I am home, all alone, except for the cat.

I have completed all of the grading, and have submitted all of the grades, and am completely done with the semester. I was hoping to get a pat on the head or a cookie, but nope, the place is all empty and quiet. Except for the cat. And she just sank her claws into my thigh, rather than handing out cookies.

Maybe I’ll kick back and read a book. Or take a nap. Or try to read a book and take a nap instead. There are amazing awe-inspiring vistas of non-grade-book based activities ahead of me now.

One lab today, and it’s an easy one. The stack of grading on my desk is less than half an inch thick. I may make it after all.

Also, the new Avengers movie is opening at the theater in town tonight. I should go, since there won’t be any lines while all the students are holed up and studying for finals, right?

I have no idea whether this sentence is actually in the book or not, but I don’t care — I read it and if I ever had a soul, it just curled up and disintegrated.

The imagery doesn’t even go together with the situation! And if ever a lover “mewled” at me, I’d have to throw them out of bed and be sick on the sheets.

Why do the hamster pups only have three legs? When do hamsters smirk?

Stress levels are high. In our classes we’re winding down the teaching part (the fun part!) and focusing on the assessment part (the miserable boring side). I guess sometimes people — students and/or professors — snap. Professor Irwin Horwitz just gave up, failed an entire course, and stopped teaching. He explains why:

“Since teaching this course, I have caught and seen cheating, been told to ‘chill out,’ ‘get out of my space,’ ‘go back and teach,’ [been] called a ‘fucking moron’ to my face, [had] one student cheat by signing in for another, one student not showing up but claiming they did, listened to many hurtful and untrue rumors about myself and others, been caught between fights between students…. None of you, in my opinion, given the behavior in this class, deserve to pass, or graduate to become an Aggie, as you do not in any way embody the honor that the university holds graduates should have within their personal character. It is thus for these reasons why I am officially walking away from this course. I am frankly and completely disgusted. You all lack the honor and maturity to live up to the standards that Texas A&M holds, and the competence and/or desire to do the quality work necessary to pass the course just on a grade level…. I will no longer be teaching the course, and all are being awarded a failing grade.”

[Read more…]

I am feeling a strange and somewhat unwarranted affinity to Dan Savage right now. Apparently he’s going to be on some new television show (that’s the unwarranted part: there’s no comparing our relative popularity or cultural influence), and certain people are rising up in protest because he’s too rude.

Dan Savage’s vulgarity and violent rhetoric is well-documented. Savage is unapologetic in his promotion of filth masquerading as humor. His new show, ironically titled “The Real O’Neals,” is a platform he does not deserve. Even so, Disney ABC continues to remain silent as pro-family and pro-faith organizations call for it to reconsider its decision to promote this bigoted, hate-filled man.

"Disney ABC continues to circle the wagon and ignore the anti-religious bigot in their midst,” said MRC President Brent Bozell. “We will not relent in exposing Dan Savage for the vile hate he spews at conservatives, Catholics, and evangelicals. Disney ABC’s silence is shameful.”

[Read more…]

I’ve got all this grading to do. Do you think the students will object if their papers are returned covered in blood, vomit, and tears?

That’s not a comment on the quality of their work, but how I’m feeling when faced with the interminable ever-growing stacks.