Post-Tenure Review

turning 10,000

2009-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, when I wrote the previous post, I hadn't hit the big 10,000 mile mark on my Prius. Today, on the way home from campus (had to get some books from the library), I happened to look at my dashboard while stopped at a red light, and voila--there you have it. The big ten thousand.

ta-da !

2009-11-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

I paid off my Prius yesterday, 20 months ahead of schedule (4 yr. loan), thanks to lots of scrimping and saving the last couple years. I was initially planning to try and pay it down in 36 months, but given the craziness all around of late, I decided to ramp up the payoff effort so that I'll have more options for next year and whatever financial configuration that may bring. Plus, I hate, hate, hate paying interest--especially on my post-furlough salary. The loan company requires a certified check to pay off the balance, so I had to go to the bank yesterday, where the teller turned out to be a former student. THAT was a bit weird for me--having my financial info up on her screen. The title should arrive in a few weeks and the car will be all mine. Mileage still under 10,000--though I should document exactly where it stands; maybe tomorrow.

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)

2009-11-03T11:06:00.001-08:00

Rest in Peace

busy in a good way

2009-10-30T11:18:00.001-07:00

Sent Halloween treats (candy and teeny bit of mad $) to MP2--should arrive today via UPS. Enjoy!
Handed back midterms that ranged in scores from 108 (10 pts. worth of xtra credit offered during the 1st unit--my alternative to the security blanket of a study guide--a FURLOUGH work reduction strategy) down to 44 (and that's with a few xc points). I have mostly excellent students in this class, for which I am eternally grateful.
Got a really good night's sleep Wednesday night. That was clearly a prelude to next bullet.
Went to the library yesterday to investigate two African art auction catalogs that were recently entered into my university library's collection--and which might have been turned in to the library accidentally by my hapless high school intern. Full story here. Yippee! They were, complete with the library's name stamped over mine. They are not among the most expensive of the books that Hapless Intern "gave" to them, but I use them a lot in class and in the museum, so I will take what I can get. The associate dean of the library has been helping me like nobody's business. I am impressed, even though we haven't found the more expensive books. I figure someone in the library donations office sold them on amazon--or something along those lines. Maybe not, but the Friends of Library people claim they never came to them. So, ???
Left library for the campus j*mba juice, which I had not yet patronized. Ordered and paid for a small drink, but they accidently gave me a large. Doesn't make up for the furlough pay cuts, but they were very pleased to do their part.
Yesterday morning, I had to drag a Maori cloak down from the repository loft (by myself!) so that I could have it ready prior to class, when I would need to get my students rotated through the repository in small groups (we are reading a museum ethnography about New Zealand/Scotland connections) and I must say, I was really pleased to see that the new storage technique another student and I improvised a year ago seems to be working for this artifact--flax is sturdy and all, but this is more than 140 years old. After class, a student actually volunteered to help me put it back into loft storage; so no lives were lost this week making "the climb" with a 10 foot long tube in hand.
Created and uploaded a way-overdue webpage to the Museum site. 10 more to come (student projects). Stay tuned...off to lunch with BFF who is freaking out over new spring FTEs requirements in his (and I suspect, all) departments.

sleep deprivation

2009-10-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Not getting much sleep these days. Work is full of uncertainties and I am weighing various options re: my longterm future. I dreamed about Chum*sh baskets last night. That's clearly a sign.

a long work week

2009-10-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos to document the lost, the generous, and the fun.

The lost (now found), on which I've wasted countless hours (even years). Say goodbye--it's not ours.

*********

Our very generous host (*poof* goes his photo, above)...and his object lessons, below.

The hummingbirds (outside) were constantly competing with the artifacts (inside).

pumpkin bread

2009-10-19T23:38:00.001-07:00

Two loaves cooling on the rack. I must say, the aroma of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg is pretty hard to beat...and a wonderful antidote to a day of dealing with willful ignorance.

all smiles

2009-10-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Had a great day today visiting with a retired colleague and his wife. They are very interesting (and super nice) people whom I have known for more than a dozen years. He is walking across the country, and she is (driving) along for the ride (in all it's multiple meanings). While he was walking one leg of the journey, she came over to hang out and catch up on laundry. The four of us closed the evening out with a really good dinner and bottle of wine at a favorite restaurant downtown. It was such a nice visit that I don't even mind going back to work tomorrow--for this time next year--much will have changed, for the good, for me.

stop giving your students these dumb assignments!

