nod, and he bursts out, "I was raped in the men's room last night by an instructor I had last spring. I feel awful, it hurts, and I'm so ashamed and scared I don't know what to do. Can you help me?"

Would your reply be more or less informed by the videos you've been asked to view, or could they be useful in helping you frame a response?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 08:35:46 PM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 07:15:59 PM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 04:52:26 PM
No-one is suggesting you are either being scolded or are guilty of something to be scolded for.

The videos are informational. If you see them as imputing guilt, that's your projection.

It all unravels from there.

M.

A hypothetical, based on an actual situation:

A young man comes to your office hours jittery, anxious, and about to cry. You try to work on materials for the upcoming exam, and finally, he says, "You're my only male prof this term and I don't know who else to tell. Can I talk to you?"

Mystified, you nod, and he bursts out, "I was raped in the men's room last night by an instructor I had last spring. I feel awful, it hurts, and I'm so ashamed and scared I don't know what to do. Can you help me?"

Would your reply be more or less informed by the videos you've been asked to view, or could they be useful in helping you frame a response?

M.

If you were asking me, I don't have an office.

I would be OK with the tenure track being required to get this training, and the rest of us not, because they are the ones by far doing the most harassing, bullying and sexual assault, and they are the most trouble to discipline or terminate when it happens, and also their service costs the students more.
At the same time, if I'm going to get this training but be paid for my time it's at least a square deal, as opposed to what they probably have in mind currently.

QuoteFor suggesting this kind of "training" isn't a good use of resources? 

It's no wonder there are lots of people who don't embrace these initiatives when even questioning their value seems to be taken as equivalent to being guilty of the actions being sanctioned.

No, Marshwiggle. For being you.
[/quote][/quote]

I don't know whether you frequented the old forum back when Marshwiggle was opining that adjunct teaching should pay like babysitting as long as the market would bear it, and no one but me gave any pushback. They thought his idea was just dandy. Now that he's on a tack with showing less than the usual amount of respect for sensitivity training everyone's heart is bleeding. Sensitivity training fortifies the tenure track privileges and optics. That why people care about it. Keeping as much money as possible away from adjunct funding is also an aim of the tenure track. If you're on the tenure track and you want to show how much you care about your fellow human, it's not as easy as people think.

Quote
Quote from: aside on November 17, 2020, 07:35:35 PM
Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

Ah, but that's not what's it's all about.  It's about covering one's institutional hind end.

Of course. And who benefits when that gets done.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 06:07:41 AM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 07:15:59 PM
Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2020, 04:52:26 PM
No-one is suggesting you are either being scolded or are guilty of something to be scolded for.

The videos are informational. If you see them as imputing guilt, that's your projection.

It all unravels from there.

M.

A hypothetical, based on an actual situation:

A young man comes to your office hours jittery, anxious, and about to cry. You try to work on materials for the upcoming exam, and finally, he says, "You're my only male prof this term and I don't know who else to tell. Can I talk to you?"

Mystified, you nod, and he bursts out, "I was raped in the men's room last night by an instructor I had last spring. I feel awful, it hurts, and I'm so ashamed and scared I don't know what to do. Can you help me?"

Would your reply be more or less informed by the videos you've been asked to view, or could they be useful in helping you frame a response?

M.

First of all, I have never seen a student at that level of crisis in my entire career. While a few people will have, I would guess it would be a very tiny portion of instructors who would. (Anyone who has actual statistics on this is welcome to produce them.)

Second, the very fact that the student is at that level of crisis means that this is a job for counselling services; i.e. people with way more than an instructional video to guide them in dealing with the situation. Sending (or taking) the student there is the most sane and helpful option. I have first aid training, and if someone is bleeding profusely I can try to apply pressure, but calling 911 and getting the professionals to take over ASAP is the glaringly obvious best idea. Also, in the case of criminal behaviour, such as a sexual assault, it will again be people in counselling services who will have the training and protocols in place to deal with it.

The most compassionate response to someone with a problem is directing them to someone who can actually help with the problem. When people have had health or personal issues that require some sort of academic accomodations, such as extensions on assignments or projects in courses for which I am responsible, then it is absolutely my place to deal with those things. Those situations are relatively common. It would not make sense for counselling services or health services to dictate any academic accomodations, not because they don't care, but because it is not their area of expertise or responsibility.

Finally, it is highly unlikely that an instructor is going to be the person to whom a student feels close enough to reveal such information. (There is a possible exception if the course is something like social work, psychology, or some sort of clinical mental health course, where sexual assault  and its consequences are actually relevant to the course. In that case, then the instructor would be someone with relevant training and expertise way beyond any generic video training session.)




Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 19, 2020, 06:26:48 AM
Huh.

As an adjunct, I've had two such situations arise, and as a member of a campus-based faith community, two others.

Working as a faith education director, another situation with a very small child arose (thankfully it was not what it appeared to be, but our oversight pastor's husband was the rector of a private school that had just seen a court case go against them so we were taking no chances).

Maybe because they know I've dealt with abuse issues myself, they feel like I'm more approachable--I never bring that up directly, but I'm pretty sure it's known.

Maybe because I'm female they expect I'll be more responsive.

But the fact that you've never dealt with such issues doesn't mean they're not there or that the circumstances you describe have done more than help keep you immured from becoming aware of them.

Or maybe you, and your students, and all those they deal with are just lucky and none of the seriously bad stuff that really does happen in the world has ever touched any of you.


^ Unrelated random thought:

   I'm very grateful to whomever made the technology available to create long tape loops of Gregorian chant to work by when I have mind-numbing, soul-searing stuff to do that I'd rather not be spending the time on, but must.

There is a balm in Gilead.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 06:31:13 AM
I agree with the points you are making in your last post, marshwiggle.

But why would a video training module be irrelevant to this?

I thought it was fairly typical for the trainings to include guidance on how to do exactly what you're describing. Mine have always included example scenarios of what to do if a student or colleague confides in you to say they are in crisis or have been the target of assault or harassment. It's basically mental health first aid (including the importance of not trying to directly counsel the person yourself) and how-to advice on either encouraging that person to reach out to appropriate resources or how you yourself can alert the appropriate campus services of the situation.

(Edited to add) I'm also curious as to why, on a different thread, you said you thought expecting a professor to pick up a phone to pass the situation on to people trained to help someone in crisis was not reasonable, because it goes beyond what that professor would be required to do in a normal professor-student relationship (I.e. one in which the student does not have "issues" that make them "much more work").
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AvidReader on November 19, 2020, 07:02:28 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 08:35:46 PM
If you were asking me, I don't have an office.

I would be OK with the tenure track being required to get this training, and the rest of us not, because they are the ones by far doing the most harassing, bullying and sexual assault, and they are the most trouble to discipline or terminate when it happens, and also their service costs the students more.
At the same time, if I'm going to get this training but be paid for my time it's at least a square deal, as opposed to what they probably have in mind currently.

I don't see why this is a tenure/NTT/adjunct division. Most students can't tell the difference. When I adjuncted, I had a student talking about her next semester's courses who said, "I don't want to take a course with a part-time instructor next semester. They don't care about their students. I want to take a course with someone like you." Student was flabbergasted to learn that I was part-time. Students don't notice private offices vs. the large and crowded adjunct office (or, at least, not enough to see it as a distinction in rank). Every faculty and staff member should be paid to take the training, and take it, because the last thing a student in distress needs is to be blown off.

AR.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 07:35:45 AM
Quote from: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 06:31:13 AM
I agree with the points you are making in your last post, marshwiggle.

But why would a video training module be irrelevant to this?


I looked back through this thread to see if I was mistaken about what kind of training was being discussed, and here is the original:

Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

That was my point of reference; "How Not To Be An Abuser" rather than "How To Help Someone In Crisis".

The latter might have some merit; the former is likely going to be self-righteous, condescending,  and annoying.

Quote

I thought it was fairly typical for the trainings to include guidance on how to do exactly what you're describing. Mine have always included example scenarios of what to do if a student or colleague confides in you to say they are in crisis or have been the target of assault or harassment. It's basically mental health first aid (including the importance of not trying to directly counsel the person yourself) and how-to advice on either encouraging that person to reach out to appropriate resources or how you yourself can alert the appropriate campus services of the situation.

(Edited to add) I'm also curious as to why, on a different thread, you said you thought expecting a professor to pick up a phone to pass the situation on to people trained to help someone in crisis was not reasonable, because it goes beyond what that professor would be required to do in a normal professor-student relationship (I.e. one in which the student does not have "issues" that make them "much more work").

I guess in that last case the question is how imminent the danger seems to be. If a student in the lab says they're not feeling well, and may leave the lab early, that's different than if they suddenly double over clutching their stomach. When people are adults, I expect them to make their own decisions about their own situations. (If the situation were reversed, I wouldn't expect them to decide for me unless I was somehow obviously incapacitated and in need of immediate assistance.)
So in the case of a person in some sort of crisis, for which help is available on campus, and for which the person has no immediate impediment to availing themselves of it, I'd leave it to them to act.  For me as an introvert, I'd hate to have everyone in the room focussed on some apparent crisis of mine. It would be mortifying. Being able to be as low key about it as possible would be vastly preferrable. So that's the way I tend to assume other people would feel as well, even though of course it won't be that way for everyone.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 07:38:08 AM
QuoteI don't see why this is a tenure/NTT/adjunct division. Most students can't tell the difference. When I adjuncted, I had a student talking about her next semester's courses who said, "I don't want to take a course with a part-time instructor next semester. They don't care about their students. I want to take a course with someone like you." Student was flabbergasted to learn that I was part-time. Students don't notice private offices vs. the large and crowded adjunct office (or, at least, not enough to see it as a distinction in rank). Every faculty and staff member should be paid to take the training, and take it, because the last thing a student in distress needs is to be blown off.

AR.

Sure, years ago a student told me his father had been beating him up. I told him I was very sorry to hear it it, he doesn't deserve that, and the university has counseling services who would like to help in confidential discussion if he chooses. I think I also told him when I was a very young kid there was a big girl in our neighborhood who would slap my face till I cried when no one was around, and so I know these things are frightening and leave scars. Now that I've had training, I'd handle it the same as I did then. It's rare, but it can happen.
The students have my sympathy. The institution, not so much. These seminars are becoming national trends largely because of things like an epidemic of deeply tenured philosophy professors who feel entitled to get in the pants of their graduate students. People who have a lot invested already and need the prof to recommend them later. I'm not cheerful about having someone insert their needs into my personal time schedule to give the appearance of taking care of problems they continue to neglect, that are not related to my 'outsider' teacher group.

As for your account of the adjunct instructor who 'doesn't care about the students' that may well be a valid impression on the part of the student, but if the institution cared about the students they would pay people to teach at a level where they should be in a position to expect healthy enough morale.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 07:48:16 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 07:35:45 AM
Quote from: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 06:31:13 AM
I agree with the points you are making in your last post, marshwiggle.

But why would a video training module be irrelevant to this?


I looked back through this thread to see if I was mistaken about what kind of training was being discussed, and here is the original:

Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

That was my point of reference; "How Not To Be An Abuser" rather than "How To Help Someone In Crisis".

The latter might have some merit; the former is likely going to be self-righteous, condescending,  and annoying.

Fair enough.

I guess I thought of them as linked because, in my experience, these topics were always bundled together in the same training.

I've also had training that included subtopics like "This is NOT Abuse" with example scenarios involving behavior many people would understandably find discomfiting or even mean, but would not meet the definition of abuse that would make it a university policy matter or a legal matter. I have no idea if this has the same problem as a "Don't be abusive" message in that people who need it explained to them are the least likely to care about such a message.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:24:24 AM
QuoteWhen I adjuncted, I had a student talking about her next semester's courses who said, "I don't want to take a course with a part-time instructor next semester. They don't care about their students. I want to take a course with someone like you." Student was flabbergasted to learn that I was part-time. Students don't notice private offices vs. the large and crowded adjunct office (or, at least, not enough to see it as a distinction in rank).

More about this:  published articles that are ostensibly sympathetic to exploited adjuncts are usually used to fortify and expand the  tenure track by sowing doubt about adjunct faculty performance. They tend to conclude with advice for the consumer such as 'find out what percentage of the school's teaching faculty are full time and if it's too small a ratio, avoid that school.' They seldom address adjunct's needs directly, i.e. contain advice for the prospective student such as 'look at the Adjunct Project online to find out what your classroom teacher is likely being paid. If the pay is exceedingly low, look for a school that treats its faculty better.' People reading these articles may get the impression that adjunct faculty will teach poorly. These kinds of articles likely played a role in where your student got their impressions.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on November 19, 2020, 08:27:21 AM
Regarding the required 'how not to be an abuser' training: I view it as akin to the statement in a syllabus about plagiarism, and the links to university guidance on what is and is not plagiarism. We don't really expect students actually to read them carefully. We just want to be able to point out that they have no excuse not to know what it is.

Likewise, if a company wants to fire an abuser for being an abuser, it's helpful if everyone has already completed the required training, so no one can claim, 'Oh, I didn't know that complimenting women on their bodies was inappropriate; I thought I was just being friendly!'

It may not change behavior, but it removes the possibility of claiming ignorance as an excuse.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:43:31 AM
Quote from: ergative on November 19, 2020, 08:27:21 AM
Regarding the required 'how not to be an abuser' training: I view it as akin to the statement in a syllabus about plagiarism, and the links to university guidance on what is and is not plagiarism. We don't really expect students actually to read them carefully. We just want to be able to point out that they have no excuse not to know what it is.

Likewise, if a company wants to fire an abuser for being an abuser, it's helpful if everyone has already completed the required training, so no one can claim, 'Oh, I didn't know that complimenting women on their bodies was inappropriate; I thought I was just being friendly!'

It may not change behavior, but it removes the possibility of claiming ignorance as an excuse.

Amusing, perhaps: near the beginning of 2020 we were shown a video tutorial on how to use the zoom platform. As the class began the female professor complemented the first female student to arrive on how pretty she looked. Which of course, we dirty old men must never do.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 08:49:22 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:43:31 AM
Quote from: ergative on November 19, 2020, 08:27:21 AM
Regarding the required 'how not to be an abuser' training: I view it as akin to the statement in a syllabus about plagiarism, and the links to university guidance on what is and is not plagiarism. We don't really expect students actually to read them carefully. We just want to be able to point out that they have no excuse not to know what it is.

Likewise, if a company wants to fire an abuser for being an abuser, it's helpful if everyone has already completed the required training, so no one can claim, 'Oh, I didn't know that complimenting women on their bodies was inappropriate; I thought I was just being friendly!'

It may not change behavior, but it removes the possibility of claiming ignorance as an excuse.

Amusing, perhaps: near the beginning of 2020 we were shown a video tutorial on how to use the zoom platform. As the class began the female professor complemented the first female student to arrive on how pretty she looked. Which of course, we dirty old men must never do.

Would it be a problem if the female prof was gay?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:54:17 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 08:49:22 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:43:31 AM
Quote from: ergative on November 19, 2020, 08:27:21 AM
Regarding the required 'how not to be an abuser' training: I view it as akin to the statement in a syllabus about plagiarism, and the links to university guidance on what is and is not plagiarism. We don't really expect students actually to read them carefully. We just want to be able to point out that they have no excuse not to know what it is.

Likewise, if a company wants to fire an abuser for being an abuser, it's helpful if everyone has already completed the required training, so no one can claim, 'Oh, I didn't know that complimenting women on their bodies was inappropriate; I thought I was just being friendly!'

It may not change behavior, but it removes the possibility of claiming ignorance as an excuse.

Amusing, perhaps: near the beginning of 2020 we were shown a video tutorial on how to use the zoom platform. As the class began the female professor complemented the first female student to arrive on how pretty she looked. Which of course, we dirty old men must never do.

Would it be a problem if the female prof was gay?

Coming soon to a college near you.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AvidReader on November 19, 2020, 11:16:07 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 07:38:08 AM
As for your account of the adjunct instructor who 'doesn't care about the students' that may well be a valid impression on the part of the student, but if the institution cared about the students they would pay people to teach at a level where they should be in a position to expect healthy enough morale.

Quote from: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:24:24 AM
More about this:  published articles that are ostensibly sympathetic to exploited adjuncts are usually used to fortify and expand the  tenure track by sowing doubt about adjunct faculty performance. They tend to conclude with advice for the consumer such as 'find out what percentage of the school's teaching faculty are full time and if it's too small a ratio, avoid that school.' They seldom address adjunct's needs directly, i.e. contain advice for the prospective student such as 'look at the Adjunct Project online to find out what your classroom teacher is likely being paid. If the pay is exceedingly low, look for a school that treats its faculty better.' People reading these articles may get the impression that adjunct faculty will teach poorly. These kinds of articles likely played a role in where your student got their impressions.

I agree that the articles and impressions they leave behind can be unhelpful, and I'm not trying to get into a debate on the treatment of (or attitudes towards) adjuncts, since we have whole threads on that. (This student was in the first semester of college, so I don't think that comment came from personal observation.) The point I was trying to make is that students are generally oblivious about the status of their instructors, so it is equally likely that a student in crisis would approach an adjunct as a tenured full prof, thus anyone whose main job is to instruct students and hold office hours should have at least rudimentary training in handling these sorts of student crises. It sounds as if you handled yours just fine. Having adjuncted at quite a few institutions by now, I usually find that the most useful part of the training is learning how to recommend the student to the larger support network, which varies (and has a different silly name) at every institution.

AR.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 02:39:43 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 06:50:27 AM
The infuriating thing about the woke busybodies is that they think they invented basic human decency. What people have been taught for decades, at least, as normal civil behaviour is presented by the wokerati as some sort of revelation.

(How many peoples' parents taught them not to make fun of people, and not to treat people differently because of things like their appearance?  Yes, just because that is the ideal doesn't mean people have always or will ever completely live up to it, but that doesn't change the fact that the standard is well understood.)

Separate from the topic of whether a video training course will cause enough positive behavioral change to be "worth it," I'm not sure about the assertion that the *standard* for decent behavior is well understood. People have different ideas regarding 1) what constitutes decent behavior and 2) who deserves to receive it (e.g. I know people who say it's mean to make fun of someone based on their looks, but have exceptions to their own rule regarding overweight women or short men).

And it is not always true that because someone already values being decent and not harming people it means they have nothing to learn. Assuming "decency" includes avoiding unnecessary harm to others, a decent person who becomes aware of a harm done inadvertently would be motivated to learn from it to avoid harming someone that way again.

I'm not arguing that you should accept anyone else's criteria for what constitutes harm whether it makes sense to you or not. I'm saying it's possible for someone to realize they have been acting against their *own* values and concept of decency simply because they lack understanding of other people's experiences and perspectives.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 02:39:43 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 06:50:27 AM
The infuriating thing about the woke busybodies is that they think they invented basic human decency. What people have been taught for decades, at least, as normal civil behaviour is presented by the wokerati as some sort of revelation.

(How many peoples' parents taught them not to make fun of people, and not to treat people differently because of things like their appearance?  Yes, just because that is the ideal doesn't mean people have always or will ever completely live up to it, but that doesn't change the fact that the standard is well understood.)

Separate from the topic of whether a video training course will cause enough positive behavioral change to be "worth it," I'm not sure about the assertion that the *standard* for decent behavior is well understood. People have different ideas regarding 1) what constitutes decent behavior and 2) who deserves to receive it (e.g. I know people who say it's mean to make fun of someone based on their looks, but have exceptions to their own rule regarding overweight women or short men).

And it is not always true that because someone already values being decent and not harming people it means they have nothing to learn. Assuming "decency" includes avoiding unnecessary harm to others, a decent person who becomes aware of a harm done inadvertently would be motivated to learn from it to avoid harming someone that way again.

I'm not arguing that you should accept anyone else's criteria for what constitutes harm whether it makes sense to you or not. I'm saying it's possible for someone to realize they have been acting against their *own* values and concept of decency simply because they lack understanding of other people's experiences and perspectives.

All of this suggests that what is needed are fairly simple rules for the institution. Like plagiarism, one can spend all kinds of time talking about how it's bad to try and take credit for someone else's work, etc., but what really matters to students is that it can get you expelled.

Similarly, because people may vary on what behaviour is OK or not, it will be a lot quicker and probably less annoying to simply say "Here are the rules: ....."

For people who don't want to talk about feelings, even rules they think may be extreme will likely be followed if not doing so will get them fired. Whereas "sensitivity training" just makes people get distracted thinking about how hypersensitive others are.  External compliance is what is needed;
whether or not everyone agrees in the depths of their souls.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 03:17:01 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 19, 2020, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: smallcleanrat on November 19, 2020, 02:39:43 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 18, 2020, 06:50:27 AM
The infuriating thing about the woke busybodies is that they think they invented basic human decency. What people have been taught for decades, at least, as normal civil behaviour is presented by the wokerati as some sort of revelation.

(How many peoples' parents taught them not to make fun of people, and not to treat people differently because of things like their appearance?  Yes, just because that is the ideal doesn't mean people have always or will ever completely live up to it, but that doesn't change the fact that the standard is well understood.)

Separate from the topic of whether a video training course will cause enough positive behavioral change to be "worth it," I'm not sure about the assertion that the *standard* for decent behavior is well understood. People have different ideas regarding 1) what constitutes decent behavior and 2) who deserves to receive it (e.g. I know people who say it's mean to make fun of someone based on their looks, but have exceptions to their own rule regarding overweight women or short men).

And it is not always true that because someone already values being decent and not harming people it means they have nothing to learn. Assuming "decency" includes avoiding unnecessary harm to others, a decent person who becomes aware of a harm done inadvertently would be motivated to learn from it to avoid harming someone that way again.

I'm not arguing that you should accept anyone else's criteria for what constitutes harm whether it makes sense to you or not. I'm saying it's possible for someone to realize they have been acting against their *own* values and concept of decency simply because they lack understanding of other people's experiences and perspectives.

All of this suggests that what is needed are fairly simple rules for the institution. Like plagiarism, one can spend all kinds of time talking about how it's bad to try and take credit for someone else's work, etc., but what really matters to students is that it can get you expelled.

Similarly, because people may vary on what behaviour is OK or not, it will be a lot quicker and probably less annoying to simply say "Here are the rules: ....."

For people who don't want to talk about feelings, even rules they think may be extreme will likely be followed if not doing so will get them fired. Whereas "sensitivity training" just makes people get distracted thinking about how hypersensitive others are.  External compliance is what is needed;
whether or not everyone agrees in the depths of their souls.

Maybe I've just had different trainings. "Here are the rules: ....." is essentially what it's been for me. It does include explanations for why those rules are in place, and sure you can't force people to care about them.

Anyway, I specifically said I was making a point *separate* from the question of whether such trainings have any utility. I was speaking to your more general statement about why the trainings were useless: the people who already know how to be decent (reference to parents implying this is just the basic stuff everyone gets growing up) don't need to be told.

Well, that's not always true.

My point was some people do care about not hurting others, and being willing to learn something about the other people you interact with can help to serve that purpose.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 04:12:03 PM
Quote from: AvidReader on November 19, 2020, 11:16:07 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 07:38:08 AM
As for your account of the adjunct instructor who 'doesn't care about the students' that may well be a valid impression on the part of the student, but if the institution cared about the students they would pay people to teach at a level where they should be in a position to expect healthy enough morale.

Quote from: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 08:24:24 AM
More about this:  published articles that are ostensibly sympathetic to exploited adjuncts are usually used to fortify and expand the  tenure track by sowing doubt about adjunct faculty performance. They tend to conclude with advice for the consumer such as 'find out what percentage of the school's teaching faculty are full time and if it's too small a ratio, avoid that school.' They seldom address adjunct's needs directly, i.e. contain advice for the prospective student such as 'look at the Adjunct Project online to find out what your classroom teacher is likely being paid. If the pay is exceedingly low, look for a school that treats its faculty better.' People reading these articles may get the impression that adjunct faculty will teach poorly. These kinds of articles likely played a role in where your student got their impressions.

I agree that the articles and impressions they leave behind can be unhelpful, and I'm not trying to get into a debate on the treatment of (or attitudes towards) adjuncts, since we have whole threads on that. (This student was in the first semester of college, so I don't think that comment came from personal observation.) The point I was trying to make is that students are generally oblivious about the status of their instructors, so it is equally likely that a student in crisis would approach an adjunct as a tenured full prof, thus anyone whose main job is to instruct students and hold office hours should have at least rudimentary training in handling these sorts of student crises. It sounds as if you handled yours just fine. Having adjuncted at quite a few institutions by now, I usually find that the most useful part of the training is learning how to recommend the student to the larger support network, which varies (and has a different silly name) at every institution.

AR.

Absolutely. If we took away all of the work, including moral support, provided by adjunct faculty, higher ed would be in serious trouble within a week. Most of it.
I'm in favor of helping students, but if they move to require additional training without a stipend, I'll take it to the union. Especially when we've got such wealthy full profs and retirees and filthy rich (no other words for it) upper admins. Our full time faculty, with the exception of two friends of mine and one retiree, have been totally AWOL in resisting horrible stinginess the administration inflicts on us. No excuse not to pay.
I'm glad to learn and help where I can within reason, as far as time available. Where I'm less on board is the recent hysteria over the need to put the 'anti-racism' brigade in charge. But certainly bullying and harassment have been serious problems.
Just for comparison, my other school, which has no tenure track, provides regular seminars that we get paid for attending. How much good they do I can't say, but there's no harm in giving it a try as long as all participants get due consideration. Some of these presentations are Ibram X. Kendi fans and assorted lunatics, so I generally skip those. Unfortunately they're also taking over the union, which in my opinion has a serious duty that should keep them plenty busy, advocating for the worker.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 19, 2020, 04:21:36 PM
Faculty should get paid to get trained to learn how avoid abusing students?

Let's see how that goes over with whoever pays for the training.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 19, 2020, 06:01:49 PM
Quote from: downer on November 19, 2020, 04:21:36 PM
Faculty should get paid to get trained to learn how avoid abusing students?

Let's see how that goes over with whoever pays for the training.

Right, that's how they would get out of paying. By insinuating that you might be an abuser, rather than a counselor who is being helpful to victims of abuse, which would be an extra service to the college, beyond educating people in your field, warranting another stipend. And that's why I hate those stories about so-and-so who got away with it for years because some combination of (a) he was bringing in a lot of grant or other money or publicity, or (b) it was considered too much trouble and expense to get rid of him.
Generally, we and the students have been paying for the training, because of the misdeeds of a few special folks.

Why is it that counseling and diversity staff get full time pay and benefits without teaching, yet we should teach and also do a piece of their job, without salary or benefits.

If it's only telling the student there's help available or calling security if someone's acting weird I guess it's no big deal for us.

on edit:  I think contemporary liberal hysteria is a  contributor too. You know, the folks who are so well above average in their sensitivity to the myriad ways we are offensive/violating to each other in public, that they are compelled to educate the rest of us brutes. How a few short months ago Joe Biden was a woman molester and a racist, and now that you need him he's savior of the free world.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on November 19, 2020, 08:44:52 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 08:35:46 PM

Quote
Quote from: aside on November 17, 2020, 07:35:35 PM
Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

Ah, but that's not what's it's all about.  It's about covering one's institutional hind end.

Of course. And who benefits when that gets done.

Everyone who is paid by the institution.  Everyone who has ever attended or supported the institution.  Everyone who might be spared abuse because the video did influence behavior.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 20, 2020, 05:47:00 AM
Quote from: aside on November 19, 2020, 08:44:52 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on November 18, 2020, 08:35:46 PM

Quote
Quote from: aside on November 17, 2020, 07:35:35 PM
Quote from: downer on November 17, 2020, 04:49:38 AM
Is there the slightest evidence that making people take training courses to educate them not to abuse students or staff has any effect on people's behavior?

Ah, but that's not what's it's all about.  It's about covering one's institutional hind end.

Of course. And who benefits when that gets done.

Everyone who is paid by the institution.  Everyone who has ever attended or supported the institution.  Everyone who might be spared abuse because the video did influence behavior.

Right, tenure track faculty are interested in adjunct faculty doing this extra labor gratis. We already knew that.

The basis for an extra stipend would be the piecework, temporary employee (as opposed to regular salaried employee) contract together with the insistence by the regular faculty that adjunct hiring is not meant for extended use, rather to 'fill in the gaps.'

But I suppose downer has the right idea. Do the training, give the right answers, don't sweat it. Go home.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 20, 2020, 05:56:01 AM
Yeah, this was online training and took 10 minutes since I skipped the videos and went straight to the quizzes. So not a big deal.

It is worth remembering that some of these well-intended programs are counter-productive. Notoriously, the "Scared Straight" program for high school students led to more crime. And continues to do so, since it has not been stopped.

I maintain unless a training program is evidence-based, states and universities have no place requiring it.

I am interested in thinking about what universities would look like if they were really committed to stopping faculty abuse of students as opposed to making token efforts.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Cheerful on November 20, 2020, 06:14:08 AM
Quote from: downer on November 20, 2020, 05:56:01 AM
Yeah, this was online training and took 10 minutes since I skipped the videos and went straight to the quizzes. So not a big deal.

Only 10 minutes and you can skip to the quizzes?!  Do you have any idea how fortunate you are?

Quote from: aside on November 19, 2020, 08:44:52 PM
Everyone who might be spared abuse because the video did influence behavior.

With all due respect, are you kidding?  Many of the training videos are awful, not to mention offensive.  Colossal waste of collective labor hours.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 20, 2020, 06:21:13 AM
Quote from: downer on November 20, 2020, 05:56:01 AM
Yeah, this was online training and took 10 minutes since I skipped the videos and went straight to the quizzes. So not a big deal.

It is worth remembering that some of these well-intended programs are counter-productive. Notoriously, the "Scared Straight" program for high school students led to more crime. And continues to do so, since it has not been stopped.

I maintain unless a training program is evidence-based, states and universities have no place requiring it.

I am interested in thinking about what universities would look like if they were really committed to stopping faculty abuse of students as opposed to making token efforts.

This would run up against the idea of having faculty develop personal relationships with students. It's hardly rocket science to codify keeping working relationships (including those with students) completely professional, but all of the pople trying to make the experience warm and fuzzy for students would complain bitterly and/or be out of a job.

Before someone points it out, obviously many, if not most, faculty can maintain healthy relationships while being cordial with students. However, the behaviours that cross the line are the result of pushing the boundaries of "cordial".  For instance, lots of stories involve the prof who socializes with his/her grad students. One scenario is the prof and grad students at a bar; students leave periodically until only one student is left. Problems happen after that. This situation happened because there was not a conscious effort to prevent it. Not allowing socializing together off-campus, and especially one-on-one would be reasonable rules to have in place.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: little bongo on November 20, 2020, 07:53:53 AM
QuoteFor suggesting this kind of "training" isn't a good use of resources? 

It's no wonder there are lots of people who don't embrace these initiatives when even questioning their value seems to be taken as equivalent to being guilty of the actions being sanctioned.

No, Marshwiggle. For being you.
[/quote][/quote]

I don't know whether you frequented the old forum back when Marshwiggle was opining that adjunct teaching should pay like babysitting as long as the market would bear it, and no one but me gave any pushback. They thought his idea was just dandy. Now that he's on a tack with showing less than the usual amount of respect for sensitivity training everyone's heart is bleeding. Sensitivity training fortifies the tenure track privileges and optics. That why people care about it. Keeping as much money as possible away from adjunct funding is also an aim of the tenure track. If you're on the tenure track and you want to show how much you care about your fellow human, it's not as easy as people think.



Well, it's interesting that you bring up old forum stuff. I think I actually do remember something about adjunct pay and babysitting, but I can't recall all the context. I remember Marshwiggle mainly playing Grover Dill to Polly_Mer's Scut Farkus whenever adjunct topics came up, although to be fair to Marshwiggle, he was actually voicing opinions back then (even if they were mostly Polly_Mer's).

It's too bad about adjunct discussion on the threads--I think it got off to a lively start, and participants could have hashed out some serious points. It devolved into Polly_Mer and protoplasm turning the whole topic into Abbott and Costello (Polly_Mer was Abbott in this case, if you're still following) Meet the Adjuncts. Although, I remember thinking if those two (that is, Polly_Mer and protoplasm) ever got together to pool their dueling posts, they would have the funniest academic book of all time (despite some critics probably saying that the characterizations were too cartoonish--little would they know...).

Now there's some random thoughts.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 20, 2020, 08:06:46 AM
Quote from: little bongo on November 20, 2020, 07:53:53 AM

Well, it's interesting that you bring up old forum stuff. I think I actually do remember something about adjunct pay and babysitting, but I can't recall all the context. I remember Marshwiggle mainly playing Grover Dill to Polly_Mer's Scut Farkus whenever adjunct topics came up, although to be fair to Marshwiggle, he was actually voicing opinions back then (even if they were mostly Polly_Mer's).


FWIW, the point I was raising is whether there is a legitimate category of intentionally part-time jobs.  Babysitters are hired to care for children, even though they don't have the training or pay of ECE workers. Should "babysitting" be made illegal and so the only way people can allow someone else to supervise their children is to formally engage licenced ECE workers?

Unless one thinks the health and safety of children is a trivial concern, then I think this raises some important points about what "paid employment" means.

In case anyone wants to discuss this, it can be moved to a more suitable forum; I just wanted to clarify the context.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 20, 2020, 12:26:36 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 20, 2020, 08:06:46 AM


FWIW, the point I was raising is whether there is a legitimate category of intentionally part-time jobs.  Babysitters are hired to care for children, even though they don't have the training or pay of ECE workers. Should "babysitting" be made illegal and so the only way people can allow someone else to supervise their children is to formally engage licenced ECE workers?


Which drew practically zero response from the tenure track, and probably surprised them that anyone thought there was a need to ask, since they all know that eliminating adjunct positions has never been a serious proposal.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 20, 2020, 05:15:42 PM
Everything I eat is comfort food.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on November 20, 2020, 08:44:51 PM
Quote from: Cheerful on November 20, 2020, 06:14:08 AM

Quote from: aside on November 19, 2020, 08:44:52 PM
Everyone who might be spared abuse because the video did influence behavior.

With all due respect, are you kidding?  Many of the training videos are awful, not to mention offensive.  Colossal waste of collective labor hours.

Nope, not kidding.  I did say someone "might" be spared abuse.  Do you have evidence that no such videos have ever influenced behavior?  Do you recall that my initial comment was that institutions require such videos in order to cover their hind ends more than out of a belief they will be effective?  Or perhaps you didn't read that.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 21, 2020, 07:47:34 AM
Quote from: aside on November 20, 2020, 08:44:51 PM
Quote from: Cheerful on November 20, 2020, 06:14:08 AM

Quote from: aside on November 19, 2020, 08:44:52 PM
Everyone who might be spared abuse because the video did influence behavior.

With all due respect, are you kidding?  Many of the training videos are awful, not to mention offensive.  Colossal waste of collective labor hours.

Nope, not kidding.  I did say someone "might" be spared abuse.  Do you have evidence that no such videos have ever influenced behavior?  Do you recall that my initial comment was that institutions require such videos in order to cover their hind ends more than out of a belief they will be effective?  Or perhaps you didn't read that.

Well it's a far better use of people's time, money and energy than the new mania about helping us learn to teach anti-racistly, which should collide with academic freedom protection. Hopefully.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 24, 2020, 06:42:41 AM
New rule: 
When you see racism, sexism, institutional bias etc everywhere and you constantly write about it, you forfeit your right to show concern for the undue pressure on minority people whose ascendancy you are celebrating to fix everything related to race, including problems that aren't even necessarily problems. You are the one who is making it needlessly rough on them by making everything about identity, discrimination and parity.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/24/kamala-harris-symbol-representation-black-women-work-remains
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 24, 2020, 08:32:09 AM
Aaannddd...a new thread-killer has emerged in our midst.

It's not The Fiona, but I guess it'll have to do.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on November 29, 2020, 09:28:28 AM
Perhaps mamselle has the gift of life, for I have a new random thought anew:

I don't understand why all icings are not cream cheese icings. I have never met a buttercream that isn't outperformed by a cream cheese-based counterpart.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on December 01, 2020, 04:12:26 AM
I've got my xmas lights up, and I'm playing smooth jazz. If only I liked 420 more, I could just check out for the rest of the semester.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on December 01, 2020, 07:24:11 AM
There's a video on YouTube of the last day of my junior year of high school (thankfully, I'm not in it).  It's neat to see everyone so young again and know what they've grown up to be.   It's a little strange to see comments on the video from people who clearly didn't go to my high school and are not nearly in our age range.  Not sure why they'd want to watch that footage, but maybe the hair styles and fashion of the time are of interest or are entertaining.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on December 04, 2020, 08:05:37 AM
This school has instituted automated online course evaluations. They email the students telling them to do course evaluations, with a link to a site.

Of course, the students hardly bother to open their emails, and I have one smallish class where none of the students have done an evaluation yet.

The school is also emailing faculty asking them to encourage students to do course evaluations.

But what would my incentive? I can't imagine the students are particularly enthusiastic about my course. Most of them are getting Cs and Ds. I have certainly have no reason to encourage statistically significant feedback on my course.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on December 05, 2020, 06:00:19 AM
My school is the same. 

No only do I NOT have incentive to encourage this, I have incentive to DISCOURAGE it.  Our contract stipulates that response rates below a particular threshold can't be used in personnel evaluations.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on December 05, 2020, 07:20:59 AM
Right there with you on the online evals.  Ours this time are indicative of the general admin clusterf*ck the past year has been:

Late October:  urgent email to all faculty from Admin:  you must DROP what you're doing, RIGHT NOW, to tell your dean which section/s you want to get student evals for.  No, you can't wait until you're done teaching today--do it NOW, because we just now realized we should have started this in August. (Everyone must have at least one eval per semester, validated by union contract.)  All evals must be completed by Thanksgiving.

Later that same day, around 4 p.m., specific to me and about 85% of all faculty, by name:  You haven't answered yet.  You MUST tell us which class/es, NOW.

Next morning at 8, to me, and that same 85% by name:  Do this NOW, or risk a letter of insubordination in your personnel file!  [Being the sh*t disturber I am, I contacted my union president to let her know that I'd be digging in my heels and answering Admin if and when I got damned good and ready--as many other had also already told her.)

Nothing for a few days, then a pleading email from chair; apparently no one in our dept. had scheduled.  We all did schedule a class, by about 10 days after the initial email.

A few days before Thanksgiving, from Admin:  the surveys had not been launched, even after faculty had posted the 3-page instructions to our students asking them to participate.  The "problem has been corrected" (i.e., somebody forgot and we're trying to hide it behind tech difficulties) and surveys will open on November 30.

Email from Admin yesterday:  some students report problems taking the eval.  It only works with Chrome (never mind that one and all are always told to use only Firefox with the LMS, because Chrome usually either crashes the LMS for the user and/or fails to display all content (i.e., shows only page one of multiple page documents).  "Please advise students to use Chrome to do the eval."

Um, NO. I picked my best online class, who is filled with nice people who like me, and I still don't care.  Admin screwed up, and evals for this semester are going to be garbage, regardless.  My good students will have figured it out and give me good scores; the others probably wouldn't have done it regardless. 

TL; dr:  I agree with others about evals this fall.

BTW:  we learned--only because our union leadership told us--that the Chancellor has gotten a 3-year extension to his contract, with a hefty but undisclosed raise, while faculty are likely facing even more cuts.  (Thus the TL nature of my random thought--pissed off all around.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 08, 2020, 10:07:21 AM
One of our front desk staff members hinted the other day that they could use more candy at work to help them cope with the stresses of the pandemic.  Today I saw an opportunity to do something about that.  Another staff member who spends most of her time in her office is out today.  I let the staff on the front desk know that her office candy basket is unguarded today.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on December 18, 2020, 09:36:29 AM
I'd call Mike Tyson 'doctor' if he asked me to.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 18, 2020, 10:50:19 AM
We have a bunch of Christmas-themed art by local children on display at the library.  One of them is supposed to be a Christmas night scene.  Somehow it looks more like Halloween.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on December 18, 2020, 08:35:18 PM
My light switches have "on" and "off" marked on them.  Curious.  If the lights are on, one knows it.  If they are not, it's likely too dark to read the switch.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 19, 2020, 07:42:01 AM
There's nothing like putting out correspondence on your institution's letterhead to make you feel like you're doing something important.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on December 19, 2020, 08:39:06 AM
Quote from: aside on December 18, 2020, 08:35:18 PM
My light switches have "on" and "off" marked on them.  Curious.  If the lights are on, one knows it.  If they are not, it's likely too dark to read the switch.

But what if there are some circuits (?) controlled by more than one switch? Then one might be in the off position while the lights are on.  I have thought about labeling the switches in this house, because I cannot remember for the life of me what controls what sometimes. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on December 19, 2020, 09:43:50 AM
Quote from: aside on December 18, 2020, 08:35:18 PM
My light switches have "on" and "off" marked on them.  Curious.  If the lights are on, one knows it.  If they are not, it's likely too dark to read the switch.

The one time that would be useful is if the power was off, or the bulb was burnt out (in order to leave things in the desired state for when it's working again). So the function labels are only useful when the lights aren't able to function. (mind blown!)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 21, 2020, 07:15:43 AM
Currently reading Ross King's The Judgement of Paris,, about the French art scene in the 1860s and 1870s.  It includes a reproduction of Delacroix' "Liberty Leading the People."  I've lost track of the number of times I've seen that picture in a history book.  To one side of the allegorical figure of Liberty stands a guy with a musket.  That's said to be a self-portrait of Delacroix, to show his support ("wokeness," if you will) for the revolution.

To the other side is a youth who's shouting and waving a brace of pistols in a very reckless manner.  Ever time I see the picture I look at that youth and think "That kid's going to hurt somebody.  And it probably WON'T be the enemy...."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: nonsensical on December 22, 2020, 07:48:38 PM
I thought I understood a little bit about how vaccines work, but the more I read the more I think I don't understand anything. My impression from reading about the COVID vaccines, to the small extent that I've done so, is that they teach your immune system how to fight COVID. So if I take this vaccine and then am exposed to COVID, my immune system still has to exert itself to fight the virus, right? Would I feel that in some kind of way, like feeling a little sick but not as sick as full-blown COVID? If i wouldn't feel it, why not? How is it that my body is fighting an illness and I would just go about my day as usual and not feel anything different?

Also, if that's how the vaccine works, I don't think I understand why people currently have such different responses to COVID, with cases ranging from mild to severe. Is it the case that knowledge of how to fight COVID is a continuum? So, like, some people's immune systems are currently failing that class and some people's immune systems are C students, and the vaccine makes your immune system an A student?

I am not actually expecting anyone on this thread to take the time to educate me about this (though, if anyone felt like typing out some thoughts in response to this, I'd appreciate whatever education I get!). I am just having a lot of thoughts, that I suppose are random, about how medicine and biology and bodies work. I also feel kind of silly that I don't understand these things, but I comfort myself with the thought that I know a lot about some things, and this happens to not be one of them yet.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: waterboy on December 23, 2020, 07:17:46 AM
The vaccine will allow your body to recognize it very early, destroy it, and therefore prevent it from taking over, and thereby keeping you (95%) safe.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 23, 2020, 07:46:52 AM
In my job you have to do some weird things sometimes.  I just cut a check for over $500 to an alarm monitoring company--to pay for having them wake me up in the middle of the night several times a year.  Thanks, guys!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on December 23, 2020, 07:54:46 AM
Quote from: apl68 on December 23, 2020, 07:46:52 AM
In my job you have to do some weird things sometimes.  I just cut a check for over $500 to an alarm monitoring company--to pay for having them wake me up in the middle of the night several times a year.  Thanks, guys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71smG5d29to
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: nonsensical on December 26, 2020, 01:02:29 PM
Quote from: waterboy on December 23, 2020, 07:17:46 AM
The vaccine will allow your body to recognize it very early, destroy it, and therefore prevent it from taking over, and thereby keeping you (95%) safe.

Makes sense, thank you!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Puget on December 26, 2020, 01:55:20 PM
Quote from: nonsensical on December 22, 2020, 07:48:38 PM
I thought I understood a little bit about how vaccines work, but the more I read the more I think I don't understand anything. My impression from reading about the COVID vaccines, to the small extent that I've done so, is that they teach your immune system how to fight COVID. So if I take this vaccine and then am exposed to COVID, my immune system still has to exert itself to fight the virus, right? Would I feel that in some kind of way, like feeling a little sick but not as sick as full-blown COVID? If i wouldn't feel it, why not? How is it that my body is fighting an illness and I would just go about my day as usual and not feel anything different?

Also, if that's how the vaccine works, I don't think I understand why people currently have such different responses to COVID, with cases ranging from mild to severe. Is it the case that knowledge of how to fight COVID is a continuum? So, like, some people's immune systems are currently failing that class and some people's immune systems are C students, and the vaccine makes your immune system an A student?

I am not actually expecting anyone on this thread to take the time to educate me about this (though, if anyone felt like typing out some thoughts in response to this, I'd appreciate whatever education I get!). I am just having a lot of thoughts, that I suppose are random, about how medicine and biology and bodies work. I also feel kind of silly that I don't understand these things, but I comfort myself with the thought that I know a lot about some things, and this happens to not be one of them yet.

With the caveat that I'm definitely not an immunologist, here goes:

The immune response has two phases. The first is the innate response, and is not specific to any particular pathogen -- it just reacts to anything foreign. The second phase the adaptive response, which are specific to a particular pathogen. It is activated when antigen presenting cells (APCs) detect antigens (surface molecules) on the pathogen, and present them to B and T cells, which then produce antibodies, among other things. After encountering an antigen, memory B and T cells are also produced, which can quickly re-activate the adaptive response if that particular pathogen is encountered again.

Vaccines take advantage of those memory cells. In particular, the two vaccines that have been approved so far both use mRNA that codes the spike protein on the coronavirus. Your cells take the fragments of mRNA and translate them into the protein, because that's what cells do with mRNA (this is the same process viruses hijack to replicate themselves in cells, but in this case it is just the spike protein, so is harmless)---- this is the antigen.

The APCs then recognize that protein as foreign and present it on their surface, mounting the adaptive immune response and generating memory cells that will now react immediately if they encounter the actual virus. This speeds up the immune response, so the virus can't replicate enough to make you sick (or hopefully be transmitted to others, though that hasn't been established yet). You would have no symptoms for very mild symptoms. Your immune system is always active-- you always have pathogens of various kinds getting into your body, but your immune system destroys most of them before they can make you sick. So most of the time you are indeed going about your day blissfully unaware of what your immune system is up to.

Older vaccines work much the same way, except prior to having the tools to create custom snippets of mRNA, they worked by using dead or weakened whole viruses, a longer and more hit or miss process.

As to why there is a whole range of symptoms from the virus, immune responses vary across people (due to age and other health factors), so some are much more able to fight it off effectively than others, and some people mount such a strong immune response that the immune reaction itself becomes dangerous. The immune system is immensely complex and requires a fine balance between under and over-reacting.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: nonsensical on December 26, 2020, 02:21:15 PM
Puget, that's a really clear explanation, thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to type all of that out. Also, thinking about vaccines is making me really appreciate immune systems and the other cool things that bodies do. And, you know, science.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on December 27, 2020, 01:27:50 AM
The stress of these times brought on by worries caused by Covid 19, mine and my family's health and financial wellbeing, etc., has caused me lose my Southern Drawl a bit. I find myself speaking in a more clipped, or staccato one might say, manner. If others seem to recognize that in themselves, I can suggest they relax their vowels. I have found this very helpful to me in returning to my "normal" tone.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 31, 2020, 07:49:22 AM
In the (all too many) obituaries I've been seeing this year, I've seen a marked proliferation in the use of elaborate euphemisms for death--passed into glory, joined the angel choir, etc.  I appreciate the faith that's expressed in these, but let's not beat around the bush.  They died.  Just like we all do.

When I breathe my last, I hope that my obituary says "apl68 died on such and such a day.  Is looking forward to getting better soon."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on December 31, 2020, 09:08:28 AM
Quote from: apl68 on December 31, 2020, 07:49:22 AM
In the (all too many) obituaries I've been seeing this year, I've seen a marked proliferation in the use of elaborate euphemisms for death--passed into glory, joined the angel choir, etc.  I appreciate the faith that's expressed in these, but let's not beat around the bush.  They died.  Just like we all do.

When I breathe my last, I hope that my obituary says "apl68 died on such and such a day.  Is looking forward to getting better soon."

I am requesting my obit say "cial_yall blew this taco stand on..." Please consider this a written record as such, and if you hear about me doing so in real life you may contact whomever you wish and share this final request.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Puget on December 31, 2020, 09:21:48 AM
Quote from: nonsensical on December 26, 2020, 02:21:15 PM
Puget, that's a really clear explanation, thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to type all of that out. Also, thinking about vaccines is making me really appreciate immune systems and the other cool things that bodies do. And, you know, science.

The NYT has a really nice illustrated explainer here:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/moderna-covid-19-vaccine.html?name=styln-coronavirus-vaccines&region=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=Interactive&impression_id=e118a1b0-4b8a-11eb-8ff2-7bb119c71e36&variant=1_Show

Or as summarized by XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2404/
Also, I love this one: https://xkcd.com/2397/

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 05, 2021, 06:43:14 AM
If I have to log on to a website and follow detailed instructions in order to see my student evaluations, I'm even less likely to bother.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 13, 2021, 01:36:17 PM
Even though it has now been most of a year, I still can't help thinking of the irony every time I go to the bank and see a sign ordering customers to put on a mask before entering.  Used to they had signs discouraging people from entering with hoodies and sunglasses!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: writingprof on January 13, 2021, 01:42:28 PM
The phrase "no pun intended" is now completely disassociated, for most humans, from the presence of puns.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 14, 2021, 08:06:16 AM
If you are not sure a class is going to run, how close to the start of the semester do you wait to do the prep? I think I'm going to wait as long as possible.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on January 14, 2021, 08:54:51 AM
Quote from: downer on January 14, 2021, 08:06:16 AM
If you are not sure a class is going to run, how close to the start of the semester do you wait to do the prep? I think I'm going to wait as long as possible.

Your predicament is absolutely common and were it to be the subject of a new thread, would doubtless produce Polly_Mer pronouncing that whatever befalls you it can only be your fault for being an adjunct.
All of it is your fault, the febrile, verbose response would go -- the poor money, the accepting of the terms, the lack of compensation for cancellation, the lack of teeth in union membership, etc. With the rest of the forum, most of it, giving the usual extremely wide berth out of passive complicity.
There are of course people who've stopped reading the forum because of this toxicity. And others who would read the thread and quit reading the forum as a consequence.
It's why forums such as these, which exist to fortify the tenure track and its massive needs, are a cesspool for discussing legitimate adjunct concerns, and why your post appears as a random thought rather than an inquiry.
On the old forum there was poster named Infopri who absolutely had the sweetest most deferential adjunct attitude possible. She ran a thread where she told a story of spending the whole summer prepping a course that never ran, after having been asked explicitly. Her only reflection was 'how might I have handled this differently?' It was left to the reader to supply the 'WTF' reaction. This is really the right way to do it, these fora being dedicated to maintaining our employment and us as sacrificial components.
Lack uf nuance. I know. Because sometimes a steaming pile of shit that a group of people choosing to call something else in order to keep the status quo is just a steaming pile of shit, with people denying it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 15, 2021, 08:01:31 AM
Why did I wake up this morning with a TV advertising jingle I haven't heard in probably 30 years or more stuck in my head?

I guess whoever created that jingle did a good job of making it memorable.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on January 15, 2021, 08:51:55 AM
Same with 1950s/60s sit-com themes.

One morning it was, "A horse is a horse, of course, of course..."

(Sorry...)

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 16, 2021, 11:40:56 AM
It is doubtlessly too late, but I think the NFL playoff games slated today in Greenbay and Buffalo should be postponed and be rescheduled for Monday night play in Sydney Australia and Buenos Aires Argentina. Better weather, and attendance matters could be easily manipulated due to lack of interest.
As things are, we should all say a prayer for those "suited up". If needed, maybe next week, huh?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 19, 2021, 10:17:14 AM
You never know what will be donated to the library next.  Among today's arrivals:  The New Joy of Jello Recipe Book.  Lots of impressively done color photography there.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: wareagle on January 19, 2021, 11:24:36 AM
We could start a whole new thread of jello recipes.  You could pull some out of this wonderful book!

I think the Lutheran Church Basement women have already published on this subject....
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: hmaria1609 on January 19, 2021, 01:09:23 PM
Quote from: apl68 on January 19, 2021, 10:17:14 AM
You never know what will be donated to the library next.  Among today's arrivals:  The New Joy of Jello Recipe Book.  Lots of impressively done color photography there.
*LOL*
I came across a manual for a fax machine in our quarantined library materials last week. It went directly to the recycle bin!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 25, 2021, 01:34:04 PM
One of my students is doing their work from Venezuela. They live in Caracas. I know that place has some problems, but that is a beautiful city. I should be extra nice to this student.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on January 26, 2021, 07:50:26 AM
A double 10 days later...

Our own crested saurian is back in the news--nice picture!

   https://scitechdaily.com/jaw-dropping-new-dinosaur-skull-discovery-reveals-evolution-of-bizarre-crest/

I think they're a bit judgmental, saying it's "bizarre." I find it beautiful!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on January 27, 2021, 07:09:11 AM
Quote from: mamselle on January 26, 2021, 07:50:26 AM
A double 10 days later...

Our own crested saurian is back in the news--nice picture!

   https://scitechdaily.com/jaw-dropping-new-dinosaur-skull-discovery-reveals-evolution-of-bizarre-crest/

I think they're a bit judgmental, saying it's "bizarre." I find it beautiful!

M.

I teach a course on Dinosaurs.  I didn't see what was "new" in that article.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on January 27, 2021, 07:13:40 AM
Sorry, no, I didn't mean to say it was new overall (although the skull they're reporting on is apparently a recent discovery), but the graphics were kinda cool, and since we have our very own tame specimen on the fora, I thought I'd share--randomly, of course...

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 27, 2021, 05:30:11 PM
The commercial which shows an auto being driven with various forgotten things riding on top features a beautiful operatic vocal. Anyone know who the singer is? What an intense and cultured voice! He is truly an inspiration.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on January 28, 2021, 02:06:43 AM
So far, despite the recent political mayhem, it is projected that in 2021 there can still be "a chicken in every pot". However, poultry industry forecasts of consumption during the Super Bowl suggest that the chicken will most likely have no wings. Ibid...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on February 02, 2021, 10:03:14 AM
I just posted a vet appointment for the cat (interthreaduality) in my work Outlook calendar, and I'll be damned if it doesn't put a picture of a cat on there!  I tried "dog vet appointment" for a fake, and it puts a dog picture!  FINALLY, I've stumbled on something the school's IT products do right!  :-)

(Yes, I am embarrassed by how happy the cat picture made me.  It really doesn't take much these days.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on February 02, 2021, 12:50:13 PM
But it's not YOUR cat.

Tomorrow, you will receive your adoption papers from IT.....
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on February 02, 2021, 01:22:29 PM
Quote from: Economizer on January 27, 2021, 05:30:11 PM
The commercial which shows an auto being driven with various forgotten things riding on top features a beautiful operatic vocal. Anyone know who the singer is? What an intense and cultured voice! He is truly an inspiration.

Do you mean the ad with the recording of Edith Piaf singing "Je Ne Regrette Rien"?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 02, 2021, 01:35:59 PM
Quote from: AmLitHist on February 02, 2021, 10:03:14 AM
I just posted a vet appointment for the cat (interthreaduality) in my work Outlook calendar, and I'll be damned if it doesn't put a picture of a cat on there!  I tried "dog vet appointment" for a fake, and it puts a dog picture!  FINALLY, I've stumbled on something the school's IT products do right!  :-)

(Yes, I am embarrassed by how happy the cat picture made me.  It really doesn't take much these days.)

That is hilarious. It's the little things.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on February 02, 2021, 01:52:32 PM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 02, 2021, 01:35:59 PM
Quote from: AmLitHist on February 02, 2021, 10:03:14 AM
I just posted a vet appointment for the cat (interthreaduality) in my work Outlook calendar, and I'll be damned if it doesn't put a picture of a cat on there!  I tried "dog vet appointment" for a fake, and it puts a dog picture!  FINALLY, I've stumbled on something the school's IT products do right!  :-)

(Yes, I am embarrassed by how happy the cat picture made me.  It really doesn't take much these days.)

That is hilarious. It's the little things.

So true.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: wareagle on February 02, 2021, 01:56:55 PM
We use Outlook.  I should pass this on to our IT people.

For the record, when I tried a fake cat appointment, I got no pictures, nothing.  :(   
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on February 04, 2021, 07:12:18 AM
I'm sitting in a restaurant, waiting for an order to arrive.  All the people around me are strangers.  It's too crowded for social distancing, and nobody is wearing a mask.  This is making me nervous.

From the staff area we keep hearing a supervisor calling for a staff member.  Then we hear her chewing out the staffer.  Then we hear what sounds like a fight.  Yikes!

They start to bring the food out, with a big pot of rice first.  Then the rice is taken back, as if the staff had made a mistake.  I notice that my water glass has somehow disappeared too. 

Then I look out the window and notice that it's getting dark.  Then they turn the lights out inside so that we can hardly see.

Then I wake up.  The bizarre dining experience was all just a dream.  Thank goodness!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 04, 2021, 07:21:00 AM
I had a dream that I was in a crowded room and it felt so good.

In the same dream, I had resolved to move to Australia.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 04, 2021, 07:39:50 AM
Quote from: AmLitHist on February 02, 2021, 10:03:14 AM
I just posted a vet appointment for the cat (interthreaduality) in my work Outlook calendar, and I'll be damned if it doesn't put a picture of a cat on there!  I tried "dog vet appointment" for a fake, and it puts a dog picture!  FINALLY, I've stumbled on something the school's IT products do right!  :-)

(Yes, I am embarrassed by how happy the cat picture made me.  It really doesn't take much these days.)

I just tried this and it works! I get little cat and dog icons, but no bird icons. It also works for 'vet.' 'Birthday' gives you a little cake icon. 'Concert' gives you a music note. 'Doctor' gives a little med kit. Ok, I need to stop procrastinating.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on February 05, 2021, 11:05:05 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on February 04, 2021, 07:39:50 AM
Quote from: AmLitHist on February 02, 2021, 10:03:14 AM
I just posted a vet appointment for the cat (interthreaduality) in my work Outlook calendar, and I'll be damned if it doesn't put a picture of a cat on there!  I tried "dog vet appointment" for a fake, and it puts a dog picture!  FINALLY, I've stumbled on something the school's IT products do right!  :-)

(Yes, I am embarrassed by how happy the cat picture made me.  It really doesn't take much these days.)

I just tried this and it works! I get little cat and dog icons, but no bird icons. It also works for 'vet.' 'Birthday' gives you a little cake icon. 'Concert' gives you a music note. 'Doctor' gives a little med kit. Ok, I need to stop procrastinating.

You're welcome!  ; )
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on February 05, 2021, 07:30:11 PM
Perhaps I am getting a little too attached to my documents.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on February 09, 2021, 07:40:09 AM
A neighborhood in New York is now being terrorized by a deranged squirrel.  Hope they run down the culprit quickly.  Crazy squirrels can be scary.  Anything that can crack hickory nuts with its teeth can be dangerous if it has a mind to be! 

I've never been harmed by a deranged squirrel, but I had one try to steal my lunch on three separate occasions some years ago.  One one of those it came over the back of the bench I was sitting on, ran down my arm, and stole my sandwich right out of my hand.  Another time it leaped from the ground directly onto my chest and began crawling down my arm, sniffing for peanut butter.  We should all be glad that squirrels are normally too timid to use their ninja-like abilities for aggression.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 09, 2021, 07:53:26 AM
And--I hate to ask, but...can they get rabies?

I know raccoons and skunks can.

The aggro might have come from something like that, if so.

Glad you were safe.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on February 09, 2021, 09:38:34 AM
Squirrels and other rodents very rarely are found to have rabies, and none are known to have transmitted it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 09, 2021, 07:31:25 PM
I only asked because we had a rabid skunk running around in weird circles in the parking lot across the street from an apartment I used to live in.

They called animal control but the animal control officer was out that day.

So a regular police officer discharged his weapon (I presume after calling in for clearance) and shot the skunk...once, in the head, from 10 feet away.

It was hard to tell if the cordite or the skunksmell was more pungent....but at least people stopped crossing over to the other side of the street and sidling away.

M.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on February 10, 2021, 06:38:19 AM
I learned yesterday that Rotier's Restaurant in Nashville has closed:


https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/dining/2021/02/05/rotiers-close-nashville-after-nearly-75-years-cheeseburgers/5864885002/


They had been open in the same location, owned by the same family, for over 70 years.  During the late 1990s some friends and I used to go there often for a late supper after church on Wednesday evenings.  We usually had the place just about to ourselves at that time of evening.  It was just the kind of locally-owned greasy spoon hamburger place that you used to see everywhere.  Nothing special--which, in a sense, is what made it special.  I still have vivid memories of going there on a chilly night with those friends.  Haven't been there in over 20 years--on my visits back I've never felt much like going there by myself.

They're yet another casualty of the pandemic.  Also, they didn't have their lease renewed after somebody bought their building.  Nashville being Nashville, one of three things will happen to the property.  It will either be replaced by pricey apartments, or a bar (Like Nashville doesn't have 5000 of those already!), or an upscale chain restaurant.  None of those sounds like a good tradeoff to those of us who remember eating at Rotiers.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 10, 2021, 07:23:36 AM
I'm sorry for your loss....meant sincerely.

It's a kind of death when friendly, gentle places we recall with happy associations go away.

All the chrome and glass doesn't balance it out.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on February 18, 2021, 04:34:18 PM
Does anyone else read magazines from back to front (end to beginning? backward?)? I just realized I was doing it again.  Maybe the magazines I read just tend to put the interesting stuff at the end.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 18, 2021, 05:21:21 PM
I read the New Yorker from back-to-front sometimes, when the cartoon contest is particularly enticing...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 23, 2021, 05:29:06 AM
I share my course notes with students by putting them on Google Docs and making them shareable.

One nice feature of that is that I can go to them and see icons for how many students are viewing the docs at any particular time. It is good to see that at least some students do look at them. Then of course there are they students who just paraphrase what I have written for their responses. Still, they made some effort.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 25, 2021, 08:23:09 AM
Unrelated ^

Too many quagmires.

That is all.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on March 04, 2021, 04:10:33 AM
I wonder why a survey about our impressions, as faculty, about the state of the mental health of students, wants to know the race of the respondent.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 05, 2021, 07:24:16 AM
Every morning Microsoft sends me an email from Cortana which asks me if I did the things I said I would do for students.

There hasn't been anything more annoying since the MS Word paperclip office assistant.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on March 05, 2021, 07:30:48 AM
Quote from: downer on March 05, 2021, 07:24:16 AM
Every morning Microsoft sends me an email from Cortana which asks me if I did the things I said I would do for students.

There hasn't been anything more annoying since the MS Word paperclip office assistant.

I get that same idiotic email. I wish I had the email of the engineer who designed this "feature" so I could email every day and say "Did you brush your teeth this morning?"
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on March 13, 2021, 04:36:34 AM
I missed changing one of my clocks last Fall, and I've procrastinated changing it since then. Now that will pay off, when I won't need to adjust it tomorrow morning.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on March 13, 2021, 06:04:34 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on March 05, 2021, 07:30:48 AM
Quote from: downer on March 05, 2021, 07:24:16 AM
Every morning Microsoft sends me an email from Cortana which asks me if I did the things I said I would do for students.

There hasn't been anything more annoying since the MS Word paperclip office assistant.

I get that same idiotic email. I wish I had the email of the engineer who designed this "feature" so I could email every day and say "Did you brush your teeth this morning?"

I've learned to delete the emails from Cortana without reading them. I do not want Big Brother keeping track of my emails or other activity on my computers.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on March 13, 2021, 06:05:46 AM
Not blending with this place. Not sure I have enough patience and will to try...hmm...pause and reflect.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on March 13, 2021, 06:59:26 AM
Though far away [as I can get] from  NY/NYC politics, I admit that I am drawn to the controversy about Gov. Cuomo's improprieties. JUST TOUCHING. The guy is getting a raw deal. Perhaps, in the realm of politics, a non invasive caress  to woman is the equivalent of a back slap to a supporter or dais member, etc. The governor may experience an involuntary sensual welcome, even. He is known to be a ruggedly handsome sex magnet by the accounts of media publicity! Furthermore, HE IS SINGLE! If he's "hittin' on a chic" he probably still feels like a dumb teenager when he fails. It is probably better if he goes back to the age old Italian custom of just pinching the butt of those he finds alluring. Those complaining now could have simply said something like "knock it off", discreetly of course.

About the nursing home disgrace, the Gov., I would bet, hates that more than anything that he's ever had to deal with. How about folks and media helping him straightening that out. He damn sure was not
the help he was supposed to get before such events!



Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on March 13, 2021, 10:18:14 AM
Meant to say he did not get the help he was supposed to get/ Economizer

A gremlin at work??????
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 24, 2021, 06:40:23 AM
I get a good laugh when I get emails asking me to donate to the college which pays me peanuts.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: wareagle on March 24, 2021, 08:37:55 AM
Quote from: downer on March 24, 2021, 06:40:23 AM
I get a good laugh when I get emails asking me to donate to the college which pays me peanuts.

We have a major campaign going on today, and I've had two students, the school mascot, and someone from the foundation office at my door encouraging me to donate.  And it isn't even noon.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 24, 2021, 09:47:17 AM
Quote from: downer on March 24, 2021, 06:40:23 AM
I get a good laugh when I get emails asking me to donate to the college which pays me peanuts.

I feel the same way about beg letters from the grad school where I spent six years as cheap labor and still ended up with no PhD.

Still like to visit their campus once every couple of years, though.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 24, 2021, 07:50:20 PM
Didn't someone on the old forum answer an in-school donation request by saying,

   "I already do donate. Look at the differential between my pay and the standard for my pay grade around the country...,"

...or something like that...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Cheerful on March 25, 2021, 05:46:49 AM
I also find the donation requests insulting.  Not only due to salary/no raises/other financial matters, but because these fundraising emails never acknowledge the priceless, selfless, major contributions I provide to the university on a daily basis throughout the year.  Maybe I'd be less insulted if they'd at least acknowledge such in their spamming.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Harlow2 on March 25, 2021, 06:31:07 AM
Especially annoying are the appeals that come in the wake of failed contract negotiations where admins refuse to go to the table
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 25, 2021, 07:11:34 AM
I can see how it might be annoying. The requests for money do require a certain hypocracy and bold-faced insensitivity. But the ludicrousness of it is what makes me chuckle.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 26, 2021, 05:49:21 AM
The phrase "the marriage act" made me laugh. The writer is referring to the marital act. But "The Marriage Act" could make a good title for a play.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 26, 2021, 05:51:55 AM
So the library cancelled my interlibrary loan because they did an internet search and found the article online. They sent me a link to a website. Not the journal website. They just found a copy up on someone's website.

It is an enterprising approach to reducing costs.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on March 26, 2021, 06:40:27 PM
'you are trying to ignore this user'
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on March 26, 2021, 06:46:04 PM
Quote from: downer on March 26, 2021, 05:51:55 AM
So the library cancelled my interlibrary loan because they did an internet search and found the article online. They sent me a link to a website. Not the journal website. They just found a copy up on someone's website.

It is an enterprising approach to reducing costs.

Eventually all the information and technology you need will be available for free or a little more, but if you need a doctor you'll be finished.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on April 05, 2021, 07:40:52 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

If you don't live in a convent or a nunnery, how would they ever expect an answer different from "virtually every day" or even "every day"?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on April 05, 2021, 07:43:31 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

Oh, dear. I'm at a loss for words.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on April 05, 2021, 08:15:40 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

I laughed, but then I realized that considering my field, it's possible that some of my colleagues could go days at a time not interacting with people of a different gender if they don't interact with me or any of the female office staff. I'm a female in engineering in a field that attracts very few females, a couple of my colleagues are males who live alone, and often there are courses that have no females in them. The only other female professor in our department has been working solely remotely last fall and this spring. So yeah, depending on what they're teaching and what time of day they come and go from the building, males having no interaction with females is entirely possible. Just playing devil's advocate ;) I thought about this because unless I have reason to go into the main office, I can go days at a time, only interacting with people of a different gender.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on April 05, 2021, 08:22:26 AM
Quote from: EdnaMode on April 05, 2021, 08:15:40 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

I laughed, but then I realized that considering my field, it's possible that some of my colleagues could go days at a time not interacting with people of a different gender if they don't interact with me or any of the female office staff. I'm a female in engineering in a field that attracts very few females, a couple of my colleagues are males who live alone, and often there are courses that have no females in them. The only other female professor in our department has been working solely remotely last fall and this spring. So yeah, depending on what they're teaching and what time of day they come and go from the building, males having no interaction with females is entirely possible. Just playing devil's advocate ;) I thought about this because unless I have reason to go into the main office, I can go days at a time, only interacting with people of a different gender.

But was the context of the original question restricted to the workplace? (And in your case, any colleague teaching big classes will probably include at least a few female students. The most "unbalanced" engineering discipline around here still has around 10% women.) What about sales staff in stores, serving staff in restaurants, etc.? If this is talking about life in general, than I'd guess anyone who interacts with a dozen people in a day will almost certainly interact with at least one of a "different" gender.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on April 05, 2021, 08:29:02 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on April 05, 2021, 08:22:26 AM
Quote from: EdnaMode on April 05, 2021, 08:15:40 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

I laughed, but then I realized that considering my field, it's possible that some of my colleagues could go days at a time not interacting with people of a different gender if they don't interact with me or any of the female office staff. I'm a female in engineering in a field that attracts very few females, a couple of my colleagues are males who live alone, and often there are courses that have no females in them. The only other female professor in our department has been working solely remotely last fall and this spring. So yeah, depending on what they're teaching and what time of day they come and go from the building, males having no interaction with females is entirely possible. Just playing devil's advocate ;) I thought about this because unless I have reason to go into the main office, I can go days at a time, only interacting with people of a different gender.

But was the context of the original question restricted to the workplace? (And in your case, by definition most of your students are probably of a "different" gender.) What about sales staff in stores, serving staff in restaurants, etc.? If this is talking about life in general, than I'd guess anyone who interacts with a dozen people in a day will almost certainly interact with at least one of a "different" gender.

In my case, yes, I did mention that almost all of my interactions are with people of a "different" gender, but not so for my male colleagues. I figured that if I could go days at a time only seeing and interacting with men, then some of my male colleagues, especially the single ones who live alone, would also go days at a time only interacting with men. I was just being facetious, but in these days of the plague where so many people are staying home, doing online shopping, touch-free deliveries of even groceries, rarely eating out, etc. I was just saying that it was entirely possible to go days at a time without interacting with people of a different gender than oneself.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 05, 2021, 08:45:02 AM
Oh, I meant get get their dander up.

That is different from getting a gander.

The survey was about campus, and includes interactions with undergrads, as far as I can tell.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 06, 2021, 10:33:33 AM
Another day, another survey. (How many surveys are your schools asking you to do?)

Q: Does your institution provide faculty with the resources needed to succeed in a multicultural world?

Wait, what? What would those resources be? My main answer would be $$$.

Q: Does your institution ensure that you are not stigmatized because of your identity (racial/ethnic, gender, religious, sexual orientation, etc)

What's in the et cetera? You should hear how the engineers talk about the humanities.

I wish they would just say what they mean.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on April 07, 2021, 02:39:45 AM
People who don't want to get the vaccine are like people who don't want to install software updates.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on April 07, 2021, 06:23:46 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 08:45:02 AM
Oh, I meant get get their dander up.

That is different from getting a gander.

The survey was about campus, and includes interactions with undergrads, as far as I can tell.

Now I'm imagining a flock of very angry, honking male geese magically appearing and going after someone. Sic 'em!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: cathwen on April 07, 2021, 06:53:19 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

I got a diversity survey, too.  I got halfway through it and just gave up without submitting it.  Most of the questions did not apply to my situation (adjunct teaching one asynchronous online course), and there were no "does not apply" responses possible.  I have no idea at all about my students' sexuality or gender identity.  It is none of my business.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 07, 2021, 06:58:17 AM
Quote from: cathwen on April 07, 2021, 06:53:19 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 07:06:03 AM
Another diversity survey. Bound to get some people's gander up.

Did they really think it was useful to ask: "How often do you interact with people of a different gender?"

I got a diversity survey, too.  I got halfway through it and just gave up without submitting it.  Most of the questions did not apply to my situation (adjunct teaching one asynchronous online course), and there were no "does not apply" responses possible.  I have no idea at all about my students' sexuality or gender identity.  It is none of my business.

Seems like sometimes these surveys are just taken from a third party provider.

One had "In one word, say how you feel about the future of higher ed." Well, I had a laugh with that one.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 08, 2021, 07:00:17 AM
Once again, I wish there were a venue (and the time to prep, etc.) in which to teach a course (or a series, really) on mystery, crime, and spy literature.

This article:

   https://crimereads.com/betrayal-is-timeless-the-evolution-of-george-smiley/

with assigned reading in any three of the books listed, plus views of Guiness' performances in the TTSS series, would form a cool course on its own, which was what got me thinking of this again (I did draft a syllabus, once-upon-a-time...) Deighton, Fleming, and (for giggles, or inclusivity) Gilman might serve as comparanda for a start; others exist.

Or espionage could be paired with a study of detective fiction (Chandler to Sayers to Christie to Parker to T. (and S.) Hillerman to Cross to Grafton, say)--again with reference to films of their various works; and perhaps with a few comparisons from BBC series (The Professionals--the young Martin Shaw is gorgeous, just for starters--to the Endeavor/Morse/Lewis series, Prime Suspect, etc.) as well as US ones (Quincy, MD, never got the following it was due; House and Chance might showcase Laurie's blend of a BBC upraising transplanted to an LA agar), etc.

It would seem to me that student interest in doing the reading might be a bit higher, and discussions would be interesting to prompt: Does Chirstie give away too little? Chandler too much? Did Grafton's experience in writing for the screen inform her prose style in any identifiable ways?

Just a thought. These days it could be taught online, easily, might be fun!

Another lifetime, another show...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on April 08, 2021, 07:12:05 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on April 07, 2021, 06:23:46 AM
Quote from: downer on April 05, 2021, 08:45:02 AM
Oh, I meant get get their dander up.

That is different from getting a gander.

The survey was about campus, and includes interactions with undergrads, as far as I can tell.

Now I'm imagining a flock of very angry, honking male geese magically appearing and going after someone. Sic 'em!

Don't laugh.  I've been on the receiving end of that.  We have a quartet of geese at the city park that get very aggressive if they feel you've violated their turf.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on April 11, 2021, 02:50:02 AM
Speaking of turf, I am trying to figure out why Coca Cola and Delta Airlines corporate are getting involved in opposing GA vote security issues. I know President Biden is against it for backer/control reasons. But, major international buiness?

Perhaps other issues are involved?  Corporate tax law changes? Reporting requirements? Employer/Employee to Government concerns? General lobbying tactics? Overseas operations?

Public Relations with whom? FOR WHY! Permissions to market vape, dope, and alcohol products? Howabout internal power struggles? Maybe for public opinion enhancements in certain market sectors? Hmmmm, Atlanta, Georgia, transplants, politics, society, yuppies..CAHOOTS?  CAHOOTS! That's it, cahoots.




Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on April 11, 2021, 06:24:06 AM
Quote from: Economizer on April 11, 2021, 02:50:02 AM
Speaking of turf, I am trying to figure out why Coca Cola and Delta Airlines corporate are getting involved in opposing GA vote security issues. I know President Biden is against it for backer/control reasons. But, major international buiness?

What rea$on$ do corporation$ do any of the thing$ they do?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on April 11, 2021, 06:30:03 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on April 11, 2021, 06:24:06 AM
Quote from: Economizer on April 11, 2021, 02:50:02 AM
Speaking of turf, I am trying to figure out why Coca Cola and Delta Airlines corporate are getting involved in opposing GA vote security issues. I know President Biden is against it for backer/control reasons. But, major international buiness?

What rea$on$ do corporation$ do any of the thing$ they do?
No one could have possibly worded and symbolized it better! Say, while we're talking money, the Biden administration has indicated that it will be refunding CoPays (monies paid to VA for non covered services) to patients enrolled in their services. I'm wondering if these refunds will come from a commercial bank, U.S. Bank,  to which the CoPays have been sent for deposit the last couple of years [it is located in Portland Oregon] or from the U.S. Treasury monies, leaving  previously submitted payments unaccounted for? Or misapplyable? Or available for fraud? Just checking, so to speak.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Vkw10 on April 11, 2021, 10:28:18 AM
Quote from: Economizer on April 11, 2021, 06:30:03 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on April 11, 2021, 06:24:06 AM
Quote from: Economizer on April 11, 2021, 02:50:02 AM
Speaking of turf, I am trying to figure out why Coca Cola and Delta Airlines corporate are getting involved in opposing GA vote security issues. I know President Biden is against it for backer/control reasons. But, major international buiness?

What rea$on$ do corporation$ do any of the thing$ they do?
No one could have possibly worded and symbolized it better!

Coca Cola and Delta are both headquartered in Atlanta, so they care about issues that may make it harder for them to attract and retain top talent. Remember a few years ago when corporations were pushing for national recognition of same-sex marriage? They were finding that some employees were refusing transfers and promotions to certain states, plus spending serious money on keeping employee benefit rules in line with varying state laws on marriage and domestic partnerships. A couple of decades ago, SC finally took Confederate flag off statehouse dome, because NAACP's encouragement to boycott the state was affecting Myrtle Beach tourism season and business sector made it clear that historical artifacts should be relegated to museums when they start affecting profits.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on April 12, 2021, 06:30:39 AM
So, DELTA AIRLINES is pressuring State of Georgia legislators, and possibly affecting the ECONOMY of that state, because it would better internal personnel concerns and would move forward their positions re social matters.That is INANE, FLY THE PLANE!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on April 23, 2021, 11:57:25 AM
But heroines are already legal.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on April 24, 2021, 12:19:04 PM
Speaking of ganders:

There is a pair of tame geese on the country road out to Kid #1's house in the country.  There's a big white gander and a huge gray goose.  They seem to always be out in the grass, right on the edge of the blacktop road, when I go out.  It really makes my day to see them, as I did earlier this morning.

There are also lots of Canada geese in the fields out that way, and other large birds.  There's a closed electric plant in that area, and the lake draws lots of wildlife. (I've never seen the trumpeter swans that occasionally stop Kid's progress when they stand in the middle of the road.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 29, 2021, 06:21:37 AM
Interesting to see an adjunct faculty member get recognized at one school for their service.

I wonder what motivates them to go above and beyond. It's almost incomprehensible to me.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 05, 2021, 10:32:14 AM
I am curious to see what it would mean to re-envisage the university through the lens of critical race theory, and a bit surprised to see the administration supportive of the project. I do wonder what the large Asian student population will make of it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 05, 2021, 11:50:54 AM
Quote from: downer on April 29, 2021, 06:21:37 AM
Interesting to see an adjunct faculty member get recognized at one school for their service.

I wonder what motivates them to go above and beyond. It's almost incomprehensible to me.

Attitude, maybe?

Where I've adjuncted, I've had support for my research in a number of (small, but still supportive) ways, interest in my work, and willingness to let me present on new topics and participate in the annual Community of Scholars events.

No issues.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on May 05, 2021, 12:29:54 PM
Quote from: downer on April 29, 2021, 06:21:37 AM
Interesting to see an adjunct faculty member get recognized at one school for their service.

I wonder what motivates them to go above and beyond. It's almost incomprehensible to me.

That's the type of question that would deserve its own thread if this forum were a place fit for serious discussion of adjunct issues, which of course it is not.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AvidReader on May 05, 2021, 12:32:03 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 05, 2021, 11:50:54 AM
Where I've adjuncted, I've had support for my research in a number of (small, but still supportive) ways, interest in my work, and willingness to let me present on new topics and participate in the annual Community of Scholars events.

Seconded. I had a lot of support, community, and interest in my work at my last two adjunct positions in particular. I felt appreciated as a member of those departments. My research was celebrated, I was encouraged to do service, and my boss recommended me for external activities in our larger community.

AR.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on May 05, 2021, 06:26:35 PM
Quote from: downer on May 05, 2021, 10:32:14 AM
I am curious to see what it would mean to re-envisage the university through the lens of critical race theory, and a bit surprised to see the administration supportive of the project. I do wonder what the large Asian student population will make of it.

Very good question. If they are outperforming the caucasian students, as they often do, then critical race theory says it's unfair (not equitable) and something needs to be done to rectify it.

I need a bladder biopsy. My urologist is a 38 year old Asian American. My wife says her hospital is better than mine. But I love this doctor. I'm sticking with him. So I am a racist.

Nothing could surprise me less than that your administration is supportive of the project. All higher education institutions need to keep up with the Joneses and academia is the cheerleading team for this virulent stupidity. But it is an eerie feeling, just how quickly the thing moved and took over. There is some cautious and some determined resistance building.

https://americanmind.org/features/life-after-cancellation/you-can-hold-your-ground-against-critical-theory/
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on May 05, 2021, 09:06:30 PM
Quote from: AvidReader on May 05, 2021, 12:32:03 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 05, 2021, 11:50:54 AM
Where I've adjuncted, I've had support for my research in a number of (small, but still supportive) ways, interest in my work, and willingness to let me present on new topics and participate in the annual Community of Scholars events.

Seconded. I had a lot of support, community, and interest in my work at my last two adjunct positions in particular. I felt appreciated as a member of those departments. My research was celebrated, I was encouraged to do service, and my boss recommended me for external activities in our larger community.

AR.

Wow, some stories that tell of the common adjunct life. Nice to have around.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 29, 2021, 05:42:45 AM
Random observation,, unrelated to the above, or maybe only indirectly...

When I get broody, I start writing article abstracts.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 31, 2021, 08:32:45 AM
...or, when my afternoon students have confirmed they won't have their lessons today, I "accept" so many LinkedIn contacts (all of whom I do, truly, know) that the site flips out, sending me little notes saying, "You're accepting more than months people usually do," and putting the last batch on "pending," so it doesn't gag.

I'm going to guess most will accept.

I just haven't had time for that level off attention to their site for awhile. And I may want to start doing more PR-like stuff there, so it's a reasonable thing to do.

Interesting to see who came up.

And 2 just accepted...yea!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on June 19, 2021, 03:28:02 AM
At the struggling school I do part time work for:

there are no departments or department chairs
nearly all the full time faculty seem to be workng in administrative positions, leaving the teaching to part time faculty
there doesn't seem to be a registrar any more, just a registrar's office
senior administration are nearly all "interim" and people keep leaving

It's like watching those spinning plates acts, waiting for them all to fall.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on June 19, 2021, 05:35:16 AM
Quote from: downer on June 19, 2021, 03:28:02 AM
At the struggling school I do part time work for:

there are no departments or department chairs
nearly all the full time faculty seem to be workng in administrative positions, leaving the teaching to part time faculty
there doesn't seem to be a registrar any more, just a registrar's office
senior administration are nearly all "interim" and people keep leaving

It's like watching those spinning plates acts, waiting for them all to fall.

But aren't you an adjunct faculty member, one of those who lack a long term commitment to the well being of the institution, and therefore are not worthy of investment or commitment from the college? And yet you sound like you care deeply about the place and are getting consumed with worry about its future. And what about the full time faculty, who do have that vital sense of commitment to the long term success of the institution, yet have been leaving...?!
My goodness. This is confusing.
Maybe I'll understand after more coffee. Or maybe I'll be bitter. You, know, bitterness, that human foible that you attribute to coffee, or the external world, when it is you who are hopelessly twisted inside.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on June 19, 2021, 07:02:51 AM
I'm mostly stoic about it. Schools like this one tend to focus on more practical training, and students are not that great. Some don't know why they are there at all, and others are not up to combining work and college at the same time. The admins excel at BS but don't treat anybody well. It's no great loss to the world if the school closes. But it does mean people losing their jobs, which is hard for them. It's always odd to see the admin acting as if things are great. But if they act in any other way, they will just precipitate the closure. And there's always the possibility that they won't close -- they will manage to continue with their cost-saving measures.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on June 19, 2021, 07:13:46 AM
Yes, stoicism. How does the place even deserve to exist? I've thought that many times. And been told I shouldn't be teaching with that attitude. Of course we say a few similar things, but with different tone.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on June 20, 2021, 10:59:50 AM
I really appreciate archival, document fountain pen inks. It's very nice to know that if I run my hand over a page I've written, it won't smear or smudge or anything. And I'm very grateful that these inks are available in colors like pink and purple.

But they're not very good versions of the colors. They're always a bit faded and washed out and grayish. I understand that this is probably a necessary trade-off. All the lively sheeny shady vibrant saturated colors probably depend on dyes that are not archival, waterproof, smearproof, etc. But still. I wish the smearproof inks were prettier, or the pretty inks were smearproofier.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 20, 2021, 03:45:25 PM
Quote from: ergative on June 20, 2021, 10:59:50 AM
I really appreciate archival, document fountain pen inks. It's very nice to know that if I run my hand over a page I've written, it won't smear or smudge or anything. And I'm very grateful that these inks are available in colors like pink and purple.

But they're not very good versions of the colors. They're always a bit faded and washed out and grayish. I understand that this is probably a necessary trade-off. All the lively sheeny shady vibrant saturated colors probably depend on dyes that are not archival, waterproof, smearproof, etc. But still. I wish the smearproof inks were prettier, or the pretty inks were smearproofier.

These guys might have what you want (and will definitely understand why you want it..)

   https://www.bobslatestationer.com/

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on June 21, 2021, 08:07:47 AM
Got a lovely card and gift from the youngster for Father's Day. The best gift you can get is to see them thriving.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on June 21, 2021, 08:36:07 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on June 21, 2021, 08:07:47 AM
Got a lovely card and gift from the youngster for Father's Day. The best gift you can get is to see them thriving.

I read that as see them leaving.

Not quite the same sentiment.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on June 21, 2021, 05:59:59 PM
Quote from: FishProf on June 21, 2021, 08:36:07 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on June 21, 2021, 08:07:47 AM
Got a lovely card and gift from the youngster for Father's Day. The best gift you can get is to see them thriving.

I read that as see them leaving.

Not quite the same sentiment.

The youngster is grown. Just a pet name. Left us years ago.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 25, 2021, 03:05:00 PM
Last night, my husband finally saw our corner store owner without a mask after a year or so of shopping there.  Husband described the guy as good looking and as a cross between Harrison Ford and Shaggy.   I thought he meant the musical artist Shaggy (of "Boombastic" fame) and was trying to picture that mash up, but apparently he meant Shaggy of "Scooby Doo."  I forgot to ask him if he meant the cartoon or the live-action movie, but I guess they are pretty similar looking.  I am still having trouble picturing it today.  Not sure how to process "good looking" with this combo.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 06, 2021, 08:41:50 AM
^ Unrelated.

Grace denatures those twin sins of Sloth & Despair.

Latch onto Grace.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 17, 2021, 03:50:32 AM
Cortana actually sent me a useful reminder today.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on August 17, 2021, 04:39:57 AM
Quote from: downer on August 17, 2021, 03:50:32 AM
Cortana actually sent me a useful reminder today.

It's been a year and a half, and I haven't had that happen yet. Congrats!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on August 24, 2021, 06:16:59 AM
'What does "woke" mean? It means you're a loser. Everything "woke" touches turns to shit.'

DJT, who, despite being a serial liar, somehow managed to say something that is obviously true and needed saying before anyone else did.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 24, 2021, 10:15:31 AM
Y'aint woke, ya broke, bro.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: fishbrains on August 25, 2021, 04:14:13 PM
I wonder how many of these high school students who are in "quarantine" at home are still going to their after-school jobs?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on August 25, 2021, 06:34:24 PM
I was in a place that probably needs a mask mandate, and NO ONE was masked.  Smolt got strange looks when I made her mask up in shops.

Now, we are home, where things are still largely under control and the numbers of the masked (sounds like a horror movie title) are approaching 50% by my informal estimate. 

Those two observations couldn't be connected, could they?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 26, 2021, 07:10:18 AM
Quote from: fishbrains on August 25, 2021, 04:14:13 PM
I wonder how many of these high school students who are in "quarantine" at home are still going to their after-school jobs?

I wonder how many high school students actually have after-school jobs?  They seem to be pretty rare anymore.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:10:41 AM
I feel bad for the dept chair calling around trying to find an adjunct to teach a Zoom class starting tomorrow.

But not that bad.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on September 01, 2021, 05:41:31 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:10:41 AM
I feel bad for the dept chair calling around trying to find an adjunct to teach a Zoom class starting tomorrow.

But not that bad.

Did someone quit at the last minute? Or was this just ridiculously bad (or non-existent) planning?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:59:03 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on September 01, 2021, 05:41:31 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:10:41 AM
I feel bad for the dept chair calling around trying to find an adjunct to teach a Zoom class starting tomorrow.

But not that bad.

Did someone quit at the last minute? Or was this just ridiculously bad (or non-existent) planning?

I imagine some plan fell through.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on September 01, 2021, 10:26:27 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:59:03 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on September 01, 2021, 05:41:31 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:10:41 AM
I feel bad for the dept chair calling around trying to find an adjunct to teach a Zoom class starting tomorrow.

But not that bad.

Did someone quit at the last minute? Or was this just ridiculously bad (or non-existent) planning?

I imagine some plan fell through.

I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.
Sometime ago, I wanna say like June or July 2020, they asked me whether I was planning to be working with them again in the fall. I answered yes, which turned out to be what happened. I realized that was the first time, other than getting hired initially, that anyone had asked me straight out, was I planning to continue. I used to think this was odd, as your contract expires at the end of each semester in no uncertain terms. Of course nothing gets signed anymore. Someone in one of the offices just forges your signature on the contract to get it moving, in the first week or two, hopefully.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 01, 2021, 10:30:15 AM
Heard outside a local beauty shop:

"You can't walk past the shampoo bowl back there, because the bathroom stinks so bad!"

Were they talking about the shop they were standing in front of, or another one in their experience?  If the former, it might explain why they were all standing outside.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on September 01, 2021, 10:33:23 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:59:03 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on September 01, 2021, 05:41:31 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:10:41 AM
I feel bad for the dept chair calling around trying to find an adjunct to teach a Zoom class starting tomorrow.

But not that bad.

Did someone quit at the last minute? Or was this just ridiculously bad (or non-existent) planning?

I imagine some plan fell through.
At my place, and when I was chair, if this happens, the chair has to teach the class. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on September 01, 2021, 10:52:13 AM
Quote from: AmLitHist on September 01, 2021, 10:33:23 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:59:03 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on September 01, 2021, 05:41:31 AM
Quote from: downer on September 01, 2021, 05:10:41 AM
I feel bad for the dept chair calling around trying to find an adjunct to teach a Zoom class starting tomorrow.

But not that bad.

Did someone quit at the last minute? Or was this just ridiculously bad (or non-existent) planning?

I imagine some plan fell through.
At my place, and when I was chair, if this happens, the chair has to teach the class.

What if the chair wasn't qualified?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on September 01, 2021, 11:01:02 AM
I'm at a CC, so chairs are required to be qualified in the entire sequence.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 08, 2021, 10:36:02 AM
I'm curious about other's wishes. If a student adds your (online) course in the first week, do you want them to email you introducing themselves or at least notifying you they have added?

I guess so long as they do the work for the first week, I don't much care. But if they are going to start saying "I need an extension because I added the class in the first week" I want them to show they are paying attention to the work they need to do.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: arcturus on September 08, 2021, 10:55:15 AM
Quote from: downer on September 08, 2021, 10:36:02 AM
I'm curious about other's wishes. If a student adds your (online) course in the first week, do you want them to email you introducing themselves or at least notifying you they have added?

I guess so long as they do the work for the first week, I don't much care. But if they are going to start saying "I need an extension because I added the class in the first week" I want them to show they are paying attention to the work they need to do.
We have a week of open drop/add at the start of every semester. I know students add my course because I need to move them manually into a discussion group - where the prompt is "introduce yourself". However, more to your point, I extend the submission window for all first week assignments so that those who add late can still complete the work, but that the regular pattern of due dates is well established for the majority of students in the class. I do wish that the LMS notified me of the new students so that I would not have to check regularly to see if there are students to be moved into the appropriate discussion group. Fortunately, it is only 1 week...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on September 08, 2021, 09:23:20 PM
With all the attention given to the evacuations from Kabul, I've not heard anything about its effects on the opium agriculture and trade there. Has the drug smuggling and its components worldwide had any dramatic changes? Have the stronger manufactured addictives gotten bigger markets
due to transport problems from Afganistan recently? Were many of the large numbers of Americans there involved the huge international drug trade? Is there a difference in routes in the into U.S., and the types and strengths of dangerous processed concoctions and potions entering U.S.
territory due to Afghany occurrences? Are the villains of the world seizing opportunities arising from intentional lax enforcement at a time of distractions away from daily governmental responsibilitie, duties, and concerns? Well, from scant reports I've heard or read lately, I THINK THAT THESE ARE SO!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on September 12, 2021, 11:22:34 AM
Instagram's algorithm has suddenly lost the thread. I have a carefully curated timeline that contains only posters who create art in one of two extremely specific niches, and I only ever post in those niches myself. For a long time it was obediently suggesting similar posters, and I would like and follow people from those suggestions to reward its guesses.

So why has it decided today that I must be fascinated in influencers who offer makeup tutorials and describe how white dudes over 40 keep fit? Did it just do a behind-the-scenes software update and do some shrinkage or regression to the mean? Ugh. That fitness guy's face and tight t-shirts give me such a negative visceral reaction when I scroll through looking for Islamic geometric art!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 12, 2021, 03:22:07 PM
That would indeed be a let-down.

Islamic geometric art would be much preferred in my book, too.

What era?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on September 13, 2021, 12:45:26 AM
Not necessarily the historical stuff (although I love the patterns from the Royal Alcazar of Seville and the Alhambra Palace) as the work by modern artists, who dive into the geometry and post tutorials about how to fit a particular style of pattern into a √3 or √2 rectangular frame. I don't necessarily follow the geometric principles, but I love trying to reconstruct the patterns.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 13, 2021, 01:14:31 AM
I hadn't realized there was a modern movement in that direction!

I've followed the older mosaics, but missed the updated efforts, thanks!

OK, back to whatever this thread is about.

Thirsty art historians have to quaff sustenance wherever the find it...

;--》

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Economizer on September 15, 2021, 08:32:51 AM
Quote from: Economizer on September 08, 2021, 09:23:20 PM
With all the attention given to the evacuations from Kabul, I've not heard anything about its effects on the opium agriculture and trade there. Has the drug smuggling and its components worldwide had any dramatic changes? Have the stronger manufactured addictives gotten bigger markets
due to transport problems from Afganistan recently? Were many of the large numbers of Americans there involved the huge international drug trade? Is there a difference in routes in the into U.S., and the types and strengths of dangerous processed concoctions and potions entering U.S.
territory due to Afghany occurrences? Are the villains of the world seizing opportunities arising from intentional lax enforcement at a time of distractions away from daily governmental responsibilitie, duties, and concerns? Well, from scant reports I've heard or read lately, I THINK THAT THESE ARE SO!
It just to me that FENTYNAL, an extremely powerful enhancement of cocaine/heroin (?) or such, thus dangerous, appeared to general awareness after U.S. military operations began in Afghanistan. Any connection?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 17, 2021, 03:38:16 AM
Who is excited for Windows 11?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 17, 2021, 03:42:21 AM
I'm excited to keep its grasping little hands off my computer for as long as possible.

But then, I'm a troglodyte that way.

