Here are 10 things I learned in 2019. 1. How to stop squirreling things away I am really bad about hanging onto stuff. Used to be, my big excuse was that I “might need it.” That one, I’ve got over; at the start of the year, my bigger excuse was…
Hello, everyone. I’m Professor Byleth, but you can call me Byleth. This course has no syllabus because apparently those don’t exist at Garreg Mach monastery, so I’m NOT going to spend the first 30 minutes of today going over some important course policies… … is what I would say if…
It’s cliché by now for affluent thirtysomethings like me to say we don’t feel like grown-ups. I mean, I don’t. I teach university students who are usually between 18 and 21 years old, and my gut feeling is that I’m close to “their age.” It doesn’t help that my gender…
I told you I was embracing “crotchety.” 1. Clothing fits with arbitrary people names. Why is your line of skinny pants now re-branded “Dustin”? Do people named “Dustin” tend to wear skinny pants? Do you want me to think that if I buy your pants in this fit, I, too,…
Shana tova! Hope my fellow Jews out there have a sweet and healthy new year! Here are a few things I’ll be carrying over from the “old year” to make sure my new one is just that: 1. Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin…
One of my pet peeves is when critics make arguments about characters played by multiple actors (for example, in theatre) based only on the text of the script. We see this kind of argument a lot in when, for instance, historians assess the accuracy of plays that depict historical figures,…
I’ll do you one better: why is Gamora? (aka, previously: how to email your prof/GA) First of all, just in case, yes, you are definitely “allowed” to email* your prof or GA. As a university instructor, no matter how much I might playfully grumble about my workload, I highly encourage…
Because I loved their production of The Magician’s Nephew last year, I went to see the Shaw Festival’s 2019 production of that other seldom-adapted Narnia story, The Horse and His Boy. This adaptation took a few more liberties with the original, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (particularly since the…
These three months might as well have been a big ol’ one called “MOVINGEMBER.” Husband and I moved from a smaller, older apartment to a bigger, still-old-but-renovated condo. Hooray! But also: lots of work! So pretty much the title this quarter should be more like “9 Things That Made Moving…
NOTE: The style of communication I’m about to describe is culturally specific: Western, white, upper-middle class, Anglo-Saxon. Not every professor or TA will feel comfortable with this culture. It’s OK if you don’t either! It’s also OK if you choose not to use these tips because this style would make…