Academic Freedom?

Academics don't write for the masses. They don't even write for students. They write for each other. Academic writing is densely dry for the rest of us, kind of sucking the joy out of learning. 

I asked a Classics professor why he didn't share his knowledge and write books accessible for everyone. He replied that if he did, his colleagues would no longer take him seriously. 

I understand the pressure to conform. Hired as assistant professors they have virtually no independent voice, because after 6 years they must submit themselves to a grueling and soul destroying review of their work. If they pass, they become Associate Professors, with full tenure. If they don't pass, they are fired. Then the successful ones have the choice to come up for another peer review in their career if they want to become full professors. 

Don't kid yourself.  If any of these tortured souls tried to do something radical before achieving full professor, their peers would become jealous and or judgmental and the younger academic would not be promoted. Silence is a game they must play for many years. But once these scholars have achieved "tenure" they cannot be fired. They have a job for life.  When they become full professors, there are no further peer reviews. 

Surely some could continue their serious academic writings and still find time to write a popular summary for those of us who don't want to inhale the moldering dust of academic tomes. Well, that was mean of me, wasn't it? Sorry. But books that go unread often make me sneeze.

And knowledge not shared is what my mother would have called a sin and a shame.

I live in a country where intellectuals are considered elitists, distrusted and reviled. In turn, intellectuals look down on the uneducated rabble. Gee, how did that happen?  More to the point, how can we change that?

I am so tired of living among people so poorly educated that their only pastime is to drink themselves into oblivion while watching bad TV.

I'm going to have to think more about this

Is there something wrong with me? I'm enjoying this time of social distancing and staying at home with my husband. I am virtually anxiety free and feel like this is the most important vacation I've ever been on.  What if the world was slower, quieter, and simpler?

This feeling of contentment is new for me.  I'm not sure if it is good or bad. I wonder if it will last once the quarantine ends? I'm going to have to think about this before I write more. 

And P.S., I'm sure I'd feel differently if I was alone.  

No space and time

I'm thinking of that place where there's no space and time.  In particular, those free-spirited days from 1967 through early 1971. I had so few responsibilities, and could devote myself to whatever crack-pot, beguiling notion entered my head. There was plenty of room in that head. It needed to be filled, and only real life with all its wonders could fill a head that empty. 

In the early days, psychedelic drugs were not taken for "fun." I still don't quite understand the notion of taking it for "fun." Altered reality is often a terrifying place. Sometimes, however, it offers beautiful and mystical experiences. It opens one's mind to new ideas and alternate consciousness. It puts many in direct contact with the creative imagination.  

We were foolish and naive, thinking we could shortcut the quest for numinosity and creative bliss. We played with fire, wide eyed and unprepared. The Old Gods were awaked by all that ecstatic devotion. Those primitive forces are both good and bad. They act according to their own nature. People died. But the music from that time period was most certainly inspired.

Word of the Day: April 17, 2020

 Cockwomble
(noun) A person, usually male, prone to making outrageously stupid statements and/or inappropriate behaviour while generally having a very high opinion of their own wisdom and importance.

Hahahahahahaha.  Love it.  

How N spends his time in quarantine

He is such a glorious goofball.  Notice the pile of whoopie cushions next to him.  I miss him.

Getting creative with technology during a global pandemic

We FaceTimed our great-granddaughter, Sweet C, in Kentucky the other day. She was SO cute, and seemed interested in the two old folks yammering at her on the screen. I sang to her, and played pattacake.

Grandson N received his first cell phone so he can interact with the outside world. (When he is allowed to use the phone) he has been texting us with hilarious messages containing no periods or commas. 

I sent a New York State friend photos of our current Florida flowers. She sent me back photos of old friends like blood root, bleeding hearts, and daffodils poking their heads out of the cold, dark NYS soil. Spring is coming!

Great Grandpa, pulling out all the stops to entertain Sweet C
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My correspondence with N.  My comments are in blue.  I'm trying to figure out if he is being a smart aleck when he says "That's fascinating"
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Bleeding Hearts, lifting our spirits as life returns to the frozen northlands

Sometimes

Sometimes I just don't know what to say. 

Too soon

Aaack, my heart!  My youngest grandson no longer thinks I'm the funniest person in the world. 

I knew this would happen eventually.  But I'm not ready for N The Logical. I haven't yet had my fill of N The  Peurile. Not fair!

A couple of weeks ago I picked him up from school. I employed my usual shtick. He did not laugh. Instead, he replied "Grandma, you don't have to try so hard to make me happy." THAT gave me pause. I don't? What if I want to? He's not the boss of me.

Last week I picked him up again. As he climbed into the back seat I said (with great enthusiasm) "Hello, Punkin!"   He took his seat, buckled his seat belt and said "You know, Grandma, I'm 8 years old now. You really have to stop calling me all those baby names."  

Darn it. I'm not ready to grow up.

Today I am practicing my itsy bitsy spider routine so I can Facetime our great-granddaughter.  I'm SURE I can make her laugh, for years and years.

And hey, look!  A new banana blossom in our yard.

It is still beautiful out there

Essential thoughts

Today we would have headed to the airport to pick up our nephew, his wife, and their toddler. I've never met the toddler. I was looking forward to meeting her. Of course that has been cancelled, But it can be rescheduled.

I keep a fervid eye on my toilet paper rolls. I wonder how many my daughter has, but at the same time, I don't want to know, because there simply isn't any more to buy in the stores. What the hell is THAT all about?

I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what my picky grandson will eat when they run out of his favorite food. I wonder if our great-granddaughter has enough formula. For crying out loud, get a grip, woman!

I am not complaining, I'm commiserating. We are all going through this together, all around the world. And I have it easy. I can stay home. 

In addition to doctors and nurses, my current heroes are hospital and nursing home janitors and cooks. I'm grateful for the trash collectors I see out there, and the delivery people who bring us goods. I appreciate my postman who continues to bring my mail. I feel for clerks behind counters at grocery stores and pharmacies, underpaid, overexposed, and unable to take time off.  Farm workers! 

We all take pride in our work, but it is humbling to discover just who the "essential service workers" are. 

I read a story about a young father crying in the grocery store, holding his infant. He couldn't find any formula.  Does anyone know how to make your own? Didn't our mothers do that in the 1950's? 

This statue is of a vineyard worker in Napa Valley, California.