Updates don't impress me, either.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 20, 2021, 07:27:48 AM
Our church projects song lyrics on a screen during worship services.  The words are often projected over background slides of beautiful landscapes.  One of these is a high-altitude view down a spectacular canyon.  I'm pretty sure I recognize it as a shot of Hell's Canyon on the Snake River in Oregon.  Doesn't that seem a little ironic in that context?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Caracal on September 20, 2021, 07:44:06 AM
Quote from: ergative on September 12, 2021, 11:22:34 AM
Instagram's algorithm has suddenly lost the thread. I have a carefully curated timeline that contains only posters who create art in one of two extremely specific niches, and I only ever post in those niches myself. For a long time it was obediently suggesting similar posters, and I would like and follow people from those suggestions to reward its guesses.

So why has it decided today that I must be fascinated in influencers who offer makeup tutorials and describe how white dudes over 40 keep fit? Did it just do a behind-the-scenes software update and do some shrinkage or regression to the mean? Ugh. That fitness guy's face and tight t-shirts give me such a negative visceral reaction when I scroll through looking for Islamic geometric art!

Yeah, Instagram has gotten annoying with that stuff. The thing I like about it, as opposed to Facebook, is that it is very easy to make it a pleasant place that just has pictures of stuff you want to see. I usually don't get any negative feelings from scrolling through it because of that, so it feels really jarring when they start inserting weird stuff in.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 20, 2021, 07:57:22 AM
Quote from: apl68 on September 20, 2021, 07:27:48 AM
Our church projects song lyrics on a screen during worship services.  The words are often projected over background slides of beautiful landscapes.  One of these is a high-altitude view down a spectacular canyon.  I'm pretty sure I recognize it as a shot of Hell's Canyon on the Snake River in Oregon.  Doesn't that seem a little ironic in that context?

At least ironic. Maybe someone even had a prophetic sense of invoking apocalyptic imagery, too.

But (having taught art history and interacted with those for whom I've made very careful visual choices, only to find they don't "get" them or pay attention to them at all), it was more likely just basic, boring cluelessness.

A similar (very sharp) irony exists on the CD jacket for a group of Peter Abelard's chants.

As you may recall, Abelard was hounded, virtually to his death, by Bernard's self-serving persecutions. So what's the picture the CD company choses to put on the Abelard cover?

A picture of Bernard and his monks. (Probably because someone googled images of chant in churches from that era in France, and that's what showed up.)

I suspect Abelard's been doing revolutions in his Pere-la-Chaise tomb ever since. 

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 23, 2021, 04:48:28 AM
Microsoft has stopped support of its Outlook app for Chromebook. They are making users move to check their email on the web.

It was a terrible app on the Chromebook. But rather then solve the problems, they just abandoned it.

I use a Chromebook and I'm sure a lot of students do -- especially students on a tight budget. It seems that a large proportion of schools have put all their eggs in the Office 365 basket. I suspect that now even fewer students will be checking their school email frequently since they won't be getting notifications of emails that the app used to provide.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 23, 2021, 06:42:07 AM
Forward to Gmail?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on September 23, 2021, 06:45:36 AM
I wonder what the (presumably) new to this area students and faculty, who I saw wearing puffy coats this morning, will do when it actually gets cold? It was 56 degrees this morning on my way into campus.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 23, 2021, 07:18:37 AM
Quote from: EdnaMode on September 23, 2021, 06:45:36 AM
I wonder what the (presumably) new to this area students and faculty, who I saw wearing puffy coats this morning, will do when it actually gets cold? It was 56 degrees this morning on my way into campus.

I wonder what they'll do when it warms up later on today, if they aren't close to a place where they can leave their puffy coats so that they aren't sweltering.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on September 25, 2021, 04:39:22 AM
Imagine sorting children into groups by skin color, then labelling them as to either their merit or their blame for something done hundreds of years ago. Some kids (mixed) wouldn't know which group they belong to. Imagine the stress deciding! Get out your dictionary, look up 'oppressor.' What an absolutely dastardly, perverted activity. Worse yet, the dishonesty of those who pretend not to see what an abomination it is. Know what's behind this movement? Very simple. Hatred.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 26, 2021, 07:38:07 AM
How often do you have students whose last name is the word for a vegetable? Can you guess which vegetable this student shares a name with?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 26, 2021, 11:14:27 AM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 07:38:07 AM
How often do you have students whose last name is the word for a vegetable? Can you guess which vegetable this student shares a name with?

Probably not courgette.

Chard?

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 26, 2021, 11:29:56 AM
Onion.

Or...Bean?

Do you have one of Mr. Bean's kids in your class?

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 26, 2021, 11:35:41 AM
Legumes are fruit.

I knew someone in college whose last name was Onions. But it isn't that.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 26, 2021, 02:54:56 PM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 11:35:41 AM
Legumes are fruit.

I knew someone in college whose last name was Onions. But it isn't that.

Chive? Maize (maiz)?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on September 26, 2021, 03:06:05 PM
QuoteLegumes are fruit.

Qué?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on September 26, 2021, 03:32:11 PM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 07:38:07 AM
How often do you have students whose last name is the word for a vegetable? Can you guess which vegetable this student shares a name with?

We had neighbors with the last name of Wortel.  That's the Dutch word for carrot or root.  Dutch family so it made sense.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 26, 2021, 05:42:21 PM
Quote from: dismalist on September 26, 2021, 03:06:05 PM
QuoteLegumes are fruit.

Qué?

C'est vrai.

Here's a clue. It's an Italian word.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on September 26, 2021, 06:02:11 PM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 05:42:21 PM
Quote from: dismalist on September 26, 2021, 03:06:05 PM
QuoteLegumes are fruit.

Qué?

C'est vrai.

Here's a clue. It's an Italian word.

Upon undertaking thorough research on the internet, I conclude that legumes are flowering plants, not flowers. A legume is any plant that bears its fruit inside a pod. Legume is an umbrella term that includes beans and pulses. Thus, all beans are considered a legume, but not all legumes are considered beans.

Pasta  e Fagioli! :-)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on September 27, 2021, 02:34:40 AM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 07:38:07 AM
How often do you have students whose last name is the word for a vegetable? Can you guess which vegetable this student shares a name with?

Cabbage? Leek? Carrot?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on September 27, 2021, 05:51:37 AM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 07:38:07 AM
How often do you have students whose last name is the word for a vegetable? Can you guess which vegetable this student shares a name with?

Broccoli?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 27, 2021, 06:08:14 AM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 05:42:21 PM
Quote from: dismalist on September 26, 2021, 03:06:05 PM
QuoteLegumes are fruit.

Qué?

C'est vrai.

Here's a clue. It's an Italian word.

Hmm. So many possibilities. Pomodoro?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on September 27, 2021, 06:54:33 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 27, 2021, 06:08:14 AM
Quote from: downer on September 26, 2021, 05:42:21 PM
Quote from: dismalist on September 26, 2021, 03:06:05 PM
QuoteLegumes are fruit.

Qué?

C'est vrai.

Here's a clue. It's an Italian word.

Hmm. So many possibilities. Pomodoro?

Oh, I missed the clue.

Fagiolini?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 27, 2021, 07:22:43 AM
We have a winner!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 27, 2021, 06:59:35 PM
Quote from: downer on September 27, 2021, 07:22:43 AM
We have a winner!

Maybe I missed something- I had a long day. Was it 'bean' or 'tomato?'
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 29, 2021, 04:55:59 AM
The Amazon Astro personal robot seems like a joke. It doesn't even roll a joint for you.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Anselm on September 29, 2021, 08:35:04 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 27, 2021, 06:59:35 PM
Quote from: downer on September 27, 2021, 07:22:43 AM
We have a winner!

Maybe I missed something- I had a long day. Was it 'bean' or 'tomato?'

La Eggplanta
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 29, 2021, 08:43:09 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on September 27, 2021, 06:59:35 PM
Quote from: downer on September 27, 2021, 07:22:43 AM
We have a winner!

Maybe I missed something- I had a long day. Was it 'bean' or 'tomato?'

The funny thing was that someone posted the right answer, I replied, and then their post disappeared. Maybe an admin intervened, or maybe it was the Gods themselves.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 30, 2021, 06:35:52 AM
Or it was a Boojum...they do lurk here from time to time....

My truly random thought....I was about to take a nap, and it popped into my head unbidden...

And please do note, it's an observation and not a judgment (i.e., I know there are other sides to the discussion).

One of the underlying differences between the (here, primarily Christian) churches that are supporting idiots, and urging unsustainable behaviors, and generally creating division and unrest in certain quarters of the populace, and those that don't do those things, or seem more muted in their disruptiveness, is the use of a lectionary, or planned set of readings, to encourage a broader awareness of the multivalent views, voices, ideas, and stated expectations in the Scriptural canon.*

This has long historic roots, but within some 15th/16th/17th c. Reforming (continental) and later,  Dissenting (Old England) groups, it was felt that a truly capable preacher would not just read, say, Augustine's homily on St. Stephen on Dec 26, or Gregory the Great's on St. Mary Magdalene, but would know Scriptural and Patristic sources well enough to write and deliver their own preachments on these topics.

The set lectionary did indeed emphasize some ideas and omit others, but at least it took those who listened and preached through a fairly wide swath of readings and ideas in both the Hebrew and Christian testaments.

The more recent, 'modern' (3-year) lectionary (in part forwarded by the ICET and others, in part harmonized to a modified RC cycle) at least takes the listeners/preachers through all 3 synoptic gospels (Mt, Mk, Lk, one each year, with Jn fitted in where possible) and the Psalms, and the Prophets, and all the other materials, with an effort at highlighting or juxtaposing related verses (some oppositional, others resonant), etc.

It's a bit messy, then, but more comprehensive, and more challenging: you have to confront the "hard readings" and unsavory moments without flinching, and try to understand--and teach others--how they might function in the life of faith.

Not using a lectionary, or creating a "sermon series" of ones own, is valued in the (not pejorative but liturgically descriptive) "low" churches, whose preachments range widely from very good to cookie-cutter rants not far distant from the uninformed reading of an "expert" homily by an online hack--or a long-decessed ecclesiastical authority.

There may well be exceptions, as I said, but I've sat under both homiletic systems, and while I also like "free worship" structures, I have noticed the tendency among non-liturgical ministers to preach, re-preach, and re-re-re-repreach on just a clutch of favorite verses or causes, or favoring their own personal line on an issue, then cherry-picking verses to support it...

Perhaps this is a bit like the p-hack currently under discussion elsewhere?**

Dunno.

But it seemed both random and pertinent...

M.

________

*There may be some parallels in other faith systems, I can't comment on those with as much understanding, so I'll leave that to those who can; I'm pretty sure that the other Abrahamic systems have these variations, too, but less clear how they play out, for example.

** Also of note, the lectionary and a set hermeneutic around it can also become fossilized and rendered inflexible in the hands of less well-trained clergy in the "higher" (RC, Lutheran Episcopalian, et al) congregations, but there at least some checks and balances in the form of bishopric oversight and intervention as needed.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on September 30, 2021, 01:24:13 PM
Unrelated to above...

Pretty much the only time I ever regret my choice to live alone is when I'm trying to fold sheets.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on September 30, 2021, 03:43:30 PM
Quote from: mamselle on September 30, 2021, 06:35:52 AM
Or it was a Boojum...they do lurk here from time to time....

My truly random thought....I was about to take a nap, and it popped into my head unbidden...

And please do note, it's an observation and not a judgment (i.e., I know there are other sides to the discussion).

One of the underlying differences between the (here, primarily Christian) churches that are supporting idiots, and urging unsustainable behaviors, and generally creating division and unrest in certain quarters of the populace, and those that don't do those things, or seem more muted in their disruptiveness, is the use of a lectionary, or planned set of readings, to encourage a broader awareness of the multivalent views, voices, ideas, and stated expectations in the Scriptural canon.*

This has long historic roots, but within some 15th/16th/17th c. Reforming (continental) and later,  Dissenting (Old England) groups, it was felt that a truly capable preacher would not just read, say, Augustine's homily on St. Stephen on Dec 26, or Gregory the Great's on St. Mary Magdalene, but would know Scriptural and Patristic sources well enough to write and deliver their own preachments on these topics.

The set lectionary did indeed emphasize some ideas and omit others, but at least it took those who listened and preached through a fairly wide swath of readings and ideas in both the Hebrew and Christian testaments.

The more recent, 'modern' (3-year) lectionary (in part forwarded by the ICET and others, in part harmonized to a modified RC cycle) at least takes the listeners/preachers through all 3 synoptic gospels (Mt, Mk, Lk, one each year, with Jn fitted in where possible) and the Psalms, and the Prophets, and all the other materials, with an effort at highlighting or juxtaposing related verses (some oppositional, others resonant), etc.

It's a bit messy, then, but more comprehensive, and more challenging: you have to confront the "hard readings" and unsavory moments without flinching, and try to understand--and teach others--how they might function in the life of faith.

Not using a lectionary, or creating a "sermon series" of ones own, is valued in the (not pejorative but liturgically descriptive) "low" churches, whose preachments range widely from very good to cookie-cutter rants not far distant from the uninformed reading of an "expert" homily by an online hack--or a long-decessed ecclesiastical authority.

There may well be exceptions, as I said, but I've sat under both homiletic systems, and while I also like "free worship" structures, I have noticed the tendency among non-liturgical ministers to preach, re-preach, and re-re-re-repreach on just a clutch of favorite verses or causes, or favoring their own personal line on an issue, then cherry-picking verses to support it...

Perhaps this is a bit like the p-hack currently under discussion elsewhere?**

Dunno.

But it seemed both random and pertinent...

M.

________

*There may be some parallels in other faith systems, I can't comment on those with as much understanding, so I'll leave that to those who can; I'm pretty sure that the other Abrahamic systems have these variations, too, but less clear how they play out, for example.

** Also of note, the lectionary and a set hermeneutic around it can also become fossilized and rendered inflexible in the hands of less well-trained clergy in the "higher" (RC, Lutheran Episcopalian, et al) congregations, but there at least some checks and balances in the form of bishopric oversight and intervention as needed.

Alternative to this wall of abstruse exegesis.

Some Christian clergy (Catholics & mainline Protestants) are quite well educated.  Such clergy are less like to be dogmatically anti-scientific, anti-mask, anti-vax etc.  Doctoral degrees from legitimate institutions of higher learning are not unusual.

The problem clergy (and we gots no shortage of these idiots) are graduates of "The Kollege of the Hola Bobble (Night School Edition)" and go out to start The Church of Bob or whatever.  They are basically idiots who live in a fear based world where everything is a sin, everything is a threat, the rapture is just around the corner, and magical thinking rules the day.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 30, 2021, 04:39:20 PM
Ummm..."abstruse exegesis" isn't quite accurate.

I'm not doing exegetical analysis when I consider a set of liturgical structures and cross-compare them with the examples I see them potentially produce.

And I exist strongly rooted within the world of clerical variety you describe, and I'm unwilling to characterize any of them quite so broadly.

Some of those same individuals stay up for hours with sick parishioners, try hard to work with whatever limited training they were able to afford to write a sermon that reaches the people in their charge, and wrestle with supporting others through issues some of us never have to face.

I do agree there are charlatans--as there are in academia and other professions--and I've dealt with some of those, too.

But I'm looking for more nuanced causes for a particular issue, rather than the general disparagement offered, and I do think the difference between a disciplined requirement for a variety of readings informs the less well-educated individuals precisely because it helps them see the need to go outside their comfort level and preach the single narrative line that needs to be preached with a more textured understanding of the truth of life.

To some degree, we might be concerned with some of the same things, but I took my time developing the thought precisely because I wanted to avoid being too broadly-based or inaccurate in my assessment of what I think is a systemic issue--as is the fact that more theological schools are closing because more churches are not requiring a completed M. Div. to make a pulpit hire.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 01, 2021, 06:29:00 AM
New fora thread: forumites I'm not missing, followed by detailed reasons.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: aside on October 01, 2021, 11:05:57 AM
I probably was not missed, but that's likely because no one noticed or cared that I was gone.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 02, 2021, 06:33:56 AM
Why do Supreme Court Justices even comment to the press at all in their spare time? Isn't this a new thing? They should be like umpires at a baseball game. They should go to work, do their job, and go home. They're already hired. They don't need to explain themselves, and they certainly shouldn't be using the job to have a voice in the public dialogue. They need to discourage people from seeking them out for side comments.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on October 14, 2021, 05:48:28 AM
I am struck that most students graduating from high school aparently have not even a basic understanding of what modern physics says about the nature of matter.

Maybe it doesn't matter. They can still hold down jobs and reproduce. Still, it's no surprise they hold so many supernatural beliefs. I guess it was ever thus.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on October 21, 2021, 11:49:25 AM
Reflecting on this case, I hypothesize the registrar has reaches a state of maximum inefficiency.

An online course.
Weeks 1-2. Student does not attend class or do any work.
Week 3. Registrar asks for list of never attending students. I give the student's name.
Weeks 4-6. Student starts attending and doing work.
Week 7. Registrar and/or IT delete student from the LMS leaving no record, for non-attendance.
Week 8. Registrar asks for last day of student's attendance. But they deleted the student from the LMS, so I can't give them the info.

If the registrar were either faster or slower in its operations, this would have gone smoother.

Arguably I should have notified the registrar in Week 4 the student was now attending. That would require I remember which students I marked as non-attending, and that's not info I keep in my head.

I suspect that the registrar must have sent emails to the student with warnings, which the student ignored. I felt bad for the student for about 30 seconds.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 24, 2021, 05:48:24 PM
/ thought
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on October 28, 2021, 04:15:07 PM
If two or more students ask me if cover pages are required for their papers, that must mean that there are still faculty who require cover pages.

Why would anyone care about that?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 03, 2021, 04:02:28 AM
I believe there's no 'I Declare Victory' thread like there was on the CHE forum. I'll put it here.

Glenn Youngkin has figured out how to campaign as a republican while managing the huge presence of DJT. Don't disavow his ideas, act like he's your friend, but not someone you emulate. Youngkin is a mild mannered genteel sort of fellow, so the common sense things from the political center become the republican's meat and potatoes issues when he speaks. Well done.
And not to rub it in, but Youngkin's and Burgess Owen's message, and the message of the group FAIR, are the ones that Americans prefer. https://nypost.com/2021/11/01/all-the-power-to-the-parents-vs-critical-race-theory/

CRT - Not being a PhD I don't claim to understand anything so abstruse, but as near as I can tell it states something like 'if we could reconstruct our entire society atom by atom, black and brown people might have more wealth, success, standard of living, positions of great influence.' As a professor of mine used to say way back when 'and if your aunt had balls she'd be your uncle.' The whole thing is just too hypothetical. The way to work together on our problems is to look at the world we have and not ponder a theory that doesn't match reality and then declare reality must change to fit that theory. (Thank you Dr. Sowell). Not to mention, people want black people to succeed already.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: hmaria1609 on November 03, 2021, 09:39:12 AM
Developing: WTOP Radio reports former State Delegate Winsome Sears is the 1st Black woman elected Lt. Governor of VA.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 03, 2021, 09:57:31 AM
I was up until 2 AM watching the returns on NBC's "Meet the Press" live coverage channel.

I was very impressed with the analysis, conversational tone, and astute comparisons made throughout.

Other random thoughts:

   a) At least the VA/(R) governor's term will hatch unimpeded by any infestation of DJT to weaken its shell. The rout may have begun, finally.

   b) The discussion of racial issues in measured, even tones, unfettered by misapplied initials and unfettered, radically fearful imaginings, can begin at
         a deeper level. (R)s clearly want someone to tell them what to think: anyone with a better approach than fear-mongering might be in with
         a chance; and (D)s can have a reasonable conversation about ways to share, discuss, and formulate plans for the discussions that do need to
         happen, probably in legislative backroom sessions among themselves, and maybe in less formal, across-the-aisle conversations with those who,
         having now elected a governor who will 'protect' them from the big, bad, nonexistent CRT training-that-doesn't-exist can be approached in a
         cooler, less fraught setting, because they actually do know that things can't go on as they are, it's not what their party's 1860s founder wanted.

   c) Opening up a discussion, on another side of things, about what voices parents do and should and don't and shouldn't have in
        elementary/secondary school planning, content and teaching choices could lead to a less blinkered class and economic system in the state as well.     

Plus, I want a map like that....

What's-his-name could poke a county here, or a spot on the lower corner there, and all these cool panels slid into view or out of the way.

Want one. Now.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 03, 2021, 11:41:47 AM
Quote from: mamselle on November 03, 2021, 09:57:31 AM

         having now elected a governor who will 'protect' them from the big, bad, nonexistent CRT training-that-doesn't-exist can be approached in a...
       

Thing you probably still don't get: nobody cares that much what CRT is or isn't. We don't win all arguments, just most elections.

ETA:

Quote from: hmaria1609 on November 03, 2021, 09:39:12 AM
Developing: WTOP Radio reports former State Delegate Winsome Sears is the 1st Black woman elected Lt. Governor of VA.

If there's one thing that makes today's democratic strategist sick with fear it's a black immigrant (or their son or daughter) who is successful and grateful to be in the USA.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 03, 2021, 07:09:54 PM
'Twas a forgone conclusion that the next Lt. Gov of VA would be a black woman. Sears' opponent was democrat Hala Ayala. If you're reading this, Hala: wishing you continued success and good health. You gave it a fine effort.
More black women in government? Sure, why not! We need all the talent there is.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 04, 2021, 06:30:07 PM
^ Unrelated. Different train of random thoughts.

You know you've been watching too many British shows online when a US automobile ad comes up and you say,

   "Hey, wait, aren't they driving on the wrong side of the...oh."

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 09, 2021, 07:18:59 AM
The dean for online stuff wrote ages ago telling me my deadline to update my courses to satisfy their requirements was about two weeks ago. I ignored the deadline, and wrote saying I will do it for next semester's courses. Curiously, no response. Maybe they have too many other fires to put out so making sure I do their busy work is not a priority.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 29, 2021, 10:36:58 AM
I went for a run in my neighborhood this morning and saw how much stuff people are throwing out. A lot of perfectly good stuff too. I saw a chair and a stool that I was tempted to get. But I didn't really have the time to get them. I did rescue some flower pots, with plants in them.

What a wasteful culture we are.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 30, 2021, 04:13:23 PM
^ Unrelated.

This series of letters, read by various British stars, has much to recommend it:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snTiYQeJwkQ

A focused gathering (one of several) was presented just before lockdowns began:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZoacVdnho

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on December 02, 2021, 05:13:20 PM
Kendi is melting down. Good. The nice guy act was his cover, and he was pretty good at it. But the more you get to know him the more trouble he's in.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on December 05, 2021, 02:50:20 PM
Quote from: downer on November 29, 2021, 10:36:58 AM
I went for a run in my neighborhood this morning and saw how much stuff people are throwing out. A lot of perfectly good stuff too. I saw a chair and a stool that I was tempted to get. But I didn't really have the time to get them. I did rescue some flower pots, with plants in them.

What a wasteful culture we are.

Alas, no, we are not wasteful. In the example, you did not waste your time getting a chair you didn't like enough. You did rescue some flower pots containing plants, which was worth your time.

Most people in our culture are so well off that they can afford to throw away stuff they don't like any more, for whatever reason.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on December 05, 2021, 03:00:35 PM
Quote from: dismalist on December 05, 2021, 02:50:20 PM
Most people in our culture are so well off that they can afford to throw away stuff they don't like any more, for whatever reason.

Yep. I thought that is what being wasteful is.

The related thought is that the world's resources are limited and our ability to deal with trash is especially limited. So wastefulness has consequences down the line.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on December 05, 2021, 03:09:33 PM
Quote from: downer on December 05, 2021, 03:00:35 PM
Quote from: dismalist on December 05, 2021, 02:50:20 PM
Most people in our culture are so well off that they can afford to throw away stuff they don't like any more, for whatever reason.

Yep. I thought that is what being wasteful is.

The related thought is that the world's resources are limited and our ability to deal with trash is especially limited. So wastefulness has consequences down the line.

The world's resources are priced. Therefore, nothing to worry about.

It's cheap dealing with trash. How about a landfill in the Desert of Gobi? :-)

Seriously, though, my own pet wastefulness peeve is vast portion and package sizes. It's an example of price discrimination, which works in the case of food only if the food is cheap, really cheap.

The source of the problem perceived by our emotions is that stuff has become so cheap on account of technical progress.

Tax it! :-)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on December 05, 2021, 03:19:42 PM
You have a more optimistic view about the rational function of markets than I do, dismalist.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on December 05, 2021, 03:24:00 PM
Quote from: downer on December 05, 2021, 03:19:42 PM
You have a more optimistic view about the rational function of markets than I do, dismalist.

Absolutely, downer; glad you brought it up.

The problems arise where there are no markets, such as for CO2. So let's make them. :-)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on December 05, 2021, 04:01:47 PM
Isn't there a kind of 'market' for CO2 in the one of the UN's ecological systems?

I knew some folks who were working on that at one point (many years ago).

(Or did it not go through? Lost track after I left that job...)

M.   
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on December 05, 2021, 04:22:51 PM
Quote from: mamselle on December 05, 2021, 04:01:47 PM
Isn't there a kind of 'market' for CO2 in the one of the UN's ecological systems?

I knew some folks who were working on that at one point (many years ago).

(Or did it not go through? Lost track after I left that job...)

M.

Well, CO2 taxes exist all over Europe and in a certain place in Canada, which is a great thing, but the rates are low and get voted out now and again.

The content here is not too cool, but the maps are great: https://www.c2es.org/content/carbon-tax-basics/ (https://www.c2es.org/content/carbon-tax-basics/)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on December 06, 2021, 06:49:56 AM
Why am I getting emails enquiring about my need for course materials for life sciences courses in the spring? Mechanical engineering, life sciences... same thing, right?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on December 10, 2021, 07:13:41 AM
General question: should it be embarrassing, in 2021, for administration to be using new software to fail at tasks that were done successfully with pencil and paper?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:20:49 AM
Apparently, the tooth brush I just bought can order replacement heads for me.  I don't think that's necessary, but thanks? I imagine its idea of when it needs a new one might be slightly different than mine.  I really don't trust my tooth brush to be making purchases on my behalf in general.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on December 10, 2021, 09:26:57 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:20:49 AM
Apparently, the tooth brush I just bought can order replacement heads for me.  I don't think that's necessary, but thanks? I imagine its idea of when it needs a new one might be slightly different than mine.  I really don't trust my tooth brush to be making purchases on my behalf in general.

The internet of things sounds like a great idea until Al Qaeda takes control of your refrigerator.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:29:59 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 10, 2021, 09:26:57 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:20:49 AM
Apparently, the tooth brush I just bought can order replacement heads for me.  I don't think that's necessary, but thanks? I imagine its idea of when it needs a new one might be slightly different than mine.  I really don't trust my tooth brush to be making purchases on my behalf in general.

The internet of things sounds like a great idea until Al Qaeda takes control of your refrigerator.

I think I'd rather them take control of my refrigerator than my tooth brush! Eek.  Really, they can just stay out of my stuff altogether.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on December 10, 2021, 09:33:30 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:29:59 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 10, 2021, 09:26:57 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:20:49 AM
Apparently, the tooth brush I just bought can order replacement heads for me.  I don't think that's necessary, but thanks? I imagine its idea of when it needs a new one might be slightly different than mine.  I really don't trust my tooth brush to be making purchases on my behalf in general.

The internet of things sounds like a great idea until Al Qaeda takes control of your refrigerator.

I think I'd rather them take control of my refrigerator than my tooth brush! Eek.  Really, they can just stay out of my stuff altogether.

You say that now.  Wait until Al Qaeda asks your fridge to order 1000 jars of pickled onions!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 10:07:49 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 10, 2021, 09:33:30 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:29:59 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 10, 2021, 09:26:57 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:20:49 AM
Apparently, the tooth brush I just bought can order replacement heads for me.  I don't think that's necessary, but thanks? I imagine its idea of when it needs a new one might be slightly different than mine.  I really don't trust my tooth brush to be making purchases on my behalf in general.

The internet of things sounds like a great idea until Al Qaeda takes control of your refrigerator.

I think I'd rather them take control of my refrigerator than my tooth brush! Eek.  Really, they can just stay out of my stuff altogether.

You say that now.  Wait until Al Qaeda asks your fridge to order 1000 jars of pickled onions!

Too true! And if that happens, I will need oral hygiene that is on point.  Tooth brush, take the wheel!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Larimar on December 11, 2021, 05:33:35 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on December 10, 2021, 09:20:49 AM
Apparently, the tooth brush I just bought can order replacement heads for me.  I don't think that's necessary, but thanks? I imagine its idea of when it needs a new one might be slightly different than mine.  I really don't trust my tooth brush to be making purchases on my behalf in general.

Now that is way creepy! I wouldn't want some inanimate object making auto-purchases for me that I didn't deliberately choose to set up! Let's not let the technology temperature get up to Fahrenheit 451!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on December 19, 2021, 03:37:15 AM
1. Is there any path that exists today back to a place where almost all Americans believe that the elections are free and fair?

2. Is there any ability for people who are worried because our faith is gone but blame different people, including each other, to work together to fix the problem?

3. If no, then it's all over but the fat lady singing.

I think about this every day. Makes for a hell of a great Christmas.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 20, 2021, 07:29:40 AM
It's strange how local cultures can differ even among towns in the same region.  In our town we have quite a few people who really like decorating for Christmas.  Not crazy overboard stuff, but you see lots of fairly elaborate yard displays and house lights during the Christmas season.  We also have a family a few miles out of town who have over the years built an extraordinarily elaborate home-made Christmas wonderland that amounts to an example of "outsider art" (They see it as a kind of ministry--it's explicitly Christian-themed, has attracted national TV attention, and brings in visitors from several states away).  Public decorations downtown are fairly modest, although City Hall has upped its game in recent years.

In a much larger town about 40 miles from here they have very elaborate public Christmas displays every year downtown around the courthouse.  But elaborate yard and house decorations are few and far between, even in the most affluent neighborhoods.  Christmas decorations are limited mainly to a tree and a few wreaths or lights.  A solid majority of houses in the wealthiest part of town have no decorations at all that are visible from outside.

Two towns, 40 miles apart, two very different looks at Christmas time.  I wonder why?

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on December 27, 2021, 08:08:37 AM
If you believe something has been rated improperly, why would you then want to hear more from the people who've been doing the rating?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 11, 2022, 09:15:57 AM
I admire the chutzpah of the school that has a mandatory faculty training day via zoom, when the large majority of their faculty are part time.

It may unfortunately turn out that's the day my booster is booked.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 25, 2022, 10:00:43 AM
If the first pop up link on the library web page is "Support the library" that strongy suggests that the university is not supporting the library.

It's a bad look.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 25, 2022, 10:23:49 AM
Quote from: downer on January 25, 2022, 10:00:43 AM
If the first pop up link on the library web page is "Support the library" that strongy suggests that the university is not supporting the library.

It's a bad look.

You mean, the library has been driven to raise funds on their web page?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 25, 2022, 10:38:50 AM
Quote from: apl68 on January 25, 2022, 10:23:49 AM
Quote from: downer on January 25, 2022, 10:00:43 AM
If the first pop up link on the library web page is "Support the library" that strongy suggests that the university is not supporting the library.

It's a bad look.

You mean, the library has been driven to raise funds on their web page?

I don't know the cause but I know how it looks.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 26, 2022, 06:16:25 AM
Once again the Air National Guard is conducting maneuvers above our town, raising impious war in heaven and casting a Tholian web of condensation trails over us.

Zankoku na tenshi no you ni.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on January 28, 2022, 05:34:21 AM
Isn't it a little late to be advertising a full time position for Spring 2022?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on February 08, 2022, 03:32:34 PM
Today I saw an article on an author I'd not read about before.  His dates were given as 1898-1885.  Was it a typo, or did he die thirteen years before he was born?  That would have been an awfully tragic life.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on February 08, 2022, 03:48:30 PM
Quote from: apl68 on February 08, 2022, 03:32:34 PM
Today I saw an article on an author I'd not read about before.  His dates were given as 1898-1885.  Was it a typo, or did he die thirteen years before he was born?  That would have been an awfully tragic life.

