Author Archives: jbj

One sign you’re becoming yet another absent-minded professor

When you spend three minutes staring out of your office window wondering how to figure out whether it’s stopped raining, the better to return books to the library . . . you may be an absent-minded prof. Not good. (One … Continue reading

Posted in higher education, silliness | 1 Comment

Another Dickens adaptation

Fleshbot is reporting a new film version of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist: In case you were wondering: yes, “Oliver Twinks” is the homo porno version of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, just in case that sad looking waif asking “Please, sir, … Continue reading

Posted in Dickens | 1 Comment

No thoughts, just heat.

“Seeing lousy movies / but only for the a.c.” –The Hold Steady, “Hostile, Mass.”   What happens when you visit your parents during the hottest week in southeastern Virginia in a decade? Underdog on Monday, The Bourne Ultimatum on Tuesday, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

September as Memorize Poetry Month

Here’s a sentence I’ll be quoting forever when my students complain that I make them memorize poems: One poem per week…how difficult can that be? At 32 poems, Deborah Ager’s agitating for September to be “Memorize Poetry Month,” with participants … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Penn CFP list

I don’t think this information has been disseminated very widely, so: According to the list’s main page at the UPenn website, the list is (at least temporarily) dead: Due to technical and administrative difficulties, we can no longer offer mass … Continue reading

Posted in higher education | Comments Off on Penn CFP list

Yet another reason not to like RateMyProfessors.com

Today I found out that my parents check up on A’s and my teaching by reading RateMyProfessors.com regularly. Awesome.

Posted in family, teaching, things that should stop | Comments Off on Yet another reason not to like RateMyProfessors.com

A toddler’s view of language

The 4-year-old showed a keen grasp of linguistics / poetic language this weekend: The Little Man has been out of his mind with anticipation this weekend, and also from the heat.  As a result, he’s been spending some time in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Vitalchek is terrible

We don’t have a birth certificate for the Little Man. Obviously we are terrible parents, but the fact of the matter is, in Georgia you have to wait X number of weeks after the birth of your child to send … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Inbox sickness

It can’t possibly be good that, while listening to Merlin Mann’s “Inbox Zero” talk, I responded to a blog comment w/in about a minute, caught up on some blog feeds, and since both my e-mail accounts are up and set … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Texas: Finally solving *real* problems in education

From this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Policies that allow students to try out courses and drop them by a certain deadline are a time-honored way for colleges to encourage students to sign up for classes they’re not sure about or … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments