The Oak Forest

Back to the Future

2009-06-22T10:55:39Z

If I'd had any doubts about the 80s making their reappearance, what I saw yesterday at Panera put an end to my delusion. Seated at a table near me were two young women (perhaps late high school or early college age?), one of whom was like a bad flashback. She was wearing lavender, acid-washed, stretch jeans that had ankle zippers (remember those?) because they were so narrow. If they hadn't been low-riders I would have thought that they were 80s jeans carefully preserved.

At least she wasn't wearing legwarmers over them.

Enlightened students....

2009-06-17T20:58:17Z

Did you know that the Code of Hammurabi was a "pamphlet"? Neither did I.

Student Gems

2008-10-08T23:14:38Z

In teaching Western Civ, I try to come up with creative assignments for my students, partly so as to deter plagiarism and partly to make the assignment more interesting (both for the students to write and for me to read!). The students' first assignment has them gathering together representatives from ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Classical Athens, and Hellenistic Pergamum, a la "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", so that they can indicate to me that they've synthesized all the information about each of those cultures, and hopefully, analyzed their similarities and differences. I always expect that some of the more enterprising students will create somewhat fleshed out characters, with names, but I admit that this crop has provided some of the best anachronistic names ever.

For the Babylonian (which takes the cake): Gustav (and his wife, Cynthia); Dwayne

For the Egyptian: Jethro; Mike

For the Athenian: Roberto; Max

For the Hellenistic man: Mickey; Bruce

(One student used the names of the four evangelists...got to give her credit for creativity!)

'Course, all this is doing is reminding me of a fourth-grade classmate who, during our discussion of Mesoamerican civilizations, raised a question using a hypothetical scenario involving "Bobby the Aztec".

Goodbye Zaide

2008-09-10T23:24:07Z

My grandfather died this afternoon. The funeral is tomorrow.

Got questions/concerns about Sarah Palin???

2008-09-08T21:52:07Z

Read this.

griffinick @ 2008-09-05T20:55:00

2008-09-06T00:42:49Z

My grandfather is dying. Cancer. Very fast growing cancer, which apparently has been forming for a while. I have no idea how much longer he'll be around, but it's perhaps a couple weeks at most.

He went into the hospital about a week ago with severe belly pain. The doctors ran all sorts of tests, but I sort of thought, given the symptoms, that it was perhaps a bad case of indigestion or blockage. I was waiting to hear when he'd get better and be back on his feet. It never dawned on me that he'd never recover. The news, which came today from Pathology, stunned me. It was all I could do to go teach my afternoon classes.

I love my grandfather, and have always had a very close relationship with him (and with my grandmother, who died in 2006). I suppose a naive part of me believed he'd always be there, and the news shocked that part of me into a very unhappy reality.

He will never see me get tenure.
He will never see me get married.
He will never meet or know of my children.
He will never read my first book.

I always thought (or at least hoped) that he would be there for those milestones in my life. I can't even imagine what a void he will leave. All I can do now is prepare myself for the inevitable.

griffinick @ 2008-08-29T19:40:00

2008-08-29T23:18:50Z

So McCain has chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate.

I am beyond disgusted. Not only is she a disgrace to all women, but she also spits in the face of the environment. If McCain really wanted to pick someone who would ensure that Bush's destructive environmental and anti-human rights policies were promoted and continued, he could not have made a better choice.

I am scared.

Now, off to donate even more to Planned Parenthood, Defenders of Wildlife, and the World Wildlife Fund.

Anatomy Lesson

2008-05-04T19:11:17Z

According to one of my students, the name of the Bubonic Plague "comes from the large pus-filled buboes that would grow in the limp nodes of those infected."

Limp nodes...classic.

Hopefully I'll find some more pearls of wisdom as I slog through the rest of the 80 papers that I have to grade by Wednesday.

* Another student told me that the "bad air" (or miasma) on which some blamed the Black Death came from the "bad air of the oil refineries." I wonder if she's from Elizabeth, NJ.

griffinick @ 2007-11-05T11:38:00

2007-11-05T16:28:11Z

Bill's mom died Saturday night. She'd had ALS. What a terrible way to go.