H.G. Wells wrote The Time Machine in 1895. Coincidence? I think not.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Wahoo Redux on February 08, 2022, 06:19:39 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on February 08, 2022, 03:48:30 PM
Quote from: apl68 on February 08, 2022, 03:32:34 PM
Today I saw an article on an author I'd not read about before.  His dates were given as 1898-1885.  Was it a typo, or did he die thirteen years before he was born?  That would have been an awfully tragic life.

H.G. Wells wrote The Time Machine in 1895. Coincidence? I think not.

One theory about Merlin is that he was living his life backward through time.  This was the dark ages, of course, but maybe Merlin had a great, great, great, great grandfather who was born after he was?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 09, 2022, 11:32:02 AM
Who likes napping?

I love it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on February 09, 2022, 05:40:07 PM
Why do some people seem to take delight, perhaps even sustenance, from unnecessary antagonism?

Also, if you want to start a napping fan club, I'm in.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 09, 2022, 06:09:07 PM
Naps 'r' Us.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 10, 2022, 06:32:00 AM
I would guess we could start a napping thread, but would anyone ever wake up to post to it?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on February 10, 2022, 06:32:53 AM
Huh? What?  What'd I miss?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 15, 2022, 08:15:45 AM
Do you ever look at the latest academic journals' table of contents, shake your head, and think, "what a terrible waste of time!"?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on February 15, 2022, 08:58:23 AM
Naw.

More often, like, "What can I do to be one of those people?"

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on February 16, 2022, 10:19:10 AM
Quote from: downer on February 15, 2022, 08:15:45 AM
Do you ever look at the latest academic journals' table of contents, shake your head, and think, "what a terrible waste of time!"?
My MA advisor and friend referred to this 20+ years ago as "slicing the baloney awfully thin."  It's only gotten worse in my discipline since then.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on February 25, 2022, 04:58:42 AM
I called out one of my students for using ableist language this week.

They used the phrase "blind devotion."

It's a phrase I use often myself, so I felt some cognitive dissonance. But I think I'm preparing them for the world.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on February 27, 2022, 08:22:03 PM
Nothing makes a nation stop bickering and start trying to think together like an external threat.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 01, 2022, 08:05:11 AM
Reminiscing about how my recently-deceased uncle taught me how to drive a backhoe excavator and a dump truck years ago.  He gave me some pointers on each of them one summer when I was working for him and then turned me loose.  My brother has a similar story involving our uncle and a bulldozer.  He was putting a lot of confidence in us.

Mind you, if he had some serious work to do with earth-moving machinery, he'd do it himself.  They say he could set a Mountain Dew can on the side of an excavator and operate the machine so smoothly that the can wouldn't fall off all day.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 05, 2022, 09:52:59 AM
I recently aquired a new Windows laptop with full Office and Office 365. Quite an expensive one.

I hadn't had a new Windows device in a long time. I have been using cheap Chromebooks mostly.

I am struck by how once you get used to these Windows devices, you find out how really awful they are. The Chromebook I use is literally 1/10th of the price of the Windows laptop I use, and for most purposes it is better -- faster, simpler, more convenient. The battery life is significantly better. The one thing I like about my new device is the background lighting on the keyboard. The screen is also a bit better. It is a miracle that Microsoft stays in business.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 07, 2022, 02:27:26 PM
As noted elsewhere, thanks to an illustrious career as an academic/corporate EA in the not-all-that-distant past, and to my fun-loving decision not to take down my resumes for those jobs from the Monster-Indeed-LinkedIn world, I get headhunter emails for such positions. Regularly.

My pet peeve du jour is their tendency to go on.and.on.and.on about the company, its brilliant culture, and the drug it's developing (not even sure they should be naming it in a supposedly "unlinked" email--I could oh-so-easily go look it up and apply directly based on the COPYRIGHTED NAME of the drug itself, thus skipping the middleman agency fees...) and then never say WHERE the hiring site is, of it's local or remote, etc.

No, I don't usually plan to move cross-country for a 6 mo. temp-to-perm position without at least knowing where that might be. (It also bugs me to see the horrendous language errors in these emails--I think I know where some of the English Comp. students discussed on these boards found post-graduate employment...)

So, while waiting for my 5.30 student...I replied in a more sanguine tone and told them so....

M.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on March 07, 2022, 02:56:23 PM
I got a note today from AAAS that, in recogniton of my being a member for fifty years, there was a complimentary life membership at my command.

Yeah, well, the honor probably will be short-lived.

But maybe they will never know I've checked out?  And Science will still baffle my heirs?  The widow of a long retired, less recently dead colleague, still has her address/phone as that of her father, dead over fifty years ago.  Is that creepy?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 07, 2022, 04:33:49 PM
My sister got the phone co. to re-assign the long-standing family "home phone no." to her, which I, too, found a bit odd.

She's at the far end of a state away, so the area code doesn't match, and I couldn't figure out how it was useful to have all the crazies who look up funerals and try to scam widows/ers calling her, but hey, whatever.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 08, 2022, 05:49:41 AM
Does any use Skype any more?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: arcturus on March 08, 2022, 06:54:53 AM
Quote from: downer on March 08, 2022, 05:49:41 AM
Does any use Skype any more?

Yes, as an alternative to texting (for those who don't like smartphones) and to email (for those whose inbox is always full).
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 08, 2022, 07:11:26 AM
Quote from: downer on March 08, 2022, 05:49:41 AM
Does any use Skype any more?

Yes, and for calling friends in Europe whose phones either don't work well with mine, or charge them for international calls, even if they didn't originate the call. Somehow, my miniscule charges on Skype get around those.

At Christmas, for example, we did a four-way family call with Liege on Skype--my cousin without a camera, the rest with--then we went to Zoom after her portion of the call ended.

We could have just stayed on Skype, but another family member hadn't installed it, and had Zoom, so we went with that.

I also found it invaluable once when my wallet and passport had been stolen in Barcelona--it was the only way I could contact my bank and other entities to start resolving all the issues the theft brought on.

I haven't liked the way MSW has tried to "fix what ain't broken" about it, but it's still a useful resource, to my mind.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 08, 2022, 01:05:32 PM
Why is it "deductible" rather than "deductable"?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on March 12, 2022, 08:39:14 AM
1. Best time to turn the clocks ahead: during the faculty meeting.

2. I keep getting reminders on Facebook to wish happy birthday to dead people. Eventually there will be more deceased members than living ones.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on March 15, 2022, 09:47:09 AM
Beware the ides of March.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 15, 2022, 10:29:58 AM
Quote from: AmLitHist on March 15, 2022, 09:47:09 AM
Beware the ides of March.

Maybe that explains that awful headache I have today for no obvious reason.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on March 15, 2022, 12:57:46 PM
I always took it as "Tides of March," and have stayed far from the ocean on this day, since.  Silly me!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 16, 2022, 01:22:50 PM
On my walk to and from work in recent days I've been passing a place in the street that has been dug up to work on a water leak.  While returning from lunch today, I saw that there is now water running through the gutter again.  I also overheard one worker on the site saying to another, "You gotta use your head!"  Makes me wonder what just happened there.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 23, 2022, 06:19:20 AM
Looking up dentist ratings is scary. People are a lot more brutal than they are on ratemyprofessor. Of course, it's generally going to be a very skewed sample of people leaving feedback. But it is my dental insurance company that provides ratings. If someone has a 2/5 rating and people have responses of how terrible the dentist is, I'm not inclined to make that person my dentist.

You'd think some dental group would make more of an effort. My plumber works very hard to get me to give them a positive rating on Google. It may be harder to find a good plumber than a good dentist. Maybe both are in short supply.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on March 23, 2022, 06:34:58 AM
Quote from: downer on March 23, 2022, 06:19:20 AM
Looking up dentist ratings is scary. People are a lot more brutal than they are on ratemyprofessor. Of course, it's generally going to be a very skewed sample of people leaving feedback. But it is my dental insurance company that provides ratings. If someone has a 2/5 rating and people have responses of how terrible the dentist is, I'm not inclined to make that person my dentist.

You'd think some dental group would make more of an effort. My plumber works very hard to get me to give them a positive rating on Google. It may be harder to find a good plumber than a good dentist. Maybe both are in short supply.

The pipes don't get to give a rating.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 23, 2022, 06:37:34 AM
We all have crinkle-cut life paths.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 25, 2022, 12:16:07 AM
When you hear a trumpet sound, it's useful to know the difference between reveille and taps....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: lightning on March 25, 2022, 12:56:27 AM
Quote from: mamselle on March 25, 2022, 12:16:07 AM
When you hear a trumpet sound, it's useful to know the difference between reveille and taps....

M.

reveille = usually already awake anyway for some reason, a few split seconds before the bugler plays it

taps (no sun shining) = indication that the people responsible for making sure you are asleep, are asleep themselves so you can sneak out

taps (sun is shining) = make sure you are not about to accidentally stumble upon a funeral event

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 25, 2022, 02:12:18 AM
True.

I was thinking metaphorically, but those are also useful distinctions!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 25, 2022, 08:11:21 AM
Quote from: lightning on March 25, 2022, 12:56:27 AM

taps (sun is shining) = make sure you are not about to accidentally stumble upon a funeral event

When my brother was in the Army he sometimes took part in funeral details at veterans' (mostly very aged World War II vets) funerals.  A shortage of trained buglers made it necessary to employ a bugle-shaped electronic gizmo that played "Taps" while one of the detail pretended to blow it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: lightning on March 25, 2022, 08:25:58 AM
Quote from: apl68 on March 25, 2022, 08:11:21 AM
Quote from: lightning on March 25, 2022, 12:56:27 AM

taps (sun is shining) = make sure you are not about to accidentally stumble upon a funeral event

When my brother was in the Army he sometimes took part in funeral details at veterans' (mostly very aged World War II vets) funerals.  A shortage of trained buglers made it necessary to employ a bugle-shaped electronic gizmo that played "Taps" while one of the detail pretended to blow it.


I have a feeling that the only veterans who get a real bugler at their funeral are probably the ones buried in Arlington.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 25, 2022, 09:23:59 AM
Not always true.

I think my mom would have just about made it without breaking down at the graveside committal for my dad if they hadn't knelt in front of her to hand her the flag from the coffin and played taps. She'd been in control until then, but that gesture, and the bugler's notes, did it.

RIP, Mom (who died a week ago in 2017) and Dad (June, 2011).

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: lightning on March 25, 2022, 09:41:57 AM
Quote from: mamselle on March 25, 2022, 09:23:59 AM
Not always true.

I think my mom would have just about made it without breaking down at the graveside committal for my dad if they hadn't knelt in front of her to hand her the flag from the coffin and played taps. She'd been in control until then, but that gesture, and the bugler's notes, did it.

RIP, Mom (who died a week ago in 2017) and Dad (June, 2011).

M.

I wish all vets would get a real & qualified bugler playing taps for their funeral, but a lot of times, it's just a matter of lack of availability of a real and qualified bugler.

I'm sure there are real buglers out there for some of the vets who will be buried in the hinterlands, but the elite military musicians, the one who can REALLY play the bugle well (especially the brass players whose main assignment is funeral duty), are stationed in or near Arlington.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Clarino1 on March 25, 2022, 12:51:46 PM
As a professional trumpeter, I have sounded taps for a few veterans' funerals.  While most of the military bandsmen are snowed under with work, and cannot play for all veterans' burial ceremonies, there is an organization called Bugles Across America which is dedicated to providing buglers for just such occasions.  I personally think that the ersatz electronic "bugle" is a travesty and an insult to the veteran, but our local American Legion post seems to think it is preferable to a live bugler. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 25, 2022, 01:09:44 PM
Quote from: Clarino1 on March 25, 2022, 12:51:46 PM
As a professional trumpeter, I have sounded taps for a few veterans' funerals.  While most of the military bandsmen are snowed under with work, and cannot play for all veterans' burial ceremonies, there is an organization called Bugles Across America which is dedicated to providing buglers for just such occasions.  I personally think that the ersatz electronic "bugle" is a travesty and an insult to the veteran, but our local American Legion post seems to think it is preferable to a live bugler.

It's good to hear that Bugles Across America is trying to rectify the situation.  I guess good buglers are just spread too thin in this vast country of ours.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Clarino1 on March 25, 2022, 01:56:31 PM
Actually, there are plenty of us around, but many funeral directors and veterans' families do not know enough to ask, or do not know where to ask.  Most of us are glad to do it.  The real problem is that over the years the number of military bands, and trumpeters in those bands, have decreased due to budget cuts, leaving an unimaginable load for the few remaining military trumpeters.  Notice that I said "trumpeters" rather than "buglers."  The military phased out field musicians (the real buglers) in the 1950's, leaving the military band trumpeters to pick up the slack.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 25, 2022, 02:58:06 PM
The recorded music is also an issue in churches that can't afford to support an organist for all their services.

On the one hand, (as another professional musician here, but not an organist) it drives me nuts to see a priest or minister put a little tape player up on the altar (as I've seen a couple of them do) and hit the "Play" button for a hymn or recessional piece. I'd prefer what one older fellow (with a sweet Irish tenor) used to do, which was to just start a well-known recessional himself and let the congregation join in with him at the end of the service.

In other places, a small group of instrumentalists and/or vocalists gather and play for services--some gratis, some paid--and there's nary a playback device in sight.

It's a mixed bag in an area with a high CoL, a strong musicians' union or AGO chapter, and many experienced players; it's a different situation in smaller places where only a few people might be able to supply the accompaniment, sing, read music, etc.

One of my students is the choir director in a small church, and when she first arrived (with the pastor's and most of the congregation's blessing) she had to weed out a couple of hyper-controlling members of the group who always wanted to lead, could not sing or play well, and would not accept suggestions or let others in the congregation participate if they weren't friends of theirs.

That's a whole different kettle of fish, but the basic issue--which relates to the issue of live vs. taped funeral players--can be funding, as well. Because these two weren't paid, the congregation and its worship leaders had little control over them.

And I'm guessing that a funeral director or two might have had problems working with someone who--if they simply played their horn, but were not directly a member of a vet's organization--didn't understand the point, or the placement in the service, or something else, and insisted on their own way.

Knowing musicians as I do, I'm sorry to say I could see that happening, as well...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 25, 2022, 03:28:40 PM
In rural areas like ours pianists are getting scarce.  Mom was already the church pianist at her little church in New Mexico when she was baptized as a teenager.  She had to play for her own baptismal service!  Ever since then she has joked about probably having to play some day for her own funeral.  The way things are going, she just might have to.  She has served as a very good church pianist, by the way.  So much so that I've very seldom had a chance to hear her sing, since she's always up front playing.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: cathwen on March 26, 2022, 05:21:52 AM
My mother was also a church organist back in the 1920s (yes, I'm old, and she was 42 when I was born).  During points in the service that required background music, she used to play popular tunes, but in a very stately manner with lots of flourishes (think "I'm forever blowing bubbles" and "Barney Google").  It used to amuse her—it was her small rebellion against the very strict denomination—and she didn't think anyone noticed, as no one complained.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Clarino1 on March 26, 2022, 05:50:53 AM
An organist friend of mine told me, a few months back, "We are a dying breed!"  My sister, who was a church organist from her high school days recently retired from one of the largest churches in the state.  The pastor thought they would be able to replace her easily, and at a lower cost.  It took them more than two years and they had to pay more than twice her salary.  Studying music is "ha-a-a-rd," and kids don't want to do it, and parents are not willing to push them to practice until they get past the point where technique is a struggle.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on March 26, 2022, 02:40:15 PM
True in part; also, many people don't encourage their kids to continue past a certain age since even those who are skilled and want to get better find their time demands for the kinds of high-school level social service activities, AP courses, and regular school work that they will need to show on their college applications.

I do count myself blessed these days that one of my particularly capable students, who faces all of those challenges, is still supported by his parents in wanting to work on hard music (he gets up early, puts on the keyboard earphones, and practices before breakfast, apparently) because I've seen others drop off when the practice time was just too hard to come by and parents were making the kids choose instead of helping them think creatively about how to manage it.*

And as I noted up-thread, more musicians have come to realize that we can't work for peanuts and live at an even mediocre lifestyle, or put up with the capricious nonsense some music venues (restaurants and hotels, I'm looking at you...) get up to.

My uncle, a very gifted musician, still had to work as an insurance adjuster all his life to be sure of having a secure income for his family. My folks never understood that--my mom in particular (no musicians in her family) kept thinking he'd 'sold out' whereas, once I started gigging on my own, I realized why he did it.

I still have to fight that little voice in my head "don't charge too much or they won't want you" that she put there, not knowing the truth, even now...being a member of the musician's local for many years helped, but there are definitely many mixed messages people receive, and give, on that score.

M.

*I'm not a fan of the idea that people need to be 'pushed' to practice--that's usually counter-productive: if I as their teacher give them challenging material that they have a hand in choosing, and hold them to standards that they understand and agree with, they either practice to get the piece in shape so they can move on, or they begin to lag and fall behind and lose interest on their own. I keep in touch with their folks to be sure they're not ill or have something difficult going on in the rest of their lives, but my folks never 'made' me practice, and I've never 'made' anyone I teach, either.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 30, 2022, 06:22:02 AM
This morning I passed a box littering the side of the street.  It turned out to be a Hefty trash bag box.  Ironic.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: D@mnD@n1el on March 30, 2022, 09:15:46 PM
If you watch the Jurassic Park and its sequels or any other types of popular dinosaur movies then when you listen to the T-Rex you hear that it roars. But how do we know that the T-Rex roars if they lived approximately 90 - 66 million years which was a much longer time ago before humans even existed so we wouldn't have been able to tell from our POV. Also no recording equipment yet existed that would be able to capture the sounds of the T-Rex's voice. Another thing is that no animals or living creatures who lived at that time and that are still alive now would be able to tell us. Then the fossils are not in good enough condition that they can be studied. Lastly, the closest relatives of the dinosaur today are the chickens and ostriches so for all we know the T-Rex could have clucked like a chicken.

Here is a link from Smithsonian Magazine on the topic: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/t-rex-linked-to-chickens-ostriches-180940877/
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Parasaurolophus on March 30, 2022, 10:07:15 PM
Quote from: D@mnD@n1el on March 30, 2022, 09:15:46 PM
If you watch the Jurassic Park and its sequels or any other types of popular dinosaur movies then when you listen to the T-Rex you hear that it roars. But how do we know that the T-Rex roars if they lived approximately 90 - 66 million years which was a much longer time ago before humans even existed so we wouldn't have been able to tell from our POV. Also no recording equipment yet existed that would be able to capture the sounds of the T-Rex's voice. Another thing is that no animals or living creatures who lived at that time and that are still alive now would be able to tell us. Then the fossils are not in good enough condition that they can be studied. Lastly, the closest relatives of the dinosaur today are the chickens and ostriches so for all we know the T-Rex could have clucked like a chicken.

Here is a link from Smithsonian Magazine on the topic: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/t-rex-linked-to-chickens-ostriches-180940877/

It certainly didn't roar when hunting, because nothing does. Roaring is for threat displays.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: smallcleanrat on March 30, 2022, 10:23:25 PM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on March 30, 2022, 10:07:15 PM
Quote from: D@mnD@n1el on March 30, 2022, 09:15:46 PM
If you watch the Jurassic Park and its sequels or any other types of popular dinosaur movies then when you listen to the T-Rex you hear that it roars. But how do we know that the T-Rex roars if they lived approximately 90 - 66 million years which was a much longer time ago before humans even existed so we wouldn't have been able to tell from our POV. Also no recording equipment yet existed that would be able to capture the sounds of the T-Rex's voice. Another thing is that no animals or living creatures who lived at that time and that are still alive now would be able to tell us. Then the fossils are not in good enough condition that they can be studied. Lastly, the closest relatives of the dinosaur today are the chickens and ostriches so for all we know the T-Rex could have clucked like a chicken.

Here is a link from Smithsonian Magazine on the topic: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/t-rex-linked-to-chickens-ostriches-180940877/

It certainly didn't roar when hunting, because nothing does. Roaring is for threat displays.

That's always bothered me in films. Animals roaring to make the scene more dramatic, even though it makes no sense for the animal to be roaring in that situation.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on March 31, 2022, 04:35:46 AM
Quote from: smallcleanrat on March 30, 2022, 10:23:25 PM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on March 30, 2022, 10:07:15 PM
Quote from: D@mnD@n1el on March 30, 2022, 09:15:46 PM
If you watch the Jurassic Park and its sequels or any other types of popular dinosaur movies then when you listen to the T-Rex you hear that it roars. But how do we know that the T-Rex roars if they lived approximately 90 - 66 million years which was a much longer time ago before humans even existed so we wouldn't have been able to tell from our POV. Also no recording equipment yet existed that would be able to capture the sounds of the T-Rex's voice. Another thing is that no animals or living creatures who lived at that time and that are still alive now would be able to tell us. Then the fossils are not in good enough condition that they can be studied. Lastly, the closest relatives of the dinosaur today are the chickens and ostriches so for all we know the T-Rex could have clucked like a chicken.

Here is a link from Smithsonian Magazine on the topic: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/t-rex-linked-to-chickens-ostriches-180940877/

It certainly didn't roar when hunting, because nothing does. Roaring is for threat displays.

It's the animal equivalent of police shouting "POLICE!" or "STOP!" long before they're close enough to do anything. It happens all the time in shows and movies, even though it makes absolutely no sense for the exact same reason.
(So, I'd guess it's just a movie-maker's idea of how to create drama, rather than trying to have logical actions of people or animals in the scene.)


That's always bothered me in films. Animals roaring to make the scene more dramatic, even though it makes no sense for the animal to be roaring in that situation.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on April 01, 2022, 10:46:53 AM
I couldn't spend any significant time with someone who watched FoxNews for more than brief entertainment or to see what the enemy is saying.

But I recently met someone who listens to Joe Rogan regularly. To be honest, I've never listened to him, so maybe I shouldn't judge, but he seems like a freakin idiot from all the coverage he gets. When someone else finds Rogan interesting, I have alarm bells go off. But maybe he is a talented interviewer.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on April 01, 2022, 10:58:42 AM
Quote from: downer on April 01, 2022, 10:46:53 AM
I couldn't spend any significant time with someone who watched FoxNews for more than brief entertainment or to see what the enemy is saying.

But I recently met someone who listens to Joe Rogan regularly. To be honest, I've never listened to him, so maybe I shouldn't judge, but he seems like a freakin idiot from all the coverage he gets. When someone else finds Rogan interesting, I have alarm bells go off. But maybe he is a talented interviewer.

Isn't it kind of ironic to criticize people who are supposedly gullible for listening to Fox News while automatically dismissing someone that you've "never listened to" because of "the coverage he gets"?

If people should actually listen and think before they form judgments, physician, heal thyself.

(As far as Joe Rogan goes, I haven't listened to any complete interview of his because they're really long. I have seen clips occasionally. Since he's one of those people who will basically invite anyone on the show, then of course there are going to be some I agree with and some I don't. That's the way PROPER journalism should work.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on April 01, 2022, 11:04:12 AM
I recently saw an article by a journalist who described how journalists planning to go into dangerous places have courses they can take to prepare.  One is called Hostile Environment and First Aid Training.  It is known by the acronym HEFAT.  Which seems like kind of an unfortunate acronym to me.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 01, 2022, 01:17:31 PM
Bon poisson d'avril!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejxhWTJtVBk

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on April 03, 2022, 05:51:09 AM
Quote from: mamselle on April 01, 2022, 01:17:31 PM
Bon poisson d'avril!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejxhWTJtVBk

M.

I read that and thought 'Good Fishes of April'?  Damn, my French is worse than I thought....
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 03, 2022, 09:12:06 AM
Well, literally, yes, but...

   M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Harlow2 on April 04, 2022, 06:19:16 AM
Quote from: FishProf on April 03, 2022, 05:51:09 AM
Quote from: mamselle on April 01, 2022, 01:17:31 PM
Bon poisson d'avril!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejxhWTJtVBk

M.

I read that and thought 'Good Fishes of April'?  Damn, my French is worse than I thought....

Sorta fits the moniker though! 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 06, 2022, 07:52:01 AM
;--}

Unrelated^

I ran across this earlier, it's great fun (and a good underlying message as well...)

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpdCVAmt5C8

(I don't think I've shared it before, if so, mes apologies!)

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 07, 2022, 04:18:41 AM
Double, sorry.

It just occurred it me...I wonder if those who dislike, or claim to dislike, some freshly-born evidence of deeper care and thoughtfulness that catches on in a society, either once thought of it themselves--but dismissed it as too hard to get across--or simply envy its youth and beauty (or both)?

I suppose bewilderment at the uninvested generosity of the wish to set things straight--a kind of moral housekeeping, perhaps--would do it, too...

I wish the raised-back resistance would cease and people would see a good impulse for what it is, and work with others to fix things, rather than diverting and dispersing all that useful energy in fighting.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on April 11, 2022, 07:42:46 AM
Wooded mound of earth
Of the railroad builders' work
Only this remains
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on April 11, 2022, 07:53:32 AM
Quote from: mamselle on April 07, 2022, 04:18:41 AM


I wish the raised-back resistance would cease and people would see a good impulse for what it is, and work with others to fix things, rather than diverting and dispersing all that useful energy in fighting.


I think many people are very much in favour of fixing things; they're just not nearly so keen on endless self-flagellation.
The difference would be apparent if there were concrete , workable proposals for action.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on April 11, 2022, 10:00:04 AM
I'm starting to wonder if someone's screwing with the internet infrastructure or something.  There have been several occasions in the past week (two today) in which sites seemed to be using the wrong dates.  The NYT recycled an old spelling bee puzzle today that was in a completely or partially completed state for many users, Slate sent an email today that it's Tuesday so the Tuesday news quiz is ready, and last week Substack re-sent out several newsletter emails from previous days.  Any other occurrences like this? 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 11, 2022, 10:43:03 AM
Could the coronal elections have played hob with something like that?

(Any IT-critters know?)

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on April 11, 2022, 04:21:45 PM
"I'd rather sit on a pumpkin all by myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

Where are pumpkins when you need them?  Who are these velvet seekers?  Begone!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on April 12, 2022, 07:56:35 AM
Dear gov, what were you thinking? The signs were there all along.

The Lt gov that she proudly introduced less than a year ago has just been arrested:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/nyregion/brian-benjamin-arrested.html

She should have known better than have a convicted fraudster on the stage with her along with the Lt gov when she introduced the latter.

https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochul-officially-announces-brian-benjamin-lt-governor-celebratory-harlem-event

The lady on the right in the last picture was convicted of fraud because she had stolen from a disabled person by depositing disability checks on behalf of that person, but hanging on to the funds.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 12, 2022, 09:31:11 AM
Yeah, twenty years later, they're still trying to sort out what the two Bulger brothers knew about each other, and what they didn't...

   https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-07-na-bulger7-story.html

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on April 15, 2022, 06:07:20 AM
Something Wahoo likes to do on the forum, make a pet project of trying to change individual's minds about stuff.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 18, 2022, 06:23:07 AM
Just a stray passing thought, might be an anniversary of sorts...

Sometimes your angel appears in the form of a big, weathered old Irish beat cop who sees you crying and fumbling for change to use the phone in the bar because your abusive spouse disconnected the phone so you can't call your friends and tell them what he's done, and try to figure out what to do about it.

It was 41 years ago, but I can still hear his voice, "He needs counseling, he's got troubles with his mother, I had to deal with that."

Then he took me to the station to swear out a restraing order and stayed with me until it was filed.

Lifesaving heroes don't always wear capes or wings.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on April 18, 2022, 07:10:26 AM
Quote from: mamselle on April 18, 2022, 06:23:07 AM
Just a stray passing thought, might be an anniversary of sorts...

Sometimes your angel appears in the form of a big, weathered old Irish beat cop

...

Lifesaving heroes don't always wear capes or wings.

M.

Bless him. One of my heroes was a tow truck driver, must be 30 years ago now, who drove me home from the car dealership where he'd towed my car that had broken a tie rod as I turned a corner. It was a Saturday evening and I'd been out driving around exploring my new town. I walked to a hotel and used their front desk phone to call AAA. Since I had been in town only a couple of days, I had no friends yet, no family to call, no bus service to where I lived etc. He said that I reminded him of his daughter and he hoped someday someone would help her if she was in the same situation.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on April 18, 2022, 07:36:58 AM
While in grad school in the 1990s I was on my way back from the Thanksgiving holiday when I got stuck in a 20-mile-long traffic jam near Memphis.  It was too much for my car's unreliable cooling system to handle.  I was stranded on the side of the road in that mess, 200 miles from either my home town or my current residence.  A student I barely knew from church, who was also heading back from the break, saw me there and picked me up.  He knew people in the area and was able to arrange to have the vehicle towed to a repair shop.  Then he carried me home.  Couldn't thank him enough.  I no longer even recall his name.  Some things are just not mere coincidence.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on April 18, 2022, 10:44:06 AM
Life is too short to continue doing trivial things you dislike, just because you're "supposed to" do them.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on April 20, 2022, 06:15:57 AM
'How to enhance student response rates in course/instructor evaluations'

1. 'Remind them what evaluations are used for:

to help you figure out what the hell you should be doing from grade-grubbing 19 year-olds who were ill-equipped for admission to their program, because your years of training and real world success have been insufficient

to threaten the adjunct union

to decide who gets to teach the same course again next year for the same pay, no job security, regardless of my track record of accolades from the serious students'

No, I don't think you want me to remind them.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 23, 2022, 05:39:22 AM
I have so much to do I'm not sure I can afford the time for any random, un-focused thoughts for the next two weeks.

Except that one...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on April 28, 2022, 04:24:31 AM
Well, there is one stray thought that has surfaced...

I much prefer Middle French.

Thorns are for roses.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 02, 2022, 04:11:03 PM
I was at the photocopier today and I saw the final test from someone else in a different department. I was struck by this question:

"God's existence can be proved." True or False.

Now I'm curious which response got the point.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 05:47:22 PM
Might depend on the department and the course.

And the instructor.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Anon1787 on May 02, 2022, 06:55:53 PM
Quote from: downer on May 02, 2022, 04:11:03 PM
I was at the photocopier today and I saw the final test from someone else in a different department. I was struck by this question:

"God's existence can be proved." True or False.

Now I'm curious which response got the point.
Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 05:47:22 PM
Might depend on the department and the course.

And the instructor.

M.

Yes. I have trouble proving my own existence.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 08:17:29 PM
The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Anon1787 on May 02, 2022, 10:18:17 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 08:17:29 PM
The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

That's too difficult. A true-false question means a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, which is comparable to the odds in Pascal's wager.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 03, 2022, 08:47:07 AM
Fair enough.

   (...so to speak...)

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 03, 2022, 09:46:05 AM
Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 08:17:29 PM
The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

Don't forget Anselm's Ontological Argument!

This question reminds me of the Peanuts strip where Peppermint Patty had a test question that read:  "Explain World War II.  Use both sides of paper if necessary."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 06, 2022, 03:48:29 AM
Entertainment Weekly stopped print publication last month. It's good that people are wasting less paper.

How long before printed books become a thing of the past?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on May 06, 2022, 06:54:14 AM
I once had a student complain angrily and bitterly that I was giving them too many handouts and that I would be saving trees and by extension by not giving handouts. This was a very angry Stu who complained in every class.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 09, 2022, 10:22:43 AM
In recent days we've had an entire shelf's worth of Danielle Steel books donated for our book sale room.  Would that be considered an embarrassment of riches, or a richness of embarrassments?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on May 09, 2022, 10:29:21 AM
Quote from: apl68 on May 09, 2022, 10:22:43 AM
In recent days we've had an entire shelf's worth of Danielle Steel books donated for our book sale room.  Would that be considered an embarrassment of riches, or a richness of embarrassments?

I seem to recall a few years ago a picture of all of the donated copies of "50 Shades of Grey" from some library.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: dismalist on May 09, 2022, 10:43:12 AM
Quote from: apl68 on May 09, 2022, 10:22:43 AM
In recent days we've had an entire shelf's worth of Danielle Steel books donated for our book sale room.  Would that be considered an embarrassment of riches, or a richness of embarrassments?

From her website: She is the bestselling author alive and the fourth-bestselling fiction author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.

That's almost 1/6 Bible territory.

I suppose a US or European library needn't have her books in its holdings, for everyone already has a couple of her books! :-)

I've never read anything by her, though her name strikes a distant chord. Her books sure as hell pass the market test!

