Even though it has been a long time since I was in school, September still always feels like a new year to me. Summer’s over, vacations are done, everybody’s work life gears back up after a slow August. It seems like a good time to reassess one’s life, more so than January does. This feels [...]
Archive for the ‘Life’ category
Work/life balance
I was told today, during the first day of classes at Big Law School That Will Not Be Named for Googleproofing Reasons (Seriously Don’t Mention Its Name in Comments), to start to figure out work/life balance now, before I’m a real lawyer. This is actually something I’ve never really bothered with before, because I’ve had [...]
Torn and Frayed
As I walked out of our building Sunday morning, I noticed some bits of paper scattered on the sidewalk. It was a photograph that someone had torn up and thrown on the ground. Curious, I felt compelled to pick up the pieces and re-assemble the picture. It’s impossible to know what percentage of torn-up photos [...]
Grudges
Not the big hurts and betrayals that you grieve over, nurse for years, take to therapy. Not the stuff of broken hearts. Just the little insults that continue to gnaw at you, sometimes years later. Sure, it takes energy to sustain a grudge, and usually it’s easier just to let the offense fade into the [...]
How to Try
I am missing the arrogance of my stupid youth. When did I get so embarrassed of making a fool of myself? Why wasn’t I ashamed of myself then? The lack of shame usually works for my college students, in that they dare to say and do all kinds of productive things in my classes. It [...]
Tuesday videos: Sexy CPR
So, I know everyone really likes the more personal TGW posts, but I’m gonna have to go with a relatively impersonal compendium of amusing video clips today. Dave and Stella set the bar very high last week, and I’m too grumpy and tired at the moment to write anything insightful – sorry! (ed. note: and [...]
Ideal Reader
When teaching an intro course on literature, I often end up teaching my students about the difference between an ideal reader and an actual reader. An ideal reader is someone you can imagine reading a text and getting all the little jokes and references, appreciating the compositional complexity of the text, deriving as much pleasure [...]
Closing time
(Part One here.) My friends, I have joined a secret society. It hides in plain sight. Some of you are members already. Some of you aspire to be. Others remain proudly free of the constant demands, financial obligations, and emotional binds the society exacts from its members. To the latter of you, I say: congratulations. [...]