Tim called me yesterday to tell me the news. Weird thing is that I'd been having the feeling I ought to send Bill a card, telling him I was sorry to hear about his mother (i.e. about her having ALS), for a couple days. I had put the card in the mail maybe an hour or so before Tim called.

Not in the least surprised...

2007-10-19T02:33:25Z

You Are a Werewolf

You're unpredictable, moody, and downright freaky.
You seem sweet and harmless, until you snap. Then you're a total monster.
Very few people can predict if you're going to be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde.
But for you, all your transformations seem perfectly natural.

Your greatest power: Your ability to tap into nature

Your greatest weakness: Lack of self control

You play well with: Vampires

What Kind of Monster Are You?

griffinick @ 2007-10-15T18:15:00

2007-10-15T21:52:57Z

The package I mailed to Oleg last month was returned to me today. I can't believe he never even picked it up. Bastard.

What a difference a d makes

2007-09-28T00:20:10Z

Notice the difference:

"I took out my make-up case and powered my nose."

"I took out my make-up case and powdered my nose."

I was wondering whether her nose runs on AC or DC power. Or perhaps it's a hybrid.

4 weeks

2007-09-26T22:44:09Z

It's been 4 weeks since I last saw Oleg, and I have no idea how much longer I'll have to wait. I have a feeling this weekend will be a bust, and then we're into October. I am trying so hard not to be impatient, but it's progressively more and more difficult.

Poor guy is absolutely swamped at work, and overwhelmed with bureaucratic stuff on top of work. I spoke with him Monday night and at 9pm, he was just leaving his office. He was heading home to make a quick dinner and do yet more work until who knows what time. At least we had a nice chat of 45 minutes or so. He may have to work this weekend, which is why he probably will not be making a trip down to Baltimore, and I probably will not be heading up to NYC. :(

Unlike with Bill, who had increasingly more work "obligations", Oleg's work is not an excuse to push me away. He admitted how frustrated he was with the time he had to put into his research and prep, and that he really does want to see me. I'm sure that he would be very happy to work half as much as he's doing and have more time for travel, visits and relaxation.

I just have to be patient. Sigh...it's not easy.

I've been busy...

2007-09-22T20:16:46Z

Or fairly sacrilegious, depending on whether you care that I've been working on theoretically the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

I've:

Worked on job applications
Researched schools that are hiring
Done gardening
Done laundry
Prepped for class on Monday
Worked on next term's syllabi
Caught up on student emails

I just have to remember to leave some work to do tomorrow, otherwise I'll have to figure out how to keep myself busy (i.e. not stressing over Oleg, not driving everyone crazy, not getting into trouble, etc etc etc).

A glimmer of hope?

2007-09-22T14:32:08Z

In the throng of schools looking for medievalists, most are located in the midwest and other areas I'd rather not live, while there are only a few shining beacons, one being the school at which I'm currently teaching. However, today I discovered another, one that would allow me to return (more or less) to my beloved Boston area. It's not really in the Boston area (Norton is about 45-60 minutes south), but cutting the distance and living within a commutable distance (say, Dedham) would be eminently possible.

Oh, Boston area friends, think good thoughts for me! It worked for gower!

'Tis the Season...

2007-09-18T17:35:44Z

For job applications.

And the first honor goes to...the University of Michigan, because their deadline is so freakin' early!

Wish me luck for a tenure track position this time round! It would be heaven not to have to revert back to adjunct teaching.

Plushenko humor

2007-09-18T00:11:13Z

There's a reason I love figure skating...it's always so very entertaining!

A while ago, I'd seen this on tv. I thought that was good. However, last night I stumbled onto this on youtube and laughed my ass off.

Two weeks in review

2007-09-08T17:07:44Z

Has it already been two weeks since the semester started? Hard to believe. So let's see....