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 09, 2022, 11:06:44 AM
I was startled to find a pile of her books as bedside reading for a former friend who was preparing for the Anglican ministry...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 09, 2022, 01:20:40 PM
I once tried to read one of her books.  It was set in a city I once lived in.  I was curious to see what it had to say about locations there that I recognized.  The story mentioned many locations I recognized, all right, but had nothing whatsoever in the way of description of them.  I came away wondering whether she had actually visited or researched the place, or simply culled the place names from some travel web site.  The book did not create a very impressive sense of place.  Part of Danielle Steel's appeal seems to be the way her books promise to put the reader into glamorous places and circles of society.  That one didn't give me a sense of having armchair-traveled anywhere.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 09, 2022, 01:33:54 PM
Whereas Robert Parker even got the double rotaries at Fresh Pond right.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on May 09, 2022, 02:36:59 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 09, 2022, 11:06:44 AM
I was startled to find a pile of her books as bedside reading for a former friend who was preparing for the Anglican ministry...

M.

Perhaps channeling St. Augustine: "Oh, Master, make me chaste and celibate - but not yet!"
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 10, 2022, 02:59:38 AM
My pricey newish ThinkPad now crashes as often as my $150 Chromebook, without any provocation, doing the same tasks. Windows is such a disaster. And it keeps on promising that it will be able to install Windows 11, but is taking its sweet time in actually doing that. Not that I think Windows 11 will solve any problems.
I do like the backlit keys though.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 12, 2022, 11:48:38 AM
The UPS guy got more than he bargained for on that visit to the library.  He brought in a boxed-up lawnmower that a library staff member had ordered, and had six absolutely crammed full boxes of books we're sending off for recycling to pick up.

Incidentally, this is the second time we've had a lawnmower delivered here.  I hope the place doesn't start looking like Sears!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on May 12, 2022, 03:15:07 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 09, 2022, 01:33:54 PM
Whereas Robert Parker even got the double rotaries at Fresh Pond right.

M.

I used to keep a map of Boston open when reading his books.  When I moved there for grad school (no not Harvard & I'm not flexing), I had a chance to meet him briefly at a bookstore in Cambridge.  I always thought he captured the essence of Beantown quite well.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 12, 2022, 06:26:18 PM
Quote from: secundem_artem on May 12, 2022, 03:15:07 PM
Quote from: mamselle on May 09, 2022, 01:33:54 PM
Whereas Robert Parker even got the double rotaries at Fresh Pond right.

M.

I used to keep a map of Boston open when reading his books.  When I moved there for grad school (no not Harvard & I'm not flexing), I had a chance to meet him briefly at a bookstore in Cambridge.  I always thought he captured the essence of Beantown quite well.

I stopped reading the successor books after his death when one of the writers--Archer, maybe?--put the Hilliard St. house in the Back Bay.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 14, 2022, 01:45:54 PM
^ Unrelated (of course)...

I think medieval art historians have done a better job of incorporating material culture studies into their work than some medieval material culture folks have done in understanding and applying art historical principles.

(I might be wrong...)

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 14, 2022, 03:38:23 PM
Double, a few hours later...

I don't think I've ever gotten a mash note via chat at a conference before...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 18, 2022, 10:59:39 AM
CRM, SIS, ERP & LMS

I think I know what an LMS is -- the same as a CMS.

Isn't CRM "Customer Relationship Management"? Is this where the students are the customers? Or are the faculty the customers?

No idea what SIS and ERP are.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 18, 2022, 12:35:00 PM
Alphabet soup wins the day...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 18, 2022, 01:37:39 PM
We now have even more donated Danielle Steel books on hand, thanks to another big donation.  I have the sinking feeling that her local fans are largely dying off now.  That would help to explain why we are receiving so many more of her books than anybody is buying.

The book donation included quite a few of the former owner's bookmarks.  Since she had been a regular library patron, many of them looked familiar.  We had examples of old summer program-themed bookmarks, and even a couple that we'd printed ourselves.  And one that was hand-painted years ago by a local artist.  I should find a place to save that little collection somewhere.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 18, 2022, 03:41:29 PM
My local library has a display case, and a couple of times now, they've done displays of various, often rather odd, things they've found in returned books that were used as bookmarks...those that they could show, that is.

There was a note in the interpretive card saying that several had been returned to the owners--often named on receipts, letters, bills, etc.--to preserve anonymity, but I got the sense from one of the librarians I know well there, that there were a few interesting ones that the owners probably would never have put in the book if they'd realized that's where they'd leave it...

M.   
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 19, 2022, 07:15:37 AM
A staff member suggested doing a Danielle Steel sale--all her hardcovers marked down for three days only.  We'll see if that gets rid of any of the overstock.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 24, 2022, 08:02:16 AM
A student rightly complained after final grades were submitted that I'd failed to grade a piece of late work. I blame Canvas, since it didn't alert me to the submission of the work.

On checking the final grade I gave the student, I discovered another mistake. I gave them an A rather than A-. I'm tempted to correct that mistake too.

It makes me wonder how many other mistakes I made. Or Canvas made. But I don't think I want to know.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ohnoes on May 24, 2022, 08:20:54 AM
Quote from: apl68 on May 19, 2022, 07:15:37 AM
A staff member suggested doing a Danielle Steel sale--all her hardcovers marked down for three days only.  We'll see if that gets rid of any of the overstock.

A Danielle Steal?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 24, 2022, 08:36:24 AM
OOOhhhhhh--so bad it's good!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 25, 2022, 07:07:24 AM
The Danielle Steel sale had an underwhelming response.  We've extended it through this week.  I suspect that her local supply of fans is indeed diminishing.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 25, 2022, 07:08:25 AM
Bet they'd sell in Alaska...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 27, 2022, 03:53:51 PM
New random thought...

I hope my friends who are taking off for Europe are safe for the next two weeks.

They don't seem to understand just how many things can go wrong with the plans they're making--like biking from Marseilles to Florence in a week--when they don't know the languages and don't seem to have thought about things like getting held up on lonely roads, etc.

They seem to want a 'deep experience' of some things without understanding what that really entails. You don't just show up at a convent or monastery and get to sing all the services with them...that's not usually done.

If you want to 'follow along' with the service, you need to have researched the kinds of singing, etc., that is done more specifically and understand how it works.

You can't really be a monastic tourist like that....it doesn't work.

As much work as I or others I know have done with those materials, you don't just 'pick them up' overnight.

The whole thing, sweetly whole-hearted as it's meant to be, is bothersome, even, really worrisome.

I have a feeling they're not going to "get" what they are "going for" and might either be injured or held up on the one hand, or disappointed/disdainful on the other.

Maybe it will work, I'll be very glad if it does, but I have serious forebodings that come from a fair bit of experience and seeing things fall apart unexpectedly because one doesn't understand the cultural context as well as the language(s).

To start with, they're planning on going in and out of Heathrow several times, in several different directions...pure torture.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 27, 2022, 03:57:42 PM
Hope your friends are safe.  And can avoid giving too much accidental offense.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on May 27, 2022, 06:53:18 PM
Thanks, yes, they're just a bit too cavalier about it, and giving offense is indeed another issue to consider.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 05, 2022, 05:59:22 AM
^ Unrelated double, later...

Denotation matters.*

Not just yellow-sticky connotations that you can find or apply at will and play with--moving them about hither and yon through the texts--as you please, but actual meanings....they matter.

That is all.

M.

*Pax--or a pox--on Sassure, Derrida and all their flock, excepting, perhaps, Peirce, who seemed to get it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 06, 2022, 07:30:09 AM
A former book vendor who used to visit us once a year retired a while back.  She is from this area, and came back for a visit last week.  And decided to donate her leftover samples to us.  We counted 750 books--all hardcover, nearly all in like-new condition, all aimed at children through young adults.  This is a once-in-a-career donation!

I've spent a couple of days organizing them.  We plan to cherry-pick a few for our collection.  We're also going to get in touch with other school and public librarians and teachers around the region and offer them the chance to get anything they would like.  We can offer others for sale, or find other places to give them away.  At any rate, we plan to spread the good fortune as widely as possible.

This is soooooo much nicer than yet another batch of tattered paperbacks, or stale bestsellers, or ancient encyclopedias.  And so much better than yet more Danielle Steel!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 06, 2022, 08:15:07 AM
That is so cooolll!!!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 07, 2022, 07:01:08 AM
Double a day later...

For those (like me) who originally haled, or still do, from NC, this is a fascinating new work:

   https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1102782509/the-debut-of-omar-a-thoroughly-american-opera

And opera is (finally, also,) making other amendments:

   https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jun/05/royal-opera-madama-butterfly-japanese-culture

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on June 07, 2022, 09:11:13 AM
Why did it take me until today to discover the Superbowl Reddit?  (NOT about sports.)  Now I can split my time-wasting between this and the Crochet Reddit.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on June 07, 2022, 09:40:14 AM
Quote from: AmLitHist on June 07, 2022, 09:11:13 AM
Why did it take me until today to discover the Superbowl Reddit?  (NOT about sports.)  Now I can split my time-wasting between this and the Crochet Reddit.

Reddit is a black hole. How's your foot?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on June 07, 2022, 10:06:36 AM
Quote from: evil_physics_witchcraft on June 07, 2022, 09:40:14 AM
Quote from: AmLitHist on June 07, 2022, 09:11:13 AM
Why did it take me until today to discover the Superbowl Reddit?  (NOT about sports.)  Now I can split my time-wasting between this and the Crochet Reddit.

Reddit is a black hole. How's your foot?

It truly is. But it lets me look like I'm paying attention during Zoom meetings (as I stare at the screen scrolling through Reddit).  :-)

The foot is a PitA.  I'm 10 days out from surgery and a lousy patient.  I go back Thursday to get stitches out (I hope--I popped 2 of them on the bottom of the foot, oops, and have a lovely 6-inch plus scar from around my ankle bone toward my little toe).  Hopefully I won't get a plaster cast, but even best-case, it's another 4 weeks in the Big Ole Gray Boot. SIGH.  All in all, I'm fine--just tired of dealing with it. And I've only taken 4-5 pain pills the whole time, which is good.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on June 07, 2022, 04:27:28 PM
This place is pretty quiet since the mods sent you know who into a permanent time out.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on June 08, 2022, 02:55:58 AM
Last time I got movers to give me a quote for a job, they went around with a little clipboard or ipad and actually ticked off an inventory. It took a while. This time round they seem perfectly happy just to wander around, eyeballing, and concluding 'Yup, looks pretty normal for a two-bedroom, but that's a lot of books' and providing an estimate after ten minutes.

Is the difference...
-Regional? Maybe California moving companies are just real sticklers?
-Distance of the move? (local guys with a few trucks don't have worry about exact weights, etc., since they're not coordinating with big national truckers or international partners to pay for cross-continent/transatlantic shipping)
-Have movers just gotten chiller over the years?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on June 08, 2022, 07:42:39 AM
Quote from: ergative on June 08, 2022, 02:55:58 AM
Last time I got movers to give me a quote for a job, they went around with a little clipboard or ipad and actually ticked off an inventory. It took a while. This time round they seem perfectly happy just to wander around, eyeballing, and concluding 'Yup, looks pretty normal for a two-bedroom, but that's a lot of books' and providing an estimate after ten minutes.

Is the difference...
-Regional? Maybe California moving companies are just real sticklers?
-Distance of the move? (local guys with a few trucks don't have worry about exact weights, etc., since they're not coordinating with big national truckers or international partners to pay for cross-continent/transatlantic shipping)
-Have movers just gotten chiller over the years?

Next time I move, I'm just gonna have a fire and let the insurance company buy me a new place. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 08, 2022, 11:23:52 AM
Ergative, I don't know... maybe they have more flexibility if it's local, so if they have to send another truck or piece of equipment out it is not such a big deal? When I moved a couple thousand miles, I was surprised at how casual the guy who came to do the inventory was with his estimate, but it worked out, so I guess he knew what he was doing.  It was so overwhelming to me.  Not just moving that far, to a place I didn't know too well, but moving from an apartment, so if I left or missed anything then too bad.  I would have to try to fit it in my little car with the rest of the stuff to drive out myself.  Your question led me to look back at the estimates, and I had forgotten how comparatively little packing added to the estimate.  I ended up going in that direction but now cannot believe I ever considered going with the no-packing estimate.  After I moved all the way out here into a rental house, we (me, husband, stepkids) moved into our own home a month later (ugh!! way too soon!) just 10-15 mins away, and we did it ourselves with friends.  What a lot of extra work that was.  Next time, I will hire movers again, no matter how far I am moving.  In any case, I think you might be right about the weights to a large extent.  My long-distance freight estimate had both cubic feet and weight.  When you get a UHaul, that's mostly about cubic feet instead of weight, so I imagine it's similar for local movers.  They may need to know if there are specific pieces that are super heavy, expensive, etc., but other than that it is probably about space.  Most people probably have similar types of items in their homes that need to be moved, if I had to guess.  They will probably be happy if they are packing the books so as not to use boxes that are too big.  Before I moved to the apartment from my old house (which I was doing with one of my friends via UHaul), I had packed all my books myself very neatly and found that it was impossible to lift the boxes.  So I had to re-allocate books to other boxes, some containing clothing.  My poor friend still brings up the boxes labeled "dresses" that weighed a lot more than a box of dresses should.  All three moves took place within a total of 6 months, and at no time did I learn the lesson to start packing sooner.  Maybe secundem_artem has the right idea.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on June 08, 2022, 12:41:19 PM
As told to me by an insurance investigator.

The oil in potato chips is quite flammable.  All you need to is leave a big back of Lay's very near a burner on high and then go out for the night while "forgetting" you left the stove on.  Apparently this is a lot harder to prove as arson than an electrical fire or dowsing your living room in gasoline and tossing in a match. 

Moving - it's the worst.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 08, 2022, 12:54:36 PM
I've always packed sweaters or blouses on the bottom and sides, then books, then a topping layer of scarves or more blouses.

Keeps the weight down and protects the books.

I don't recall who taught me this--or maybe I read it somewhere--but I knew it by the time I moved to the campus at the end of high school.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 08, 2022, 01:12:26 PM
We've received a catalog from Nomis, which specializes in items for the mortuary industry.  Many of the ads are for hearses.  More hearses than you can shake a stick at!  Apparently you can get a late-model hearse for as little as $40,000, although I would guess that this is an outlier.  There are also dealers that provide hearses with all-wheel drive.  Which I guess could be an issue for some of the more isolated rural cemeteries.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on June 09, 2022, 01:57:52 AM
One advantage of having bought all our furniture from second-hand thrift shops or donations from professors who didn't need that bookcase anymore is that I'm very chill about things getting damaged. Aside from my grandmother's wedding china and my art supplies, there is very little in my possession that I would grieve losing. Even my favorite armchair and couch are beginning to show their age. (Well, I'd be annoyed if my books got soaked, but barring unexpected floods books are pretty sturdy things once they're boxed. I think mamselle's books are fancier than mine.)

Given how expensive boxes and packing tape can be, the cost of adding packing service--which includes those supplies (and they pick them up again after you've unpacked!)--is incredibly low! Never again will I forgo it!

Apl68, do you know what got you on the Nomis mailing list?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 09, 2022, 07:22:50 AM
Quote from: ergative on June 09, 2022, 01:57:52 AM
Apl68, do you know what got you on the Nomis mailing list?

Beats me.  Maybe my predecessor ordered a catalog from them years ago for a local funeral director?  Libraries tend to receive all sorts of unsolicited mailings.

Some of us have been looking at their ads for wicker coffins, pet urns, lifts guaranteed to handle over 1,200 pounds, roll-in "coolers" with room for up to three, flower stands, etc.  Every trade has its trade dealers who supply specialty items.  It's kind of interesting to check these out.  You might be surprised at some of the things you can find in a library supply catalog....

Honestly, I'd much rather order from a library catalog than an undertakers' catalog.

If you're really curious, they have a web site (naturally) at:

https://www.nomispublications.com/

Wonder if they still sell the plush bears that say "I love my funeral director?"
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 09, 2022, 07:25:07 AM
Currently have a colleague from a neighboring town browsing our big book donation from last week.  She was almost squealing over the big selection.  I understand how she feels.  We have to drive one to three hours in any direction to visit an actual book store.  Plus, at those you have to, you know, pay to get any books.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 09, 2022, 09:31:21 AM
Hmmm...I could send you some books...

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 13, 2022, 12:55:29 PM
Sunday morning we had a baptism at church.  Always a joyous occasion, but this one wasn't quite like any I've seen before.  It's not unusual for ministers to baptize their own children.  Dad baptized me, for example.  What I'd never seen before was a pastor baptizing his own wife.  It seems that she made a profession of faith while in college, but spent her college years in a student ministry group, not a full-fledged church.  Apparently nobody ever counseled her to be baptized. 

I think she may have been baptized as a child in another tradition.  More recently she has realized that she needed to be baptized as a believer to be in compliance with the New Testament.  So she has now followed through with that.

It's a good thing to witness at any age.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 13, 2022, 01:52:54 PM
Glad it was a good celebration!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on June 13, 2022, 04:13:47 PM
Let me see if I understand this.

When I cannot hear you, it's because I don't listen.

But when you can't hear me, it's because I mumble.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Wahoo Redux on June 13, 2022, 09:23:51 PM
We generate a great deal less garbage than we did in our last house, but we generate a great deal more recycling now.

The obvious conclusion would be that we are recycling stuff that we used to throw away, but no, we have always been good recyclers.  Actually, we have been eating at home and cooking a great deal more than we used to.  We used to microwave a good many frozen, prepackaged things; now we cook a lot of fresh veggie, rice, and noddle dishes----so it would follow that we would be producing more plant matter that would need to be disposed of...but no, we have more plastic recycling.

I just don't understand what is happening.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: jimbogumbo on June 14, 2022, 08:10:04 AM
dismalist said I was a classic!! Yippee!!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on June 19, 2022, 03:26:10 AM
This limbo while we wait for the various paperworks to work their way through the system to complete the purchase of our home is so frustrating. Everyone we've spoken to--including the lawyers handling things for us--keep saying that it's normal for this process to take several weeks, there's no reason to worry it will fall through. And I don't really think that anything is going to go wrong. I just wish it was over--or at least sufficiently close to being over that we could get on with things like scheduling movers and booking cleaners and pricing new furniture and so on. But there's no point in doing any of that until we actually have things in order to complete the purchase.

It's like when you're on a long trip, and the airplane has taken off, and although, sure, there's a chance that weather or whatever will divert the plane, you expect to land without issue. You just hate the waiting and want it to be over. Sure, even after you land, there's still inconvenience (getting luggage, arranging transport from the airport, checking in to the hotel), but at least it's inconvenience that you can actively take steps to handle.

I just want this damn plane to land.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 19, 2022, 04:26:57 AM
Ouch.

Keep venting.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 22, 2022, 04:24:40 PM
This is the first time that I have received a shipment of a piece of clothing that I bought on Amazon that was shipped in just the clear plastic bag the item is packaged in with a shipping label slapped on it! The bag has the usual choking hazard warning and silicate gel packet, and there is a sticker on the outside of the bag with the item scanning code and description and sizing info.  Has anyone seen this before? I guess it saves packaging (if those plastic bags are hardy enough to be shipped, which I am not sure they are designed for), but I am definitely glad it wasn't a more intimate item.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on June 22, 2022, 07:03:51 PM
ab_grp, I would call or chat with an Amazon representative, just to make sure that this doesn't happen again. I had to call them because the expected delivery window in my area used to be until 10 PM. I asked the rep to make a note that the latest delivery time was 8 PM and that I was not going to venture out after that and that I would not be responsible for any missed packages that were delivered after 8 PM. They do listen.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on June 22, 2022, 07:13:14 PM
Double post, different topic.

There I was, waiting to cross 57th Street, watching the cars go past, when I saw a woman's head and upper torso projecting out of the sunroof of an SUV that was traveling east. The not-so-young woman, who must have been standing on one of the seats was taking selfies or pictures with her Ipad. Three of us strangers were quite amused and had things to say about the idiocy of tourists as we crossed the street. Never a dull moment in the city--you can count on tourists to provide the entertainment. Earlier, I had to walk past tourists in all kinds of poses taking pictures near the Times Square subway exit.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 22, 2022, 08:52:15 PM
Imagine yourself giving tours in 18th c. dress....

;--》

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 23, 2022, 07:01:58 AM
Quote from: Langue_doc on June 22, 2022, 07:03:51 PM
ab_grp, I would call or chat with an Amazon representative, just to make sure that this doesn't happen again. I had to call them because the expected delivery window in my area used to be until 10 PM. I asked the rep to make a note that the latest delivery time was 8 PM and that I was not going to venture out after that and that I would not be responsible for any missed packages that were delivered after 8 PM. They do listen.

That's a good idea! I have one more of this item coming in the next few days so am curious as to whether it will also show up this way.  I will take a picture this time before opening it, if so.  Maybe who ever packaged it was too busy taking selfies at the time.  ;-) 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on June 23, 2022, 07:04:01 AM
Quote from: Langue_doc on June 22, 2022, 07:13:14 PM
Double post, different topic.

There I was, waiting to cross 57th Street, watching the cars go past, when I saw a woman's head and upper torso projecting out of the sunroof of an SUV that was traveling east. The not-so-young woman, who must have been standing on one of the seats was taking selfies or pictures with her Ipad. Three of us strangers were quite amused and had things to say about the idiocy of tourists as we crossed the street. Never a dull moment in the city--you can count on tourists to provide the entertainment. Earlier, I had to walk past tourists in all kinds of poses taking pictures near the Times Square subway exit.

One of our emeritus bio profs once told me a story of his youth.  A friend of his would drive down the street in an old VW bug, standing on the seat, steering with his knees, head through the sun roof, and blowing a bugle.  Suffice to say bio prof's mom was not impressed.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 23, 2022, 07:20:29 AM
Quote from: mamselle on June 22, 2022, 08:52:15 PM
Imagine yourself giving tours in 18th c. dress....

;--》

M.

You must find yourself photographed more than anybody this side of a cosplayer at a comic book convention.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 23, 2022, 10:21:37 AM
Yes, as long as they didn't walk up when I was mid-sentence explaining something detailed, it was OK.

I sometimes wish I'd gotten their names/pictures/something for follow-up.

But it was kinda fun.

M. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on June 28, 2022, 02:51:25 AM
Primary Day: The Democratic Party seems to arrange things so there's only one candidate for most positions. Isn't that how elections work in Russia?

On a different subject. i finally got my teeth cleaned. In my area, there is a shortage of dental hygenists. You have to book about 4 months ahead to get an appointment, and if you cancel your appointment, you wait another 4 months. If you change your dental insurance, I find that can also cause delays. My hygenist said that some people are going a long time between cleanings these days. I wonder whether the shortage is related to COVID. I did hear that a lot of dentists retired in 2020.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: paultuttle on June 28, 2022, 01:09:02 PM
Yesterday, after the Big but Brief Storm (tm) came through--the rain was so heavy at times I couldn't see the street, 30 feet from my window--I heard a repeated knocking sound on the side of the house next to my office.

I soon figured out that the refrigerator, air conditioning, and washing machine/dryer noises were persuading a friendly neighborhood woodpecker that there was some food in the walls of this house.

(Fortunately, it gave up the fight after about 15 minutes of not finding anything to eat, but I thought I was in Disney's live-action "101 Dalmations" for a bit.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on June 28, 2022, 02:44:30 PM
I saw a mustache (on a man) today that I thought had gone out of fashion decades ago. It looked slightly more complicated than the one in the first illustration https://beardstyle.net/french-mustache/

The one I saw was slightly longer and had an extra loop (curl?). I had to try very hard not to stare. An actor perhaps, needing the mustache for his role?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on June 28, 2022, 02:52:42 PM
Or a cosplay partygoer?

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on July 08, 2022, 09:17:52 AM
Double a bit later.

My adult keyboard student has two kids, each with specific ADHD issues, the younger one a bit more rigid and worrying than the older one, who also studies with me.

She divorced their (very difficult) dad a few years ago now, which I think was quite wise, and they're amicably sharing parenting duties. Both are computer/IT/education/media-based workers, she directs online learning programs for her R1 school; and until recently he was doing background IT for a decently-placed but not very exciting corporation that paid well but has no name recognition.

Apparently the dad just took a job with one of the very visible tech-y media corporations, and was bragging about it to his ex-in-laws in the kids' hearing.

They were slightly impressed, the FIL saying, "Well, that's good, you're working at [media giant] and [daughter] is at [R1 school]. Sounds very reliable."

The younger 10-year-old piped up and said, scathingly, "Yeah, but one's a SCHOOL, and the other's a cringe-y CORPORATION, so what's so good about THAT?"

Sometimes it's helpful to have no filters at all....

;--}

M.   
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on July 08, 2022, 12:46:01 PM
I see in the news that airports in our state have been awarded something called "Airport Terminal Grants."  Wouldn't it make more sense for the federal government to issue grants to struggling airports before the situation appeared terminal?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on July 08, 2022, 04:16:05 PM
;--}

Well done!

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on July 10, 2022, 02:55:30 PM
Ever stand behind somebody in the checkout line and being amazed/puzzled/horrified at what they were buying?

Today, I had to run a variety of errands.  Upon my return home, I realized I had purchased bullets, beer, and antidepressants.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on July 10, 2022, 05:21:12 PM
Quote from: secundem_artem on July 10, 2022, 02:55:30 PM
Ever stand behind somebody in the checkout line and being amazed/puzzled/horrified at what they were buying?

Today, I had to run a variety of errands.  Upon my return home, I realized I had purchased bullets, beer, and antidepressants.

It's called The Walmart Game. Buy 3 things from Walmart that would freak out people in line.

Looks like you had a winner right there!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on July 18, 2022, 09:38:37 AM
Looking at the course description of a course I'm teaching in the fall, I see that it includes 6 major topics to be covered. I am only covering 3 of those. (I don't think the 3 I am not covering are particularly relevant to the students, and I'm covering topics that I think are more relevant instead.) I wonder if the dept chair will notice. I doubt it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on July 21, 2022, 01:45:47 PM
Do you ever look at a course description for a course you are teaching and wonder how it passed the approval committees? Looking at this one right now, it is ungrammatical, doesn't make much sense, and seems to be written by someone unfamiliar with the topic.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on July 22, 2022, 01:12:23 AM
Quote from: downer on July 18, 2022, 09:38:37 AM
Looking at the course description of a course I'm teaching in the fall, I see that it includes 6 major topics to be covered. I am only covering 3 of those. (I don't think the 3 I am not covering are particularly relevant to the students, and I'm covering topics that I think are more relevant instead.) I wonder if the dept chair will notice. I doubt it.

I recently discovered that I'd been teaching a cross-listed Undergrad/grad class entirely wrong for something like four years. Grad students were supposed to have X specialized sessions in addition to Y shared sessions with undergrads, and instead I'd been doing Z specialized sessions and no shared sessions.  We only discovered it because the person in charge of scheduling changed, and the new person looked at the course specification rather than rolling over 'how it's always been done' to next year. Oops.

Actually, I think the correct way of doing it would be better, anyway (probably why I wrote the proposal that way in the first place!) so it's just as well someone caught it.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 04, 2022, 04:35:53 AM
Interesting job description in the ad for President of Ocean County College, NJ.

QuoteInnovate and expand programs and services to increase enrollment, retention, and completion.
Engage all constituents to further a culture of trust, transparency, and belonging, and inspire faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders to work together to collaboratively address the needs of the College and the Ocean County community.
Appreciate the importance of effective strategies supporting, at a high level, the value of diversity in the community and the student body.
Continue to advance college-wide, state-of-the-art technology to deliver in-demand programs and services through traditional, hybrid, online, and HyFlex modalities.
Advocate for OCC by communicating the value of higher education and increasing local, regional, and global outreach to further OCC's status as a college of first choice with a 34% yield from County high schools.
Continue to generate new sources of enrollment and revenue in a time of decreasing traditional resources by collaborating with regional, national, and international businesses, industries, and academic partners to meet the workforce needs of the community, energize potential donors who are generous with their philanthropy, and build upon the $24 million currently held in the College Foundation, which distributes nearly $1 million in gifts and scholarships annually.
Understand the impact of the COVID pandemic on students, the community, and the College, and envision strategies to use a wide variety of resources to assist the College, its students, and the general community to successfully meet these challenges.
Expand on the College's pioneering work to bring American community college education to the Middle East.
https://www.ocean.edu/about-us/board-of-trustees/presidential-search/#Position

It doesn't specify what time schedule they have for those aims.
Bruce Springsteen is an alumnus.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on August 04, 2022, 06:48:19 AM
Do any of you check under the hood to make sure that there aren't any critters living there? I'm tempted to do so because we in the city apparently have a rat infestation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/nyregion/new-york-rats-cars.html
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 04, 2022, 07:05:09 AM
Quote from: Langue_doc on August 04, 2022, 06:48:19 AM
Do any of you check under the hood to make sure that there aren't any critters living there? I'm tempted to do so because we in the city apparently have a rat infestation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/nyregion/new-york-rats-cars.html

A friend of mine had rats chewing through wires, which cost a bunch to repair. He blames the outdoor dining areas, which give rats a lot more space to live.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on August 04, 2022, 07:09:46 AM
A bunny was sitting and munching on clover in the front yard in the rain this morning. (Looked like a young one, from this year's "crop" of rabbits.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: EdnaMode on August 04, 2022, 07:23:36 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on July 10, 2022, 02:55:30 PM
Ever stand behind somebody in the checkout line and being amazed/puzzled/horrified at what they were buying?

Today, I had to run a variety of errands.  Upon my return home, I realized I had purchased bullets, beer, and antidepressants.

One of my more random sets of purchases included a new case for a shotgun, lipstick, and potting soil. And after I bought the house I currently live in, was doing some basic reno before I moved in and in my cart at the hardware store were a couple dropcloths, zip ties, and bleach-based cleaner. The lady at the checkout gave me a look, and I probably didn't help my case when I said "I swear there isn't a body in the trunk of my car!"
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 04, 2022, 07:35:20 AM
While walking to work I saw an 18-wheeler loaded with pipe coming down the highway.  It was barely moving.  I recognized it as a rig that I'd seen parked in a nearby parking lot during my morning walk a couple of hours earlier.  Rigs rest there overnight fairly often.

Anyway, the rig was barely moving.  A number of cars passed him to get out from behind.  Then I was able to cross the highway.  A moment later the rig overtook me going the same way, barely moving fast enough to overtake me on foot.  It was moving in fits and starts, the cab lurching from side to side, cargo and trailer clanking with every lurch.  For a moment I worried that he might try to pull into our library parking lot to take refuge.  He continued on toward the city limits and out of sight.  I'd never seen anything like it.

A staff member who used to work on a farm and at a truck stop suggested that the rig may have been having fuel filter problems.  It probably happened just as the driver got out on the straightaway.  He may have been hoping to power through until the engine could blow out the fuel filter.  I was concerned because it's all two-lane blacktop down that way, with no very good pullover spots for a big rig for miles.  There is a solar farm construction project on that end of town.  Just maybe he was carrying material for them, and was hoping to limp there.  I just hope he doesn't end up stranded on the road in a curve where others can't safely get around him. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 04, 2022, 09:09:51 AM
Scary.

Do your local police have enough staff that one of them could escort him to safety?

Might be worth a call, if you haven't already done that.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on August 04, 2022, 06:36:23 PM
Not sure where to post the link to the article on medical gaslighting, so here it is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/well/mind/medical-gaslighting.html?campaign_id=18&emc=edit_hh_20220804&instance_id=68473&nl=well&regi_id=46382589&segment_id=100498&te=1&user_id=349c6abacc09730a88f6caaeae2eed71
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 09, 2022, 06:44:35 AM
Don't know where else this can go, but I just found out a brilliant, quixotic, gifted writer I've known for years has had a serious stroke--as in, give up the car, can't fully see out of one eye, can't process certain kinds of info--which may mean her last couple of brilliant,  wonderful projects may not get done.

Carpe diem, folks...none of us knows.

