Nostaglia Update

... the nostalgia didn't last long...
I got the most ridiculous answers to the short answer questions.

Reasons they should have answered the short answers better:
1: We spent 2 (count them 2) weeks on this topic
2: I told them it was the topic of my thesis so I would definitely put it on the test
3: One of the questions was worded EXACTLY the same as a sample question from the study guide

The "best" answer I got....
They brought the idea of ideology to....


Ah yes, the ever elusive idea of ideology

The End of an Era

So my academic career here in far far west has concluded-today I gave my last final.* In my five years here I got an MA and survived a whole year of professing. I'm not sure which was harder.
I must say I'm feeling rather nostalgic. I don't know if it is the massive amounts of wine I consumed over the weekend with Hubby and SMH (photos to follow) or if I really will miss this place-maybe a little of both.

Nonetheless, I still had a very Southern thought today...
"I kinda feel like crying, but I won't- my eye makeup looks good!"

*I know, I still have to grade them, but still...

It must be contagious...

No... Not El Gripe Puerco... Making an ass of yourself

I received my annual lecturer evaluation in my box and noticed that it said I didn't teach in Spring 2008.
So I asked the office who I should contact about this mistake. Then contacted the chair of the department, who investigated... and reported back to me...
Right, this is Spring 2009- when I am teaching. The letter is for Spring 2008- when I did not teach in the department...

El Gripe Puerco

No I don't have Swine Flu, but my laptop does...
It is with a squad of geeks being repaired so I don't lose ALL my files....

Since that will take a couple of days we finally broke down and purchased a new desktop (we've been putting it off for 2 years).It is fancy indeed and we got a good deal on it because it was "open box." Normally that is no big deal, but the original owner kept it just long enough for everything to be in Korean. But thanks to careful searching on the mini screen of the iphone I was able to return everything to factory settings.

Amateur Mistake

Complaining about passive voice... amateur mistake....

Possibly the worst sentence ever written....

"Historically, Culturally, and socially are characteristics of mariachi and it is why its so important."

Passive Voice

I know that not everyone had Father Butler for their freshman year (IN HIGH SCHOOL) English class, but really you guys are juniors and seniors quit using the passive voice! As Father Butler pointed out if you can say "by Clyde" after it- don't use it!

And while we're at it let's learn some other adjectives besides important and good.... oh and another adverb besides really- quit modifying things, it's really quite boring.

And maybe focus an essay... and have a thesis... and ... time for a bottle of wine

New Books- Very Exciting

I ordered some books from amazon- that qualified for free shipping- and they should be there when I get home today!!! One of them I am very excited about...
Praise for Who Defines Indigenous?

"Virtually all of the scholarship on identity sees it as something that comes from the bottom-up. Martinez Novo recognizes the popular side of identity formation, but also looks at the process from the top down. How do more powerful actors-state institutions, intellectuals, elites, NGOs, etc.-try, in an imperfect and messy way, to mold collective identities? Martinez Novo not only poses this rather interesting problem, but investigates it with an innovative methodology and supports it with sound scholarship."

-Steve Striffler, author of In the Shadows of State and Capital