2009-10-13T21:07:00.001-07:00

A handful of English profs are assigning students the task of interviewing one of their professors about the kinds of writing involved in their work. This was do-able for about the first 3 semesters and 20 students. It has increasingly become a huge burden. I feel like creating some homework that will force my cultural anthropology students to pester all the English faculty (day, night, by email, phone, etc.) for an interview (10 questions at least) about how the field of English--lit, composition, whatever--has adapted to new electronic media, texting, and the proliferation of acronyms and emoticons. I'm going to make it worth 50% of the students' course grade so that they are just desperate to get these interviews. In fact, I'm going to insist on one from a lecturer and one from a TT'er. Please join me in this act of "reciprocity across the curriculum."

super-downer post-faculty meeting thoughts

2009-10-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

*poof*

grrrr

2009-10-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Remember the aggravating HS intern to whom I loaned MY African Art books? Hundreds of dollars worth of art books? She apparently returned them to the university library 3 months ago. I'm SO put out. Got to truck over there and find out what in the world has happened to them. I'm guessing they probably SOLD them in a recent book sale. Or perhaps cataloged them into the permanent collection? Gah!!!

things fall apart

2009-10-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

Important not to focus on grains of old sand when new boulders are coming loose from the cliff.

doing my part for the economy

2009-09-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

For MP2: a new tea steeper (same as your old Teavana, just larger, microwaveable, entirely removable filter). You've got to offset it ever so slightly on the old Teavana mug. Apparently there is a ball bearing in your old one that must have come out of its place during shipping. Should be there (UPS) by Friday or Saturday at the latest.

Ik*a rug for my office. I'm redoing the place on a 50s/60s theme. Will post before and after photos soon.

"Rain Forest" Cradle swing for my niece and her daughter.

Pott*ry Barn acorns vase filler for me. Autumn is almost here!

hallelujah

2009-09-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

I need a chorus of hallelujahs. Between my own deadlines and those of my grad students, it has been one heck of a busy month in the writing and editing department. Two sets of revisions for these two students over the course of the last couple weeks (3 in total, since I actually saw their first drafts back in May).

Cranking out the prospectus is a long process, and always more work than anyone expects (remember back to your own grad school days, when you imagined that getting done with your required seminars was the big benchmark?). Well tonight, the final corrected documents--prospecti and IRB forms, alike--are in hand (one via the e-transom, the other through the front door). Both great projects, both off to very good starts. Tomorrow and Tuesday, the proper signatures will happen, and they'll be passed through chute #3 by the October 1 deadline. Congratulations to them both.

ahead of the game

2009-09-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

I am. I am. I am. Why? Because I thought I had a November 1 deadline that is really a May 1 deadline, and because I started my sabbatical proposal (due today at 5) in early September and was therefore able to file it two days ago. Today is a library day. So happy about that.

our office staff and chair

2009-09-23T10:01:00.001-07:00

Our department office has great personnel in it. We have gone through more than our share of ups and downs, including some particularly poor personality combinations. We finally have it all--and I mean all of it--just right. What a difference it makes. The work environment is so much healthier. I surely hope it holds for the rest of my days at this place...even in a fiscal crisis like the one we've got right now, it is so wonderful to deal with decent human beings in positions of importance to one's work and daily life. Not taking a bit of it for granted.

great, here we go

2009-09-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Professor Autoethnographer,

This is _________ from Anth N; MW xx:xx-xx:xx. I was quarintined with the H1N1 virus today and i will not be able to come back to classes until monday the 28th. Sorry for the absences and i will keep up on my readings and check out the lecture powerpoints online.

Thank you,

Abcdefg Hiklmnop

prospectus progress

2009-09-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

One very good thesis prospectus edited and handed back for final corrections, and one more (clearly in good shape as well), almost ready to go. Tonight, I have to write an exam and accompanying study guide, and prep for tomorrow's class. And I've got a helluva sore throat. Just logged on to say that I do love seeing grad students do so well making their own excellent use of the readings and seminars to which they've been exposed. Why can't they ALL do this? Don't answer that. Back to the exam...

score!

2009-09-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is the silliest post ever, but I am overjoyed to have a library retreat. In all my years here, I've never applied for a research carrel, and this year I really need one and managed to snag one (yeah for people retiring or finishing whatever landed them one to begin with). Picked up the signed forms from Library Dean, and went over to get my key. And no--I'm not telling you which floor it's on or number it is, because I do NOT want to be found. No more having to lug stacks of books home, put up with the creepy stack-lurkers (what is wrong with those guys? wait a second while I throw up!), or having to fight for an outlet for my computer. Last time I had my own little bit of turf in a library I was in grad school, writing my dissertation, pregnant with MP2 and hiding a teeny jar of redhots (my morning sickness cure) from the library police who swept the premises everynow and then. Nothing to hide this go around--yet. So, that's my dumb, happy news for the day.

mark the date

2009-09-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

My mom must be inspired/happy over her great-grandmother status. She called, I answered, we talked, and in UNDER an hour and a half (20 mins. to be precise), she was ready to get off the phone and get something done. We both love the baby's name--which she knew before me, meaning that my brother finally reached her the other day. Shocking. All of it.

news flash from Chicago

2009-09-12T07:48:00.001-07:00

My niece had her baby yesterday. She is a real cutie, 7 lbs., 9 oz. My brother texted the news during our faculty meeting and sent the first photo below, along with my favorite line of the week: "By the way, I finally broke down and got an iPhone...I don't know how Western Civilization was born and we got to where we are today without it! I have SO drunk the Kool-Aid!!" That makes me smile almost as much as the newborn photo. Congrats to all--new mom, dad, aunt, and grandparents. Flowers are on the way!!

spaced out

2009-09-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

Do I have office hours this morning? NO!!! Did I nonetheless race onto campus through all kinds of traffic in order to be here for them? YES. I clearly need a good night's sleep (a necessary pleasure that has entirely eluded me this week).

This about covers my state of being; iPhone photo credit goes to MP2, with whom I had a great conversation yesterday morning. He has settled into an excellent year at UNT, thinks he gave his best audition ever, is super happy he is finally in a jazz combo and has graduated from the ranks of classical lessons. Maybe in a week's time I'll feel all settled into the new school year, too. I take comfort in the fact that MP1 seems to share my current state of mind--it takes a while to get back in the groove.

before and after

2009-09-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

This image dates from 1929 (w/a few touch-ups by me; enlarge for a bit of a fashion show). A penciled caption verso reads Fiesta de San Geronimo, Taos Pueblo. If you compare this old photo (which I happened upon in the museum a couple weeks ago) with the image of the same church (San Geronimo) currently showing in my "Photos from Work and Play" feature on the right, you get a real sense of how much play is in the wheel of "historic preservation" and notions of "authenticity." I took my photo in the summer of 2007 (more of the same here), and posted it here a few weeks ago. Within days, I stumbled upon this very cool old black and white image. Taos Pueblo is a Un*sco W*rld Heritage Site (trying to evade ye olde google search). The chapel was barely open from a recent restoration when I was there. I wonder how many more times it's architecture will be reinterpreted?

back in the saddle again

2009-08-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

Maker's mark, Drakesbad Ranch Saddle, July 2009 trip

Despite the poor economy and related chaos, today was lovely. My class of 140+ is going to be entirely manageable--I don't think my teaching strategies will change too much at all (though exam formats will feature virtually no subjective questions save one--but that is more related to the 10% workload-reduction-mandate than anything else). All the newly upgraded smart technology and bells and whistles worked just fine (in fact, they performed wonderfully given their last minute installation). Didn't need my laptop--just my flashdrive. I was able to use the PC in the smartdeck and get to all the critical websites. For ONCE, I could walk my students through the process of finding course-related info and demonstrate how to log onto the course site without dragging in a cable, hooking it up, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, a big yahoo. Oh, and the chairs were all screwed back down to the floor boards. This is a huge improvement over the condition of the room at 5 pm on Sunday. I love teaching and working on a university campus. Sappy as it sounds, even on a bad day (working with complete loser/burned-out &/or completely selfish faculty), I've never once questioned my decision to be a professor. Today, a freshman struck up a conversation with me in the bookstore and we ended up walking halfway across campus together--mostly because she was feeling overwhelmed by all the "course choices on campus" and wondered if she was abnormal because her mom had told her she should already know what her major needed to be, and she was so happy to hear me say that very few people know this kind of thing at her age or stage, or stay in the field they first declare as a major. A cute athlete and musician and all around smart kid. In the space of 15 minutes she was able to articulate how privileged she felt to be in college, how her parents had really worked hard to send her to a private high school (in nearby city), how she wants to respect their labor and dreams for her, but also wants to realize and follow her own passion, as well she should. We parted ways in front of my building, but she asked if she could stop by my office sometime and talk about her undeclared status and volunteer opportunities on campus (no classes between 9 and 2 pm MWF). That's my sacchrine post for today. Glad I've got one, because there is enough to complain about in any given day.

farmers market bounty, mid-August; enlarge to see why I love my new camera

most photographed location in the city

2009-08-28T20:36:00.001-07:00

Modernist, urban waterfall in the shadow of Transco Tower.