Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Random bullets of beginning a semester


  • The Gertrude Stein version: not ready no not not not ready not even ready no. Not. Ready.
  • It was pleasant to see colleagues at meetings, though, and to talk with new people. 
  • I love to see the groups of new students wandering around, trying to be cool in their 18-year-old way but clearly a little excited and overwhelmed to be on campus. 
  • My syllabus, while not done, is on its way to being bulletproof. Kevlar is nothing compared to it. It is like Superman's chest, a masterpiece of deflecting "but you never told us that." 
  • Hypothetical example to make a real point: Imagine that years ago you slipped on a banana peel and fell into a wedding cake. Everybody laughed, but you're still a little touchy about it. Colleagues have come and gone since then,  and you think people have forgotten, but then, in a meeting, someone says, "it's like the time Undine fell into a wedding cake. Am I right, Undine?" She did WHAT? you can see new colleagues asking each other.  Yeah, thanks for mentioning that one, guys. 

5 comments:

Dame Eleanor Hull said...

My syllabus: there's no there there.

Dr. Koshary said...

Dame Eleanor's comment FTW.

undine said...

Dame Eleanor, Dr. Koshary--priceless.

Historiann said...

WHAT did you DO???

undine said...

Historiann--nothing that dramatic; think "forgot to go to class because I was chatting with people in the office" or something similar. It just FELT as though I took a pratfall into a wedding cake.