I'm just so sad, for that loss to her of the parts of herself she valued, and did so much with, and for the painstaking work she's done to get herself as far as she has since May, when it happened, and....yeah.

We've said we'll be in touch weekly, going forward, and I treasure her friendship, so am glad for that, but just, still, so sad.

Glad she's alive and making progress and all that, don't mean to minimize those things, but...the losses...in so many different ways, have got to be so hard.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 11, 2022, 03:22:00 PM
The job ad for a course that starts in 2.5 weeks says urgent!
https://philjobs.org/job/show/21010

I bet they find someone to teach it with little trouble.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on August 12, 2022, 07:36:48 AM
The new crop of clementines is in the stores.  I bought a bag (very cheap), and they are really juicy and sweet.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 12, 2022, 10:04:48 AM
I just learned that Clementine Churchill liked oranges.  Makes perfect sense!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on August 12, 2022, 12:19:14 PM
When I lived in Canada (Alberta, mid-Fifties, quite remote) what we had were what must have been satsuma oranges, brought from Japan, each paper-wrapped, the whole in a wood crate.  Neighbors would come by (it's difficult to deal with 40 below at the patio BBQ in January, so kitchen table) and the whole crate would vanish in an afternoon.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 15, 2022, 07:27:45 AM
One of our local real estate brokers lives on our street.  Their next-door neighbor has a "For Sale" sign.  It is being handled by one of the other realtors in town.  I hope that's not a sign of any trouble between neighbors.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 16, 2022, 02:58:22 PM
Won't we need a thread on what a shitshow it is trying to teach first year students from the pandemic who have basically skipped high school and gone straight from middle school to college?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 16, 2022, 03:16:53 PM
Someone just started a Fall Semester thread....that might be a good place to discuss those issues--if they arise...

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 19, 2022, 12:38:20 PM
I saw an advertising notice on my computer that spoke of getting "Cash Out of Your Home."  And I reflected that I'd never collected the Man in Black's music to start with, so no need.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 25, 2022, 07:36:23 AM
While sorting through a recent book donation, I found copies of The Aviator's Wife, The Winemaker's Wife, and The Shoemaker's Wife.  Seems to be a theme going here.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 25, 2022, 10:35:50 AM
Possibly all plays on "The Pilot's Wife," which is actually a rather good entry in its author's "historic periods in the same house" series.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 25, 2022, 11:47:11 AM
And I just found out today at the weekly Rotary meeting who it was who dropped all those books off!  He was afraid the donated books might have been ruined by the weather.  I was able to tell him that they had not been.  Glad they weren't left outside under the porch roof over a rainy weekend, though.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AvidReader on August 26, 2022, 04:47:25 AM
There was also a "daughter" trend for a while.

AR.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on August 29, 2022, 07:28:36 AM
Quote from: apl68 on August 25, 2022, 07:36:23 AM
While sorting through a recent book donation, I found copies of The Aviator's Wife, The Winemaker's Wife, and The Shoemaker's Wife.  Seems to be a theme going here.

Quote from: AvidReader on August 26, 2022, 04:47:25 AM
There was also a "daughter" trend for a while.

AR.

Yes, I group them all under the umbrella of "The <profession>'s< female relative>" in my head. I find it even more irritating a titling trend as '[the] <Noun> of <Noun> and <Noun>' that was real popular a few years back, because of the inherent misogyny that comes with defining A MAIN CHARACTER by her relation to a male character's profession. Lady gets an entire book written about her and yet her identity is still relative to a dude.

(I suppose, in principle, there's nothing to say that the 'profession' in this pattern can't be held by another female character. But I doubt that's what's going on in these books.)

Edit: I'm not (https://www.thehairpin.com/2013/09/the-male-professions-female-relative/), it seems,  the only one (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/76438.The_Male_Occupation_s_Female_Relative_) to make this observation.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on August 29, 2022, 08:09:59 AM
Quote from: ergative on August 29, 2022, 07:28:36 AM
Quote from: apl68 on August 25, 2022, 07:36:23 AM
While sorting through a recent book donation, I found copies of The Aviator's Wife, The Winemaker's Wife, and The Shoemaker's Wife.  Seems to be a theme going here.

Quote from: AvidReader on August 26, 2022, 04:47:25 AM
There was also a "daughter" trend for a while.

AR.

Yes, I group them all under the umbrella of "The <profession>'s< female relative>" in my head. I find it even more irritating a titling trend as '[the] <Noun> of <Noun> and <Noun>' that was real popular a few years back, because of the inherent misogyny that comes with defining A MAIN CHARACTER by her relation to a male character's profession. Lady gets an entire book written about her and yet her identity is still relative to a dude.

(I suppose, in principle, there's nothing to say that the 'profession' in this pattern can't be held by another female character. But I doubt that's what's going on in these books.)

Edit: I'm not (https://www.thehairpin.com/2013/09/the-male-professions-female-relative/), it seems,  the only one (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/76438.The_Male_Occupation_s_Female_Relative_) to make this observation.

Just out of curiosity, how many of the authors of these books are women? And how many of the readers are women?

ETA: Not intended to be snarky; I'm just curious that female authors and readers wouldn't generally have this aversion to that kind of title. "The <whatever>'s Husband" titles wouldn't be likely to be written or read by men.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 08:20:42 AM
Eighteenth c. gravestones the same.

On many, 3/4 of the space is given to defining a female's societal place in terms of the men in her life, to the point one wonders if the stone was meant to document them, or her.

I'm currently writing about three of the exceptions.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on August 29, 2022, 08:30:45 AM
Quote from: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 08:20:42 AM
Eighteenth c. gravestones the same.

On many, 3/4 of the space is given to defining a female's societal place in terms of the men in her life, to the point one wonders if the stone was meant to document them, or her.

I'm currently writing about three of the exceptions.

M.

Sure, and that's what makes me curious about its continued appeal to 21st century women in certain contexts.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 12:19:22 PM
Hunh?

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on August 29, 2022, 12:22:45 PM
Quote from: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 12:19:22 PM
Hunh?

M.

In an earlier era, when women were routinely identified as "Mrs. John Smith", calling a book "The <whatever>'s Wife" would have been normal. However, now that form of address is not at all popular, so it's odd that women would write or read books with titles using that arcane form of identification that they would not wish to be used for themselves.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 30, 2022, 07:28:43 AM
The new shrimp and rice dish that I tried at our local authentic-but-usually-pretty-mild Mexican restaurant was quite a bit hotter than I expected.  I should paid have more attention to the name Camerones de diabla on the menu.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on September 01, 2022, 07:24:29 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on August 29, 2022, 12:22:45 PM
Quote from: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 12:19:22 PM
Hunh?

M.

In an earlier era, when women were routinely identified as "Mrs. John Smith", calling a book "The <whatever>'s Wife" would have been normal. However, now that form of address is not at all popular, so it's odd that women would write or read books with titles using that arcane form of identification that they would not wish to be used for themselves.

Judging from the Goodreads list, it seems like the majority of the writers are women. I don't know that I'd say it's odd for women to read or write books with that kind of title. Sure, it subordinates a female main character to a male character, but it also promises, right there in the title, that there is a female main character. You've got to be represented before you can complain about how you're represented, after all.

In a way, I wonder whether this sort of titling has something in common with books like The Trojan women: It invokes a type of person or story (about Trojans, or a French Lieutenant, a ship-builder, a captain, a time-traveller, whatever), and then says, 'but we're focusing on the women in this story!' There's something very appealing about that sort of promise, and I definitely went through a phase in my 20s when I always picked up those titles to look at more closely. The marketing decisions worked on me. Still do, actually--the reason I get irritated at these titles is because I notice them more consciously than I notice other titling trends. So it's not surprising that they're popular. You need to think about these things in a bit more depth than I think most people do before you start getting annoyed at how, even in making the promise of a female-centric story, the titles still perpetuate the subordination of women's roles.

(And then you complain about it on a forum for people with PhDs.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on September 02, 2022, 06:13:11 AM
New word needed for the english language: wocust(s)

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on September 02, 2022, 07:03:17 AM
Quote from: ergative on September 01, 2022, 07:24:29 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on August 29, 2022, 12:22:45 PM
Quote from: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 12:19:22 PM
Hunh?

M.

In an earlier era, when women were routinely identified as "Mrs. John Smith", calling a book "The <whatever>'s Wife" would have been normal. However, now that form of address is not at all popular, so it's odd that women would write or read books with titles using that arcane form of identification that they would not wish to be used for themselves.

Judging from the Goodreads list, it seems like the majority of the writers are women. I don't know that I'd say it's odd for women to read or write books with that kind of title. Sure, it subordinates a female main character to a male character, but it also promises, right there in the title, that there is a female main character. You've got to be represented before you can complain about how you're represented, after all.

In a way, I wonder whether this sort of titling has something in common with books like The Trojan women: It invokes a type of person or story (about Trojans, or a French Lieutenant, a ship-builder, a captain, a time-traveller, whatever), and then says, 'but we're focusing on the women in this story!' There's something very appealing about that sort of promise, and I definitely went through a phase in my 20s when I always picked up those titles to look at more closely. The marketing decisions worked on me. Still do, actually--the reason I get irritated at these titles is because I notice them more consciously than I notice other titling trends. So it's not surprising that they're popular. You need to think about these things in a bit more depth than I think most people do before you start getting annoyed at how, even in making the promise of a female-centric story, the titles still perpetuate the subordination of women's roles.


Interesting idea. Do you see any way around this? (Honest question.) How can a publisher, (other than perhaps by cover art), signal that a book called "The surgeon" (or whatever) is actually referring to a female main character? ( Clearly, there's no reason readers should automatically assume it's a male character either; but if that matters to the readership, what can be done?)

On a related note, has anyone seen any statistics to indicate what proportion of readers don't really care whether the main character is male or female in a story? I'd guess it's pretty genre-specific at any rate. For instance, there are lots of murder mystery series that are popular with main characters of both sexes.  My impression is that their audiences are not strongly correlated with the sex of the main character.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on September 12, 2022, 02:37:19 PM
Google Calendar keeps pestering me to set my working location. I'm tempted to set it as "Earth."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on September 13, 2022, 03:20:38 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on September 02, 2022, 07:03:17 AM
Quote from: ergative on September 01, 2022, 07:24:29 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on August 29, 2022, 12:22:45 PM
Quote from: mamselle on August 29, 2022, 12:19:22 PM
Hunh?

M.

In an earlier era, when women were routinely identified as "Mrs. John Smith", calling a book "The <whatever>'s Wife" would have been normal. However, now that form of address is not at all popular, so it's odd that women would write or read books with titles using that arcane form of identification that they would not wish to be used for themselves.

Judging from the Goodreads list, it seems like the majority of the writers are women. I don't know that I'd say it's odd for women to read or write books with that kind of title. Sure, it subordinates a female main character to a male character, but it also promises, right there in the title, that there is a female main character. You've got to be represented before you can complain about how you're represented, after all.

In a way, I wonder whether this sort of titling has something in common with books like The Trojan women: It invokes a type of person or story (about Trojans, or a French Lieutenant, a ship-builder, a captain, a time-traveller, whatever), and then says, 'but we're focusing on the women in this story!' There's something very appealing about that sort of promise, and I definitely went through a phase in my 20s when I always picked up those titles to look at more closely. The marketing decisions worked on me. Still do, actually--the reason I get irritated at these titles is because I notice them more consciously than I notice other titling trends. So it's not surprising that they're popular. You need to think about these things in a bit more depth than I think most people do before you start getting annoyed at how, even in making the promise of a female-centric story, the titles still perpetuate the subordination of women's roles.


Interesting idea. Do you see any way around this? (Honest question.) How can a publisher, (other than perhaps by cover art), signal that a book called "The surgeon" (or whatever) is actually referring to a female main character? ( Clearly, there's no reason readers should automatically assume it's a male character either; but if that matters to the readership, what can be done?)

Don't knock cover art! There's some really fascinating discourse about how cover art works, and how effective it is at signaling what's in the book. The most fun discussions, naturally, center around cover art for romance novels (Here's (https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/romance-book-covers/) an article about trends in romance novel covers; Here's a podcast about the design and choices that publishers use to signal subgenres of romance (https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-clinch/); Here's a twitter account dedicated to revelling in the vintage trends, which were substantially spicier than the modern ones (https://twitter.com/ArtOfTheClinch)).

But beyond cover art, I think publishers also put genre tags on their books so bookstores can shelve them. A 'women's fiction' (gag) genre tag would help signal that 'The surgeon' is going to focus on a woman.

However, there's a conflation in your question that I think gets at why I dislike this trend. 'The surgeon's daughter' is not, herself, a surgeon (necessarily). She's her own person, with her own skills and goals, which should be acknowledged independently of whatever her dad does. And if a book is actually about a female surgeon, and it's called The surgeon's daughter, then that's even worse, because it takes the female character's own abilities and ascribes them to her male relative. It's gross all around.

Quote
On a related note, has anyone seen any statistics to indicate what proportion of readers don't really care whether the main character is male or female in a story? I'd guess it's pretty genre-specific at any rate. For instance, there are lots of murder mystery series that are popular with main characters of both sexes.  My impression is that their audiences are not strongly correlated with the sex of the main character.

I've seen stats about author gender in SFF. Female readers tend to read female and male authors about equally, while male readers tend to prefer male authors (and then justify their preferences by saying it's just based on merit and also, 'Some of my favorite authors are women! Like every male reader of SFF, I like Ursula LeGuin and consider her a sufficient female writer token to absolve me of all sexism in my reading habits!' I quit listening to a SFF review podcast after the host pulled that one. It's fine to like male writers better than female writers, but at least be honest about it!)

I'd also be interested in seeing stats about preferences regarding male/female characters. I suspect that, like author gender, female readers will read anything---possibly because there are just more books about male characters (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/apr/27/four-times-more-male-characters-in-literature-than-female-research-suggests), so they can't be as choosy---while male readers prefer to read about dudes.

After a quick google around, here's an article (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00289178) about identifying with characters, which supports my hunch, based on the abstract. And here's an article showing that it starts in elementary school: girls read anything, while boys don't like girly books. (https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rrq.420)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 13, 2022, 07:32:28 AM
Quote from: ergative on September 13, 2022, 03:20:38 AM

After a quick google around, here's an article (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00289178) about identifying with characters, which supports my hunch, based on the abstract. And here's an article showing that it starts in elementary school: girls read anything, while boys don't like girly books. (https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rrq.420)

I've put a lot of thought over the years into why boys in elementary school read the things that they read (if they read at all).  I wrote a piece about it that was well-received by library colleagues.  I could PM it to anybody who'd like to check it out.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 22, 2022, 07:24:25 AM
Why is it that every time I see the name of the romance author Maisey Yates, I try to read it as "Mairsey Doates?"  And am I the only one guilty of doing that?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 22, 2022, 07:29:40 AM
I have the original sheet music from my grandmother's piano bench...

;--》

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 23, 2022, 10:52:00 AM
Double, several days later...

I shouldn't, shouldn't, shouldn't be adding this abstract submission to my tasks for the day.

But it's making me so HAPPY.

Guess I like/need 'new stuff' to do every now and again so I don't just get bogged down in the 'old stuff...'

(Or is it just a distraction?)

Hmmm....

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on September 24, 2022, 07:09:43 AM
That is not an 'or' question.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 24, 2022, 05:46:44 PM
Ouch...

;--》

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on September 28, 2022, 06:21:22 PM
https://cdn.drawception.com/images/panels/2014/11-23/yYXwjXEczB-4.png
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 29, 2022, 12:01:47 PM
Since I am a minor public official and all, I accept having to have my photo in the paper now and then as a price to be paid for getting local media coverage of our library.  But man, that front-page photo with me this week was awful!  It made me look like a scarecrow that had been propped up in the center of the room.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on September 29, 2022, 12:05:17 PM
Maybe the photographer had Hallowe'en on the brain?

Sorry, our public images do take a beating and we have no control over it, sometimes...

I played a porch gig a few years back; it was very nice to be on the front of one of the local weeklies, but I had my eyes closed and my mouth open, singing--just looked weird.

But as long as they spell your name right....

;--}

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on October 04, 2022, 12:50:09 PM
I grade student work on Canvas on my laptop which has a 13" screen.
It's clear to me that you need at least a 20" screen to really be able to grade papers on Canvas when using the rubric function.
But since the college doesn't provide me with that, I'm not doing it.
It's not very different from the students writing their papers on their phones.
But there it is. That's how things go these days.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on October 04, 2022, 01:45:11 PM
^ A Ctrl-minus will reduce text size, if that helps (at least on a PC).

My random thought....why break what was fixed?

Zoom's new interface with gmail, by which I send my student invites to their class sessions, is now totally messed up.

It was fine before.

"New, improved!"

Yeah.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 26, 2022, 05:32:00 PM
Colossal irony: Herschel Walker paid for abortions so he wouldn't suffer the loss to his reputation from having fathered children extramaritally. And now it may turn out that by doing so he sabotaged his political career.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: kaysixteen on October 26, 2022, 09:35:44 PM
No matter how much a Georgia GOP voter wants to have the Senate back in his party's hands, Walker is a uniquely unfit candidate to ever smell the US Senate.   Makes me long for the days of the old Roman Republic, where the censors, elected for a brief term every 5 years, had as amongst their duties to draw up the roll of the Senate (a lifetime honor and without a real max number of Senators), and they could evict a Senator they deemed morally unfit to serve.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on October 27, 2022, 08:04:35 AM
Quote from: kaysixteen on October 26, 2022, 09:35:44 PM
No matter how much a Georgia GOP voter wants to have the Senate back in his party's hands, Walker is a uniquely unfit candidate to ever smell the US Senate.   Makes me long for the days of the old Roman Republic, where the censors, elected for a brief term every 5 years, had as amongst their duties to draw up the roll of the Senate (a lifetime honor and without a real max number of Senators), and they could evict a Senator they deemed morally unfit to serve.

^ IS there even such a thing anymore in America?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on October 27, 2022, 08:20:15 AM
Quote from: kaysixteen on October 26, 2022, 09:35:44 PM
No matter how much a Georgia GOP voter wants to have the Senate back in his party's hands, Walker is a uniquely unfit candidate to ever smell the US Senate.   Makes me long for the days of the old Roman Republic, where the censors, elected for a brief term every 5 years, had as amongst their duties to draw up the roll of the Senate (a lifetime honor and without a real max number of Senators), and they could evict a Senator they deemed morally unfit to serve.

That would always be an objective process, engaged with high morals and great sobriety.

/snark
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Harlow2 on October 27, 2022, 08:02:15 PM
Quote from: downer on October 04, 2022, 12:50:09 PM
I grade student work on Canvas on my laptop which has a 13" screen.
It's clear to me that you need at least a 20" screen to really be able to grade papers on Canvas when using the rubric function.
But since the college doesn't provide me with that, I'm not doing it.
It's not very different from the students writing their papers on their phones.
But there it is. That's how things go these days.

I finally broke down and bought a 22-inch monitor. Oh, my life is better.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on October 29, 2022, 07:28:23 AM
Just want to say how impressed I am with the local public school system.

My student who's been thrashing about with their gender ID, name choice etc. (they said 3 weeks ago they were bi/female, but then had to take some time to give that birth) decided on their new name last weekend, their mom told the school, the school made the necessary name and pronoun assignment changes in the computer system, done.

Smoothed the way for what was once a life-threatening issue no end.

And I like the new name: blends the first part of the old name with a different end, it's lovely.

Gratitude.

M.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 30, 2022, 05:56:10 AM
'Life-threatening?'
I don't believe you.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 30, 2022, 08:08:23 AM
con't

Whoever this young student is, best wishes for health, success to you!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 30, 2022, 09:06:00 AM
Do trolls always know they are trolling?  Is it sometimes genuine and they just can't help themselves?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 30, 2022, 09:54:57 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 30, 2022, 09:06:00 AM
Do trolls always know they are trolling?  Is it sometimes genuine and they just can't help themselves?

It depends on how you define "troll". It's one of those terms applied pejoratively by people to someone they disagree with. If by "troll" you mean someone who says something they know will be unpopular, then probably most know that is likely. If by "troll" you mean someone who says something just because it will be unpopular, then that will be a much smaller group. (And if you mean people who say something even if they know it's untrue but say it anyway because it will be unpopular, then that's an even smaller group. That's the only group I would apply the term to, personally.)

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 07:25:57 AM
What about the people who persist in saying things that are rejected (nearly) unanimously.  Those who just double down in the face of all argument.  Is that a form of trolling.

I guess the question should be clarified:  When determining if someone is a troll, does intent matter?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 07:25:57 AM
I guess the question should be clarified:  When determining if someone is a troll, does intent matter?

I would argue that it does.

Another distinction I would make is between a troll and someone with a hobby horse. Just because someone has a hobby horse, which they ride frequently, doesn't (in my mind) make them a troll. The fact that the audience is annoyed doesn't make it trolling; it's when annoying the audience is the intended (and *only) objective that makes it trolling (in my opinion).



*lots of discussion techniques involve saying things to "provoke" an audience; usually the point is to raise some sort of contradiction that the audience hasn't previously considered so its purpose is to make them rethink their position, rather than just to be upset.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:24:06 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM

*lots of discussion techniques involve saying things to "provoke" an audience; usually the point is to raise some sort of contradiction that the audience hasn't previously considered so its purpose is to make them rethink their position, rather than just to be upset.

I'm not hoping to get anyone to rethink their position. Although it's fine if that happens. I'm just having random thoughts. If anyone doesn't like it, they have a problem I guess.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 08:25:54 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:24:06 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM

*lots of discussion techniques involve saying things to "provoke" an audience; usually the point is to raise some sort of contradiction that the audience hasn't previously considered so its purpose is to make them rethink their position, rather than just to be upset.

I'm not hoping to get anyone to rethink their position. Although it's fine if that happens. I'm just having random thoughts. If anyone doesn't like it, they have a problem I guess.

Sure. My point was that even some situations where a person's intent is to provoke, it still isn't what I would call "trolling".
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:54:40 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 08:25:54 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:24:06 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM

*lots of discussion techniques involve saying things to "provoke" an audience; usually the point is to raise some sort of contradiction that the audience hasn't previously considered so its purpose is to make them rethink their position, rather than just to be upset.

I'm not hoping to get anyone to rethink their position. Although it's fine if that happens. I'm just having random thoughts. If anyone doesn't like it, they have a problem I guess.

Sure. My point was that even some situations where a person's intent is to provoke, it still isn't what I would call "trolling".

Most of the time when people here mention trolling, what they convey to me is their frustration with not being able to control what is posted or allowed.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:04:13 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:54:40 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 08:25:54 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:24:06 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM

*lots of discussion techniques involve saying things to "provoke" an audience; usually the point is to raise some sort of contradiction that the audience hasn't previously considered so its purpose is to make them rethink their position, rather than just to be upset.

I'm not hoping to get anyone to rethink their position. Although it's fine if that happens. I'm just having random thoughts. If anyone doesn't like it, they have a problem I guess.

Sure. My point was that even some situations where a person's intent is to provoke, it still isn't what I would call "trolling".

Most of the time when people here mention trolling, what they convey to me is their frustration with not being able to control what is posted or allowed.

That's the strange part, especially in a setting populated by academics. In middle school, being surrounded by a group of people who all (appear to) think exactly alike is desirable; among intellectuals it used to be seen as stifling (and naive). Now it's "enlightened".
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:09:30 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
The fact that the audience is annoyed doesn't make it trolling; it's when annoying the audience is the intended (and *only) objective that makes it trolling (in my opinion).

Why only?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:15:51 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:09:30 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
The fact that the audience is annoyed doesn't make it trolling; it's when annoying the audience is the intended (and *only) objective that makes it trolling (in my opinion).

Why only?

As someone said, "If two people agree on everything, then one of them is redundant." What's the point of a discussion where every time someone says something everyone else says, "Me Too!"?
The discussion only becomes interesting when someone says something like "but what about.....".
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:19:49 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:15:51 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:09:30 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
The fact that the audience is annoyed doesn't make it trolling; it's when annoying the audience is the intended (and *only) objective that makes it trolling (in my opinion).

Why only?

As someone said, "If two people agree on everything, then one of them is redundant." What's the point of a discussion where every time someone says something everyone else says, "Me Too!"?
The discussion only becomes interesting when someone says something like "but what about.....".

I'm sorry, I didn't follow that response at all.

Are you saying it's trolling when the goal is to be annoying, and it ceases to be trolling if there is also another goal? 

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:33:07 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:19:49 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:15:51 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:09:30 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
The fact that the audience is annoyed doesn't make it trolling; it's when annoying the audience is the intended (and *only) objective that makes it trolling (in my opinion).

Why only?

As someone said, "If two people agree on everything, then one of them is redundant." What's the point of a discussion where every time someone says something everyone else says, "Me Too!"?
The discussion only becomes interesting when someone says something like "but what about.....".

I'm sorry, I didn't follow that response at all.

Are you saying it's trolling when the goal is to be annoying, and it ceases to be trolling if there is also another goal?

Yes, that's how I would define it. Trolling (IMHO) is being offensive purely for the purpose of being offensive. Stating an unpopular and or controversial point of view may offend a lot of people, but if the point is to fuel a serious discussion then it's not trolling (in my view). Otherwise basically any political debate would qualify as trolling.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ergative on October 31, 2022, 09:53:58 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:33:07 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:19:49 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:15:51 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:09:30 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
The fact that the audience is annoyed doesn't make it trolling; it's when annoying the audience is the intended (and *only) objective that makes it trolling (in my opinion).

Why only?

As someone said, "If two people agree on everything, then one of them is redundant." What's the point of a discussion where every time someone says something everyone else says, "Me Too!"?
The discussion only becomes interesting when someone says something like "but what about.....".

I'm sorry, I didn't follow that response at all.

Are you saying it's trolling when the goal is to be annoying, and it ceases to be trolling if there is also another goal?

Yes, that's how I would define it. Trolling (IMHO) is being offensive purely for the purpose of being offensive. Stating an unpopular and or controversial point of view may offend a lot of people, but if the point is to fuel a serious discussion then it's not trolling (in my view). Otherwise basically any political debate would qualify as trolling.

In principle I agree. In practice I think there's either a lot of self-deception, or a lot of bad-faith, which leads many people to pretend they want to fuel serious discussion, when in fact they just like getting a reaction. (This is a sub-genre of trolling known as 'sea-lioning'. (http://wondermark.com/1k62/))
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 10:10:04 AM
Quote from: ergative on October 31, 2022, 09:53:58 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:33:07 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:19:49 AM
Are you saying it's trolling when the goal is to be annoying, and it ceases to be trolling if there is also another goal?

Yes, that's how I would define it. Trolling (IMHO) is being offensive purely for the purpose of being offensive. Stating an unpopular and or controversial point of view may offend a lot of people, but if the point is to fuel a serious discussion then it's not trolling (in my view). Otherwise basically any political debate would qualify as trolling.

In principle I agree. In practice I think there's either a lot of self-deception, or a lot of bad-faith, which leads many people to pretend they want to fuel serious discussion, when in fact they just like getting a reaction. (This is a sub-genre of trolling known as 'sea-lioning'. (http://wondermark.com/1k62/))

But how much of that is based predominantly on whether the view being expressed is in the minority rather than the majority? Do people expressing the popular opinion get accused (by their own "side") of either trolling or sea-lioning?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 10:26:59 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:04:13 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:54:40 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 08:25:54 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 08:24:06 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 07:35:39 AM

*lots of discussion techniques involve saying things to "provoke" an audience; usually the point is to raise some sort of contradiction that the audience hasn't previously considered so its purpose is to make them rethink their position, rather than just to be upset.

I'm not hoping to get anyone to rethink their position. Although it's fine if that happens. I'm just having random thoughts. If anyone doesn't like it, they have a problem I guess.

Sure. My point was that even some situations where a person's intent is to provoke, it still isn't what I would call "trolling".

Most of the time when people here mention trolling, what they convey to me is their frustration with not being able to control what is posted or allowed.

That's the strange part, especially in a setting populated by academics. In middle school, being surrounded by a group of people who all (appear to) think exactly alike is desirable; among intellectuals it used to be seen as stifling (and naive). Now it's "enlightened".

We have a culture war today. The opposing views are not considered different views. They are automatically assumed to be the product of bad motives. And almost as often, of irredeemably bad people.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 12:47:32 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 10:10:04 AM
Quote from: ergative on October 31, 2022, 09:53:58 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 09:33:07 AM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 09:19:49 AM
Are you saying it's trolling when the goal is to be annoying, and it ceases to be trolling if there is also another goal?

Yes, that's how I would define it. Trolling (IMHO) is being offensive purely for the purpose of being offensive. Stating an unpopular and or controversial point of view may offend a lot of people, but if the point is to fuel a serious discussion then it's not trolling (in my view). Otherwise basically any political debate would qualify as trolling.

In principle I agree. In practice I think there's either a lot of self-deception, or a lot of bad-faith, which leads many people to pretend they want to fuel serious discussion, when in fact they just like getting a reaction. (This is a sub-genre of trolling known as 'sea-lioning'. (http://wondermark.com/1k62/))

But how much of that is based predominantly on whether the view being expressed is in the minority rather than the majority? Do people expressing the popular opinion get accused (by their own "side") of either trolling or sea-lioning?

Sometimes they do.  "Entertainment" is a goal for some, but maybe that's the same as being annoying.  Is that what you mean? 

This is from Wikipedia, for what it is worth: "Sealioning  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning)(also sea-lioning and sea lioning) is a type of trolling or harassment that consists of pursuing people with relentless requests for evidence, often tangential or previously addressed, while maintaining a pretense of civility and sincerity ("I'm just trying to have a debate"), and feigning ignorance of the subject matter.It may take the form of "incessant, bad-faith invitations to engage in debate", and has been likened to a denial-of-service attack targeted at human beings. The term originated with a 2014 strip of the webcomic Wondermark by David Malki,  which The Independent called, "..the most apt description of Twitter you'll ever see"."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 12:49:43 PM
For the curious, here's the above mentioned comic. (http://wondermark.com/1k62/)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 12:59:35 PM
Let me give the example of someone I see as a trolling master. Trump, especially early in his presidency, was a master of trolling. He would say outrageous things, completely off the top of his head, and often even say completely contradictory things a few days later. He did it because he realized that the more outrageous it was, the more media coverage he'd get. All he cared about was being the top news story, and it worked. It's not clear even he believed half of what he said, but it served his purpose. The media were so intent on clutching their pearls and saying "HOW DARE YOU!" that they kept giving him all the attention he wanted.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 01:46:16 PM
Do you think what he is doing now is still trolling?  Or is he genuinely making the claims for some other goal (like saving his own skin)?  That would then NOT be trolling, based on the above definition.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 01:54:40 PM
Quote from: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 01:46:16 PM
Do you think what he is doing now is still trolling?  Or is he genuinely making the claims for some other goal (like saving his own skin)?  That would then NOT be trolling, based on the above definition.

Because part of his point is just to get publicity, (since in politics getting attention is vital for power), then it is still trolling (by my definition). (Although, before and now, since part of his message was that he doesn't care whether the media likes him, then there is still an element of the publicity he gets that proves that point. So some of his message is true, whether he's trolling or not.)
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on October 31, 2022, 01:59:50 PM
To the extent that the right is trying to "own the libs", they are trolling.  But when they are trying to convince their base, they aren't?  Or are they also trolling their base, hoping for a different "rise" out of them?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on October 31, 2022, 02:40:00 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 31, 2022, 12:59:35 PM
Let me give the example of someone I see as a trolling master. Trump, especially early in his presidency, was a master of trolling. He would say outrageous things, completely off the top of his head, and often even say completely contradictory things a few days later. He did it because he realized that the more outrageous it was, the more media coverage he'd get. All he cared about was being the top news story, and it worked. It's not clear even he believed half of what he said, but it served his purpose. The media were so intent on clutching their pearls and saying "HOW DARE YOU!" that they kept giving him all the attention he wanted.

The (liberal) media have called every republican at least as far back as Ronald Reagan 'a racist.' Which is much different from how they see themselves. They see themselves as confronting their implicit bias and in the process establishing that they are trustworthy and trying to improve themselves. But almost any republican is easy pickings for the irredeemably and obliviously, if not intentionally, racist, smear. Trump calculated that there's no reason to cultivate a relationship with them, and there's traction in pointing out the disingenuous, sometimes nasty, and heavily biased things they do, and calling into question whether they have any serious intent in being a good to anyone but themselves. The democrats, as usual, are not very interested in what voters think, being much more interested in what they should think. So they could never have believed that what Trump was doing could work, and now they have to call it 'trolling.' They never saw it coming. What they don't want to say is, bombastic and outlandish as he was, it wasn't hard to tell he honestly hates the media, and it would turn out to be something that resonated with voters. Ronald Reagan was the last one to dare to imply the liberal media sucked. It didn't hurt him politically either. I suspect Trump remembered that.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mahagonny on November 03, 2022, 04:16:06 AM
Back to randomness

I have a class with a student from China who is perhaps tired of trying to get Americans to pronounce his name correctly. He is calls himself 'Rock.' In the same class is a student named Roland. They are buddies.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 07, 2022, 08:21:34 AM
Although Nashville is the capital of country music, in a week-long vacation there I seldom heard anybody other than myself speaking with a recognizably rural accent.  I guess the old regional accents really are heading for extinction now.  If I live to a ripe old age, I may have anthropologists making recordings of my voice.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on November 18, 2022, 10:56:10 AM
It is very sad when friends pass away, but I it might help if their Facebook pages indicated this in some permanent way.  Seeing multiple people wish "happy birthday and many more!" to someone who passed away months ago is a bit jarring.  I would think they would notice the previous posts about the deceased (including obituary posts) or even the "happy heavenly birthday" messages from today! Of course, they may interpret that as hoping that the deceased's birthday will be heavenly.  Who knows.  I guess it just shows that they aren't very close friends? Should someone tell them? Maybe they just forgot.  It's a little awkward, but maybe they'd like to know to edit or delete their posts.   
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 18, 2022, 12:39:08 PM
Quote from: ab_grp on November 18, 2022, 10:56:10 AM
It is very sad when friends pass away, but I it might help if their Facebook pages indicated this in some permanent way.  Seeing multiple people wish "happy birthday and many more!" to someone who passed away months ago is a bit jarring.  I would think they would notice the previous posts about the deceased (including obituary posts) or even the "happy heavenly birthday" messages from today! Of course, they may interpret that as hoping that the deceased's birthday will be heavenly.  Who knows.  I guess it just shows that they aren't very close friends? Should someone tell them? Maybe they just forgot.  It's a little awkward, but maybe they'd like to know to edit or delete their posts.

Not Facebook, but I've seen message boards that created permanent memorials to deceased forum members.  It seemed like a nice gesture.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 18, 2022, 09:45:40 PM
I think we have a few here, back a couple years, for Pry3, InfoPath, and maybe Fiona...

There were a few more on the CHE iteration of the Forum, too.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on November 19, 2022, 11:19:56 AM
Quote from: apl68 on November 18, 2022, 12:39:08 PM
Quote from: ab_grp on November 18, 2022, 10:56:10 AM
It is very sad when friends pass away, but I it might help if their Facebook pages indicated this in some permanent way.  Seeing multiple people wish "happy birthday and many more!" to someone who passed away months ago is a bit jarring.  I would think they would notice the previous posts about the deceased (including obituary posts) or even the "happy heavenly birthday" messages from today! Of course, they may interpret that as hoping that the deceased's birthday will be heavenly.  Who knows.  I guess it just shows that they aren't very close friends? Should someone tell them? Maybe they just forgot.  It's a little awkward, but maybe they'd like to know to edit or delete their posts.

Not Facebook, but I've seen message boards that created permanent memorials to deceased forum members.  It seemed like a nice gesture.

For FB, the family needs to get their profile taken down.
https://www.facebook.com/help/1518259735093203
Maybe contact the family if you know them.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 21, 2022, 01:48:12 PM
^ Unrelated.

The more I ponder the rabid, adolescent fixation of certain elements of the political spectrum on crude, polarized, "back-to-1776" "upend the elitist hierarchy" aesthetics and disruptiveness,  the more I blame the unlicensed trolley drivers, eager for tips, in colonial cities like Philadelphia, Boston--not Williamsburg so much, they have a better handle on messaging--etc.

They will say anything (I've heard most of them) to create a dramatic narrative in their 2-minute drive-bys, they totally obliterate nuance and graded contexts for their (mostly wrong) hare-brained tales--and this all started around the time of the Bicentennial, when the trolley companies got city governments to delete the tests required for licensed drivers who gave commented tours, so they could hire them and get them on the road sooner, and start collecting fares faster.

Anyone visiting such towns got high-flying gibberish built on the drivers' imagined, high-profiled conflicts between various factions in the 17th/18th c's (and few understand the graded developments between those eras) and an excited view of the rough-clad heroics of the "patriots " versus the Royalists--which did not spring up overnight and were held in check by civility and a long-abiding sense of shared heritage, even after the cracks began to appear...so that only a third were avidly in favor of direct action, and another third--sometimes within families--opposed.

But--complementing those woefully written partners in this enterprise, the American History course texts of the 1940s-70s/80s--the aging hippy-shaman-Sam Adams wannabes of today came up through that era, made trips to those cities, got infected by those narratives, and internalized those exhalted views of teen-age rebellion as valorous on their vacations.

So, that's why I blame the trolley drivers.

M.

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on November 21, 2022, 04:10:39 PM
Yeah, I miss "Prytania,"  Even back in her day-trading days.  We know what happened after that.

Quote from: mamselle on November 18, 2022, 09:45:40 PM
I think we have a few here, back a couple years, for Pry3, InfoPath, and maybe Fiona...

There were a few more on the CHE iteration of the Forum, too.

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 22, 2022, 07:39:48 AM
We've done some weeding in the Western section of our library's popular fiction.  I found a number of anomalies--books that are not genre westerns.  Mostly they were romances with western settings, which should have been cataloged and shelved in the romance section.  But they had covers with western scenes, and often subtitles along the lines of "A Western Story," so westerns they were.  Shelving these romance titles in the western genre section would certainly explain why they went so long without being checked out.  In addition, there were a couple of more literary works or anthologies with western settings--"westerns" in a broad, technical sense, but not genre westerns at all.  And the novel Midnight Cowboy, on which the notorious movie of that title was based.  Which, from what little I know about it, isn't remotely a western, but it has "cowboy" in the title. 

I put it all down to excessive literal-mindedness on the part of the catalogers who used to work here some years back.  That and the fact that this library both went many years without having a single professionally-trained staff member, and has never been part of a larger system that had professional management or catalogers.  That isolation led to all sorts of odd practices.  Once in a while I still find something peculiar left over from those days.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 22, 2022, 07:49:27 AM
Quote from: apl68 on November 22, 2022, 07:39:48 AM
We've done some weeding in the Western section of our library's popular fiction.  I found a number of anomalies--books that are not genre westerns.  Mostly they were romances with western settings, which should have been cataloged and shelved in the romance section.  But they had covers with western scenes, and often subtitles along the lines of "A Western Story," so westerns they were.  Shelving these romance titles in the western genre section would certainly explain why they went so long without being checked out.  In addition, there were a couple of more literary works or anthologies with western settings--"westerns" in a broad, technical sense, but not genre westerns at all.  And the novel Midnight Cowboy, on which the notorious movie of that title was based.  Which, from what little I know about it, isn't remotely a western, but it has "cowboy" in the title. 

I put it all down to excessive literal-mindedness on the part of the catalogers who used to work here some years back.  That and the fact that this library both went many years without having a single professionally-trained staff member, and has never been part of a larger system that had professional management or catalogers. 

It's also due to the fact that art (music, literature, etc.) "genres" represent a categorization that is approximate. Reality in its infinite variety is much more broad than that. There are always going to be works that defy any clear-cut fit into existing categories.

The distinction between categories like "science fiction" and "fantasy" is pretty blurry in some cases, since the very nature of both involves all kinds of alternate worlds that can be different from ours in virtually any way imaginable. And as Arthur C. Clarke said,
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 22, 2022, 10:13:01 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 22, 2022, 07:49:27 AM
Quote from: apl68 on November 22, 2022, 07:39:48 AM
We've done some weeding in the Western section of our library's popular fiction.  I found a number of anomalies--books that are not genre westerns.  Mostly they were romances with western settings, which should have been cataloged and shelved in the romance section.  But they had covers with western scenes, and often subtitles along the lines of "A Western Story," so westerns they were.  Shelving these romance titles in the western genre section would certainly explain why they went so long without being checked out.  In addition, there were a couple of more literary works or anthologies with western settings--"westerns" in a broad, technical sense, but not genre westerns at all.  And the novel Midnight Cowboy, on which the notorious movie of that title was based.  Which, from what little I know about it, isn't remotely a western, but it has "cowboy" in the title. 

I put it all down to excessive literal-mindedness on the part of the catalogers who used to work here some years back.  That and the fact that this library both went many years without having a single professionally-trained staff member, and has never been part of a larger system that had professional management or catalogers. 

It's also due to the fact that art (music, literature, etc.) "genres" represent a categorization that is approximate. Reality in its infinite variety is much more broad than that. There are always going to be works that defy any clear-cut fit into existing categories.

The distinction between categories like "science fiction" and "fantasy" is pretty blurry in some cases, since the very nature of both involves all kinds of alternate worlds that can be different from ours in virtually any way imaginable. And as Arthur C. Clarke said,
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."


That's all true, but assigning books to these genre sections usually isn't rocket science, so to speak.  You're right that there are times when what section to put an item in can be a judgement call.  But putting a romance with cowboys in it in the western section, instead of in romance?  Putting Midnight Cowboy, which is about prostitution and con artistry in contemporary New York City, in the western section because it has "cowboy" in the title?  Those were complete non sequitur choices. 

At least they didn't catalog it for one section and then decide to shelve it in another without changing the spine label first.  We used to have books like that.  I'm not sure they entirely understood what assigning call numbers was all about in the first place. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: mamselle on November 22, 2022, 11:31:54 AM
Don't new book purchases come with recommended call numbr breakdowns anyway?

Pretty sure I saw some in my 3-month temp stint at a school library in the...uh...80s/90s? (The joys of barcoding had just arrived,, we were hired to link up the old books...)

M.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on November 22, 2022, 12:38:33 PM
What momentary episode of fever swamp dementia motivated you to take the door off the fvcking stove and further, to take the damn thing apart???  And now, you can't get it back on.  Were you high???  What the AF were you thinking???
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on November 24, 2022, 08:34:43 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on November 22, 2022, 12:38:33 PM
What momentary episode of fever swamp dementia motivated you to take the door off the fvcking stove and further, to take the damn thing apart???  And now, you can't get it back on.  Were you high???  What the AF were you thinking???

I know you're furious, Artem, but this made me laugh (only because it sounds just like stuff that happens around here).

Viz:

Instead of asking his buddy who runs the mower repair/self storage place to help load Kid #1's self-propelled mower into his Blazer yesterday, nope, HE could do it himself.  (He's over 60, with tons of back and knee and assorted other problems, plus, currently in a hard boot waiting for surgery to repair a shredded and detached tendon.)  Of course, he did go ask for help, after getting the mower part-way loaded, then losing balance/control of it and falling full force on his knees (the right one of which is scheduled for replacement after the foot gets fixed).  Oh, and he also got a nasty gash in front of his ear when a bolt on the mower caught him.

Some days I just give the hell up, not least because all those years ago when he could and did do such things every day, he'd look for excuses NOT to do them.  Now that he can't do them. . . . . SIGH.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: jimbogumbo on November 24, 2022, 01:35:01 PM
Oof! The Ontario Teacher's Plan had $420 million in FTX.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 25, 2022, 05:11:19 AM
Quote from: jimbogumbo on November 24, 2022, 01:35:01 PM
Oof! The Ontario Teacher's Plan had $420 million in FTX.

Serves them right. Crypto is, at best, an idea for very limited applications. As an investment, it's just another Ponzi scheme.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: jimbogumbo on November 25, 2022, 08:09:17 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 25, 2022, 05:11:19 AM
Quote from: jimbogumbo on November 24, 2022, 01:35:01 PM
Oof! The Ontario Teacher's Plan had $420 million in FTX.

Serves them right. Crypto is, at best, an idea for very limited applications. As an investment, it's just another Ponzi scheme.

I agree with part 2. Serves them right? No. We all rely on financial plan managers to make the right decisions, as that is the only game in town. I at least have some choice; when it's a pension plan the participants are at the mercy of the plan managers.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: marshwiggle on November 25, 2022, 08:26:02 AM
Quote from: jimbogumbo on November 25, 2022, 08:09:17 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 25, 2022, 05:11:19 AM
Quote from: jimbogumbo on November 24, 2022, 01:35:01 PM
Oof! The Ontario Teacher's Plan had $420 million in FTX.

Serves them right. Crypto is, at best, an idea for very limited applications. As an investment, it's just another Ponzi scheme.

I agree with part 2. Serves them right? No. We all rely on financial plan managers to make the right decisions, as that is the only game in town. I at least have some choice; when it's a pension plan the participants are at the mercy of the plan managers.

But pension plans should be choosing safe investments. If they chose managers who promised aggressive growth, then they were setting themselves up for a fall.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on November 25, 2022, 08:29:51 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 25, 2022, 08:26:02 AM
Quote from: jimbogumbo on November 25, 2022, 08:09:17 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 25, 2022, 05:11:19 AM
Quote from: jimbogumbo on November 24, 2022, 01:35:01 PM
Oof! The Ontario Teacher's Plan had $420 million in FTX.

Serves them right. Crypto is, at best, an idea for very limited applications. As an investment, it's just another Ponzi scheme.

I agree with part 2. Serves them right? No. We all rely on financial plan managers to make the right decisions, as that is the only game in town. I at least have some choice; when it's a pension plan the participants are at the mercy of the plan managers.

But pension plans should be choosing safe investments. If they chose managers who promised aggressive growth, then they were setting themselves up for a fall.

The people who will end up paying for this are the pensioners, who planned for this money in retirement. And/or the taxpayers who will have to bail out the fund.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: jimbogumbo on November 26, 2022, 11:32:40 AM
A piece of random commentary from a different online community I frequent.

"Son Pete, who loved dinosaurs, piled green peas on his plate because I told him that Parasauralophuses loved peas."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: jimbogumbo on December 04, 2022, 05:56:01 PM
When it comes to using my hands I believe it's possible that every primate and monkey on the planet is more adroit than I.

I conceded to raccoons long ago.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 05, 2022, 07:36:36 AM
I hear that some kids want a hippopotamus for Christmas.  When I was a kid, all anybody wanted for Christmas was their two front teeth!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on December 05, 2022, 08:53:19 AM
We live on Earth and so we dig holes in the earth.  If we lived on Mars, would we dig holes in the mars, or would it still be earth?

Is "I tries to learn 'em up good" an effective philosophy of teaching?  It seems more compelling than the usual pablum I read in P&T dossiers.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 05, 2022, 10:34:27 AM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 05, 2022, 08:53:19 AM
We live on Earth and so we dig holes in the earth.  If we lived on Mars, would we dig holes in the mars, or would it still be earth?

Is "I tries to learn 'em up good" an effective philosophy of teaching?  It seems more compelling than the usual pablum I read in P&T dossiers.

1.  When digging on Mars, maybe it would be safest just to say "soil."

2.  It sounds like a better philosophy than a teacher admitting to using poke-and-puke methods of instruction, which seems to be what so much education amounts to.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Harlow2 on December 06, 2022, 03:58:24 PM
The amount of junk mail in my university account is proliferating. First it was the journals racket, then stuff only remotely related to education, and now just random stuff including for-profit organizations that want to help me sort through my finances. It's rapidly overtaking the legitimate university emails.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on December 16, 2022, 12:25:55 PM
Not sure where to post this, but here goes:
QuoteTrump Sells a New Image as the Hero of $99 Trading Cards

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/us/politics/trump-nft-trading-cards-superhero.html?searchResultPosition=3

Headline in the NYPost, the conservative daily https://nypost.com/
QuoteNFT? WTF!

Did we really have this idiot representing the country!?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on December 16, 2022, 03:59:53 PM
Quote from: Langue_doc on December 16, 2022, 12:25:55 PM
Not sure where to post this, but here goes:
QuoteTrump Sells a New Image as the Hero of $99 Trading Cards

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/us/politics/trump-nft-trading-cards-superhero.html?searchResultPosition=3

Headline in the NYPost, the conservative daily https://nypost.com/
QuoteNFT? WTF!

Did we really have this idiot representing the country!?

Well, yes, to my recall.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on December 19, 2022, 10:17:03 AM
Nothing creates misogynists faster than a crowded store around Christmas.  Bovine herds moving slowly through the aisles 3 carts wide.  Standing in front of wherever I need to be and just staring at the shelves like they've just awoken from a thousand year nap and have never seen canned corn.  Gawd awful syrupy, schmaltzy music from which there is no escape. 

I love humanity.  It's just people that drive me crazy.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 19, 2022, 10:29:04 AM
I just remind myself that fellow shoppers are often preoccupied about their various challenges in life, and often tired after a long day.  As am I.  And try to remember to stay out of their way, which can be a real challenge in crowded store aisles.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ciao_yall on December 19, 2022, 01:01:14 PM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 19, 2022, 10:17:03 AM
Nothing creates misogynists faster than a crowded store around Christmas.  Bovine herds moving slowly through the aisles 3 carts wide.  Standing in front of wherever I need to be and just staring at the shelves like they've just awoken from a thousand year nap and have never seen canned corn.  Gawd awful syrupy, schmaltzy music from which there is no escape. 

I love humanity.  It's just people that drive me crazy.

Misogynists or misanthropists? Both genders are equally capable of the behavior you describe.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on December 19, 2022, 01:57:24 PM
Quote from: ciao_yall on December 19, 2022, 01:01:14 PM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 19, 2022, 10:17:03 AM
Nothing creates misogynists faster than a crowded store around Christmas.  Bovine herds moving slowly through the aisles 3 carts wide.  Standing in front of wherever I need to be and just staring at the shelves like they've just awoken from a thousand year nap and have never seen canned corn.  Gawd awful syrupy, schmaltzy music from which there is no escape. 

I love humanity.  It's just people that drive me crazy.

Misogynists or misanthropists? Both genders are equally capable of the behavior you describe.

My bad - meant to say misanthropists.  Apologies to the forumites who suffered this unintended calumny.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Cheerful on December 19, 2022, 03:55:29 PM
Quote from: secundem_artem on December 19, 2022, 10:17:03 AM
Gawd awful syrupy, schmaltzy music from which there is no escape. 

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!" has blared during every single visit to my grocery store for the last two months.  How do the employees endure this without ear plugs?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 20, 2022, 07:22:07 AM
I like going places that play Christmas music during this time of year, myself.  That said, some seasonal songs--and arrangements of particular pieces--are definitely better than others.  And what's with everybody playing "Santa Baby" this year?  I could do without hearing that one all the time.  At least I've also gotten to hear some of the truly heart-stirring songs.  And Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" from the Charlie Brown special.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on March 01, 2023, 12:29:02 PM
Somebody just donated two dozen diet books to our library.  I have no idea who it is, and don't really want to know--sometimes book donations make you feel like you've just gotten too much information about somebody. 

This donation contains a remarkable amount of quackery in one place.  It's kind of sad to see.  The donor's repeated forays into dieting suggest a lot of disappointing outcomes for a lot of effort over the years.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on March 02, 2023, 01:10:34 PM
QuoteHouse Ethics Committee Opens Inquiry Into George Santos
The House Ethics Committee unanimously voted to authorize an investigation into whether Mr. Santos broke various laws or engaged in sexual misconduct.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/nyregion/george-santos-ethics-investigation.html

Woohoo! Someone should investigate his opponent for not following up on the report published by a Long Island newspaper. It appears that the democrats and the media refused to pull their heads from out of the sand.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 28, 2023, 09:50:07 AM
If you had a student with the same name as the most famous football coach of all time, would you want to ask him if his parents chose his name deliberately?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on March 28, 2023, 10:25:23 AM
You have a student named Knute Rockne?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 28, 2023, 11:23:55 AM
Quote from: FishProf on March 28, 2023, 10:25:23 AM
You have a student named Knute Rockne?

LOL. I wish.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 31, 2023, 08:38:36 AM
New diversity survey for a college asks if respondents have encountered people at the school of a gender different from their own.

I'm wondering if this is a carefully formulated survey.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AvidReader on March 31, 2023, 09:35:37 AM
Quote from: downer on March 31, 2023, 08:38:36 AM
New diversity survey for a college asks if respondents have encountered people at the school of a gender different from their own.

I'm wondering if this is a carefully formulated survey.

Do you teach at an all-girls' college?

AR.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on March 31, 2023, 09:43:59 AM
No. Neither all-boys, nor all-"other-gender." Not a monastery or nunnery either. Not a jail.

They do have data on the proportion of female to male already about their own college, which they could look up.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on April 19, 2023, 10:15:17 AM
We have most of our book orders shipped to the library by FedEx or UPS.  Since the couriers come by here regularly anyway, some of our staff members have personal orders shipped to this address as well.  I guess it keeps them from having to worry about porch pirates.  Anyway, one of them has had a lawn mower and pieces for her and her husband's pickup truck shipped here.  It reminds me a bit of Johnny Cash's song "One Piece at a Time."
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on April 22, 2023, 11:21:35 AM
I'm reading and posting here while waiting for some files to load in Canvas.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 08, 2023, 07:26:38 AM
While setting out donated magazines on the free table, I noticed an old issue of Smithsonian with a cover feature entitled "Surprising Sicily."  I understand that Sicily isn't that hard to surprise, if you approach it quietly from behind.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on May 08, 2023, 07:45:57 AM
Canvas word count says a paper has 1795 words. Copying and pasting the paper into a word counter says it has 1950 words.
It would be helpful if Canvas made more explicit what it is counting.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on May 19, 2023, 10:15:57 AM
Note to self--don't wear that Prague T-shirt you got from traveling family awhile back to the local Asian restaurant.  They've posted a sign saying that they don't accept checks.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: evil_physics_witchcraft on May 20, 2023, 08:58:50 AM
Quote from: apl68 on May 19, 2023, 10:15:57 AM
Note to self--don't wear that Prague T-shirt you got from traveling family awhile back to the local Asian restaurant.  They've posted a sign saying that they don't accept checks.
Ugh!!!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 15, 2023, 12:07:33 PM
Was that a squadron of B-17s I heard flying overhead?

No, it was just a remarkably noisy lawn mower in a nearby yard.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 27, 2023, 07:22:34 AM
I have been having what I am pretty sure are just sinus problems and googled "forehead crackling when I wake up in the middle of the night" and got a page full of exploding head syndrome links, including this one that made me laugh out loud: "Loud crash at 3 a.m.? It may be your exploding head"    (https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/loud-crash-3-m-it-may-be-your-exploding-head-1c9926224)

Several links suggest that this is a rare sleep disorder.  If true, why are all the links about it? I guess I would have thought forehead crackling implies sinuses pretty strongly.  Strange search engine behavior, in my opinion, though maybe I'm the only one who thinks of it as crackling? I wasn't caffeinated enough for the results, and I almost lost the coffee I was trying to swallow when I saw the headline I mentioned.  I do feel for folks who have exploding head syndrome, but I wouldn't think that's the most obvious diagnosis.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on June 27, 2023, 10:05:41 AM
Quote from: ab_grp on June 27, 2023, 07:22:34 AMI have been having what I am pretty sure are just sinus problems and googled "forehead crackling when I wake up in the middle of the night" and got a page full of exploding head syndrome links, including this one that made me laugh out loud: "Loud crash at 3 a.m.? It may be your exploding head"    (https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/loud-crash-3-m-it-may-be-your-exploding-head-1c9926224)

Several links suggest that this is a rare sleep disorder.  If true, why are all the links about it? I guess I would have thought forehead crackling implies sinuses pretty strongly.  Strange search engine behavior, in my opinion, though maybe I'm the only one who thinks of it as crackling? I wasn't caffeinated enough for the results, and I almost lost the coffee I was trying to swallow when I saw the headline I mentioned.  I do feel for folks who have exploding head syndrome, but I wouldn't think that's the most obvious diagnosis.

"Exploding head syndrome" is a new one on me.  It must be very disturbing.  At least it appears to be harmless.  I guess you should be reassured if you have a variant of it.

I've got the more common, non-auditory equivalent of this--hypnic jerks, where my leg jerks just as I'm falling asleep, so that I've got to start trying to fall asleep again.  Probably happens at least a couple of times a week.  Last night I was evidently starting to dream at the time, since last night's hypnic jerk was associated with a dream about slipping in the mud.  Sometimes it just comes from out of nowhere.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: FishProf on June 27, 2023, 10:35:15 AM
Crackling in the head can be air trapped in the skin.  Subcutaneous emphysema.

I had it when I blew my nose after getting kicked in the head in karate.  Black eye then swelled way up when I blew my nose (note to self - don't do that).

A cough or a sneeze with congestion in the sinuses can cause this.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on June 27, 2023, 05:28:32 PM
Apl68, I have that leg jerk thing sometimes.  I hope it doesn't affect your sleep too much if you have it often! I didn't know there was a name for it! And I don't think I have the exploding head syndrome, although I have had that happen a few times as well.  I will have to pay better attention.

And FishProf, I'm sorry you got kicked in the head and had so many consequences.  I looked up the subcutaneous emphysema (which I had also never heard of!), and it looks like the treatments are not really amenable to home remedies, so hopefully I don't have that.  I believe it's sinus-related, probably something to do with sitting up and having whatever's in my head (clearly not a brain) shifting around. 
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on July 28, 2023, 07:22:39 AM
This morning I passed a sign that said "Yard Sale."  It stood in an empty yard.  I guess the yard itself is the only merchandise on offer?  I decided to pass, since I already have all the yard I need back home.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 11, 2023, 04:09:24 AM
One of my online fall classes is full, so I made it available to students. Interesting to see the enrollment go down. I'm guessing students see how much work there is to do and switch to a different professor. The ones who are left are those willing to do the work and those who haven't bothered to look.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Wahoo Redux on August 11, 2023, 03:36:16 PM
My standard-sized Streamline stapler does not have enough punch to staple a stack of 20 papers, but if you punch both sides of the stack a couple of times so the staples are partway in, it's ugly but still works.  That's a good stapler. 

P.S.----is that yard still for sale, apl?  Mine needs mowing, and it's kind of too hot to mow right now, so I thought I'd just get a new one until it cools down next month.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 14, 2023, 10:46:20 AM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on August 11, 2023, 03:36:16 PMP.S.----is that yard still for sale, apl?  Mine needs mowing, and it's kind of too hot to mow right now, so I thought I'd just get a new one until it cools down next month.

No, I don't believe so.  Don't know who the lucky purchaser was.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Wahoo Redux on August 14, 2023, 04:03:58 PM
Quote from: apl68 on August 14, 2023, 10:46:20 AM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on August 11, 2023, 03:36:16 PMP.S.----is that yard still for sale, apl?  Mine needs mowing, and it's kind of too hot to mow right now, so I thought I'd just get a new one until it cools down next month.

No, I don't believe so.  Don't know who the lucky purchaser was.

Dang it!  Now I'll have to do manual labor!!!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on August 21, 2023, 05:17:44 PM
There's a cricket in my living room, behind the entertainment center. It's very loud.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on August 22, 2023, 07:23:21 AM
Quote from: sinenomine on August 21, 2023, 05:17:44 PMThere's a cricket in my living room, behind the entertainment center. It's very loud.

Nothing like an indoor cricket! 

I once spent a night in a motel in Tucumcari called El Palacio.  The name was not truth in advertising!  The floors were damp and there was a cricket chirping somewhere in the room all night long.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Juvenal on August 22, 2023, 05:38:18 PM
Jiminy!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on August 23, 2023, 05:51:11 AM
Our new forumite, stampmaker, seems to be quite persistent.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on August 30, 2023, 01:40:52 PM
I don't think Vivek Ramaswamy would make a very good president or VEEP.  But if the Federal Government ever rolls out The Secretary of Dental Whitening and Bleaching, I'd say he's got a lock on the job.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on August 31, 2023, 05:32:03 AM
I got to see the syllabus of a FT member of the CC I teach at. I found that for their online class, the first week is devoted to students "making sure they are registered" and getting the textbook. Genius! The semester is shortened by a week. I'm copying that one.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: AmLitHist on August 31, 2023, 09:20:31 AM
Quote from: downer on August 31, 2023, 05:32:03 AMI got to see the syllabus of a FT member of the CC I teach at. I found that for their online class, the first week is devoted to students "making sure they are registered" and getting the textbook. Genius! The semester is shortened by a week. I'm copying that one.
My students (CC) would love that: they had 2 graded assignments last week (first week of Fall), and were already working on their first paper, which was due yesterday!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: secundem_artem on September 05, 2023, 07:01:17 AM
Is there anyone here less interested than I am in the trials and tribulations of the tech-bro overlords at Burning Man?  Why I am supposed to care?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: downer on September 11, 2023, 07:27:25 AM
Dept chair contacted me about something "urgent." We sorted it out, nearly. Early Friday afternoon I report to chair that something is not right with the LMS still.

Chair does not look at the email until early Monnday morning?

Do chairs have more responsibility to check their email than others?
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: Langue_doc on September 11, 2023, 08:00:13 AM
Quote from: downer on September 11, 2023, 07:27:25 AMDept chair contacted me about something "urgent." We sorted it out, nearly. Early Friday afternoon I report to chair that something is not right with the LMS still.

Chair does not look at the email until early Monnday morning?

Do chairs have more responsibility to check their email than others?

Chair would have responded immediately if you were a student complaining about your instructor.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on September 16, 2023, 07:51:24 AM
This morning I learned that there is something called "macadamia leather."  To me, that just sounds nuts!
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on September 26, 2023, 12:14:33 PM
Just had lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant where the background music was the soundtrack from The Godfather. Not sure if that was ironic, or just cliched...
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on October 31, 2023, 09:15:25 AM
One of my colleagues just got a new car and every time she gets out of it, she triggers the alarm. Not sure if I should shake my head, laugh, or both.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on November 06, 2023, 09:39:10 AM
That brings back memories of being at Vanderbilt University in the early 1990s, when car alarms were a new thing.  A lot of people around there had pricey cars with alarms, and they seemed to go off by mistake all the time.  It seemed like not a day went by without hearing car alarms going off on or near campus.  Eventually that became less common.  I suppose they learned to do a better job of keeping them from being too sensitive.  Or maybe owners of them just got better about not setting them off by mistake.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on December 01, 2023, 10:40:28 AM
While talking with my brother over the holiday, I recalled that some years ago, when he was in the military, he served in a corps whose commander was named Funk.  I've sometimes wondered what was the state of morale in General Funk's corps....
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: fishbrains on December 01, 2023, 12:41:31 PM

Quote from: apl68 on December 01, 2023, 10:40:28 AMWhile talking with my brother over the holiday, I recalled that some years ago, when he was in the military, he served in a corps whose commander was named Funk.  I've sometimes wondered what was the state of morale in General Funk's corps....

Probably better than Major Funk's.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: fishbrains on December 13, 2023, 05:27:45 AM
I f*cking hate glitter. Especially in combination with glue of any kind.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: apl68 on January 03, 2024, 01:02:53 PM
Sometimes, when surveying our shelves and shelves of popular fiction at the library, I wonder whether we have an embarrassment of riches, or a richness of embarrassments.
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: fishbrains on January 07, 2024, 10:51:11 AM
I sometimes wonder if Jesus was a morning person, or if he was more like, "I don't heal nobody until I get some freakin' coffee in me." Anyways . . .
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: ab_grp on January 07, 2024, 11:10:17 AM
Jesus was suggested to me as an item to order today through Instacart from my grocery store.  Darn it! I could have asked him.  We just didn't need any today, and he wasn't on sale ($14.99).
Title: Re: Random Thoughts Anew
Post by: sinenomine on January 10, 2024, 01:42:47 PM
Decades ago in grad school, imagining my future in academia, I never envisioned what happened today: finding a gift bag of cannabis edibles left in my office by a faculty member in my department. What a world!