Classes are off to a roaring start, and while I certainly haven't learned everyone's name yet, I've made some headway. Not bad considering I have about 125 students. The three western civ's have quite different dynamics, and I've decided that the noon class is my favorite (much as I know having favorites is BAD). They seemed to like talking about Louis XIV as a Man in Tights (Sun King portrait), and laugh at my jokes. I like them. :) My senior seminar students are a mixed bag: some I think believe they'll be able to walk all over me, since I'm new at York, while others have adopted me as their new best friend. I think they all like me, though it may be because I have usually ended class early. I am very curious to see the kind of research papers they'll churn out, particularly the ones working on ancient and medieval topics. Yes, there is one guy who's writing about the third Crusade. Score!

I have discovered that while the car very much likes the fact that I only need to be on campus three days a week, having all four classes and two office hours on one day leaves me absolutely drained. I was exhausted yesterday even before I went out for a Shabbat dinner, which didn't end until long after I'd left at 12:30 (last time I didn't get home until close to 2am). I can only imagine how tired I'll be once I start having grading to do!

One of my western civ students came up to me after class yesterday to ask if I would agree to be the faculty advisor for a new paintball club. He was so eager and earnest that I couldn't refuse. So, I am now a faculty advisor. Weird. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. I know that there's another club that'll be wanting me to be a co-advisor for their club, but it's more of a history club, so I'm actually invested in that.

Tomorrow, sometime, I'm heading up to Philly to visit family. Since my grandfather is visiting out here for a few weeks, I'd be downright stupid not to make the effort to see him. After all, how frequently do I get the chance to fly out to CA to see him there?

I'm still very very dorky over Oleg. He's been in NYC for a week now, and I really miss him. He's going nuts with his new research position, and by Wednesday, when we last spoke, he still hadn't had a chance to settle in very well (largely the fault of, as he called her, the "stupid secretary"). I hope he'll be able to before long. I'm sending him some baked goods for Rosh Hashanah, and I hope that soon I'll be heading up there for a visit. I would hate to think that just as this really showed some strong long-term potential, the distance spoiled things. Though, it's not really that much distance...not when compared with Toronto to NJ! And, while going duh is frustrating (to say the least), it's so nice to have someone I can be extremely dorky over again...it's been such a long time since the last one.

Otherwise, not much. My left arm is all purple and nasty looking because while getting blood taken for some tests earlier this week, the idiot tech poked the needle all the way through my vein. My arm hurts, but it looks far worse than it feels. I guess I could make up some exciting sc-fi-esque explanation for the big ugly bruise, but I'm not feeling particularly creative today. Perhaps tomorrow.

Though I am not really an opera fan...

2007-09-06T14:13:27Z

I can recognize greatness and mourn the passing of incredible talent.

And thus the great Luciano Pavarotti leaves this earth.

He's gone

2007-09-01T18:10:38Z

Sad Christmas.

Yesterday was rough.

griffinick @ 2007-08-25T10:42:00

2007-08-25T14:23:28Z

Happy Birthday zvalium!!!!

May this be a wonderful year for you!

Help?

2007-08-24T21:28:29Z

I have been given a choice of three companies for my retirement 403(b) (aka tax-sheltered annuity) fund. I know absolutely nothing about any of them, except that I've heard of TIAA-CREF before. The choices are TIAA-CREF, T. Rowe Price, and Scudder.

So, here are my questions....

1) Has anyone used any of these companies?
2) Are there any things I ought to know about any of them that would help my choice?
3) Has anyone actually had to choose from between these companies, and if so, how did you choose (i.e. why did you choose one over the others)?

ANY help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!!!

griffinick @ 2007-08-21T16:42:00

2007-08-21T20:22:44Z

OK, how bad (i.e. unprofessional) would it look to use the term "pumps your nads" on a syllabus?

My excuse for any ditziness....

2007-08-11T13:05:34Z

I found a blonde hair today. An extremely blonde hair.

griffinick @ 2007-08-04T13:49:00

2007-08-04T17:34:14Z

Just found out that my department will be conducting a tenure-track search for the position I have this coming year rather than the following year as originally scheduled.

That means my contract will not be extended for a second year. It could mean that after this year I will finally obtain that coveted tenure-track position, but there's absolutely no guarantee that I will be successful with this particular job.

I think I actually would have preferred a 2-year contract...there's some security and comfort. Now the situation is risky again. Especially with PGT at NYU for probably 2 years rather than one.