Words for the week (weak?)

Writing a dissertation is a marathon, not a sprint. For me, it is a marathon that also includes deviations off the path to experience some waterboarding, flaying and pillorying. There is a special place in hell reserved for the people who devise the rules, regulations and procedures governing thesis projects and dissertations at state universities. [...]

Read Full Post »

Are you ready for some footb … wait! Is that guacamole?

So today is apparently a big day for American football fans. In my world, here is how I remember who is still a contender: Game 1: The team immortalized by Chris Farley and some other folks in a “Saturday Night Live” skit vs. The team formerly led by the is-he-retiring-is-he-not guy who supposedly texted photos [...]

Read Full Post »

Feeling “Meh”-velous, thank you

The word for the day is “meh.” It is one of my favorite words, as students who have taken my classes will attest. I use it as an utterance in class, but also as a simple comment in the margin near a part of the submission I find less than stellar. “Meh” beautifully conveys emotion [...]

Read Full Post »

Résumé of real life

I love this résumé on Craig’s List and I don’t care if it is real or not, or how old it is (2008). Warning: It is quite profane. Here’s my less profane (and therefore less funny) non-work version of my résumé: Résumé of Dubious Achievements OBJECTIVE: Finish my freakin’ dissertation already and get my life [...]

Read Full Post »

Written on my portable electronic word delivery apparatus

I’m not an avid reader of the Financial Times but, thanks to 36-Hour Tina (and that’s starting to sound like some kind of creepy porn name), I am a fan of Lucy Kellaway. She is a management columnist, and (yet?) is quite funny. She also is a kindred spirit. In her latest column, Kellaway discusses [...]

Read Full Post »

Webs, wings and “WTF?!”

Information taken out of context can be quite interesting and illustrative. Also embarrassing. My friend Tina (36-hour Tina) mentioned a movie I hadn’t yet seen (“Saving Grace”), so I visited Netflix to add it to my queue. This is what I found: Hmmm. A superhero story, a documentary about birds, and “Zombie Strippers.” What does [...]

Read Full Post »

Non-resolutions

I always ask one question of students on the first day of class. This helps me get to know them a little better, and makes it easier to start class discussions. Today’s question was this: Around Jan. 1, most people resolve to start or stop doing something. What is one resolution you would never make? [...]

Read Full Post »

Laughter turns to tears

I’ve been working very hard on my dissertation. I know that may come as a shock, but it’s true. According to what I wrote in my proposal and IRB application, I am trying to determine what television news reporters in small markets perceive as influences on their daily newsgathering and decision-making processes. And, just to [...]

Read Full Post »

2010 in stats

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high-level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow. Crunchy numbers The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, [...]

Read Full Post »